NxtGen's SynGas Generator

This is pretty cool. It's a syngas generator for diesel motors made by the NxtGen company in Canada.

Basically, it takes exhaust fumes from a diesel vehicle, mixes them with diesel fuel, and ends up with hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This is then sent back for re-burning in the vehicle, significantly lowering emissions while at the same time also lowering the total amount of fuel used by the engine.

It's highest efficiency is at lower-load conditions (such as deliveries, in-city movement, and dead loads--running empty). This is because other systems that re-burn usually require higher temperatures to do so properly while the SynGas generator can do it at much lower temperatures, so it does it nearly all of the time the engine is running.

Pretty cool stuff. Learn more about it at NxtGen's website.

Home Compost Machine from Panasonic

Are you into home composting, but not the stink? Don't have a yard for that black barrel that spins around on an axis? If you're like me, you're doing the "bucket in the kitchen" thing with a stinky pile at the far end of the yard where you dump stuff and occasionally brave stabbing it with a pitchfork to turn it.

Well, Panasonic plans to change that. At least for the Japanese. The green craze is an Asian thing too, and the Japanese are all over it. Or course, if you live on the seventeenth floor of a Tokyo high rise and your yard consists of three bonsai trees on a small patio, you don't exactly have space for composting.

Now you do! If you are willing to pony up $881 for the priviledge, that is. Yep, you read right. This little beauty sells for $881 USD (in the yen equivalent), so it ain't cheap.

Personally, I'd pass on it. I mean, I could get a whole composting toilet setup for that price.

Yes, folks, I just said composting toilet. Don't be alarmed. It's better than your granny's outhouse. :)

Trucking Into the 21st Century and Efficiency

Before I get into this, I should note two things for you: I used to be a long-haul/OTR trucker hauling mainly produce and my truck got 6mpg on a really good day, downhill, with the wind behind me when fully loaded (the pic to the left was my rig). My last year of driving was in 2007 and I left the road entirely early in 2008.

Today, most trucks get about 6.5mpg, can weigh up to 80,000 pounds fully loaded, and so they usually get about 130 ton miles per gallon (130t-mpg). That t-mpg number is what most industry experts use to measure fleet efficiency, as it's a better indicator of how well they're doing overall. A truck's individual miles per gallon can change dramatically depending on the load it is hauling.

For instance, my truck was a 2006 Kenworth T800 with a 10-speed Eaton Fuller transmission. When driving a full load in the reefer trailer, I would have around 44,000 pounds of freight to put my truck very close to 80,000 total pounds (the legal DOT haul limit). With that, I would average 5.6mpg.

On another day, I might have that same setup, but with only 17,000 pounds of freight in the trailer. This would jump my miles per gallon close to seven (6.8 or better).

By the same token, my overall t-mpg number was roughly the same, since the tonnage being hauled was also factored into those numbers.

The DoT, Fuel Costs, and The New Industry
2008 was an ugly year for the trucking industry. Fuel prices fluctuated wildly in the early part of the year after 2007's ultra-high prices had already squeezed the industry. Owner-operators and small fleets took it hardest, with 2,500 of them going bankrupt in 2008 alone.

Meanwhile, Class 8 (meaning "big rig") truck sales dropped to a 17-year low despite new regulations that would soon force many trucks off the road for not meeting efficiency standards.

The EPA estimates that 6% of the nation's CO2 is emitted by the stacks of big rig trucks, though this may be wrong now that 2009 efficiency standards are in effect and the upcoming 2012 standards will be even more stringent. Despite only a 6.5mpg average, when measured in t-mpg, even the worst big rigs are more efficient than the average compact car.

Raising Efficiency
No matter how hard you want to try to hug your tree, you have to realize that big rig trucks carry 90% of America's goods around this country. One look around your desk right now will show you that nearly everything on it, in it, plus the desk itself and the computer you're reading this on were probably brought to you by truck.

So how do we make those trucks more efficient?

Many strides are being made right now to do just that, actually. RMI recently released a study (Transformational Trucks: Determining the Energy Efficiency Limits of a Class-8 Tractor-Trailer) analyzing how currently available technology could be used to effectively double the average mpg trucks currently get.

