What do families in different parts of the world eat in one week?

This is interesting: Two photographers have traveled the world to meet "average" families and report on their dietary habits, then taken photos of the families with their weekly food totals.

Link.

Check it out!

Worldmapper

An interesting little site that features representations of the world map with re-sized proportions - based on factors such as population, HIV prevalence and wealth:

Here's a preview of one for purchasing power:











Worldmapper: The world as you've never seen it before

via Ian @ Amazing Grades

Hybrid vehicles

Did you know that every 6,000 miles a car travels, it produces its own weight in CO2?

There are 30 million cars in the UK and each car is driven on average 9,000 miles a year.

That's a lot of CO2 being pumped into our air.

These photos show some examples of current electric hybrid models:

Toyota Prius

What are hybrid electric vehicles?

Hybrid vehicles are powered by a combination of a petrol or diesel engine and electricity. This cuts down on the amount of fuel needed, meaning hybrid vehicles produce fewer emissions. and spend less on petrol.

Most hybrids also use regenerative braking, which means that energy is put back into the battery when braking - this improves energy efficiency and reduces brake wear.

Honda Insight

What are the environmental benefits of hybrid electric vehicles?

As well as producing fewer emissions, hybrid technologies improve fuel efficiency and therefore provide considerable fuel savings compared to a non-hybrid vehicle.



Honda Civic Hybrid

How much does it cost to buy and maintain a hybrid electric vehicle?

A new hybrid electric vehicle costs around £1,000 - £3,000 more than a conventional vehicle. However, as hybrids are more than capable of running in excess of 55 miles per gallon of petrol (5.1 litres per 100 km), fuel costs will be around two thirds of those for an equivalent petrol fuelled vehicle.



Lexus RX 400h

Where can I refuel a hybrid electric vehicle?

Hybrid electric vehicles recharge their batteries during normal operation; so all you need to do is fill up with petrol when necessary. You can fill up at any petrol station.



Lexus G450h

Alternatives to hybrid vehicles

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Natural Gas, Biodiesel, Pure Plant Oils (PPO), Biogas, Bioethanol, Hydrogen, and Fuel Cells.

Wood-fuelled energy plant planned

A plan to create a £24m wood-fuelled energy plant is closer to being built after securing more than £5m of government funding.

If it goes ahead, the combined heat and power plant will be capable of heating 20,000 homes a year.

The biomass scheme will use wood fibre to produce steam to make electricity.

Heat generated during this process will be used to manufacture 100,000 tonnes of wood pellets a year, offering an alternative to fossil fuels, such as oil.

The new plant will create around 30 local jobs.

Full Story

100 Ways to Save the Environment

Lots (one hundred) ways to conserve energy, use less water protect our air and create less rubbish. It's...

100 Ways to Save the Environment

Huzzah for saving the environment!

guardian/climatechange

Really useful links all about Climate Change.

Includes latest news, a slideshow, what we can do to fight climate change, the impact climate change will have on us and the causes.

More on climate change | Climate change | Guardian Unlimited Environment

Really useful site with lots of information.

Paris riots: One year on

Tense anniversary in French suburbs

Clichy-sous-Bois, is a drab suburb in the north-east of Paris, scene of the deaths of two local teenagers who died and sparked three weeks of rioting across France's largely immigrant suburbs.

Cedric Lignier, 18
Clichy-sous-Bois

If more was done to help youths, they would sell fewer drugs. But it’s difficult to get work.

As soon as employers see our faces, they think we want to steal from them.

I want to work!

More comments and quotes here

Map of Paris suburbs. More maps here.

French police figures for the riots:

9193 cars burnt
2,921 arrests
21 nights of riots


Read the full story here including a timeline and lots of other resources from the BBC website.

Supercell tornado in Nebraska

A supercell is a severe thunderstorm with a deep rotating updraft (called a mesocyclone).

Check out these amazing photos of a supercell thunderstorm in Nebraska:

May 28, 2004 Highway 12 Supercell-ne Nebraska

More about supercells.

More awesome storm pictures at extremeinstability.com

Britain's biggest cave discovered

"Britain's biggest cave discovered "