By Rhonda Winter via Ecolocalizer

When we speak of “growing” a more sustainable local economy, the term is usually not meant literally; but in the case of an innovative design for a new transport vehicle, we may actually be able to grow our way into a more sustainable future. A beautiful new three-wheeled recumbent bicycle has been created that is constructed from renewable organic materials. The bamboo bike was derived from techniques used in arborsculpture, a more complex form of topiary, which utilizes specifically modified and grafted plants to create shaped structures which are very strong. The process is also known as “grown mobility”.

This award-winning velomobile is known as the “Ajiro”, and was created by student designer Alexander Vittouris. Building this machine involves using sustainable principles to create a transportation vehicle that is almost entirely made of natural biodegradable materials. Using an easily renewable resource like bamboo, with its rapid growth rate (as much as one meter in just a 24 hour period), coupled with its amazing structural integrity, makes this vehicle a very sensible choice. Mr. Vittouris explains a bit about how the recumbent is made:

“In this case, the manipulation and intervention is more akin to a farming process, whereby bamboo plants need time for thorough establishment to form the required energy mass to produce new culms. The vast array of species available also lends such a mobility concept to be locally grown, creating distributed, localized production. For the sake of the research experimentation, Bambusa Oldhamii seems most appropriate for climatic suitability in Australia, and whilst progress has been made in proving its growth and viability, more plant establishment would be necessary.

Embracing a natural process, affords knowledge of a somewhat different kind — products take time to create, they take resources. Growing sections to be used in ones personal mobility teaches that material worth is beyond that of ‘discardability’, ones own efforts, witnessing growth, creates a tangible link to the very history of the product. Growing materials for direct transference to products also indicates other possibilities for maximizing a single materials use, rather than relying on either multiple materials or processes to fulfill criteria.

Possibilities unheard of in conventional production process may allow the opportunity for community farms of vehicles growing once thorough plant establishment has taken place. The Ajiro concept is about rethinking our approach to both design and ecological sustainability of the products we create. Approaches towards sustainable personal mobility will surely be necessary, and growing vehicles may provide that answer.”

Source: EcoLocalizer (http://s.tt/12YGa)

By Lucy Meskill via SuperEco

According to a study, Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings, some Americans do not have a clear idea about how to make a real difference in their energy consumption.

Twenty percent of the people polled voted for measures like turning off lights and unplugging phone chargers, instead of buying more energy-efficient vehicles and upgrading to Energy Star rated appliances.

Participants in the survey didn’t know that things like washing clothing in cold water and switching from central air conditioning to in-room air conditioners can make a huge difference. They also didn’t realize that, while recycling is crucial for conserving precious resources, it is not energy saving.

Micromanaging our carbon footprint with small things is by no means useless, but it must be accompanied by larger, more sweeping moves such as auditing and upgrading larger items and making wise lifestyle choices. Ideally, conservation and efficiency should go hand in hand.

By Michael Bloch via Green Living Tips

I’ve been using LED lights for a few years now and I think the essence of the technology is fantastic. LED lights are great in off grid applications as they sip so little power; even far less than CFL’s (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) – and without the mercury concerns.

The technology has evolved to the point that they are becoming more commonplace in homes too. LED’s have the potential to contribute greatly to electricity related carbon emissions.

But not all LED’s are created equal and the current situation is putting makers of quality LED products in a difficult position.

Unfortunately, the rise in popularity and pressures of pricing competition has seen an increasing trend of what are referred to (but not marketed as) “disposable” LED lights. These inferior products threaten to give all LED lighting a bad name as the market is riddled with them.

I’ve bought a few LED products that have started out fine, but after a hundred or so hours of use, the lights dim, then after a while longer they flicker, and then ultimately go out.

These are not isolated incidents, nor am I just unlucky – this appears to be the nature of the design in many cases, another example of planned obsolescence.

So how do merchants and manufacturers justify the kazillion hour ratings they advertise for these products?

I’ve been communicating with Tim Gravert of Caberra Systems, Inc.; who have been in the solid state electronic and LED industry for 30 years. Tim is also very angry that many manufacturers are misleading the public in regard to “lifetime ratings” as this impacts on quality companies who provide ratings based on real-world conditions.

It’s my understanding from the information Tim has given me and subsequent research that LED lifetime ratings are often based on the “L70″ standard – a calculation based partly on operating the light in ambient temperatures of just 15 degrees Celsius or 59 degrees Fahrenheit. The “70″ means the light should maintain 70 percent of its brightness over the period of time.

Another important point is that the ambient temperature under L70 is meant to be measured in the area immediately surrounding the LEDs, not the general air temperature. Bearing in mind that heat is one of the greatest enemies of LED lights and cheap LED lights tend to be built in such a way that does not allow for rapid heat dissipation either, you can see where this is heading.

While even cheap LED’s run pretty cool in comparison to an incandescent lamp, which is part of what makes them so efficient, I know from my own experience that cheap LED lights get warmish, even when the general air temperature is quite chilly – and most people would have their homes heated to above the 15 degrees Celsius / 59 degrees Fahrenheit mark anyway.

So, when a manufacturer makes the claim the light will last 100,000 hours; the claim is often made with that 15 degrees Celsius or 59 degrees Fahrenheit figure under the L70 standard and if you run them at a temperature any higher, which most people will do, bang – it’s a good excuse for a decline of warranty claim and will also ensure that the life of the LED is greatly decreased – and a replacement bought.

Alternatively, given how cheap some of these lights are, you won’t even bother with a warranty claim and just chuck the light away. It’s an issue that manufacturers are well aware of I’m told and in my opinion, it’s a form of green washing.

In environmental terms, this goes beyond just these tiny LED bulbs. There’s usually a good deal of plastic and metal housing and perhaps a stand that comes with LED lighting. Millions of these cheap lamps are being sold around the world and given you can’t replace the LED’s in many these devices, they are bound for landfill much sooner than the purchaser thought they would. Even if the LED’s can be replaced, such as the bulbs that work with standard light fittings, it’s still a lot of waste.

To date, the best bang for buck I’ve received from LED’s wasn’t one of these 28/56 or whatever LED arrangements, but a headlamp with just one Cree LED in it. Although a single LED arrangement, it’s been far brighter than any of the multiple LED lights I’ve had – and maintained its brightness. It cost a bunch more too at the time, but it was money well spent and there will be less waste when it does finally give up the ghost. When I was comparing headlamps, I found the look of it rather weird compared to other models, but the oddness had a purpose that I didn’t realize at the time – to allow for more effective heat dissipation.

I think generally speaking, the more you spend on an LED fitting, the better the life you’ll get – but don’t just take price as a guide. Watch out for the “L70″ standard and quiz merchants on a light’s ability to dissipate heat. Look for ratings that will be guaranteed under real-world temperature conditions.

By the way, Tim tells me L70 isn’t just used with LED lights, but also CFL’s at times; which explains why the quality of Compact Fluorescent Lamps and their claimed lifespan vs. actual can vary quite a bit.

Michael Bloch
Green Living Tips.com
Green Living Tips is an online resource powered by renewable energy offering a wide variety of earth friendly tips, green guides, advice and environment related news to help consumers and business reduce costs, consumption and environmental impact .

Image source: Wikimedia

By Steve Graham Via Networx

Even with a constant flow of information about energy efficiency, homeowners make major heating mistakes that end in higher electric bills and larger environmental footprints. Here are 10 of those errors, with the cause and effect of each decision.

1. Maintaining a constant temperature

Cause: A persistent myth suggests that you can save energy by leaving the house at a comfortable 68 degrees (a widely recommended winter setting), even when you are sleeping or away at work. The idea is that it takes more energy for the furnace to reach a comfortable temperature than to maintain that temperature.

Effect: You could miss out on significant potential energy savings by not using a programmable thermostat and adjusting the temperature overnight and during the workday. Though the impacts of adjusting the thermostat vary based on your climate and other factors, studies show that knocking the temperature down by 10 degrees for eight hours per day can cut heating bills by 5 to 15 percent. Sure, the furnace will cycle on for a longer period to return to the more comfortable temperature, but it will be far outweighed by hours of savings when it didn’t have to work as hard.

2. Cranking up the temperature to warm up the house

Cause: You come home in the middle of the day to a cold house. You want to warm back up to 68 ASAP, so you crank the dial up to 78 to get the furnace working harder and faster.

Effect: No time is saved in reheating the house. Most furnaces pump out heat at the same rate no matter the temperature. They just cycle on for a longer period to reach a higher temperature. The furnace will take the same amount of time to return to 68 degrees regardless of the thermostat setting. By cranking up the thermostat, you are likely to overheat the house past 68 degrees and waste energy. Just reset the thermostat to 68, make some hot chocolate and wait.

Learn how to get the most out of a programmable thermostat.

3. Closing off vents in unused rooms

Cause: You don’t want to waste energy heating rooms you aren’t using.

Effect: Again, this just wastes energy and makes your furnace run inefficiently because it changes the air pressure in the whole system. Experts recommend never shutting off more than 10 percent of vents. Sealing your ducts is a more efficient way to save energy.

4. Using the fireplace

Cause: You found some free firewood on Craigslist and think you can burn up some free heating energy while enjoying a romantic fire.

Effect: While we can’t make any promises about increased romance, we can predict increased energy bills. An open fireplace flue may suck more cold air into the house than the fire can radiate into the living space.

5. Using electric room heaters

Cause: You spend most of your time in a couple of rooms, so you figure you will just heat them with space heaters.

Effect: This could lead to higher energy bills and greater fire risks. Generally, a central gas heating system is cheaper and more efficient than a set of electric room heaters. Electric heaters also can be a fire hazard. There are exceptions. A single energy-efficient space heater in a small, well-insulated room can save energy if the central heater is switched off.

Learn how to use space heaters efficiently.

6. Switching to electric heating

Cause: Electric heaters are more efficient than fuel-based systems, so they must be cheaper and better for the environment, according to this popular idea.

Effect: In most areas, simply switching to electric heat leads to higher energy bills and a bigger carbon footprint. Your heater may be more efficient, but most U.S. homes are still linked to coal-fired power plants. These coal plants and their transmission systems are extremely inefficient. Of course, it’s a different story if you have a large photovoltaic solar array or your utility company uses renewable energy.

7. Replacing the windows

Cause: Those big pieces of glass get so darn cold. They must be the reason your house is so drafty.

Effect: You could spend a lot of money to only take care of part of the problem. Windows must be installed properly to avoid drafts, gaps and leaks. Moreover, more heat is typically lost through poorly insulated walls and ceilings than through windows.

8. Replacing the furnace first

Cause: You blame high energy bills on an old, inefficient furnace.

Effect: Your energy bills will still be higher than necessary if you don’t start with cheaper, smaller upgrades to improve the energy efficiency of your home, such as caulking around windows and doors and adding insulation.

9. Upgrading to the most efficient furnace on the market

Cause: You want the sleekest, most energy-efficient furnace available because it will be the most cost effective as well.

Effect: You may end up replacing an oversized furnace with another (albeit more efficient) oversized furnace. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that most U.S. homes have oversized HVAC systems. Again, insulate and weatherize to maximize efficiency, then get the smallest system that will comfortably meet your heating needs, which will be substantially reduced. Also make sure it is professionally installed.

10. Using incandescent light bulbs for heating

Cause: Incandescent bulbs give off more heat than light, so they must be warming up the house.

Effect: It is hard to see this logic as anything but a weak excuse for holding on to the Edison bulbs rather than switching to CFL and LED lighting. In fact, one German entrepreneur is marketing incandescent bulbs as “heat balls” to skirt EU laws against the old-style bulbs. However, I doubt he is keeping cozy this winter simply by sleeping with the lights on.

