/* added RDW 9may09 */ /* added RDW 9may09 */

Monday, November 30, 2009

Green RV Manufacturing



"Evergreen’s ... has the passion to change the RV industry by developing new materials and technologies for the first all composite, environmentally friendly recreational vehicles. ...  utilizing COMPOSITEK™ engineered “green” materials to replace traditional industry building materials ... Our unique construction and design methods are innovative and environmentally friendly."

" .... COMPOSITEK™ ... eliminates the use of wood substrate ...  materials are recyclable, eco-friendly, formaldehyde and VOC free and most importantly made in America ... EverGreen eliminated some 50 sheets of lauan per trailer, replacing it with stronger, lighter ComposiTek™ ... also replaced three to four sheets of plywood with composites in the interior furnishings. "


Via: EverGreen Recreational Vehicles  LINK

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Vegawatt™ - Power from Waste Oil

"Vegawatt™ ...  cogeneration system for restaurants and food service facilities, uses your waste cooking oil as a readily available source of fuel to generate on-site electricity and hot water, saving your restaurant thousands of dollars as well as providing a clean, renewable source of energy."


" ... paying a hauler to dispose of your used cooking oil? Or getting paid for your waste vegetable oil? You'll actually get a better return on investment when you use it to power your restaurant!"

How doesVegawatt™ compare to other energy sources?  Compare a KW of energy based on CO2 produced.  " ... Coal-fired electricity generator will burn roughly 1/2 a kilogram of coal to produce 1 kw of electricity, and release 1016 grams of CO2 in the process. ....Vegawatt™, running waste vegetable oil as fuel in a co-generator, will produce 1 kw of electricity and release 642 grams of CO2 in the process."  This is less than diesel at 998 grams and natural gas at 670 grams of CO2 respectively.



Via: Vegawatt LINK
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Saturday, November 28, 2009

USPS Offers Post Paid Recycling for Small Electronics


Have some small electronidcs you need to recycle?  The USPS has a solution for you.

" ... committed to leaving a “green” footprint across America ... pioneers in using alternative fuel-capable vehicles. And we support recycling and offer eco-friendly products."
 
Select USPS locations are offering postage paid mailers for recycling small electronics.  " ... mail is an easy and efficient way to recycle items so they don’t cause environmental harm ...piloting a mail-it-back program consumers can use to mail their used electronic items such as PDAs, cell phones and ink cartridges ...working with OSRAM SYLVANIA and Veolia Environmental Services to help consumers properly recycle used compact fluorescent lamps ... Hewlett Packard, Dell, and Sprint are helping customers return empty ink cartridges, cell phones and other wireless devices, old computers and computer equipment through the mail."


Via: USPS LINK
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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Onzo: Utility Management / Monitoring Tools


"Onzo provides energy, gas and water utilities with tools that enable them to achieve business objectives by building more valuable relationships with their customers."

" ...  can help utilities in improving the ROI on smart metering programmes, reducing and smoothing demand, bringing a consumer dimension to Smart Grid projects, attracting and retaining customers, and meeting regulatory requirements. "

" ... currently working on a number of projects with utilities globally ..." including Scottish and Southern Energy PLC.



Via: Onzo LINK

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

US Army - Power From Trash

A British defense firm, Qinetiq, has been awarded " ... a ... contract to supply the United States Army with a system that can generate electricity from garbage.  ...  Called PyTEC ... capable of consuming up to 220 lbs. of waste — which includes food, medical and sanitary, paper, plastics, tin, oil and glass — each hour.... also reclaims up to 500 kW of the thermal energy from the waste per hour, some of which is used to sustain the system itself. ... produces five times more energy than is used to power the system."

" ... works by heating mixed waste to high temperature in the pyrolisis tube ... releases combustible gases, which are stored and, later, burned to generate electricity ... differs from other systems because the heating takes place without oxygen, allowing it to handle untreated mixed waste."

" ... byproduct of the PyTEC system is a glassy waste product that is 5 percent of the volume of the original garbage."


Via: SmartPlanet LINK


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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Holiday LEDS Lighting and Recycling Service


LEDs lights offer longer life and less energy usage than traditional incandescent bulbs.  "HolidayLED's ... is committed to providing the best LED holiday, Christmas and decorative lighting available ... our products are UL listed and Energy Star qualified. ..."


"HolidayLEDs.com has a solution (and a final resting place) for your old and inefficient incandescent Christmas lights--we'll recycling them for you ... recycling program is open now and will continue through the end of February 2010. ...the third year in a row we have operated the program and participation has increased each year. ..."


This recycling program is FREE ... but  to be as green as posible they suggest following these recommendations.  "... Before you ship your lights to us be sure there is not a recycling facility locally who will accept them. ... There is an environmental cost associated with shipping your lights ... cost is greatly reduced if you put your lights together with several family members, friends, neighbors, or local groups. ... Don't use packing material. The lights are going to be placed in a commercial shredder. It does not matter if they get broken ... "

Here is the link to HolidayLEDS recycling program ... LINK




Via: HolidayLEDS LINK
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Monday, November 23, 2009

Carbon Capture Report™


The University of Illinois has developed the Carbon Capture Report™ that brings together all information Carbon related.  If you are looking for something carbon related this would be a good place to search!

 ... monitors news services from around the world to offer the latest news on carbon capture, carbon sequestration, and climate change, updated every 24 hours, 7 days a week. ... compiling a list of all articles mentioning these topics, and preparing a series of analytical reports to make it easy to continually keep track of what the world's media is saying about carbon capture."


" ... Daily Map service overlays each day's coverage onto Google Maps and Google Earth, showing what different countries and different parts of those countries are saying about carbon capture. See how coverage has changed over time using the interactive timeline of the Google Earth display."

" ... Daily Summary Newsletter service sends you the latest headlines ... delivered to your inbox at 2AM CST each morning."

" ... is an ongoing, highly experimental research project. All results are generated entirely by machine, so reports may occasionally contain errors and no guarantees of any kind are provided ..."

Via: Carbon Capture Report LINK

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Seattle - North America's First Carbon Neutral City ?



Alex Steffen, Exec Editor of Worldchanging " ... called on Seattle to become North America's first carbon-neutral city, dropping its per capita climate emissions to nothing by 2030."

" ... folks have been wildly supportive, generally wanting most to know how they can help build the movement to do that ... timing and target come from the now-common observation that we need to aspire to return the level of CO2 in the atmosphere to 350 ppm ... We have to invent that model and be living it in 20 years."

While mostly a call to action the message notes that we need to do this in such a way that the developing nations of the world have the means to rise above poverty.  There are significant cultural as well as technological issues to be addressed.

Click the link below to read the who challenge.



Via: WorldChanging LINK
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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Sugar as Renewable Energy



Claren Power, a Arlington, Virginia company, " ... partners with sugar mills in Brazil to build modern, cogenerational ... facilities. The fuel comes from sugar cane waste—called bagasse... "

" ... using the waste product of the sugar after the stalks are crushed, ground and shredded and the juice is squeezed out. ... use ... as the fuel for our boiler, which heats water ... to generate steam. This pressurized steam drives a turbine, which is connected to a generator that converts this energy into electricity. ..."

"Most plants consume about a third of the energy (steam and electricity) that we generate during the harvest, leaving the other two-thirds to export to the electrical grid. Our goal is to help make plants more efficient so that we have more excess energy. We’re using the same resources but providing three times more energy."

Via: SmartPlanet  LINK






















'

" ... using the waste product of the sugar after the stalks are crushed, ground and shredded and the juice is squeezed out. ... use this as the fuel for our boiler, which heats water ... to generate steam. This pressurized steam drives a turbine, which is connected to a generator that converts this energy into electricity. ..." "Most plants consume about a third of the energy (steam and electricity) that we generate during the harvest, leaving the other two-thirds to export to the electrical grid. Our goal is to help make plants more efficient so that we have more excess energy. We’re using the same resources but providing three times more energy."

Via: SmartPlanet  LINK Via: SmartPlanet LINK
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Friday, November 20, 2009

DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle one of Time Magazines 50 Berst Inventions of 2009



"The Dow Chemical Company's ... POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle, ... flexible photovoltaic solar cell packaged in the form of a roofing shingle that can be easily integrated with standard asphalt shingle materials, has been named one of "The 50 Best Inventions of 2009" by TIME magazine. ... integrates low-cost, thin-film CIGS photovoltaic cells into a proprietary roofing shingle design, ... reduces installation costs because conventional roofing shingles and solar generating shingles are installed simultaneously..."

.... learn more  @ www.dowsolar.com ...


Via: Dow News (Dow.com) LINK
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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Azure Dynamics - Full Electrican and Hybrid Vehicles



Azure Dynamics manufactures a variety of all electric and hybrid vehicles for inductry.  They recently sold / delivered 51 step vans to FedEx.

AZD has developed proprietary electric and hybrid electric drive technology for the light to heavy duty commercial vehicle categories. ... has expertise in the areas of vehicle controls software, power electronics, electric machine design, vehicle systems engineering and vehicle integration. ..."

"AZD ... makes use of an extensive industry supplier base to offer complete power train solutions to our target markets including delivery vans, shuttle buses and electric drive applications."

"AZD is headquartered in Detroit with offices ... across North America ... is a public company trading on the TSX Exchange TSX (AZD) in Canada."

Check out this very interesting video detailing Azure Dynamics technologies and the impact of a fleet of their vehicles. LINK




Via: Azure Dynamics LINK



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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Houston Dow Center Achieves LEED Gold Certification



Dow has been in the news alot lately with many offerings in the green space including BIPV roofing and a research agreement with Caltech.

Dow also has a LEED Certified building in Houston.  "... Houston Dow Center (HDC) ... has achieved LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) GOLD level certification ... is one of three LEED GOLD commercial interiors projects in Houston, and the seventh in Texas to achieve this sought-after certification."

Green and environmentally friendly aspects of the renovated location include "... construction material was ...  least 90% recycled materials ... Reusable plastic crates ... were used to move all 1,200 employees ...  All appliances are Energy Star® rated ... housing the same number of people as before, ... reduced electricity use by 40% (2.1MM kwhr) ... enough electricity to power over 180 average households ..."

These changes – along with many others such as the addition of low flow toilets and faucets with water sensors were installed in bathrooms – have helped to reduce water consumption by over 70% from the previous building ..."



Via: The Dow Chemical Company LINK
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Monday, November 16, 2009

FedEx Hybrid Trucks



FedEx continues to increase their compliment of hybrid trucks and now has its first all-hybrid facility.

" ... will pick up another 51 gas-electric hybrid trucks from Azure Dynamics ... Most ... will be added to its Bronx, N.Y. station, which will become its first all-hybrid facility. ... "

" ..The Bronx location will have 100 hybrid trucks. FedEx has 325 hybrid trucks total...."

" ... . expects to improve fuel efficiency by 30 percent. ... FedEx hybrid fleet has logged more than four million miles of revenue service since 2004. ... estimates that it has reduced fuel use by 150,000 gallons and carbon dioxide emissions by 1,521 metric tons. ... received a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority for the latest round of hybrid trucks."




Via:
SmartPlanet LINK
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Sunday, November 15, 2009

Ford Flex to Contain Wheat Straw Reinvforced Plastic


The 2010 Ford Flex will have a straw reinforced plastic storage bin .... that will reduce the anmount of petroleum needed and the amount of CO2 emissions.


" ... announced that it will be using a wheat-straw-reinforced plastic in the interior storage bins of the 2010 Ford Flex. ... the change to a 20% wheat-straw plastic will reduce petroleum use by 20,000 pounds per year and CO2 emissions by 30,000 pounds per year. ... wheat straw itself is a byproduct of processing the grain."

" ... Ford says it will be using the biomaterial in other places and other vehicles in the future. ... in addition to Ford’s soy-based polyurethane seat cushions and headliners, seat fabrics made from post-industrial recycled yarn, and post-consumer recycled resins for underbody covers...."




Via:
GoodGreenCars LINK

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Your Carbon Impact


Timberland is a very green company and goes out of its way to help consumers understand the impact of their purchases.  One way they do this is by labeling their shoe boxes with the environmental impact of each - allowing for individuals to make greener choices.

"... our boxes incorporate what we like to call a nutrition label ... details in actual numbers the environmental impact ... coming soon, we'll be including small icons that visually detail the special earth-conscious features that have gone into making that product. ..."

See the icons and what they detail ... LINK



Via: Timberland LINK

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Al Gore's Book Our Choice - Interview On the Daily Show


I caught Al Gore's recent  appearance (Nov 4, 2009) on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show".  He discusses his new book Our Choice and his views on the environment, being green and choices we can (or better?) make.  Both interesting and funny as you would expect ... with a seroius tone running through it.

I enjoyed it and hope you do as well.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Al Gore
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealth Care Crisis


Via: The Daily Show LINK



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Business Goes Green Conference

What can GREEN IT bring business in the way of energy savings? Listen to the panel discussion with members from IBM, Cisco and VMware talking about what each of their organizations is doing to help green the enterprise.

" ... Business Goes Green conference in San Jose, Calif., on June 6, Forrester Research Senior Vice President Christopher Mines moderated a discussion on data centers and the green technologies that panel members believe will have the most significant impact in the future ... "

There are some rather simple things that can reduce energy consumption like straightening cables under the floor so A/C can flow better to reduce A/C load.  







Via: ZDNet LINK
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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Dow Launches Solar Array and Eduction Center in Midland, Michigan


Dow is a player in the green space with heat transfer fluids for thermal heating systems and BIPV (building integrated photo voltaic) roofing materials.  Now they are getting into the education game....

" ... new solar array and education center, and construction is under way at a new factory in Saginaw County to produce a key specialty gas for the solar energy industry ...The Dow Corning Corp. plant next to Hemlock Semiconductor’s polysilicon factory is expected to employ about 30 people initially, ...to be completed in 2011, it will manufacture high purity monosilane, used in the manufacture of thin-film solar cells and liquid crystal displays. ... also unveiled a new solar panel installation and solar education center at its corporate headquarters in Midland. ..."


" ... expand our feed stock offering and will further reinforce Dow Corning’s position as a material supplier across multiple solar technologies ...solar installation at Dow Corning headquarters features 136 solar panels and will produce approximately 30 kilowatt-hours of power — the amount of electricity consumed by approximately seven to 10 homes in a year. ...

Follow the link below for the full story ...


Via: MidlandIssues LINK

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Peaceful Valley - Earth Friendly Gifts


Peaceful Valley sells earth friendly clothing and gifts.  They also support the environment and environmental causes as well as sustainability and Fair Labour Standards.

"... mission is to bring environmentally sensitive products into the mainstream market ... to raise a collective environmental consciousness and to provide triple bottom line funding for conservation nonprofits. ... through volunteerism, financial contributions and our vendor relations."

"... seeks out vendors that are committed to supporting environmental awareness, eco-friendly manufacture techniques and sustainable farming. ... products we carry are chosen for their sustainable characteristics as well as the social responsibility which which they were manufactured. Buying local whenever possible is a priority ... In every case, we work with the owners of the companies to ensure that all imported products are manufactured under Fair Labour Standards and meet Fair Trade Standards. ..."

See their website for more information ...  


Via:
PeacefulValleyGreetings LINK
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Saturday, November 7, 2009

IBM's Green Innovation Data Center

 Data centers are huge power users ... power for the servers ... that creates heat that then needs more power for A/C to keep things cool.

IBM has been working on ways to instrument data centers " ... uses networked sensors and liquid cooling to lower energy use."  Using data from actual IBM data centers provides real world variable data that helps improve the overall process.







Via: ZDNet LINK

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Gaia Hotel in Napa Valley Embraces Energy Savings and LEED


The Gaia Hotel in Napa Valley California is saving energy - and money - by using clean energy including PV solar panels and solar light tubes along with a white roof.

Hotels ..." generating large amounts of water and electricity to serve their customers. ... Wen Chang, founder of the Gaia Hotel in the Bay Area's Napa Valley ... believes hotel owners can do more to help the environment, without hurting the bottom line. ... the Gaia Hotel is saving $50,000 to 75,000 dollars a year on electricity by using clean energy to power 12% of its operations."







Via: SmartPlanet LINK
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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

HP's Approach to -Waste


What is the true cost of electronic items? Whatever it is ... disposal costs are rarely factored in.  e-Waste is a growing issue because it is the fastest greowiung component of our waste streams and improper disposal can lead to air and water pollution.

Read how HP is addressing this issue ...

" ... Hewlett-Packard has an ambitious goal to recycle two billion pounds of e-waste by 2010. ... Sumi Das talks to the company's director of sustainability, Bonnie Nixon, about how they are meeting the challenge by building recycling facilities ... demonstrates how HP is re-using materials from old printer cartridges to create new ones through a process called closed-loop recycling."



Via: SmartPlanet LINK



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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Airline Asks Passengers to Take Use the Bathroom Before Boarding !


Here is an interesting take on reducing the weight of a plane before flight. 

I found the original posting on  SmartPlanet which has some neat videos and interesting green ideas.

ANA " ... has started asking passengers to go to the toilet before boarding in a bid to reduce carbon emissions.  ... All Nippon Airways ... claims that empty bladders mean lighter passengers... thus lower fuel use. ... staff will be present at boarding gates in terminals to ask passengers waiting to fly to relieve themselves before boarding ... hopes the weight saved will lead to a five-tonne reduction in carbon emissions over the course of 30 days...."

" ... intended as an experiment lasting one month and 42 flights, the trial may be extended if it is well-received by passengers and if results are positive ... an average human bladder capacity of 15oz, if 150 passengers relieved themselves on board an aircraft, this would amount to 63.7kg of waste."



Via: UK DailyMail  LINK
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