Alternative Fuels Now

Kevin Grandia, who we are proud to be well acquainted with through working together in the ecoblogosphere, has just been through a bit of a saga.

Curious about the Heartland Institute’s list of “500 Prominent Scientists” who deny global warming, Kevin decided to contact some of the folks on the list. He put together a list of 150 email addresses…simply the addresses he found it most easy to acquire. After only 24 hours, he’d received 45 emails from angry scientists saying that they, in no way, denied anthropogenic global warming.

It turns out that the heartland institute had never told the scientists they were going on the list, nor did they check to see if these people actually had any doubts about the causes of climate change. Just a sampling of quotes from emails Kevin received:

I am horrified to find my name on such a list. I have spent the last 20 years arguing the opposite.

I have NO doubts ..the recent changes in global climate ARE man-induced. I insist that you immediately remove my name from this list since I did not give you permission to put it there.

Please remove my name. What [they] have done is totally unethical!!

Magenn Power Inc. has moved forward and begun testing a prototype of their MARS (Magenn Air Rotor System) inside an old US Navy airship hangar before beginning outdoor trials at a customer’s site in a few weeks. The MARS is a lighter-than-air turbine which is tethered to the ground between 300 and 1000 feet (roughly 90 to 300 meters) with conducting cables that transmit electricity to the ground. It is basically a blimp with its body configured with blades to catch the wind in order to generate power.

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The MARS can be quickly deployed without extensive site-preparation or construction, and can reach higher into the atmosphere than traditional turbines, making it better suited for use on sites where the land is not flat. It is also better suited for providing power to remote, off-grid locations. Because the equipment is lightweight and readily transportable, it could make access to power for remote villages easier to supply. And, with its much higher reach, it provides an opportunity to use wind power in locations where a tower mounted turbine would not get enough wind to be useful.

Magenn plans to begin installing their turbines starting next year. According to the company, four units are expected to be installed next year. The first MARS turbines are going to be roughly 25 x 65 feet (7.6 x 19.8 meters) and will produce up to 10 kW. Apparently plans for a smaller-sized MARS turbine have been put aside for now. However, future versions of the MARS could reach much larger sizes and be capable of generating up to 2000 kW. The company says the price for a 10-25 kW MARS unit is yet to be determined, but is expected to be in the range of $3 to $5 per watt. Comparabl with current wind technology.

Xcel Energy, the leading provider of wind energy in the United States has just announced that it plans on building the US’s first fully integrated Smart Grid in Boulder, Colorado. The idea behind a smart grid is to integrate high-speed communication technologies with the electric grid, allowing for real-time, two-way communication between the utility, the consumer, and throughout the distribution grid.

It’s a no-brainer. Bicycling is cheap transportation and good for the environment. But not all bikes are created equal and while they’re all cheap compared to cars…some can seem a bit steep. And then there’s the whole pedaling thing…call me lazy, but I like the idea of my vehicle moving me, instead of me moving my vehicle. It’s certainly a less green alternative, but far greener than a car. Unfortunately electric bikes can cost upwards of a couple of thousand dollars, but an extraordinarily inexpensive option is being produced by California company Currie Technologies. 

The $350 hybrid electric bike 388-PP can reach top speeds of 18 miles per hour and the range is 15 miles.

A rack-mounted regular Sealed Lead Acid rechargeable battery powers the all-terrain bike. The battery, which is detachable, takes between two to four hours to charge up.

The good news is this cheap bike is available now for purchase. The bad news is if you’re looking for something light, this probably won’t cut it. The bike weighs a whopping 76 pounds and so if you run out the charge, it’s going to be a heavy haul with that battery weighing you down. And the rechargeable battery has a short life span of between 200 to 300 charges before you need to buy a new replacement one from Currie for $120.

Via TreeHugger

The last barrier to greener transportation is up in the air and if these newly designed planes can get up there, the future of air travel may look decidedly different. While cars have been going green for decades, airplanes have remained behemoth fuel-gulping modes of transportation. EcoGeek put together a list of ways in which air travel is gretting greener…but there’s a long ways to go.

That’s bad news for anyone who has to travel for business reasons or can’t resist that get-away to exotic locales. But while nowhere close to being ready for commercial use, there is some green in the distant horizon. A French and a Swiss company are both vying to complete the first viable solar-powered plane.

The Solar Impulse Project, which we’ve discussed previously is backed by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, is aiming to use only solar energy to keep its aircraft up both day and night.  The Solar Impulse plane, which hopes to be about 1,500 kilogram of “take-off weight” is constructed around a skeleton of carbon fiber-honeycomb composite.

French company Lisa Airplanes is putting its efforts into the “Hy-Bird” project which plans to fly around the world with a 100 per cent clean electric airplane powered only by solar energy and hydrogen. For take-off, the Hy-Bird will use solar photovoltaic cells affixed on the wings and on the horizontal tail and for on-board power supply. A fuel cell will then fuel the aircraft for cruise flight and an electric engine will propel the plane.

HGTV “Green Home”: Complete with Gas Guzzling SUV!

