Matias Prieto, Author at The Green Optimistic

Scientists Gene Edit Plants to Be Better at Capturing Carbon

Matias Prieto — Mon, 22 Jul 2019 19:33:28 +0000

It’s not enough for humans to pump less carbon into the atmosphere. To address climate change, many experts say we’re going to need to find a way to remove some of the emissions already polluting our air. While some scientists are focusing on mechanical solutions to carbon capture, researchers at the Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants […]

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Sydney Is in a State of Emergency to Fight Climate Change

Matias Prieto — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 20:30:58 +0000

On Monday, the city council of Sydney, Australia, unanimously voted to enter a state of emergency over the looming threat posed by climate change. The decision — which makes Sydney the first major city in Australia to declare a climate emergency, but nearly the 660th to do so worldwide — mobilizes the entirety of the […]

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New York is Building a Wall to Hold Back the Ocean

Matias Prieto — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 14:50:30 +0000

When Superstorm Sandy slammed into the East Coast in 2012, New York City was devastated. Winds blew in at 80 mph, and storm surges pushed the ocean more than 9 feet above normal levels in Staten Island. Homes were leveled, subways flooded, and coastlines destroyed; 2 million people were left without power. Of the 43 […]

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Ancient Irrigation Systems Could Help Peru on Water Security

Matias Prieto — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 15:29:22 +0000

Between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains, Peru’s coastal region relies on surface water from the Andes for drinking water, industry and animal and crop farming. This region, which includes the 12 million residents of Lima is often overwhelmed with rain in the wet season. However, by the time the dry season comes, water […]

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The global transition to clean energy – explained in 12 charts

Matias Prieto — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 06:06:59 +0000

A report released by Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) goes into that question in considerable detail. The Renewables Global Status Report (GSR) digs into the growth rates of various energy sources, the flows of clean energy investment, and the world’s progress on its sustainability goals. But first, we are still moving […]

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New York on Most Ambitious Carbon Reduction Plan

Matias Prieto — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 06:06:21 +0000

New York state lawmakers passed one of the world’s most ambitious laws aimed at countering climate change, under which fossil fuel power plants and gasoline cars will be phased out by 2050. The new law, known as the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, is emblematic of a growing movement among the American left toward […]

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Energy Dept: Geothermal Power Has “Enormous Untapped Potential”

Matias Prieto — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 19:19:15 +0000

A new report by the U.S. Department of Energy identifies geothermal energy — in which heat from beneath the Earth’s surface is used to generate electricity — as an underdeveloped source of power. The report, titled GeoVision, found that there’s “enormous untapped potential for geothermal” electricity. It outlines how America’s geothermal energy production could increase 26 […]

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Ecuador Amazon Tribe Win First Victory Against Oil Companies

Matias Prieto — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 20:41:58 +0000

Ecuador’s Waorani indigenous tribe won their first victory against big oil companies in a ruling that blocks the companies’ entry onto ancestral Amazonian lands for oil exploration activities. After two weeks of deliberations, a criminal court in Puyo, central Ecuador, accepted a Waorani bid for court protection in Pastaza province to stop an oil bidding process after […]

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Electric Cars Alone Not Enough to Save Us, Study Claims

Matias Prieto — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 20:33:47 +0000

A team of scientists has written to the Committee of Climate Change warning that if the UK’s 31.5 million cars are replaced by electric vehicles by 2050, as is currently planned by the Government, this will require almost twice the current annual global supply of cobalt. Moreover, as we have already reported, a shortage of this […]

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GMO Wheat Escapes Lab, Grows in the Wild

Matias Prieto — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 13:19:46 +0000

It’s not the first time. In the late-1990s, agriculture company Monsanto began developing wheat genetically modified to resist the company’s Roundup weed killer. Monsanto ended the project in 2004, and to this day, no one is allowed to sell genetically modified wheat in the United States. But on Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the […]

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Canada Announces Ban on Single-Use Plastics

Matias Prieto — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 19:26:46 +0000

The Canadian government has announced it will ban single-use plastics as soon as 2021. According to the CBC‘s government source, things like straws, drink stirrers, plates, cutlery and balloon sticks are on the lengthy list of items that will be banned — though the government has given itself more time to examine evidence to identify […]

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IBM Researchers Develop Radical New Recycling Process for Old Plastic

Matias Prieto — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 05:14:24 +0000

Currently, more than 272 million metric tons of plastic are produced each year around the globe, with one-quarter of that made up of PET. To help to solve this big problem, IBM researchers have created a new technology called VolCat, a catalytic chemical process that can turn PET, a type of plastic commonly used in food […]

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AI for Earth: Helping save the planet with data science

Matias Prieto — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 11:43:07 +0000