Doubling from 6.5 to 12.3mpg on the 500,000 (or so) registered big rigs in this country would save approximately 3.8 billion gallons of diesel fuel per year. That's huge. Here are some of the upgrades currently available, many of which are becoming industry standards as fleets work to maximize their own efficiency to boost cost-effectiveness.

1. APU - auxiliary power units
   These are already effectively required in many states like California, where idling is prohibited. The DoT now gives weight allowances to further encourage their usage.


2. Maximize hauled/delivered cargo
   Most companies have been doing this for years and with the addition of computer-aided load planning, it's becoming much easier to accomplish. Basically, the more freight the truck hauls, the more efficient it is.


3. Aerodynamic efficiency
   The addition of side skirts, trailer skirts, rounded tails, etc. all help efficiency. Most old-time drivers know that the closer your cab is to the trailer, the less "drag" you create between tractor and trailer, but the worse your turning radius will be.


4. New vehicle technology
   Changes in engine and aerodynamics technologies have also steadily improved the efficiency of trucks. Hybrid-electric trucking is coming soon, with one version being tested by Wal-Mart's large fleet right now.

Regulations are also changing to allow for several updates in how things are hauled. The nation's freeway system is capable of handling much more than it currently does, provided that Bridge Law (individual weight-per-tire) is kept. The idea of "trains" similar to the long vehicles used for long haul in Australia has been promoted, as are raising the total weight restrictions on vehicles overall.

Other changes like new tire technology, better metallurgy to reduce the weight of the rig (thereby allowing more freight), and improved driver training in understanding how efficiency is gained are all crucial.

In April, the Rocky Mountain Institute will be hosting a Transformational Trucking Charrette April 14-16 with industry experts, leaders, and managers to discuss these very issues. The plan is to pool ideas on how fleets can increase their own efficiency overall, maximizing not just their profits, but also lowering the costs of transportation overall--which means lower prices at the store for all of us.

EV-like Regenerative Braking for Gasoline/Diesel Engines

Jaguar has acquired the Tototrak system for hybrid recapture of the kinetic energy lost during braking to re-use it.

It's works in a similar way that regenerative braking works in a hybrid-electric or all-electric vehicle, in which the motor reverses to become a generator, sending power back to the batteries while slowing the vehicle, this system stores the energy used to slow the vehicle to be later released by the transmission into the power train for acceleration.

Torotrak developed the KERS hybrid system being used in Formula 1 racing and has joined up with Jaguar Land Rover to do the same for their vehicle transmissions.

In Torotrak's KERS system, the captured kinetic energy from slowing/braking is stored in a small flywheel in the transmission. This flywheel spins at up to 64,000 RPM and, when the vehicle speeds back up (accelerates), this energy is sent back into the drive train, reducing the load on the engine.

This is a really cool idea that I'm surprised hasn't been used before this. It seems very similar to what late-model steam locomotives used to use for their power boosting to accelerate from a stop. The difference here being that the kinetic energy from Torotrak's system is from braking, whereas the steam engines used idle engine time to wind the flywheel.

You can read more about this at Autocar by clicking here.

DOE awards first clean energy loan guarantee in four years

After a four-year-long freeze on loan guarantees for renewable energy programs, the Department of Energy has finally issued one to lucky Solyndra, Inc.

The solar company will use the $535 million guarantee to expand its photovoltaic production. The company specializes in solar panels that can lay flat on rooftops instead of at an angle, allowing greater roof coverage. The money, which will cover 75 percent of the cost of the expansion, will also allow the creation of new construction, manufacturing and installation jobs.

The guarantee still has to pass final approval, but once production begins, the resulting solar PVs will be able to generate 15 GW of power and prevent 300 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.

Since projects like this fulfill the administration's goal of producing more renewable energy and more jobs, the DOE is scurrying to get dozens of additional loan guarantees approved in the next few weeks.

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/ecogeek/1016/doe-awards-first-clean-energy-loan-guarantee-in-four-years.html

"Scrappage" Bill Introduced in Congress

The "scrappage" bill (officially the CARS bill: Customer Assistance to Recycle and Save - HR 1550) is all about buy backs. Anyone familiar with gun grabbing maneuvers will recognize this immediately. It's basically a buy-back bill for cars instead of guns.

Likely it will have the same result that most gun buyback programs in various cities and counties have had. Namely, every old, useless, pile of crap in existence will get traded in for top value.

So, if you've got an old, crappy, rusted out Plymouth in the back yard, Representative Betty Sutton has a plan for you! Get rid of it at top value by trading it in for a new, fuel-efficient (they mean "27mpg or better"--marginally fuel efficient by today's standards) car and get up to $5,000 in incentives!

Yep, that pile of rust that was worth $100 at the scrap yard is now worth five grand!

Hoodley hoo!

When are these morons in Washington going to realize that they'd do much more to help the economy and auto sales if they'd just throw out the personal income tax altogether?

Tesla Model S Unveiled

The much-anticipated Tesla Model S sedan has unveiled. This is another all-electric vehicle from the makers of the now-famous Tesla Roadster. Read my views on it at Zoomilife by clicking here.

GM Wants to Bankrupt the Rest of Us Too

Not happy with running his own company into bankruptcy (and staying in denial over the fact), GM's CEO Rick Wagoner says that America needs $4/gallon gasoline.

He says this while touting the Volt, which is currently a nice drawing on a piece of paper and is what General Motors is hinging it's entire future upon. This despite the fact that other companies already have better cars with the same concept on the road right now. To-wit, the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius.

Cheaper too.

Well, hey, if I were flush with government bailout cash and wanting to make a splash in the news, especially to the environmentalist crowd, I guess I'd say stuff like this too. After all, what do I care? I'll just go to Washington to ask for more bailouts. It's not like Wagoner's multi-million dollar salary and bonuses don't let him afford gasoline at any price.

When the Volt comes out, I challenge everyone in America to spray paint them at the dealerships with "VOLT IS BANKRUPT" like the animal rights activists used to do back in the day with fur coats.

Screw these morons. What we need, Mr. Wagoner, is for people like you to shut the hell up and go home and leave us alone. Alternative energy and transportation is coming, but we don't need morons like you to help it get here. Take your Volt and shove it up your fat, corporate patooty.

Fly Larvae Feedstock for Food Scrap-based Biodisel

This is very cool. A company called EcoSystem Corp. has introduced a MAGFUEL biofuel feedstock model that uses the larvae of Black Soldier Flies to metabolize food scrap waste.

Two reasons this is cool: first, it's all natural--no chemicals; second, this makes a great blending agent to increase the flow properties during lower-temperature operations of biofuels.

Cold "gelling" of many bio-based diesel products such as soy or tallow oil diesels is one of the biggest reasons most biodiesel blends use regular petroleum diesel in their mix. Other petroleum-based products like alcohols are also often added.

To get the gist of what all this means and to read more scientific information on EcoSystem's model, read all about it at Green Car Congress by clicking here.

EPA Wants to Tax Carbon

A report in the Wall Street Journal says that the Environmental Protection Agency has sent a preliminary proposal to the White House about carbon dioxide's dangers to public health.

You know, CO2, that stuff you breathe out every time you exhale? Ya, that's bad for you. Obviously, you breathe it out for a reason. Right?

Anyway, this is a "preliminary" report finding and doesn't have any "weight" (they say), but it looks a lot like an early pressure tactic to get Congress to consider a "greenhouse" tax. One that would basically make it impossible for anyone to operate outside of Stone Age technology.

If Obama's plan for a "cap and trade" system on carbon emissions were to be put in place, two things will happen: JOBS WILL BE LOST and TAXES WILL GO UP. Neither of those is "good for the economy." Since this blog is about environmental issues, I won't get into the rest about how trillions in deficits only screw us more.

According to Daniel Murphy of Investor's Business Daily, the EPA regularly puts politics above science in its proposals. This report came after several EPA whistle blowers went before Congress to testify that their agency's use of political science over hard science in decision-making is harming the environment and wasting tax dollars.

Scientists feel that the debate over global warming and man's supposed cause of it is still very much in the air. Carbon dioxide is a known greenhouse gas in a closed environment, but nothing proves it has any affect on a planetary scale.

Of course, this means nothing when the EPA can see that by moving on the current political trend against CO2 emissions they can greatly increase their own power base. After all, who would "regulate" emissions? You guessed it, EPA bureaucrats.

