Happy Earth Day!

(Thought I'd pass along an excellent Earth Day article from blogger Steve Eldridge, posted yesterday on CommuterPageBlog.)

Earth Day To Do's

Tomorrow is Earth Day and this year, for the first time in a long time, there seems to be a real interest and a real push to make something happen. Maybe it's that gas is heading toward four dollars a gallon faster than OJ leaving Las Vegas. Maybe it's that more and more corporations are touting how green they are. Stodgy old Walmart is even running ads showing off the environmentally sensitive products it's developed. Local and network television programs are showing us all how to be more "green" in our day-to-day lives. There is a real push to not just become environmentally aware but to actually do something.

One of the biggest impacts we can have on the environment is to change our commutes. I say this knowing that it's really not as easy or as comfortable as some would make it sound. Walking out of the house while it's still dark to catch a bus two and a half blocks away is not as easy as jumping into a pre-heated car that's been sitting in the garage. Taking that bus on a circuitous route to a Metrorail station takes time. Standing on the platform, once you get past the inevitable escalator repair, can be uncomfortable if it's raining or if the wind is blowing. Grabbing a seat on the train can be a test of one's social upbringing. It takes time to use transit and that means making a commitment.

As we well know, there are millions of people in and around Washington who have made the commitment to use transit everyday. Their efforts are to be recognized and applauded. As Kermit the frog said: it's not easy being green.

Here are some factoids from APTA, the American Public Transit Association: An individual switching to public transit can reduce his or her daily carbon emissions by 20 pounds; that's more than 4,800 pounds in a year, a figure that is more than the combined carbon emissions reduction that comes from weatherproofing your home and using energy efficient appliances and environmentally-friendly light bulbs.

If just one commuter of a household switches from driving to using public transportation, the household's carbon footprint will be reduced by 10 percent. If a household gives up its second car altogether, a household can reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent.

Around the country public transit agencies are doing some interesting things: In St Cloud, Minnesota they will unveil a 40-foot bus that is powered by a mixture of 80 percent recycled vegetable oil and 20 percent diesel fuel. It is believed that this is the first transit bus system in the nation to use waste vegetable oil to power a public transit bus. In Minneapolis the transit system will power the entire Hiawatha light rail system by wind for the day.

So what is our own Metro system doing to celebrate Earth Day and to tout the advantages of public transportation? Are they offering free rides? No. Are they giving seminars to employers looking for the best ways to encourage employees to take public transit? No. On Earth Day, 2008, Metro will be handing out chocolate bars to thank riders for helping reduce emissions by 20 pounds. It's a great idea for a system that bans food to be handing out candy bars at two of its stations.

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

water powered car/torch

Anything that grows 'can convert into oil'

Company finds natural solution that turns plants into gasoline

Posted: March 19, 2008, WorldNetDaily

After three years of clandestine development, a Georgia company is now going public with a simple, natural way to convert anything that grows out of the Earth into oil.

J.C. Bell, an agricultural researcher and CEO of Bell Bio-Energy, says he's isolated and modified specific bacteria that will, on a very large scale, naturally change plant material – including the leftovers from food – into hydrocarbons to fuel cars and trucks.

"What we're doing is taking the trash like corn stalks, corn husks, corn cobs – even grass from the yard that goes to the dump – that's what we can turn into oil," Bell told WND. "I'm not going to make asphalt, we're only going to make the things we need. We're going to make gasoline for driving, diesel for our big trucks."


Wood pulp is among the many natural materials that can be converted into oil and gasoline, according to Bell Bio-Energy, Inc., of Tifton, Ga.

The agricultural researcher made the discovery after standing downwind from his cows at his food-production company, Bell Plantation, in Tifton, Ga.

"Cows are like people that eat lots of beans. They're really, really good at making natural gas," he said. "It dawned on me that that natural gas was methane."

Bell says he wondered what digestive process inside a cow enabled it to change food into the hydrocarbon molecules of methane, so he began looking into replicating and speeding up the process.

"Through genetic manipulation, we've changed the naturally occurring bacteria, so they eat and consume biomass a little more efficiently," he said. "It works. There's not even any debate that it works. It really is an all-natural, simple process that cows use on a daily basis."

Naturally occurring bacteria used to convert biomass into hydrocarbons.

But does he think it will make environmentalists happy?

"They love this. We had one totally recognizable environmentalist from Hollywood say this is everything they ever had hoped for," Bell said. "This could be considered the ultimate recycling of carbon. We are using the energy of the sun through the plant. We're not introducing any new carbon [to the environment]."

The research has received strong support from the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture and committees in both chambers of Congress, and Bell plans further discussions in Washington, D.C., next week.

Read full article...

Pic of the Week 20080306

Been pretty lax about these lately, but this just arrived in my inbox courtesy of my buddy Rob. Still complaining about gas prices here in the States? Here are the gas prices per gallon from around the world:

(Click on the image for full-sized.)

Envirocabbing

CommuterPageBlog by Steve Offutt on the new Prius taxis (w00t!):

Well, the Envirocabs are on the streets. I took this picture of one at the East Falls Church metro station taxi stand last week. With this photo I was the winner of the contest over at the Green Miles blog.

Then on Friday I needed to catch a cab from Ballston to Georgetown. There was a line of four cabs at the stand on Fairfax Drive, and an Envirocab was last in line. I boldly strode to his cab and got in. I know the protocol is to take the first cab in line, but as an environmentalist, I preferred to take the Prius. I told the driver to tell the cabs ahead of him that--no offense to them--I chose his cab because it was an Envirocab. Hopefully it will get some of those other drivers thinking about switching over (I know the company is still seeking more drivers). I had a nice conversation with my driver. He said he was pleased to be driving an Envirocab and he was now spending only about $15 per day in gas instead of $60. He did note that his miles were down because he was working stands and not dispatch (in which he would be getting more airport and longer distance calls). However, even assuming he would only save $20 per day, that's $5000/year he keeps in his pocket. Not bad.

He got me to my appointment right on time, and I told him I hoped to be riding with him again soon. For more info, go to their website at http://www.envirotaxicab.com/.

A look at Barack Obama's environmental platform and record

It's difficult not to step into the political waters (or at least dip my toes) during these times. I was already impressed with Barack Obama's technology platform, but I just read a segment from the Grist regarding his stand on environmental issues. It's worth a read, but I do want to include a memorable quote:

"Saying that America is addicted to oil without following a real plan for energy independence is like admitting alcoholism and then skipping out on the 12-step program."
-- April 2, 2006, in a speech at the Associated Press' annual luncheon, referring to President Bush's 2006 State of the Union address

I'll try to stay away from the politics and keep things to tech and gaming. Honest.

The Problem with Christmas

The problem with Christmas is not the batteries. The problem isn't even really the stuff. The problem with Christmas is that no one much likes it anymore.

If you poll Americans this time of year, far more of them regard the approaching holidays with dread than anticipation. It has long since become too busy, too expensive, too centered around acquiring that which we do not need. In fact, it's the perfect crystallization of the American economy -- the American consumer experience squeezed into a manic week, a week that people find themselves hoping will soon end so that on Jan. 2 they can return to the mere routine hecticity of their lives.

Read more...

Calif. Court Rejects SUV Mileage Rules

A federal court in California yesterday rejected the Bush administration's new fuel economy standards for light trucks including SUVs, ruling that the government failed to take into account the effects of carbon emissions and their possible link to global warming.

read more...

The Car of the Future

I didn't think I'd ever encounter another car that I could love outside of my Prius, with its high-tech interior and exterior, terrific gas mileage and ecological friendliness.

I was wrong.

Today I came across a gas-electric hybrid car (the Aptera) that, for $29K, will get 130-1000mpg. And looks like a freaking UFO.

How cool is that??

It's a plug-in hybrid, meaning that, unlike the Prius, you plug the car into an electric socket to recharge. But, unlike many other all-electric rechargeable models, the Aptera will run on gas after the battery is depleted (after about 120 miles).

So why pick a number at 120 miles? Well, it's more than double of most available plug-in hybrid ranges that achieve over 100 MPG. It's three times the distance of the typical American daily commute. It's a meaningful distance that represents the driving needs of 99% of Americans on a daily basis. Sure, it's asymptotic, after 350-400 miles it eventually plummets to around 130 MPG at highway speeds where it will stay all day until you plug it back in and charge it up.

Oooh, yeah only 130mpg, that's sure to be a deal-breaker... considering the Prius gets realistically about 50mpg max.

So, looking at the chart here, my daily commute from home to Monocacy Station in Frederick and back (about 90 miles) would be... about 300mpg.

Friggin' sweet.

Toyota looks to next-generation hybrids

As I have mentioned before, and as I will tell anyone who even looks remotely interested, I love my Prius. I've never been much of a car nut really, and my automotive skills are sadly lacking (ever hear of the time I killed a BMW by pouring cold water on a hot engine block?), but I am deeply enamored of what is essentially a big computerized geeky toy. So I came across this article which peaked my interest today:

The Prius was a big step forward for the future of green cars. Up next for Toyota and its rivals: Far more powerful batteries for next-generation hybrids, plug-in electric cars and eventually zero-emission fuel-cell vehicles powered by hydrogen, which combines with oxygen in the air to form water... Toyota showed a "concept" plug-in Prius made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic that's about a third of the weight of the current Prius and doubles mileage... The third-generation Prius could include a new lithium-ion battery more advanced than the current nickel-metal hydride battery, allowing more power to be packed into a smaller battery...