One of the last things Stephen Hawking told us was that the creation of powerful artificial intelligence will be “either the best or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity” We are not there (yet), but we already live our day to day lives with little crazy algorithms that make our life easier and […]

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Robert Downey Jr. Wants to Clean Up Earth With Robots and AI

Matias Prieto — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 11:42:34 +0000

After saving the earth a few times on the big screen, Robert is now taking real action. “Iron Man” spoke at this year’s re:MARS conference in Las Vegas — an event hosted by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos — about how robotics, AI, and other advanced technologies could be the solution for reversing humanity’s destructive carbon […]

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Hungary to Build $1 Billion Green-Powered Town From Scratch

Matias Prieto — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 11:42:08 +0000

Hungary is planning to create a green-powered town with jobs and housing for thousands on a barren strip of Danube flood plain. German property investment company FAKT invested $1.1 billion in the 1.27 square mile horticultural and infrastructure project that could create 5,000 permanent jobs. The carbon-neutral town will draw mainly on solar and […]

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Hydrogen Fuel Cell Flying Car Reaches 400 Miles of Range

Matias Prieto — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 20:04:40 +0000

Massachusetts startup Alaka’i has designed a flying car that the company touts as the “first air mobility vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel cells”. On their promotion video, they announced that this flying car has ten times the power of conventional lithium batteries without compromising on carbon emissions. The hydrogen fuel cells give the five-passenger Skai a maximum […]

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12 Ways to Improve Your Car’s Fuel Efficiency

Matias Prieto — Fri, 31 May 2019 07:18:20 +0000

Summer vacations, even day-to-day commutes and other travels, can become costly pretty quick. Between hotel expenses, food, gasoline, entertainment expenditures and souvenirs, taking out a significant loan to cover your planned adventures may not be out of the question. Fortunately, simple actions can be taken to reduce these costs. One of those actions involves improving your fuel […]

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New Invention Can Harvest Battery Material from the Ocean

Matias Prieto — Sun, 19 May 2019 05:16:22 +0000

Most batteries we use nowadays are based on cobalt. Tons of this mineral comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, often from the bare hands of children. These batteries are often powered by other unethical practices. Moreover, the predicted dominance of electric vehicles and the need for grid-scale energy storage have heightened concerns that cobalt, […]

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How to save the high seas

Matias Prieto — Thu, 16 May 2019 20:12:11 +0000

“Never has it been more important to understand how the natural world works, and how to help it “, famed nature documentarian David Attenborough says in Our Planet, the Netflix nature series that premiered April 5. It was produced in association with the international wildlife conservation nonprofit WWF. On this short clip, we can clearly […]

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20 free and cheap ways to improve energy efficiency at home

Matias Prieto — Mon, 13 May 2019 16:18:31 +0000

A simple attitude towards improving your home energy efficiency is to start with simple and cheap actions. Believe it or not, simple solutions might generate a big impact on your water or energy bill. So with the money saved, you can go on working on more ambitious projects. First, gather all your gas and electric […]

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The Top 100 People Killing the Planet

Matias Prieto — Mon, 06 May 2019 12:55:01 +0000

A few days ago an interesting map was released by The Decolonial Atlas. The map shows the 100 companies (and their CEO names) responsible for more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. The map is in the form of a cartogram which represents the size of countries by their cumulative carbon dioxide emissions […]

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New Solar Panels Produce Electricity Under Snow

Matias Prieto — Mon, 06 May 2019 12:51:02 +0000

Harvesting solar energy can be a tough job for panels if they are buried under blankets of snow. That is why a team from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has developed a new device that can produce electricity from snow itself. The device is a snow-based triboelectric nanogenerator or “Snow TENG”. As the […]

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Architects Dream Rebuilding Notre Dame as an Ecological Greenhouse

Matias Prieto — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 06:58:18 +0000

A group of French architects presented a green project for the cathedral restoration. They plan to add plants, trees and even an apiary on the main spire. Studio NAB proposed to rebuild Notre Dame’s roof as a big public greenhouse. Their proposal intends to seize the intended restructuring as an opportunity to create a place […]

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Human Composting May Become Legal in Washington

Matias Prieto — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 06:55:09 +0000

“Natural Organic Reduction” is the name Washington has used to refer to what we can understand as composting human remains. Last Friday the state Senate and House of Representatives finalized their approval of bill 5001 (titled “concerning human remains”), which enshrines “organic reduction” and alkaline hydrolysis, a dissolving process sometimes called “liquid cremation,” as acceptable […]

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Newly Discovered Bacteria Make Plastics Rot Much Faster

Matias Prieto — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 21:13:11 +0000

Around 5 to 10 years from now a tiny organism with an unusual appetite made a home in an industrial site near a bottle-recycling plant in Sakai, Japan. Soil and water were contaminated with polyethene terephthalate, also known as PET. This is one of the most common plastics in the world, used to make from […]