So what's really behind all this? Hmm..I wonder...

When Will the Green Jobs Come?

The term "green jobs" is thrown around a lot. Especially by Obama and friends, but equally so on green blogs and news sites. Many tree huggers love to spout the term "green job" as if it will somehow create magic pixie dust that will not only save our planet, but save our economy too.

I have two things to say about "green jobs" as they relate to government.

#1: There are only two kinds of green jobs: the ones that make green money like banking, Wall Street, and corporate welfare scams; and the ones that make green money by bilking taxpayers, getting lobbyists to hand over suitcases of it, and by getting your family cushy jobs at the aforementioned corporations (aka "politics"). Those are the ONLY two kinds of "green jobs" that government creates.

#2: The other thing I have to say about green jobs is that they aren't really defined. The term generically refers to careers that are not with big oil or the usual stodgy corporations. It attempts to refer to alternative energy, transportation, and so forth. Five years ago if you'd have said "green job," people would have assumed you meant in a florists' or gardening shop.

In reality, there are no "green jobs" really. There might be one or two here and there doing generally useless stuff like being a corporation's "Environmental Liaison," or something. For the most part, though, these jobs are a myth.

The reality is that this term is just a fancy way of making a regular job look better. Sort of like Wal-Mart calling their clerks "Associates" and "Manager of Children's Bicycles on Aisle 14" or whatever.

Sorry to break it to you, folks. But those "green jobs" Obama is promising? He's not talking to you. He's talking to his cronies who're going to walk away with bankrolls thanks to the bailouts and corporate takeover schemes they're hatching. For those who doubt me, look at Obama's "cabinet" and "advisors." They're all Wall Street types. Case rested.

Now back to the glorious idea that many greenies have regarding the government somehow magically "creating" all of these "green jobs" so that we're all happy. Well, first off this is pretty socialistic thinking. Second, government isn't capable of creating anything.

The government can only take from one person and give to another. So, sorry people, but if you want the government to supply you with a job, they have to take that job from someone else (like me, so F U) first.

So put down your stupid GREEN JOBS protest sign and go find a real job. And a haircut, you damn hippie. :)

"Micro" Wind Turbines Fail to Live Up to Expectations

The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust commissioned a study last year to review actual output from 21 small wind turbines around the state. The data showed that real production versus the turbines' estimated production was about 1/3.

In other words, the "expected" power delivery the turbines promise is three times higher than what they really delivered. The Trust has changed its rebate program for small wind production installments.

The performance issues were due to various things, most of which weren't about the units themselves. Because of their small size, "micro" wind turbines (turbines which produce less than 10kW) are both popular and easily mis-placed.

No, not lost, but put in the wrong place. With wind turbines, it's all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

This is illustrated by some of what the study found. Turbines placed on the roof at Logan airport and some other open-area spots were performing at or better than spec. The problem is obstruction and misjudged wind currents.

Many of these smaller turbines, even those installed by professionals, are placed in areas where the wind performs differently 100 feet in the air than it does at 20 or 30 feet (on top of a house) and on the ground. Just because it's primarily blowing SSW on the ground doesn't mean it's doing the same 30-50 feet up. Structures, buildings, trees, etc. can change the "current" and usually do.

So there ya go. I'm a big fan of rooftop-mounted turbines for those who can use them, but it definitely pays to get the $150 kit and test your installation spot before you buy or install that new generator!

MIT Climatologist Richard Lindzen on the Politics of Global Warming

Zero Motorcycles Hosting First Electricross This April

Do you have an electric motorcycle, ATV, quad-runner, or motocross? Well, you might want to saddle up and get on out to the 24 Hours of Electricross hosted by Zero Motorcycles in San Jose this April!

Read more at Zoomilife.

Solar System Installation in Florida

Nettles Electric / Nettles Solar Installation Video of the 2nd Largest Photovoltaic Installation in Florida.

The Electric Motion Systems E+ Cruiser Electric Bicycle

The Electric Motion Systems E+ Cruiser electric bicycle is a high-end 750 watt electric bicycle powered by a 36 volt, 10aH NiMH battery pack with a range of about 20 miles. The E+ Cruiser features powerful, configurable motor options, an innovative electronic controller, an in-wheel battery pack, and regenerative braking.

