Frankly Green

Go Green - Buy a Used Car. It's Better Than A Hybrid

Thanks to Chris S. for sending this thought-provoking post from the Wired Blog. While buying a used car might result in a smaller carbon debt, not everyone can buy a used car. And the hybrids purchased today become the used cars of tomorrow. It is estimated that about 5% of the US auto fleet turns over (is replaced due to obsolescence) every year. So, if everyone buying a new car today bought a hybrid, in 20 years our road would be filled with hybrids, our mileage standards would be significantly higher and we would be consuming significantly petrol while producing significantly less emissions. Sounds good but I don't think we have the luxury of waiting 20 years to address this problem!

Link to Wired Blog Post

Ditching your gas guzzler is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, but if you really want to do something about global warming, get a used car. You'll be putting less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

As Matt Power notes in this month's issue of Wired, hybrids get great gas mileage but it takes 113 million BTUs of energy to make a Toyota Prius. Because there are about 113,000 BTUs of energy in a gallon of gasoline, the Prius has consumed the equivalent of 1,000 gallons of gasoline before it reaches the showroom. Think of it as a carbon debt -- one you won't pay off until the Prius has turned over 46,000 miles or so.

There's an easy way to avoid that debt -- buy a used car. The debt has already been paid. But not just any used car will do.

Poulsen Hybrid Car Conversion Takes Aim at X-Prize, Your Wallet

Thanks to Chris S. for this article.
by Donald Melanson

Link to Article

While most of the Automotive X-Prize entrants are vehicles built from the ground up for maximum gas mileage, Poulsen Hybrid's entry takes a considerably different tact, with it consisting simply of a kit that can be attached to any old car. That kit consists of two hybrid electric motors with rare earth permanent magnets that (as you can see above) are mounted on the outside of the vehicle, which are tied to a 72V 120Ah Deep Cycle Lead Acid battery pack on the inside.

According to Poulsen, once installed, the system effectively turns a front-wheel drive car into an all-wheel drive car, and results in a driving "effect" that is " equivalent to freewheeling down a 3% grade," with the accelerator needing to be depressed less or not at all to keep the car moving. Also unlike most other X-Prize competitors, Poulsen intends to make its kit available to the general public in the not to distant future, and for the relatively bargain price of $3,300, no less (add an extra $600 to that if you don't think you're up to installing it yourself).

Solar Powered Car

I recently made a post on a gentleman who made a solar powered car. Here is another one. Check out this video on a student-made solar powered car! If we could power all our cars and trucks with solar power we could reduce our oil consumption by about 60%. A pipe dream? Time will tell.

Interesting fact for the day: The total amount of energy that comes to earth from the sun each year is enough to provide more than 10,000 times the energy we use globally!!

Link to Video

Timing Traffic Lights Would Save Billions in Fuel, Emissions and Wasted Time

Thanks to Frank P. for sending along this Wired.com blog piece! Here is what Frank had to say about timing traffic lights:

And an interesting story or two about timed lights.
 
A friend of mine’s father was once the mayor of Walnut Creek, the lights in Walnut Creek are horribly timed and the main artery is nearly always backed up going east and west.  I asked him why his father didn’t do anything about that; he said his dad and the city council didn’t want traffic to flow through Walnut Creek because it would not encourage local commerce.  This reason is almost laughable now.
 
In the 1960’s in Van Nuys, when Penny and I were cruising down Van Nuys Blvd in my 56 Chevy (just like American Graffiti) it was well known that if we traveled at a tad under 35 MPH we could go the whole length of the 5 mile strip without stopping.  This doesn’t sound like much until you consider there was a street light every block (30-35 of them)


Timing Traffic Lights Would Save Billions in Fuel, Emissions and Wasted Time
By Marty Jerome

Link to Wired Blog Post

It would also save countless lives.

So says a new study from the National Transportation Operatons Council, an alliance of national associations and private sector groups that seek to improve the country's transportation infrastructure.

The impact isn't trivial. Even changing the delay of lights by a few seconds could reduce road congestion by as much as 10%. It would reduce air pollution from vehicles by as much as one-fifth, cut accidents at intersections and save about five tanks of gasoline per household each year.

So why aren't we doing this? Click th link above to read more!

People Change Lifestyles to Dodge Hefty Gas Bills

* Story Highlights
* iReporters share stories of how their lives have changed because of gas prices
* From biking to work, to riding scooters, to carpooling, iReporters are adapting
* Some people admit they are enjoying their new lifestyles
* iReport.com: Have rising fuel costs inspired a change in your lifestyle?

Link to Article

By Kate Taylor, CNN

(CNN) -- As rising gas prices leave drivers with ever-heftier tabs at the pump, Americans have started looking for ways to reduce the drain on their budget. For some, transitioning away from a one-person, one-car lifestyle has proved rewarding.

Friedman: Truth or Consequences

Click on the link below to read Friedman's entire Op-Ed column from today!!
He nails it.............again! "We need to make a structural shift in our energy economy. Ultimately, we need to move our entire fleet to plug-in electric cars. The only way to get from here to there is to start now with a price signal that will force the change."