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Zero Mass Water’s Solar Panels Pull Clean Drinking Water Out of Thin Air

Matias Prieto — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 17:31:35 +0000

Around the world, approximately 2.1 billion people do not have immediate access to clean drinking water. A startup called Zero Mass Water aims to make clean water easily accessible to more people around the world. In 2015, it launched its first product, Source — a solar panel array that harvests and filters water from vapour in the air. The […]

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Puerto Rico will stop burning coal next year

Matias Prieto — Sat, 20 Apr 2019 18:44:54 +0000

Puerto Rico has a plan in motion to shut down its coal-burning power plants by next year. After going through an energy crisis, Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Roselló signed the Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act, which claims the island will be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2050. Not only this, but they […]

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Recycle Old Jeans to Make a Cool Laptop Bag

Matias Prieto — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 06:43:19 +0000

Sometimes you have to move your laptop and don’t have a comfortable and safe way of carrying it. This quick and simple guide will show you how you can make a bag for your computer using recycled old jeans. You will just need old jeans, scissors and thread and needle. That will be all! Let’s […]

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How to Make a Cooking Knife from Recycled Aluminum Foil

Matias Prieto — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 12:31:58 +0000

Believe it or not, with aluminium foil you can create a very sharp knife. You will need a few tools and some patience, but the final outcome is worth it. Albeit interesting, this is not a very green project if you don’t use recycled aluminum. However, the maker in this video probably didn’t think of […]

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The Great Green Wall of the African Desert

Matias Prieto — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 06:17:29 +0000

“We’re growing a line of trees and plants that will bring life back to the land and transform people’s lives. We’re growing food for the millions who get hungry every day. We’re growing a reason to stay for the families forced to migrate to Europe, growing green jobs, giving real incomes and opportunities” The Great […]

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Finnish Company Boosts Battery Recycling to Over 80 Percent

Matias Prieto — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 15:02:49 +0000

Finnish recycling company Fortum has achieved the high recycling rate for electric vehicle (EV) batteries of 80 per cent with a low-CO2 hydrometallurgical recycling process. The number of EVs on the road will increase from 3 million to 125 million by 2030. Current battery manufacturing casts a shadow on the overall sustainability of electric vehicles. […]

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Tesla Model S and X to Get More Efficient Electric Motors

Matias Prieto — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 09:32:32 +0000

Tesla is upgrading the Model S/X electric motor with a more efficient permanent magnet reluctance system. This idea is based on the motor Tesla developed for Model 3. A “sales speed bump” for Tesla Financial report of the company Tesla for the first quarter of 2019 showed that the cars started to sell worse. In […]

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European Parliament Bans Single-Use Plastic Items

Matias Prieto — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 05:11:00 +0000

The European Parliament has approved a law banning a wide-range of single-use plastic items, such as straws, cotton buds and cutlery, by 2021. The law, which was supported by 560 Members of the European Parliament against 35, stipulates that 10 single-use plastic items will be banned in order to curb ocean pollution. The Members also […]

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How to Build the Greenhouse of the Future

Matias Prieto — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 16:36:02 +0000

Living in a sustainable way is one of our generation’s biggest challenges. Nowadays, most people living in major cities have to spend a lot of money on food with high levels of pesticides on their daily diets. Moreover, most of the electric systems are still powered by non-renewable energy sources. To generate an alternative to […]

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This Net is Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles

Matias Prieto — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 10:42:35 +0000

You can do a nice and colourfull net using just plastic bottles! This is just one of the many ways you can reuse plastic bottles. This simple guide will teach you how to do it What you will need 3 bottles of plastic of a different colour 5 packing ring 1 cutter blade without the […]

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The 5 Watts of Hydroponic Farming

Matias Prieto — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 11:51:18 +0000

In this article, we will analyse what is a hydroponic system, how does it work, when you should create your own hydroponic garden, who can do it and why to choose this system among traditional ones. What is Hydroponic Farming? It is a method for growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil. […]

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Seaweed Straw Designed to Disappear

Matias Prieto — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 19:49:24 +0000

Plastic straws consumption is about 500 million units per day, in the United States. Most of them end up in oceans or landfills. After a single use, they will remain there for hundreds of years. As a response to this situation, more and more locations are starting to ban these straws. But rather than asking […]

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How to Keep Food Cool Without Electricity

Matias Prieto — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 20:43:53 +0000

Evaporative cooling was used as early as the Old Kingdom of Egypt, around 2500 B.C. As you can imagine, a clay pot cooler does not use electricity. It uses a porous clay pot (filled with wet sand) containing another smaller inner pot (which can be treated to prevent penetration by the liquid) within which the […]

