Between the emission of methane (which traps more heat than CO2), deforestation for animal feed production, loss of biodiversity due to eutrophication, acidification, pesticides and herbicides as well as land degradation, 'factory farming' (the method through which most of the world's meat is produced) is considered more an earth pollutant than vehicles.

Scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina are now hoping these environmental concerns will lead to more funding for what they consider the food of the future: lab grown meat. The scientists have taken embryonic cells that develop into muscle tissue from turkey and bathed them in a nutrient bath of bovine serum on a scaffold made of chitosam to grow animal skeletal muscle tissue. In order to make the meat juicy, they are adding a vascular system so that interior cells can receive oxygen. The scientists say this will take the need for feed out of the equation as well as stop the clearing of land for the factory farms.

The scientist in charge of the product plans on calling the resulting food 'charlem' for Charleston engineeered meat. It's a thought that almost makes you want to become vegetarian.

(jhoff)

(Photo by ogondio)

 

At the end of his filming trip to the Philippines, our reporter Carl Gierstorfer talked to one of our first GLOBAL IDEAS ambassadors. Read Carl's final dispatch from Manila:

"Meet Eric Raymundo, an engineer and environmental practitioner here in the Philippines. Eric caught our attention because he is such an enthusiastic follower of the Global Ideas project. Eric's enthusiasm is rooted in his deep concern for nature and a sustainable way of living. A former scuba diver, Eric now consults businesses in the Philippines on how to save energy and resources; eventually he wants to build a network of zero carbon tourism resorts in the Philippines. His work is part of the Switch-Asia project, funded by the European commission and carried out in collaboration with the Center for Appropriate Technology at Vienna University of Technology.

In this little movie you will hear about Eric's realistic approach to getting things done; his concerns about global warming and his idea for a cooler world. Enjoy."
 

Whether it's to escape cold weather, visit family or friends or explore a new place, a lot of you out there probably have a trip or planned this winter. And chances are that most of you will be flying to get to your destination. Millions of people are in the air everyday, and unfortunately that has serious consequences for our environment.

 

Back in 2008, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change put out some alarming statistics on flying: every year, planes burn around 130 million tons of fuel. If you think that's bad, that number is supposed to climb to 450 million tons by the year 2050. Of course, many airlines out there are working to make their planes more green-friendly by doing things like eliminating pollutants from jet exhaust and developing bio-fuel technology.

 

But what can you do? Flying is unavoidable sometimes–taking a bus or a train just isn't an option for some trips. But you can be more aware of the impact your flights have on the environment. Here at Global Ideas, we have a useful emissions calculator that gives you an idea how much each flight you take is contributing to global warming. In fact, we use this calculator to offset our own trips!

green.tv has launched a music channel that features songs that are green meaning that they have the educational message of saving our environment. In the early 80s MTV kicked off with a metaphorical jab against radio – a video of the song 'Video killed the radio star' by the Buggles. MTV's product – "Music goes TV"  – proved highly successful. It seems that green.tv now wants to inititiate another twist to the story: music TV goes green. And the video above is supposed to get the ball rolling.

Swedish producer and DJ, Eric Prydz, did a remix of Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall' focusing on the 'education' part of the lyrics. The tune's called 'Proper Education' and it has a strong green message: switch off appliances, change light bulbs for energy efficient alternatives and put a brick into your toilet cistern (so it fills up faster and uses less water). Besides, the tune is quite catchy.

Last month GLOBAL IDEAS spent some time with the United Nations Volunteers in Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia. Here the volunteers were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10). Our reporter Marion Hütter had the chance to talk to some of the volunteering young people who are coming to Cambodia from all over the world to help and to learn a lot.

Here are some pictures Marion brought back from Phnom Penh: