If climate change concerns you — and it should — then today’s post is all about how you can help.
Power plants that burn fossil fuels contribute more than 40% of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions every year. Although the number and location of such facilities is reasonably well-documented inside the United States (try this Google search for US power plants), data on the rest of the world is harder to come by. The Ventus Project led by Dr. Kevin Robert Gurney at Arizona State University wants to change that.
To take part, you can provide the exact location of a single power plant near your home or work, or you may contribute information regarding a series of power plants including location, power generation, fuel type and CO2 emissions.
You can register at this link, and find out more about how to enter your data on this instructions page.
And just in case you needed an incentive, this project has a game aspect. For each piece of useful data you provide, you receive a point. In 2014, project organizers will identify the individual with the highest total score and crown them Supreme Power Plant Emissions GURU. The title comes with a trophy, bragging rights, social media fame, and a listing as a co-author on a paper about crowdsourcing science.