Welcome to another edition of the Prompt Newsletter.

It's all about the environment this week, as we take a look at some of the ways technology is helping us go green. From carbon dioxide capture machines to solar powered bikes, it's all in this issue.

We also take a look at Apple's threats to close its iTunes iStore and why some people are not so sure that cloud computing is the way forward.

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Hazel Butters
CEO
Prompt Communications

Canadians create carbon capture machine

By Tarryn Landman

Last year, Richard Branson offered a $25 million prize for anyone who can find a way to remove at least one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from the atmosphere for at least a decade. With the invention of a new machine in Canada, a group of University of Calgary researchers are a step closer to victory.

The simple machine can capture greenhouse gas carbon dioxide right out of the air, which, according to the researchers, is the only way to capture CO2 emissions from transportation sources such as vehicles and airplanes. These sources represent more than half of greenhouse gases emitted.

Current carbon capture and storage technology requires the installation of equipment at the site of emission, and transporting the CO2 underground for storage in a geological reservoir. The new air capture technology, on the other hand, can capture CO2 present in ambient air, regardless of where the capture system is located, which would allow polluters to offset C02 emissions by building air capture facilities anywhere in the world.

The new machine can capture the equivalent of approximately 20 tonnes of CO2 per year on a single square of scrubbing material. To put this in perspective, 20 tonnes of CO2 is the equivalent of the average emissions produced by one North American person every year.

While the innovative machine could prove to be more expensive than current carbon capture methods, it is a relatively simple technology could be applied to the development of a commercial-scale plant in the future, providing us with another way to clean up our act when is comes to climate change.

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Pedal power is heating up

By Ellie Turner

Who can care about the cost of oil when a solar-powered bike has been invented? The 'Cycle Sol' has a canopy lined with solar cells that pick up the sun's rays, even on a cloudy day. The solar cells charge a battery, which powers a small electric motor hidden in the back wheel. This drives the bike at speeds up to 15mph. Then get to literally sit back and relax thanks to the handle bars being positioned on either side of the seat rather than at the front.

The bike has been invented by Miroslav Miljevic, who works for the London agency, Z & Co Design. Miljevic says, "I believe it is just what the modern day commuter needs - it helps you along your way while also being kind to the environment."

The Cycle Sol is in the concept stage at the moment but Mr Miljevic hopes to mass produce it once he has found a manufactuer.

With so many people obsessed with keeping fit and being eco-friendly, the Cycle Sol seems to be ticking all the boxes at the moment. However, with people watching their outgoing cash, perhaps it's not a good time to launch - these gadgets and gizmos are never cheap.

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Track your carbon footprint ... using your phone

By Kathryn Cave

The Guardian reported this week that London startup company Carbon Hero has developed technology to track your carbon footprint using your mobile phone. Last year's regional winner of The European Space Agency's European satellite navigation competition, Carbon Diem technology will hit the high street next spring.

The secret behind Carbon Diem is it uses global positioning satellites to automatically determine whether you're walking, driving or flying. The inventors claim that by using GPS to measure the speed and pattern of movement, their algorithm can identify the mode of transport being used. With this information it can then calculate the amount of carbon dioxide a journey has emitted into the atmosphere - without any need for input from the traveller.

Andreas Zachariah, chief executive of Carbon Hero said that Carbon Diem is the world's first automated carbon calculator. "We're facilitating people to make little changes and allow those changes to be noted and registered and possibly shared," he said. "If lots of people realise we're in this marathon [in tackling climate change] and we're not running alone, then we actually think people will be motivated to stick to changes."

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Apple threatens to close iTunes store

By Rebecca Cheers

A threat that Apple made 18 months ago to close down iTunes has resurfaced this week, just before royalty rates are to be set. The copyright royalty board met on Thursday to discuss plans for a 66% increase of sales of digital music from 9 cents to 15 cents a track. This rise would either have to be paid by Apple, the record company or the consumer.

Apple has made it very clear they are not happy to absorb the rise or raise the price of its 99 cents a song price. In fact, the company's vice president for iTunes, Eddy Cue, threatened to close iTunes in a testimony to the Board at the Library of Congress.

"If iTS (iTunes Store) were forced to absorb any increase in the mechanical royalty rates, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss - which is no alternative at all," said Cue. "Apple has repeatedly made clear that it is in this business to make money, and would most likely not continue to operate iTS if it were no longer possible to do so profitably,"

The National Music Publishers' Association asked for a royalty rate increase as it believes that everyone will benefit in a growing digital market place.

"I think we established a case for an increase in the royalties. Apple may want to sell songs cheaply to sell iPods. We don't make a penny on the sale of an iPod" said David Israelite, president of the NMPA.

But with Apple still dominating the digital media market it is widely expected that their threats will be enough to sway the decision. They have asked for the rate to be pegged at 4.8 cents a track for the next 5 years and, if successful, this will win Apple even more public favour. Let's hope that what Apple wants, Apple gets.

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Cloud computing ? GNU must be joking…

By Dave Wilby

Richard Stallman, creator of the open source GNU operating system and founder of the Free Software Foundation, this week dismissed cloud computing as "stupidity" and "a trap".

Stallman is certainly no stranger to controversial outbursts, but his anger at what he regards as the commercial hype of cloud computing has made particularly interesting reading. "It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign," he told the Guardian. "Somebody is saying this is inevitable and, whenever you hear somebody saying that, it's very likely to be a set of businesses campaigning to make it true."

A long time champion of open computing, Stallman believes the momentum behind cloud computing provided by major commercial developers will ultimately result in vendor lock-in and escalating costs, forcing people to hand over control of their information to third parties. "One reason you should not use web applications to do your computing is that you lose control. It's just as bad as using a proprietary program," Stallman added.

This opinion comes in the same week that analyst firm Gartner questioned the value of the term 'cloud computing' claiming in a press release that the term "is being loosely applied and defined differently, and it's creating a lot of confusion in the market."