Image source: mtmiller

By Megan Treacy via EcoGeek

GE’s new hybrid electric bus tosses out the traditional idea of one large battery and replaces it with two different types of batteries working in tandem to maximize both energy storage and energy delivery.

The bus was built by the Federal Transit Authority Hybrid Transit Bus team, which includes GE scientists, and features one lithium battery and one sodium battery. The lithium battery can provide bursts of power for propelling the bus, but can’t store as much energy, while the sodium battery has a larger energy storage capacity, but isn’t able to provide those bursts of power. Each have their strengths that, coupled together, make up for their shortcomings, resulting in a hybrid system that doesn’t have to compromise on power or range.

The other advantage to this dual battery system is that could be as much as 20 percent cheaper than one large lithium battery because less expensive battery chemistries can be used and there’s no extra spending on scaling up.

The bus is currently able to hit a top speed of 50 mph and achieve a 60 – 80 mile range, depending on driving conditions. The scientists are making tweaks in hopes of hitting a top speed of 62 mph and a 100-mile range under normal bus-driving conditions (a route with multiple stops and starts).

The 100-mile range is the golden ticket as the average daily distance driven by school and city buses hovers at or below the 100-mile mark.

Image via GE

by Carlo Ombello via Cleantechies.com

Most people will be surprised, but Italy was the first country in the world to build motorways. In fact, the A8 “Milano-Laghi” motorway (“Milan-Lakes”, as it connects the city of Milan to Lake Como and Maggiore) was completed in 1926. Time has passed and all developed nations now boast wide motorway networks, a strategic infrastructure that helps interconnecting people, places and is ultimately essential to economic growth. But Italy will soon be able to claim a new “first”: the A18 Catania-Siracusa motorway, a 30km addition to Sicily’s 600km motorway network, will be a fully solar-powered motorway, the first in its kind.

Work is well underway to complete commissioning of this cutting edge infrastructure, which will be the most advanced motorway in Europe, including many outstanding features in terms of control systems, surveillance apparatus, tarmac quality, safety features (one of its new tunnels has also been awarded for its levels of safety). Construction activities are concluded, and a quarter of its solar photovoltaic (PV) panels were already operational by the end of September.

Pizzarotti & Co., the general contractor for this project, aims at having all of them online by early December (the panels are therefore feeding Sicily’s electricity grid with clean energy even before it’s used on site). Road testing is due in November, while on 1st January 2011 the Catania-Siracusa motorway will open to the public. By then, 100% of its electricity needs will be met by the PV panels installed along the road: 80 thousand of them. Lights, tunnel fans, road signs, emergency telephones, all the services and street furniture installed on the A18 will be run with solar power: distributed over a surface of 20 hectares, the photovoltaic array was obtained through the construction of 3 artificial tunnels on a 100m wide, 2.8km long stretch of road, a project with an overall cost of €60 million. Annual solar electricity production is estimated at about 12 million kWh, which will save – constructors claim – the equivalent of around 31 thousand tons of oil and 10 thousand tons worth of CO2 emissions every year.

The Catania-Siracusa motorway is one of the first experiments where a major infrastructure and distributed power generation are integrated in one design, surely the first at this scale. Furthermore, all the green areas involved in this project will be subject to a major environmental renovation scheme: the contractor provided for planting thousands of trees and plants, improving existing tree lines and hedges, increasing the extension of local woods. This however is not the first time renewable energy and sustainability are key to a road project in Italy. In the last few months, still in Sicily, solar panels for a total of 368 kWp where installed along the A20 Messina-Palermo: they now provide electricity for all the buildings located along the 183km motorway. A thousand km away in northern Italy, the A22 Brennero motorway (which crosses the Alps towards Austria) saw the installation of a soundproofing barrier along a residential area of the motorway route: the 1km long barrier is made of solar panels able to produce some 680,000 kWh per year, thus covering 20% of the local electricity needs.

But this new paradigm in energy management is not being pursued just on single, isolated schemes: a further and more meaningful example of this shift in Italy’s infrastructure design approach is witnessed through the widespread implementation of LED road lights and photovoltaic car park shelters being rolled out in all Italian motorways by Autostrade per l’Italia (ASPI), the leading European concessionaire for toll-motorways construction and management, with more than 3,400km of the 6,500km long Italian motorway network.

In fact Autostrade per l’Italia launched a series of initiatives to promote the use of renewable sources for the production of electricity and improvement of energy efficiency in its buildings and infrastructure. The plan provides for production of electricity from renewable sources, energy saving measures for tunnels and service areas lighting, replacement of heating and air conditioning systems with high-efficiency plants, use of geothermal energy underground to produce heat and electricity and tri-generation (production of electrical, heating and cooling energy) in the main office buildings, and finally a “passive” improvement at their headquarter buildings in Rome and Florence and outlying structures (section departments, maintenance points, snow point).

This actions will result in a reduction of CO2 emissions of about 40% and substantial savings in maintenance costs. In 2009, 6,378 lighting fixtures were replaced, while for 2010 the installation program counts a further 10,766 LED units, reaching approximately 50 percent of the total. An extended program for the construction of 100+ photovoltaic generation sites is also being completed in 2010: a first phase provided for the installation of patented PV sun-shading shelters at 87 service areas (for a total of 4MWp), while phase 2 involves design and construction of several PV sites, ranging from 200kWp to 1MWp (a mix of stand-alone and integrated modules), adding a further 3MWp.

With Italy’s solar energy boom now invigorated by the renewed Feed-In Tariff scheme “Conto Energia”, which gained the country enormous investments and the second position in the global PV market (with a projected 1,500MW installed capacity in 2010 alone), energy-driven design is finally making its way to mainstream thinking.

Carlo Ombello writes about sustainability and renewable energy on his blog opportunity:energy

Image source freefotouk

Via Treehugger

Okay, so it isn’t exactly weird, but it certainly falls into the list of random gadgety places we see solar cells being applied. It’s the iTech Dynamic SolarVoice 908 Bluetooth headset, and it claims to have “infinite standby time under sunlight.”

The “infinite standby time under sunlight” seems a little obvious, considering it’s charging when under sunlight, but they apparently wanted to make that really clear.

While it’s still unlikely that someone is going to want to set this device in the sunlight for any extended period of time, it does sound perfect for people who can’t bear to part with their cyborg components while enjoying a stroll in the park.

The SolarVoice 908 is available at Amazon.com for $66.15. or (of course) at the Skymall.

Image via iTech Dynamic

The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2010 was the warmest on record.

Via Earth Easy

If it seems warmer than usual, it’s not your imagination. Average global temperatures from January to June 2010 have been the warmest since records began in 1880, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday.

The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2010 was the warmest on record at 16.2 degrees Celsius, which is 0.68 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average of 15.5 degrees Celsius.

‘Warmer-than-average conditions dominated the globe, with the most prominent warmth in Peru, the central and eastern contiguous US, and eastern and western Asia,’ the report said. There are exceptions to this overall rise in temperature, with some regions experiencing the coolest weather on record for the same period.

The report also said that the area covered by Arctic Sea ice has reduced by 10.6 percent against the 1979-2000 average level.

According to NOAA:

• The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2010 was the warmest on record at 61.1°F (16.2°C), which is 1.22°F (0.68°C) above the 20th century average of 59.9°F (15.5°C).
• The global June land surface temperature was 1.93°F (1.07°C) above the 20th century average of 55.9 °F (13.3°C) — the warmest on record.
• Warmer-than-average conditions dominated the globe, with the most prominent warmth in Peru, the central and eastern contiguous U.S., and eastern and western Asia. Cooler-than-average regions included Scandinavia, southern China and the northwestern contiguous United States.
• According to Beijing Climate Center, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and Jilin had their warmest June since national records began in 1951. Meanwhile, Guizhou experienced its coolest June on record.
• According to Spain’s meteorological office, the nationwide average temperature was 0.7°F (0.4°C) above normal, Spain’s coolest June since 1997.
• The worldwide ocean surface temperature was 0.97°F (0.54°C) above the 20th century average of 61.5°F (16.4°C), which was the fourth warmest June on record. The warmth was most pronounced in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Sea surface temperature continued to decrease across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during June 2010, consistent with the end of El Niño. According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, La Niña conditions are likely to develop during the northern hemisphere summer 2010.

Toyota to launch six new hybrids by end of 2012

By Agence France-Presse via Grist

TOKYO — Toyota, the world’s top automaker, plans to launch six new hybrid models by the end of 2012, a spokesperson for the company said Tuesday, as competition to build greener cars heats up.

The six planned models will expand Toyota’s hybrid-engine range of vehicles that run on gasoline and electricity at a time when rivals such as Nissan are developing all-electric vehicles.

The Wall Street Journal, citing a Toyota official in Detroit, said that the six new hybrids would include two luxury-brand Lexus vehicles and four Toyota models.

Some will be hybrid models only — like the Prius — while others will also have a gasoline-engine variant, the report said. All of the hybrids will be new, and not next-generation versions of existing models.

Toyota’s Prius hybrid has been a success for the carmaker, particularly in Japan where the compact vehicle has topped the country’s best-seller list since May 2009.

The automaker has been plagued by safety recalls in the past year for problems with engines, brakes, steering, and unintended acceleration, with around 10 million vehicles in total affected.

It is now looking to compete with rivals in the increasingly competitive eco-friendly market.

Nissan’s all-electric Leaf vehicle, which has a top speed of more than 90 miles per hour and is powered by a lithium battery, will go on sale later this year.

The Leaf — which stands for Leading, Environmentally Friendly, Affordable, Family car — is billed by Nissan as the world’s first mass-produced electric vehicle with zero emissions.

Nissan hopes electric vehicles will boost growth and compete with Mitsubishi Motors’ i-MiEV and Fuji Heavy’s Subaru Plug-in Stella.

Toyota will also unveil a fully electric version of its RAV4 sport-utility vehicle, developed with its U.S. partner Tesla, at the Los Angeles auto show in late November, the Tokyo-based spokesperson said Tuesday.

Tesla and Toyota announced a partnership in May to develop electric vehicles using technology from the California-based start-up.

Image source: Wikimedia

Will Incandescent Bulbs Go Away?
Written by Philip Proefrock on 10/09/10

incandescent

The “last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent bulbs in the United States” is set to close later this month. Most incandescent bulbs will be banned from sale in the US in 2014, and many other countries have enacted similar bans on incandescent bulbs within the next few years, as well. But while the deadline has been set, and the manufacture of incandescent bulbs is set to end in a couple of years, there is a growing market for specialty incandescent bulbs.

Against all reason though, bare filament light bulbs are spreading as a trendy fashion in restaurants, as was noted in the New York Times earlier this summer:

…they hover in groups of two and three. …they snake through the cafe, restaurant and patio. …they cluster near the entrance as an enticement.

They are not the latest cliques of beautiful people, but something quite old and plain: exposed-filament bulbs, energy-guzzling reproductions of Thomas Alva Edison’s first light bulb. And despite the escalating push to go green and switch to compact fluorescents — or perhaps because of it — their antique glow has spread like a power surge.

Incandescent bulbs are like fireplaces, a vestigial remnant from an earlier time. They can be appealing, certainly. For some they are a symbol of luxury, but they are wildly less efficient than contemporary alternatives. While they may contribute to the ambience of a space, their operating costs are huge, and much of the desired effect can be obtained from other sources, without resorting to the use of a lapsed technology.

If you are looking for a warm, romantic, old-fashioned light source, you might consider the suggestion of one enlightened restaurant owner: “Just light real candles, you know?”

image: CC 2.0 by Jack Newton