Drool. Now give me a hybrid minivan packed with the features of the new Caravan, and I'm definitely grabbing that up...

The Development of Ecologically Sound Jet Fuel

Researchers at Princeton University are currently working on two projects to reduce jet travel's role in global warming. The first one, a major project funded by the U.S. Air Force with $7.5 million, is focused on developing computational models that accurately simulate the burning of jet fuel, a complex process not well understood today. The second one, funded by NetJets, a company providing business jets, will help to develop new jet fuels with near-zero net greenhouse gas emissions.

EcoGeek

Stumbled across a new cool blog. EcoGeek - the name says it all for this tech oriented blog. EcoGeek specializes in writing about environmentally friendly technology. If you’re looking for info on anything from solar iPods to electric cars, this is the place.

Blog Action Day: Help the Environment

So I'm a little late to the party on this one. Blog Action Day was yesterday, October 15th, where bloggers of the world united to discuss the environment and how we could better it. My new favorite social site, zen habits, had a really good (if verbosely titled) article up, 5 Ways Save the World, While Getting Fitter, Saving Money, Simplifying, and Becoming Happier that's worth a read. Some of these things I do; while I can't exactly bike or walk to work, much less anywhere close by (though that will change with the new shopping centers opening up on my corner, sigh) I do drive my lovely Prius which helps both emissions and sound pollution. Not to mention the 50mpg is nice with today's gas prices. But we do recycle, in a county which seems fairly recycling-unfriendly (at least they do staff a center for us to drop off to, but we got spoiled in Frederick with curbside pickups). We're trying to take more nightly walks - when we're home together at night. And we're certainly using more and more florescent lightbulbs wherever we can.

The blogger dashboard had a post, Environmental Blog Roundup with some more sites to peruse. Lots are solely environmental blogs - I think that's awesome. The more activism we can have, the better.

I'm gonna go check out The Lazy Environmentalist - Sustainable living made easy. Sounds right up my alley.

Where vehicles are left to die

On this page are some examples of vehicle cemeteries around the world, areas on earth that have unwittingly become the home to rusting, unused machines - remember, this is just a selection of the many boneyards on earth and while they often look stunning and make for a great photo, the environmental costs far outweigh the view.

Toyota Unveils Plug-in Hybrid Prius

As seen on Slashdot, 2007.07.27:

Toyota has announced a plug-in hybrid vehicle, based on their popular Prius. So far, it will only have a range of 8 miles on the battery (13km). They are going to test this vehicle on the public roads, apparently a first for the industry. From the article: 'Unlike earlier gasoline-electric hybrids, which run on a parallel system twinning battery power and a combustion engine, plug-in cars are designed to enable short trips powered entirely by the electric motor, using a battery that can be charged through an electric socket at home. Many environmental advocates see them as the best available technology to reduce gasoline consumption and global-warming greenhouse gas emissions, but engineers say battery technology is still insufficient to store enough energy for long-distance travel.'

I just don't see 8 miles as being very feasible. More and more families aren't living close to where they need to travel as they move further out to the suburbs. Now, this may be terrific for urban travel - but what happens if you're stuck in traffic? The battery has to power everything in the car, not just the engine...

But yeah, battery technology has to come a lot further... Shoot, 8 miles wouldn't even get us to the post office and back...

The Air We Breathe

The following article was copied from CommuterPageBlog, article dated June 24, 2007.

Sunday's Washington Post Commuter Page (Page 2 in the Metro section) had a nice discussion of air quality. I have not been able to find it online; evidently it is only in the print edition.

The most striking visual on the page was a graph that showed the comparative emissions across several types of vehicles. Here are the numbers from the table but without the visual impact of the chart:

Nitrogen Oxide Emissions in grams/mile:
Light-duty hybrid (Prius, Civic hybrid)	0.02
Passenger car (Camry, Accord, Malibu)	0.10
Light-duty truck 2 (Cherokee, Caravan, Sienna)	0.30
Light-duty truck 4 (F-150, Sequoia, Land Rover)	0.60
Heavy-duty truck (Hummer, RVs)	0.90

That means it would take 5 carpoolers in a regular passenger car before the emissions would be equal to 5 Priuses or 15 passengers in a minivan to equal 15 Civic hybrids. A big SUV emits 30 times as much ozone-causing pollution per mile than a hybrid! A Hummer 45 times as much!

This table makes it clear that increasing the fleet of hybrid vehicles in our area, particularly if they are replacing other vehicles, would make a big dent in our air quality problems. In fact, DC is doing well with hybrid ownership, double the national average (link). Much of this has been driven by the HOV exemption for clean vehicles, prompting some drivers to invest in hybrids in order to be able to drive on the HOV lanes. This year, also, Arlington County has introduced a tax break for people to buy hybrid vehicles.

These seem like good policies as we strive to improve regional air quality. There has been controversy about whether the clean-vehicle exemption for HOV should be terminated. I think this information supports the position to keep it in place, since 3 single-occupant Priuses only emit 60% or less emissions than a car (or worse, an SUV or minivan) with three passengers. Some parties believe the exemption should end, because too many single-occupant vehicles will clog the carpool lanes. I66I will only be convinced after much more aggressive efforts, including much higher fines, are taken to eliminate the HOV violators, who I see all the time on I-66.

Keep in mind that owners of these vehicles are contributing to better air quality with 100% of the miles they drive, even though only 15% - 50% of their driving might be on HOV lanes, so it is in the interest of all who want cleaner air to encourage more purchasing of cleaner cars.

(In the interest of disclosure, I own a Toyota Camry hybrid, but do not have the requisite license plates to drive in the HOV lanes. I also have a personal interest in improving air quality, because my daughter suffers from asthma.)

Global Warming and Mortal Sin

The following article was copied from CommuterPageBlog, article dated June 21, 2007.

I was talking to a good friend about the impact of global warming on the next few generations and he shocked me by saying that he didn't care about what happened to future generations. He told me that global warming did not concern him because he would already be dead of old age when the bad things start to happen. He said he would absolutely not change his driving habits to save people in the near future.

Which brings me to an interesting point. Most believers know about the definition of a mortal sin. A mortal sin is one that is committed with foresight and planning and with willful intention, and that is severe in it's impact on another or others. For example, if a person plans to murder somebody and then carries it out, that is definitely a mortal sin. It means that person's chance of entering heaven in order to be with God are just about zero.

Now here is something that I have never heard any believer talk about: the concept of deliberately and with willful determination, seeking out to harm people of future generations with our actions of today. If a person is now actively seeking to cause global warming by their own personal actions, then that person will be guilty of willfully harming or even killing people in the not very distant future, even if that person is already dead. The reason this is so is because we have knowledge of our actions. If we did not have knowledge of our actions it would not be the same category of sin.

Past generations could not do the things to future generations that we are now capable of doing, because they lacked the technical ability to do so. We are in a very strange position. We, us, you and I, right now, are responsible for the very lives of near future generations. In other words, we have the power to kill those who are yet to be born. This is a very serious moral dilemma and is of deadly earnest.

If a person believes in the concept of eternal life and access to the kingdom of heaven, then that person must head the warnings which the vast majority of scientists are giving us now about our responsibilities for saving future life. This is no joking matter. If we choose to keep driving huge trucks to work and hundreds of thousands of people, for example, in Bangladesh die because of rising sea levels, which we caused by our deliberate actions, then we are one hundred percent responsible for their deaths. This means that we most likely will never enter the kindgom of heaven.

It is the moral responsibility of any believer to start fixing the current situation and with real actions, too. What can we do? Well for starters, we can drive to work with one other person. It's called compromising in order to save others. We must at least show that we are making an effort. If we do not make an effort then we will be found guilty. It really is that simple.

Hybrid Cars to Get New Mileage Ratings

Posted on Slashdot yesterday:

Wired is running a piece showing the drastically reduced mileage ratings for hybrids after the upcoming changes in gas mileage calculations by the EPA. While the cars themselves aren't changing, plugging these new numbers in to the equation makes a hybrid much less cost effective: "The two top-selling hybrid vehicles, the Prius and Honda's Civic Hybrid, will lose 12 and 11 miles per gallon respectively from their city driving estimates." The new values come from more realistic testing; the old, over-inflated ratings were higher in part because the cars idled a lot, allowing the hybrids to completely turn off their engines. The new ratings should be more in line with what hybrid drivers are actually seeing.

I've been hearing about this for awhile, and I'm not too upset over it. Truthfully, I've never gotten the advertised MPG on my Prius. It varies by season, but I usually get 42-48mpg driving mostly highway, when I should be theoretically getting 55mpg. Since I don't drive in the city (City? What city?) I can't comment on that rating.

One-Day Gas Boycotts: Not Affecting Oil Companies Whatsoever Since 1999

Once again, word is circulating through the tubes that we can bring oil companies to their knees by refusing to buy gas on May 15th.

Once again, oil companies are not scared, and are in fact laughing at you right now, high up in their towers constructed from the bones of polar bears.

Why? Because one-day gas boycotts don't actually involve buying less gas. They just shift the purchase from one day to another, without actually costing the gas station any sales over the course of a week. It's not like the gas is going to go bad on that one day you don't buy it.

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