See the entire review and photos at LEVAdvisor.com.

Aptera e-car Updates

Well, the new Aptera electric 3-wheeled car is in the news again. It gets a lot of attention because of its unique style and it's hardcore following of fans. Here's the latest thanks to our friends at ZoomiLife.com.

32.7 Million EVs by 2015, Aptera Wants to be 100,000 of Those.

The Aptera in Color - a cool look at what this car would look like were it available in colors other than white. :)

Global Gore & Glenn Beck on Global Warming

Battery Technology Breakthough: Physicist Develops New Type of Battery with Incredible Energy Density

This is uber-cool. Physicists have come up with nano-batteries that can store TONS of energy in very small spaces. Without using chemicals. They're "spun fibers" about the thickness of a hair. Friikin' cool as hell!

Read more at Zoomilife here.

World naked bike ride

From Yahoo! Green

Thousands of bike riders are shedding their clothes in the hopes that they can get us all to stop and think about the negative effects that cars (and the pollution they create) have on people and the planet.

World Naked Bike Ride kicks off on March 7, 2009 in Nimbin, Australia, and Pretoria, South Africa. Events continue through March 15, in Sao Paulo, Lima, Sydney, and other cities throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Most of the Northern Hemisphere rides will take place on June 13, although exact details depend on each individual location. The list of participating cities is long: New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Dublin, Mexico City, Tel Aviv, and many more.

It's certainly a powerful way to make a point, but what does it feel like to ride nude? According to past riders: "Just like it does with clothes, but a bit cooler." And, apparently, it's not any more uncomfortable than riding with clothes on.

Click here to read the rest at Yahoo!

Solar Air Conditioner: Misnamed, Questionable Use

The Coolerado is supposedly a solar-powered air conditioner that cools your home or office using only the sun as its power source.

Technically, this is true except for two facts: it's a swamp cooler, not an air conditioner, and it uses water to cool your building, the sun just provides power for the fan and pump.

Right off, this doesn't seem like too much of a stretch, except that swamp coolers are only good in specific climates and conditions. Namely in hot, dry areas, with little ambient moisture. Like Colorado, Utah, and the like. In much of the country, a swamp cooler is nothing more than a glorified fan, since the water cannot cool the air as it must compete with relatively high moisture levels already in the air.

This is the worst "green" technology I've seen released in a while. I believe the term is "greenwashing." Further, the unit uses 4 gallons of water an hour. That's excessive, even for swamp coolers.

I expect that even more of this greenwashing will appear as companies take advantage of two things: sucker consumers and out-of-context statistics.

Guzzling Tequila Isn't Just For Spring Break Anymore

An enterprising farmer in Australia is growing agave plants, whose succulent is high in sugar and is what tequila is made from. Well, plant sugars have another big benefit: ethanol.

Ethanol is basically alcohol distilled from plant oils and sugar. So are a lot of our booze. Well, it turns out that agave might grow really well in Australia and is a better alternative for biofuel (meaning ethanol) than, say corn (which SUCKS for it).

Don Chambers, entrepreneur behind the South Australian based Ausagave company has decided that this must be the case and he's ready to try it out. He's got the plants, the farm, and the plan to grow it.

The great benefit of this is that not only is growing agave not displacing a valuable food crop, but it's also going to be carbon neutral when it's done.

No word on whether the fumes will get you drunk, but that could be another great side benefit to this enterprise.

Pretty soon, we'll see commercials: "Tequila. Australian for gasoline."

Scientists meet to dispute global warming theory

The A-list of manmade climate-change skeptics is meeting in New York City for the 2009 International Conference on Climate Change.

The Conference is definitely international in scope. Opening the conference is Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic and the European Union. When it comes to manmade global warming, Klaus calls that a myth. He is also an outspoken critic of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and says the panel is one-sided and has a political agenda.

GW conference 2009 smallFeatured at the conference will be more than 70 scientists who do not subscribe to the notion that so-called global warming is driven by manmade emissions of carbon dioxide, one of those being Harrison "Jack" Schmitt -- one of the last astronauts to walk on the moon.

The Conference is being hosted by The Heartland Institute. Dan Miller is the director of public relations at Heartland.

