We are giving away some of our very cool USB-flash drives. As you can see, they are made of bamboo (even the green ribbon) and the are very sustainable. Besides, they are looking pretty cool…

But you have to do something… well, it’s not going to be too hard, honestly. 🙂 We need you to be a little creative for us.

We have started a video. That video we would like to let grow! Shoot your own video or photos of how you turn off the lights in your room. Put the video into a e-mail to coolerworld@dw-world.de. We collect what you will send to us and we will edit a longer video. The goal is to make sure that people from all over the world know how to save energy.

We are keen to see what we get from you. The first ten of you will get one USB-flash drive each. Good luck!

Immerse into a completely different world! Get into the latest GLOBAL IDEAS interactive multimedia adventure. You will be visiting the people and the streets of the Mangueira neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. – Mangueira. The Webdocumentary. Coming soon.

Two Indian companies have been awarded the prestigious International Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy – considered the “green oscars.” Husk Power Systems and Abellon CleanEnergy Ltd were honored for their innovative clean energy solutions that have made a lasting impact in India.

Husk Power Systems has made its mark by producing energy out of rice husks. There are about 60 gasification plants (pictured above) that generate electricity for more than 25,000 households in the state of Bihar. Abellon makes more than 65,000 tons of biomass pellets every year that are used to power industry in the state of Gujarat – and the pellets also provide an outlet for farm waste, too.

Both companies have proven that local clean-energy infrastructure can be an effective way to combat climate change. Congrats!

The debate over biofuels isn’t new: for years, experts and environmentalists have argued about the use of biofuels as an eco-friendly solution to fossil fuels. On one hand, creating clean-burning ethanol from plants is a good solution to the greenhouse gas problem. But on the other hand, growing crops for biofuels requires a lot of land – and cutting down forests to create eco-friendly power seems like a contradiction, especially if producing biofuels leads to rising food prices.

The Guardian recently featured an article about British companies acquiring land in Africa solely for producing biofuels. According to the article, about 3.2 hectares of land in various African countries have been earmarked as fuel plantations.

We’d like to hear your thoughts: are biofuels a good replacement for fossil fuels, or are they the wrong solution to the search for clean energy?

In Africa’s Sahel region people are trying to push back the frontiers of the Sahara desert – or at least halt its continuing expansion into what used to be arable lands. Deforestation and ensuing soil erosion are a major cause for desertification. Replanting trees may stem the trend – and help local inhabitants earn their living. One example is this project initiated by the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO):