Chevy Volt Pricing Released !!

2011 Chevy Volt !

The auto marketplace has been eagerly waiting official pricing for the Chevy Volt - an all electric auto.  All electric cars differ from gas / electric hybrids because in an all electric car the gas engine does not provide additional HP for motion.  In the all electric Volt the engine does not directly drive the wheels but recharges the battery.

Pricing is approx. $41,000 before a federal tax credit of $7,500 resulting in $33,500 to the consumer.

" ... uses gas to create its own electricity. ... run on a pure electric charge for up to 40 miles ... gas and emissions free. ... uses a range-extending gas generator that produces enough energy to power it for hundreds of miles on a single tank of gas. "


Via:  Chevrolet  LINK

Dell's Round Rock, Tx Site (and 8 others) Powered by 100 % Renewable Energy.

In June of 2009 Dell announced that they source over 1/4 of their global energy needs from renewable sources.
 
" ... powers nine ... facilities in the United States and Europe with 100 percent renewable energy. ... Round Rock, Texas; Twin Falls, Idaho and Oklahoma City, Okla. ..."

In addition to using a significant amount of renewable energy sources they " ... plan to reduce ...  greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2015. ... "

Dell follows a simple 3-step model where they work efficiently (energy-wise), use renewable energyand offset with carbon credits from verified sources.

" ... only company in the computer industry to achieve operational carbon neutrality in August 2008 ..."


Via:  DELL  LINK

UPS Offers Green / Carbon Neutral Shipping Option

 "UPS ... became the first small package carrier to offer its customers the ability to offset the carbon dioxide emissions generated by the transport of their packages within the United States."


" ... offer U.S. shippers the option of paying a small fee to calculate and offset the climate impact of the shipment of each of their packages. information about UPS carbon neutral services is available at ups.com/carbonneutral."

" ... To encourage customers to participate ... UPS will match the offset purchases, effectively doubling the offsets purchased in 2009-2010, up to $1 million."
" ...  the carbon offset process is ... certified by The CarbonNeutral Company. "


Via:  UPS  LINK

Make your House an Energy Sipper

With enough of the right technology any house can be close to zero net energy.  Here is the story of  "Marc Porat, an IT-turned-clean-tech entrepreneur, ... a showcase of the latest technologies that can be used to ratchet down the amount of energy that homes consume ... wanted to walk the talk with his own home, a historic 1936 home ...".

"A net zero energy house produces as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year. ... by putting in dense-pack cellulose wall insulation ... changing the heating and air conditioning system to an air-to-water heat pump, improving the ventilation and lighting systems and adding windows that insulate better, his team was able to reduce the amount of energy the home uses by 62%. Adding solar panels to the roof creates electricity to offset the energy consumed by the home. ... the house is completely powered by electricity.

" .. the $100,000 he spent ... is five or six times what people should be spending. ... Commercial and residential buildings together consume about 39% of the energy we use in the U.S., and the materials used in such buildings account for another 12% of total energy consumption, ... built environment is the key to whacking our energy consumption in half ...".

"... some 400 other home energy retrofitters in the U.S. focus on improving energy efficiency in residential dwellings .... "This is lower than the low-hanging fruit," says Sustainable Spaces co-founder Matt Golden. "The fruit is all over the floor. And the work is just beginning.""






Via: Forbes.com LINK

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

Gray's Harbor Paper

"Grays Harbor Paper is leading the revolution in manufacturing environmentally-friendly paper. Harbor 100, ... uses 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials and is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. ... its carbon-neutral manufacturing process and superior performance."

" ... carbon-neutral process uses a combination of traditional and nontraditional biomass fuels, including wood wastes that would otherwise be deposited into landfills or burned. ... was certified by Green-e for manufacturing with renewable energy after adding a second electrical generator powered by renewable
fuels. ..."

" ... is one of the few companies in North America that makes 100 percent recycled content paper and uses biomass wood waste to generate steam and electricity to make it a carbon neutral manufacturing process ... ".

One ton of Harbor 100 saves ... " ... 10,052 gallons of water, 14 million BTUs, 1120 lbs of solid waste and 2210 pounds of greenhouse gasses".




Via: Gray's Harbor Paper LINK

Chicken Manure Powers 90,000 Homes in The Netherlands

Here is an interesting way to reduce waste. reuse waste and generate carbon neutral power from a virtually never ending supply of manure ...

" ... largest biomass power plant running exclusively on chicken manure has opened in the Netherlands ... will deliver renewable electricity to 90,000 households ... capacity of 36.5 megawatts ... more than 270 million kWh of electricity per year."

" ... more than merely “carbon neutral” ... manure ... spread out over farm land ... would release not only CO2, but also methane, a very potent greenhouse gas ... using the manure for power generation, the release of methane is avoided."

" ... plant will utilize approximately 440,000 tons of chicken manure, roughly one third of the total amount produced each year in the Netherlands. ... European countries ... suffer under an excess of different types of animal manure that pollute the environment."


Via: Metaefficient LINK