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3D-Printed Mushroom Brained Robot Detects Harmful Gases

Matias Prieto — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 15:54:54 +0000

Life Guardian is a cyborg that integrates a 3D printed mechanical part and a living part: a mushroom. The biological part determines and modifies the robot behavior, so it is considered as its brain. It was created by two Argentinean electronic artists for the festival of Land Art Mongolia 2018. Their purpose was to […]

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How to Build a DIY Evaporative Air Cooler in a Bucket

Matias Prieto — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 19:12:40 +0000

Have you ever notice how it’s often cooler near a lake on a hot summer day? Especially if there’s a slight breeze? It’s not just the breeze, you are feeling the air cooler because of the water evaporating. When evaporation occurs, water absorbs all the heat from the surroundings and take it with it. Cool […]

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Building This DIY Solar Air Heater Can Save You $1000 per Winter

Matias Prieto — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 17:37:24 +0000

The solar air heating collector is a quick and simple way to get started on alternative energy. Although is a quite simple array, it can make you save a lot of money on energy bills. Just basic thermodynamics, not moving parts, cheap and effective. How does it work? Thermosiphon Diagram – Hot/Cold Air Flow The […]

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China Bans Imported Recyclables from US, Now Cities Just Burn Them

Matias Prieto — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 06:23:41 +0000

Not so long ago, China processed 40 per cent of United States recyclables. However, in 2018 China decided to stop importing a lot of this garbage. This decision left U.S. cities with big mountains of recyclables to process. So now in many cases, they are just burning them. The case of Chester, Philadelphia In the […]

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How to Build Your Own Plastic Recycling Plant

Matias Prieto — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 06:29:21 +0000

In 2013 Dave Hakkens, a young guy from the Netherlands started this small movement called “Precious Plastic”. His idea is to boost plastic recycling around the world by making it accessible to everyone. Changing the idea that plastic recycling is only for big companies or people that counts on large amounts of money. His project […]

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ORBIS Ring Drive: The wheel has been discovered, again

Matias Prieto — Thu, 22 Nov 2018 04:02:57 +0000

What if I told that an Electric Hybrid Honda Civic has more horse power than a Ford Mustang GT? The Orbis Ring-Wheel technology improves car fuel economy, regenerative braking and battery charging and adds up to 75hp per wheel (direct drive). The last Electric Hybrid Honda Civic (World first electric hybrid all-wheel drive) presented at […]

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Hanging bricks, a simpler way of storing energy

Matias Prieto — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 14:41:32 +0000

A tower of bricks could be the solution of renewable energy biggest problem. During peak hours (especially mornings and evenings) the demand of energy is bigger. Renewable energies suppliers need to feed enough energy during these moments, so they need to have high technologies batteries that can store big amounts of energy. This graphic shows […]

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How to Build a Mini Hydroelectric Generator from Washing Machine Parts

Matias Prieto — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 14:38:43 +0000

In this video we will see how an old washing machine is converted into a little hydroelectric generator for powering an off the grid house. Essentially, what he does is attaching a Pelton wheel to the shaft, diverting some of the water through a pipe and the difference in height between the water intake and […]

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Brazil’s new leader threatens Amazonia. Munduruku, the tribe that is getting ready to fight

Matias Prieto — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 13:40:00 +0000

A team of New York Times journalists went into the Brazilian Amazonia and spent some time living with a tribe from the Native Territory Munduruku to take a closer look on the fights against deforestation. In areas already affected by deforestation and illegal mining, munduruku warriors are defending their lands. The new elected president of […]

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Only 100 companies produce 71% of global emissions

Matias Prieto — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 07:34:56 +0000

Just a few fossil fuel producers and their investors can stop climate change. A study named “The Carbon Report” shows how a very small group are responsible of the main greenhouse gas emissions. The study shows that more than half of global industrial emissions since 1988 can be traced to just 25 corporate and state-owned […]

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Greenpeace: Oreo Responsible of Orangutan Extinction

Matias Prieto — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 20:58:24 +0000

The Orangutan habitat is endangered in Indonesia, photo from Greenpeace An investigation shows that palm oil producers of the multinational Mondelez has destroyed almost 25.000 hectares of the orangutan habit, only in 2 years. Mondelez is the producer of Cadbury chocolate, Ritz cookies and Oreo. Greenpeace document stands that 22 suppliers of the multinational […]

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How to Build The Fog Catcher and Get Water from the Clouds

Matias Prieto — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 20:43:42 +0000

In Lima Peru lives Abel Cruz, better known as “The Fog Catcher”. In this city built over a desert this simple technology is helping to highly improve people’s lives getting water from the fog banks. Getting clean water shouldn’t be a problem when our own specie is already planning how to colonize Mars. However, it […]

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