MUSIC: "Our World" theme
This week on Our World: An Earth-Daylook at the prospect for floating windmills ... a possible vaccine toprevent deadly e-coli infections ... and the Neanderthal way of givingbirth ...
WEAVER: "Neanderthals actually had a different birthmechanism than modern humans. And so that suggests that the human birthmechanism is actually a very recent occurrence in terms of the span ofhuman evolution..."
Those stories, a hot report on the role of fire in the Earth's ecosystem, and more.
I'm Art Chimes. Welcome to VOA's science and technology magazine, "Our World."
This week, for the 40th time, people around the world celebrated Earth Day, which began in 1970.
Herein the United States, governments, school kids, companies, andneighbors planted trees, cleaned up waterways, learned about climatechange, or made plans to recycle more.
On Wednesday, PresidentBarack Obama went to a former appliance factory that now makes partsfor power-generating windmills. He linked the challenges of a tougheconomy to the quest for clean, renewable energy, saying the switchwill generate jobs and economic growth.
For now, he said, the United States must reduce its dependence on imported oil by increasing domestic oil and gas production.
OBAMA: "But the bulk of our efforts must focus on unleashing a new, cleanenergy economy that will begin to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,will cut our carbon pollution by about 80 percent by 2050, and createmillions of new jobs right here in America."
President Obama also promised to work with other nations in addressing the energy crisis.
Hespoke of the plan to develop renewable energy, including wind energyharnessed by turbines mounted on the very towers being made by theworkers in his audience.
OBAMA: "Through the Department ofInterior, we are establishing a program to authorize - for the veryfirst time - the leasing of federal waters for projects to generateelectricity from wind as well as from ocean currents and otherrenewable sources.
"And this will open the door to majorinvestments in offshore clean energy. For example, there is enormousinterest in wind projects off the coasts of New Jersey and Delaware,and today's announcement will enable these projects to move forward.
"Nowit's estimated that if we fully pursue our potential for wind energy onland and offshore, wind can generate as much as 20 percent of ourelectricity by 2030, and create a quarter million jobs in the process,250,000 jobs in the process, jobs that pay well and provide goodbenefits."
Collectingwind energy offshore is promising. The ocean generally offers wideopen spaces and stronger winds than those that blow across land. Andthere are projects already underway along European coastlines, inshallow waters where a wind turbine can be anchored to the sea floor.
Butalong most of the world's coastlines, it gets too deep too fast to puta turbine tower on a solid foundation. So a company in Seattle,Washington, near the U.S. Pacific coast, has announced plans for theworld's first floating wind farm. Tom Banse reports windmills thatwould float many kilometers out at sea could one day help satisfy ourenergy needs, without being eyesores from land.
BANSE: Theworld's beaches and coastlines are marked by the scent of the ocean,the sound of the waves? and the fairly constant feel of the wind.That's what interests energy developer Alla Weinstein.
WEINSTEIN: "The wind resource offshore is a lot stronger and more consistent than it is on shore."
BANSE: The challenge is how to harness that wind to make electricity.
WEINSTEIN: "Because the ocean is fairly deep, very quickly."
BANSE: ... Certainly on the U.S. Pacific Coast, where we're standing.Weinstein founded a company called Principle Power. It is trying to dosomething never done before... namely build a floating wind farm. TheRussian-born engineer proposes to marry two existing technologies to dothis.
WEINSTEIN: "We actually are not inventing the wheel. Weare reusing the wheel. The wheels that we are reusing are the offshoreplatforms that were developed for the offshore oil industry and alsothe [wind] turbines that have been developed first for use on land."
BANSE: Weinstein and one of her project managers have just finished presentingtheir plans to a community meeting in the postcard pretty town ofManzanita, Oregon.