"What we are trying to accomplish with this conference is to present to the politicians and to the public that the debate is not over about global warming or climate change; that there is plenty of room for disagreement; and that sound science shows that the earth is not warming," says Miller.

"For much of the latter part of the 20th century there's been a mild warming as we come out of an ice age -- but the planet today is much cooler than it was a thousand years ago."

Besides the 70+ scientists at this conference, more than 650 scientists worldwide have expressed skepticism over manmade climate change.

Read the original at this link.

Electric “Goats” (Port Drayage Trucks) For San Pedro Ports

Balqon Corporation has begun production of 30-ton all-electric, heavy duty drayage trucks for San Pedro Bay, California’s port complex. The truck, called the Nautilus E30, is a short-haul container mover (commonly called “Goats” or “Hostlers”) capable of moving 30-ton (60,000 pound) cargo containers at speeds up to 40mph with a 30-60 mile range per charge (depending on average haul).

Read the rest at Zoomilife here.

So Much for Yucca Mountain - Nuclear Waste Storage On Ice

Well, Obama's new budget cuts out funding for the Yucca Mountain in Nevada, where most of the U.S.'s nuclear waste is stored underground. That's good, since burying our nuclear waste is kind of like pouring a barrel of used motor oil into a lake and calling it "clean."

The problem with this is that there's no alternative. What is Obama's plan for all that nuclear waste? Stack it up and hope it just kind of goes away on its own?

See, while Obama is getting all kinds of kudos and praise in the usual "green press" outlets for this decision, I have one big question that needs answering:

WHERE THE HELL DO WE PUT ALL THE NUCLEAR WASTE THEN?

See, those "green" nuclear power plants they love on the East Coast are kind of, well, producing nuclear waste. So...where do we put that stuff now?

I propose that we store it underneath the White House in that bunker they've got. When that's full, we'll move to the bunker under the Capital Building where Congress sits. Works for me.

Two birds with one stone and all that.

Who's with me?

Cool Solar Energy Engine (video)

Veranda Solar - Solar Panels For Everyone

Here's a cool idea: make relatively cheap, easy to use, "plug-n-play" solar panels that can be used by nearly anyone in almost any location. Sound cool?

That's what Veranda Solar is all about. Their new product is a solar panel that unfolds and easily mounts out any window, onto any gutter, or on any balcony. They clip together (no tools needed) and offer plug-and-play support for easy use.

The company, Veranda Solar, was launched at Standford University last year by Emilie Fetscher and Capra J'neva, who designed the panels as a thesis for product design. They plan to have the panels on the market for purchase by the end of this year.

Funding to begin their venture was in the form of 100,000 Euros won at the PICNIC Green Challenge.

A waiting list, investment information, and more are found on their website:

http://www.VerandaSolar.com

Light-Transmitting (non-Opaque) Concrete

Chalk this one up to the "holy crap, that's cool" file. It's called Litracon and it's a mixture of concrete and glass optical fibers. It allows silhouettes to "shine" through the concrete itself and, more importantly, allows light to filter through.

Basically, thousands of the optical fibers are laid in parallel in between layers of standard concrete, creating the ability for light to seep through the otherwise gray material. This makes for shadow silhouettes or just plain light. This could greatly decrease the amount of energy used for both heating and electric lighting use during daylight hours.

It also makes for a less dreary concrete bunker, I'd say. Most of the properties of the concrete blocks remain unchanged, since the fiber optics make up only about 4% of the total volume.

Other options are also possible, including the use of recycled (powderized) concrete and even recycled fiber optic cables.

Pretty dang cool!

Zoomi Light Electric Vehicles Launches

A new company, started by a friend of mine named Sebastian, has launched with its debut product: a new electric bicycle. The bike, called the Zoomi Monterey, is an e-bike with a lot of great features and options for an even better price.

You might recognize the Zoomi name from links I've posted here in the past. Well, Zoomilife.com is a blog I write for regularly that is also one of Sebastian's sites. It concerns all things electric vehicle.

The Zoomi Light Electric Vehicles (LEV) company is a natural offshoot of that love Sebastian has for EVs and putting together this bike--from design to sourcing to logistics--has taken him a lot of time and love-based labor. In the end, the product is awesome.