Has greenwashing hit a new low? HGTV has completely missed the point of what it means to be sustainable with their new Green Home Giveaway sweepstakes.

The winner gets a fancy “green” home in Hiton Head, SC complete with energy efficient appliances, eco-floors, amenities, doo-dads, etc.; a membership to the local water-sucking, pesticide-spewing golf course; and a hybrid SUV. Of course all of these prizes are carefully branded and marketed through the HGTV programming.

“Bicycle City”: Perfection, Sans Picket Fences?

“Bicycle City” sounds like a place I’d like to live. By planners’ description, its “highlights” include a “walkable, urban design; vibrant local economy; eco-friendly, sustainable design; organic farming; human-powered transportation; strong and diverse community, active healthy lifestyle.” By contrast to most urban areas, Bicycle City doesn’t have “pollution, traffic jams, parking lots, national franchises, strip malls, stress, chemicals, or ‘cookie cutter’ ” designs.

Glastonbury Festival Celebrates Green Transport

The annual Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is encouraging concertgoers to leave their cars at home. A full third of people attending the three day celebration (akin to Woodstock, but in the English countryside) will commute by public transport (including via coach and rail) and Festival organizers are encouraging all who attend to car-share, if they must commute by vehicle. “The aim is to reduce the number of cars which come to the festival,” organizers say.

Cars Cause a Scentless Spring

The Direct Energy Centre in Toronto, an exhibition hall hosting shows of all types announced a while back that they have planned to turn the centre into a model of environmental sustainability, and at just over 800,000 square feet of exhibition space, that’s no small feat. They’ve earmarked $7 million of their sponsorship funding over the next 10 years for environmental initiatives, and have already made great strides in reducing the building’s footprint.

As you enter the grounds, you cannot miss the wind turbine in the distance, quietly producing over 1 million KW/h each year. In addition to this, 130,000 sq/ft of roof space is slotted to be fitted with solar panels, providing a peak power of nearly 2 megawatts of electricity, making it the largest PV plant in Canada.

Turning garbage into gold isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but perhaps all that waste doesn’t need to go…waste. Landfill gas, which comes from the natural decomposition of organic waste, can be purified and liquefied into clean fuel.

A new joint venture between North America’s largest waste management company, Waste Management, and Linde, a leading gases and engineering company, is hoping to “close the loop” by producing fuel from garbage and using it to power garbage trucks. The companies will construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility at the Altamont Landfill near Livermore in California that (when it begins operation next year) could produce up to 13,000 gallons a day of LNG.

That gas will be used for vehicle fueling the collection trucks. Natural gas is already the cleanest burning fuel available for Waste Management trucks. Additionally, collecting methane for burning has an overall positive effect on global warming, because methane is a much more powerfull greenhouse gas than CO2.

Linde North America estimates that capturing and reusing landfill gas could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30,000 tonnes per year.The LNG produced from the Altamont landfill gas will be a virtually zero-carbon transportation fuel and eventually lead to more facilities that can produce more than 200 million gallons of clean transportation each year from the garbage in California’s landfills.

There’s a lot of garbage out there and any way it can be re-used instead of just letting it rot away in landfills is a great thing. Waste is a terrible thing to waste.

Oil passes $120, gas prices slip more than a cent

NEW YORK - Oil futures surged to a new record over $120 a barrel Monday, raising concerns about higher prices for gasoline and goods and services throughout the economy. Retail gas prices fell more than a cent over the weekend, but oil’s advance increased the likelihood that pump prices would resume their climb.

Supply threats that emerged overseas and a weaker dollar sent light, sweet crude for June delivery to a new trading record of $120.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange before futures retreated slightly to settle up $3.65 at a record $119.97.

Oil’s sharp rise this year has driven gas prices to unprecedented levels, prompting consumers to reconsider summer vacation plans and limit daily excursions; they’re also spending less at malls and shopping centers because they’re paying more not just for fuel, but for all kinds of goods and services.

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Bush to discuss oil prices on trip to Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush is expected to talk with Saudi Arabian officials about the effect record oil prices are having on the U.S. economy during his upcoming visit to the kingdom, the White House said on Monday.

Mexico key opposition party criticizes oil plan

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A key Mexican opposition party lawmaker has recommended rejecting part of President Felipe Calderon’s energy reform proposal that would allow private companies to own refineries and pipelines.

The Direct Energy Centre in Toronto, an exhibition hall hosting shows of all types announced a while back that they have planned to turn the centre into a model of environmental sustainability, and at just over 800,000 square feet of exhibition space, that’s no small feat. They’ve earmarked $7 million of their sponsorship funding over the next 10 years for environmental initiatives, and have already made great strides in reducing the building’s footprint.

As you enter the grounds, you cannot miss the wind turbine in the distance, quietly producing over 1 million KW/h each year. In addition to this, 130,000 sq/ft of roof space is slotted to be fitted with solar panels, providing a peak power of nearly 2 megawatts of electricity, making it the largest PV plant in Canada.