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Is Biofuel Really a Viable Alternative for the Aviation Industry?

Zach Frechette
11.25.09

The team over at TreeHugger wondered how much land would be required to meet the biofuel equivalent of current aviation energy needs:With a continuing stream of announcements regarding the aviation industry's drive to keep on flying while being a bit greener about it-KLM is making the first aviation biofuel test flight with passengers today-TreeHugger wondered how much land will be required to power the global aviation industry with biofuels.The did a little back-of-the-napkin math and the answer they found is surprising (hint: it's an agriculture area equivalent in size to an entire U.S. state. A large U.S. state). In an effort not to totally steal their thunder, read about it yourself in the full post.
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Ford will cut down plastic use by recycling McDonald's coffee into car parts

McDonalds sells a lot of coffee. Over a billion cups a year, to be exact. All that coffee leads to a lot of productive mornings, but it also leads to a lot of waste. Each year, millions of pounds of coffee chaff (the skin of the coffee beans that comes off during roasting) ends up getting turned into mulch. Some coffee chaff just gets burned, leading to an increase in CO2.

Now, that chaff is going to get turned into car parts. Ford is incorporating coffee chaff from McDonalds coffee into the headlamps of some cars. Ford has been using plastic and talc to make its headlamps, but this new process will reduce the reliance on talc, a non-renewable mineral. The chaff is heated to high temperatures under low oxygen and mixed with plastic and other additives. The bioplastic can then be formed into shapes.

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Americans agree on at least one thing in new poll: it stinks that we're divided

For over 20 years, our country has perceived itself as more divided than united, and it's not getting better. Right after the 2016 election, a poll conducted by Gallup found that 77% of Americans felt the country was divided on the most important values, a record high.

The percentage of Americans who agree that we disagree got higher. During the 2018 mid-term elections, a poll conducted by NBC News/Wall Street Journal found that 80% of Americans felt the nation was "mainly" or "totally" divided.

We head into the 2020 presidential election more divided than ever. A new poll from USA Today found that nine out of ten respondents felt it was important to do something about the conflict in our country. We can't keep on living like this forever.

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A Kenyan inventor's niece was born deaf so he made a glove that turns sign language into speech

via Honor Africans / Twitter

The problem with American Sign Language (ASL) is that over 500,000 people in the U.S. use it, but the country has over 330 million people.

So for those with hearing loss, the chances of coming into contact with someone who uses the language are rare. Especially outside of the deaf community.

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