It's a 350W brushless hub motor on an aluminum bicycle frame with lithium-ion batteries. You can read all of the specs on the Monterey at this link, but just know that once you see them, you'll be impressed. Hopefully, you'll be impressed enough to buy one. Mine is one the way. :)

Obviously, once I get it and ride it, I'll make sure to review it here in total (with pics)!

Check out Zoomiworld!

Paper or plastic?

Here's a great article from Yahoo! Green on the (surprising) best choice between paper and plastic at the grocery store. For the record, if I have to make a choice, I choose plastic. They make great doggy-doo bags and cat box liners.

The Yahoo! article is at this link.

Recycle Amundo

El recyclo, por favor? I'm pretty sure that's right.

Anyway, recycling has become the fastest way for businesses to appear to be green. It requires little on their part, is quick to set up, and generally has a positive impact on both their image and the local land fill.

A lot of businesses are recycling everything from paper to plastic to bottles and more. The current favorite is "small electronics" (kind of a recycling industry code for "cell phones"). Since all the trendy Paris Hilton types seem to toss their phones for new models every six months or so, the pileup of old cells can get deep quick.

Well, here are some locations you can take your old cell phones and small electronics (pagers, MP3 players, RFID implants, radios, NSA tracking devices, and so forth) to recycle them, free of charge:

Best Buy (they also accept larger stuff like computers, TVs, etc.)
The United States Post Office
Speaking of the mail, DuPont's new Tyvek envelopes are 100% recyclable too.

So far, the list is small, but if you have other things to recycle like aluminum or paper, there are also a lot of local resources for doing that.

For more information on where to go to recycle and how to live greener in general check out Earth911.com.

Scientists Want to Stop Global Warming With Giant Mirrors

So here's the plan: build a cannon that is six tenths of a mile across (0.6 mile) and use it to launch mirrors into orbit a million miles above the earth's surface. Those mirrors will deflect enough sunlight to save us from global warming.

Well, honestly, this is one of the more realistic ideas I've seen for saving us from global warming. Wonder how long before Al Gore jumps in and takes credit for inventing it.

The idea was (really) invented by Dr. Roger Angel at the University of Arizona and would only cost about $350 trillion in funding. He's put in for a grant from Obama's administration right now. It will create at least thirty green jobs, so it's got a better cost to job ratio than most of Obama's plans so far.

NASA has agreed to fund a pilot project.

Doubters include Utah's Senator Orrin Hatch (R), who thinks the project is "unrealistic" and "too expensive in a downward economy." He then proceeded to talk about his latest anti-flag burning amendment he's proposed in Congress.

Drag Coefficient Wars Commence

One of the greatest factors in fuel economy (whether it be gasoline, diesel, or electric) is the drag coefficient of the vehicle itself. The worse the drag, the higher the coefficient number, and the less economical the vehicle will be.

Basically, the more drag there is, the more energy that’s required to propel the vehicle. Gives “what a drag” a whole new meaning.

Read the rest at Zoomilife, including Rocky Horror Picture Show references.

Hydrogen Powered Dancing Robot

Tokyo is currently hosting the world's largest extravaganza of photovoltaic (solar cells) and fuel cell technology, PV & FC Expo 2009, at Tokyo Big Sight. This was one of the things there:

USPS: Bankrupt Recycling

Despite the fact that they're showing losses in the BILLIONS yet again this year, the government monopoly United States Postal Service is happy to report that they do a lot of recycling.

I didn't see any mention of a program for reloading or re-using spent shells, but they have a lot of stuff about what they do with paper. You know those Priority Mail boxes you're always taking from them, turning inside-out and reusing to ship with a real freight carrier? Yep, those are mostly made of recycled paper now.

At least they're doing SOMETHING. Going out of business and letting a little free market competition in on the game would be a better use of their efforts, I'd think.

Home energy tax credits

In my book, any tax credit is a good tax credit. Giving me tax writeoffs for not buying electricity or energy from the grid? AWESOME.

Turns out the pork-laden bill that Congress passed late last year to "save" our economy (mainly Wall Street) included some big tax credits for energy alternatives on the private, homeowner level.

SWEET!

