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When crowdfunding is Sharia compliant
When crowdfunding is Sharia compliant
Islamic finance abides by the Sharia law. It demands socially responsible investment, with a real impact on the community.
Green living: encouraging investors to go retro
Green living: encouraging investors to go retro
Just because your home was built in the 1950s or 60s doesn’t mean it can’t be green. Retrofitting – the process of modernising properties using the latest technologies – can save energy and reduce CO 2 emissions.
Smart buildings: energy efficiency at what price?
Smart buildings: energy efficiency at what price?
Smart buildings appear to respond to a range of energy challenges found in Europe today. Improved efficiency would help consumers reduce income spent on energy consumption, reduce greenhouse emissions and also help EU countries meet the goals of the 2030 energy strategy .
Fitting hot and cold climates into the “envelope”
Fitting hot and cold climates into the “envelope”
Buildings account for 36% of CO 2 emissions in Europe, and energy consumption in this sector has increased in recent decades.
A raincoat for our houses
A raincoat for our houses
Today, one of the new challenges for the construction industry is the use of textiles, coming from the clothing and footwear industries.
A smart city means an inclusive city
A smart city means an inclusive city
Like every year, December 3 will be a United Nations sanctioned International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) . The aim is to increase public awareness of the conditions of disabled people and, at the same time, to celebrate their achievements and contributions.
Do microbes control our mood?
Do microbes control our mood?
If aliens were to examine a human, they would think we were just slavish organisms designed to feed microbes and carry them around. Our bodies contain ten times more bacteria than cells , and there are an estimated 3.
Robots in distress in the Venetian Lagoon
Robots in distress in the Venetian Lagoon
Can mathematics be expressed poetically through computational technologies? Visual artists Vicky Isley and Paul Smith believe it can be and are collaborating with the Artificial Life Lab of the University of Graz, in Austria, on the Subcultron project (Submarine Cultures Perform Long-Term Exploration of Unconventional Environmental Niches).
Cities: surviving floods and significant whims of the weather
Cities: surviving floods and significant whims of the weather
Part of the solution to counter the devastating effects of floods on human communities could be long-term climate forecasting, backed by assessments on the vulnerability of towns and cities As centres of innovation and growth, European cities are home to around 75% of the continent’s population and use about 80% of the energy it produces.
Social, green, but primarily as an investment: all the features of energy crowdfunding
Social, green, but primarily as an investment: all the features of energy crowdfunding
There are three ways a crowdfunding project can be financed. Lending: the entrepreneurs borrow money and pay interest; equity: investors in the project become its shareholders; donations: no reward is to be expected (there is a fourth way, a mix of equity and lending called “hybrid”).
Saving energy through a user-friendly experience
Saving energy through a user-friendly experience
Living or working in high energy-efficient buildings can be a great opportunity but users need to feel empowered. This means making them aware of the building features and allowing them to manage some of the appliances by themselves.
Energy crowdfunding: the new way to boost renewables
Energy crowdfunding: the new way to boost renewables
It's a brand new sector: the first steps date back to 2012. Today energy crowdfunding is a way of financing solar panel or wind turbine projects.
Resilient seeds - Nurturing the future of agriculture
Resilient seeds - Nurturing the future of agriculture
For the first time in its history, the Global Seed Vault on the Svalbard Islands, Norway, has authorised a withdrawal. It was requested in 2015 by Syria, a country where the war is endangering the local agricultural seed collections.
The sun is shining… Let’s prepare for severe weather!
The sun is shining… Let’s prepare for severe weather!
As well as being a time for celebration, winter in Europe is a time for serious weather. Blizzards, flash floods, hurricanes, heavy snow fall can cause chaos, major disruption, economic loss, and endanger lives.
Smart grid: A grid suitable for renewable energy
Smart grid: A grid suitable for renewable energy
Traditionally our electricity grids were designed to move power from large nuclear and fossil fuel power plants to consumers, but renewable energy will see changes to allow smaller power generation from wind and solar to be hooked up to the grid.
Pig plague threatens Europe
Pig plague threatens Europe
African swine fever , or ASF, is a viral disease that kills almost every pig it infects and is likened to Ebola . It gained a foothold in Georgia in 2007, when contaminated pig meat landed from a ship from South-East Africa and was fed to local pigs.
Learning from new very low energy buildings
Learning from new very low energy buildings
To tackle climate change, new buildings are required to consume as little energy as possible . That’s because, in Europe, buildings are responsible for about 40% of our energy consumption.
Urban agriculture is more than a hippy-style hobby
Urban agriculture is more than a hippy-style hobby
Imagine living in an inner city and buying your vegetables and fruit just moments after they’ve been harvested. Imagine waking up to the rustic sound of a cock crowing.
Free ecosystem services for better crops
Free ecosystem services for better crops
Ecosystem services are free, but often hidden. They include pollination and killing of crop pests by beneficial insects. Now, QuESSA , an EU-funded research project, due to be completed in 2017, will try and increase the visibility of such services.
Renewed hope for gene therapy in rare disease
Renewed hope for gene therapy in rare disease
Between 30 and 40 million people in Europe suffer from rare diseases —many of them children. As most of these diseases have genetic origins, gene therapy is a major hope for their future cure .
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