We look back at our favorite green news the whole month of August—from new life for cigarette butts to one man’s attempt to make an iceberg his melting, fleeting home.

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In the Name of Climate Change, One Man Will Live Atop an Iceberg for a Full Year

Alex Bellini with his prospect temporary iceberg-home in the background.

The innocent polar bear, scrambling onto a slowly melting iceberg, has often been a favourite poster child for climate change. But now at least one person is out to demonstrate just what it’s like to be in a similar plight.

Come spring of 2015, Professional adventurer Alex Bellini will live on a melting, drifting iceberg off the coast of Greenland for a full year. He will be subsisting on 600 kilos of dried food while there, enduring extreme cold and loneliness, until the iceberg melts and forces him out, all in the hopes of raising consciousness regarding climate change.

Over the decades, climate change has dramatically caused rising sea level, endangering the world’s coastlines and people living there. It is estimated that sea level will rise up to 200 feet should the continent of Antarctica completely melt out.

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Used Cigarette Butts as Supercapacitors

Scientists in South Korea are exploring the possibility of using old cigarette butts as fast-charging supercapacitors, in the hopes of replacing the traditional batteries that power our gadgets.

New electrifying life for used cigarette butts.

Through a relatively simple one-step conversion process, the synthetic fiber in cigarette filters, called cellulose acetate, is heated with nitrogen, resulting in a carbon-based material that’s very porous with lots of surface area. The high-performing material is at par with or even better than graphene and carbon nanotubes that make up current supercapacitors.

Now, all our cities need is a good take-back program for those used non-biodegradable cigarette butts to put them to good use.

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Sunbeamers Illuminate Interiors Not Reached by Sunlight

In cities dominated by skyscrapers, some sunlight-hogging is inevitable. Unfortunately, it’s the small buildings that don’t get their fair share of natural light.

Tall neighbouring buildings hogging all the sunlight? Sunbeamers to the rescue.

Enter Sunbeamers, a nifty startup project which harvests and channels existing sunlight to illuminate building interiors not fortunate enough to receive sunlight. A system of mirrors bounce off and redirect the light where it is needed, while GPS tracking ensures the device follows the sun throughout the day for optimal light harvesting. For its maiden use, the Sunbeamers were retrofitted at the Canadian Embassy, whose interior had always been overshadowed by an adjacent tall building.

Natural sunlight still trumps any kind of artificial light, not just in terms of illumination and electricity savings, but also for its calming and healing effect on the body and mind.

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Simplifying the Production of Ammonia Through Water and Air

Researchers at the George Washington University have developed a simpler and greener way to produce ammonia using just water and air.

The current and century-old Haber-Bosch process involves heating nitrogen, hydrogen and an iron catalyst at extreme temperatures to make ammonia. But the process isn’t very green—it requires hydrogen (which is obtained by processing natural gas), emits carbon dioxide as a by-product, and uses up about 2{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab} of the world’s energy.

Stuart Licht, the research head, explains, “When electricity is applied, the iron oxide captures electrons to permit water and air to directly react and form ammonia.”

Ammonia is a vital chemical in the production of fertilizer for a good crop yield all year round, ensuring food for the planet.

The researchers admit of course that nature’s own way of conditioning soil, through bacteria, is still the simplest and greenest possible.

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Renewables Responsible for Almost 100{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab} of Energy in the US in 3 of the Last 10 Months 

Things are looking good for renewable energy in the US.  Three of the last 10 months saw renewables contributing to near 100{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab} of electricity for the country.

Natural gas (or fossil fuels) still led the pack this year, but solar and wind energy, when combined (1,226 + 1,196 megawatts), added more capacity to the grid than natural gas (2,185 megawatts).  From January to July, renewables were responsible for more than half of the 4,758 MW of new electrical capacity in the US.

Wind and solar power costs have been going down in recent years, while price of natural gas (which is non-renewable) is bound keep going up.

Renewable energy is a big deal nowadays, and companies are putting their faith on it. Microsoft recently cut its ties with an anti-renewables lobbying group, while Unilever did a similar effort.

| via TreeHugger, EarthTechling, Gizmodo, & ArsTechnica