You can get $1,500 for being energy efficient, $2,000 for geothermal and solar stuff, $7,500 for a plug-in hybrid car, and $54,000 for being a friend of Obama. Among others.

So if you're going green or in the process of doing it or considering maybe doing it, now is the time. Tax credits await!

Greener gadgets preview: Power hog

This one is really cool. It's a little gadget to budget your kid's power usage. It's for an upcoming design contest.

Read more about it at Yahoo! Green.

NASA's OCO satellite crash a setback for studying CO2

How convenient for the Gorebots. NASA's satellite that was to study "greenhouse gasses," specifically CO2 (carbon dioxide), crashed before it ever deployed. It will likely take years for it to be replaced.

Bummer for the CO2 junkies. I doubt this will make a difference in their plans to tax us all into oblivion for our 0.1117% role in "adding" to the atmosphere's CO2 totals. Yep, there's a big, fat, giant zero in front of that percentage number. That's not a typo.

That tiny little number has greenies all up in arms, with Al Gore leading the charge with his misbegotten Nobel Prize.

Well, enough Gore bashing, let's get back to this story. No, wait, Gore bashing is fun. BECAUSE AL GORE SUCKS! HE'S A LYING P.O.S.!

Alright, really, that's all the Gore bashing for today.

Anyway, turns out this environmental satellite to study CO2 emissions fell back to earth, crash landing into the ocean, further polluting our natural resource with its non-biodegradable petroleum parts and metal bits. Nice job, NASA. Can't even recycle a failed satellite.

Optimize Shady Solar Photovoltaic Installations

"Due to the characteristics of solar arrays, small amounts of shade (for example, shading of less than 10 percent of the surface area of a PV system) can lead to disproportionate power losses of more than 50 percent. National will introduce a technology later this spring which will allow installers and homeowners to embrace shade and recoup up to 50 percent of power losses associated with partial shading."

Pretty cool! Read more from National Semiconductor's website at this link.

How Green is Your Pet?

This is pretty fun, actually. A great article from Green Air points out ways to ensure that your pet is being green-friendly. No, when your dog eats grass so he can puke, he's not "being green." At least, not in the sense Green Air is giving. Here, I'll reprint some of the article so you can get the idea. Link-through to the rest of it is at the bottom. Enjoy!


My pet is green!
by The Green A-Team

Has your pet gone green yet?

There are 72 million pet dogs and 82 million pet cats in the United States. The pet population has an impact just as we do, but the difference is that we’re making the calls as to how we care for them, decisions that can also have strong impact on our health and the environment.

Here’s a few tips for greening up your pet:

1.) Adopt. The shelters are teeming with abandoned pets that are desperate for a home and the cost of adoption is minimal.

2.) Feed them right. Meat byproducts, commodity corn, and chemical fillers in pet food are as bad if not worse for them as they are for us. Nourish their little bodies with brands that are certified to have the good stuff or make your own pet food!

and 3.) Compost pet waste. Keep it out of your vegetable garden but it use it your flower beds and lawns for them to come up really strong!

Read the rest at this link.

Testing Wind Turbines in the UK

BP Forms Joint Venture with Verenium to Advance Cellulosic Ethanol

The following announcement is pretty cool news. As you may have guessed already, I'm a pretty big fan of algae as a total petroleum replacement. Since the largest user of oil is plastics (NOT fuel), that is what needs to be replaced and, frankly, few other renewable technologies have the ability to do that. Sorry, hempsters, not even the magic weed can.

Anyway, in the interest of further looking towards Flux Capacitor 1.21 GIGAWATTS technologies, this one is pretty awesome too. The use of leftover biological "stuff" as fuel is a good idea, though I'd rather see it made into compost. But hey, I grow stuff, so I'm a big fan of compost. :)

So...without further ado, here's the latest on that front:


BP has announced a 50-50 joint venture with Verenium to develop and commercialize cellulosic ethanol from non-food feedstocks.

The companies have committed $45 million in funding and assets to progress the development of one of the nation's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facilities, located in Highlands County, Florida.

Yes, it will take years to scale up cellulosic (and algae) energy systems, but the pace of breakthroughs and production focused investments remains one of the most compelling stories emerging in the energy sector.

Read more at The Energy Roadmap.