Thanks to my father for sending this along. And a happy birthday to my sister Wendy!

May 28, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
By Thomas L. Friedman

Link to Op-Ed Column

Imagine for a minute, just a minute, that someone running for president was able to actually tell the truth, the real truth, to the American people about what would be the best — I mean really the best — energy policy for the long-term economic health and security of our country. I realize this is a fantasy, but play along with me for a minute. What would this mythical, totally imaginary, truth-telling candidate say?

For starters, he or she would explain that there is no short-term fix for gasoline prices. Prices are what they are as a result of rising global oil demand from India, China and a rapidly growing Middle East on top of our own increasing consumption, a shortage of “sweet” crude that is used for the diesel fuel that Europe is highly dependent upon and our own neglect of effective energy policy for 30 years.

...

I can’t say it better than my friend Tim Shriver, the chairman of Special Olympics, did in a Memorial Day essay in The Washington Post: “So Dodge wants to sell you a car you don’t really want to buy, that is not fuel-efficient, will further damage our environment, and will further subsidize oil states, some of which are on the other side of the wars we’re currently fighting. ... The planet be damned, the troops be forgotten, the economy be ignored: buy a Dodge.”

No, our mythical candidate would say the long-term answer is to go exactly the other way: guarantee people a high price of gasoline — forever.

Demand Booms for Local Produce as Fuel Prices, Safety Concerns Increase

This is a great article about the benefits of eating locally grown foods. I recently made a post on The Environmental Cost of Shipping Groceries Around the World. Not only is eating locally grown food better for the environment, it is better for your community!

PalmBeachPost.com
Monday, May 19, 2008

Link to Article

Although the business of factory farming has made just about anything we want to eat available almost as soon as we want it, some are starting to question whether it's really the best thing for our communities, our health or the planet itself. In this occasional series, agriculture writer Susan Salisbury examines aspects of this switch-over and what it means for the future of food.

...

It's something he's done every day for 60 years.

"This is like giving ice cream to kids," White says, throwing handfuls of corn feed to several dozen honking, hissing geese crowding around him on a recent morning.

Because White, 80, runs White Enterprises, a farm off Old Dixie Highway in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Lake Park, the casual observer might think he's a quaint holdover from a time long past.

But looked at another way, James White actually is the face of the future.

Long before the "buy local" movement started becoming trendy, White was raising local food. And these days, he can't keep up with demand.

Making Ships Green, in Port and at Sea

                                

I was interested to learn that shipping is responsible for about twice the emissions of carbon dioxide as aviation.

The New York Times
By James Kanter

Link to Article

GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Something unusual is happening in Swedish waters. Crews docking at the Port of Gothenburg are turning off their engines and plugging into the local power grid rather than burning diesel oil or sulfurous bunker fuel — a thick, black residue left over from refining oil.

“I always knew these extremely dirty bunker fuels were helping produce acid rain that falls so heavily over this part of Sweden,” said Per Lindeberg, the port’s electrical manager and an avid fisherman. “I was very happy when we could switch off the ships.”

Similar high-voltage technologies have been introduced at Zeebrugge in Belgium, and in Los Angeles and Long Beach in California. But as at Gothenburg, only a small fraction of ships are equipped with plugs, so the benefits from shore-side electricity so far have been limited.

And despite the growing availability of cleaner technologies, the shipping industry has made little progress toward becoming greener, even as traffic grows heavier on existing routes and new routes open up in the Arctic. Indeed, the most recent efforts to tackle the problem have met resistance — less from the shipping industry, however, than from the big oil companies that supply the dirty fuel.

Manufacturers Add Flavor to Get Around Bottled Water Woes

Supermarket News
By Julie Gallagher

Link to Article

LAS VEGAS — Manufacturers are responding to the bottled water backlash by introducing flavored water varieties that tout functional benefits which differentiate them from tap water, according to Lynn Dornblaser, director of Mintel's custom solutions' group.

Products that boast sea salts and low-sodium reformulations are also increasingly hitting store shelves, as are products that contain ancient grains, Dornblaser told attendees at the FMI Show here yesterday.

"These grains are appealing to adventurous cooks and many are higher in fiber than other grains, and gluten-free" she said. "Quinoa is an example of an ancient grain that is a complete protein, so it's good for vegetarians." "Junk-free food" claims, clean labels and an expansion of products that have been sourced in accordance with Fair Trade standards are also among the trends that Dornblaser is recognizing.

Pepsi to Cut Plastic in Bottles

Attempt Is Latest To Reduce Impact On Environment
May 6, 2008
By Betsy McKay, Wall Street Journal

Link to Article

PepsiCo Inc. is reducing the amount of plastic it uses in bottles of some nonsoda drinks, in the latest move by beverage companies to appeal to consumers concerned about environmental waste and global warming.

The new half-liter (16.9-oz.) bottle contains at least 20% less plastic than the one it is replacing, and it will be used for some versions of Lipton iced tea, Tropicana juice drinks, a flavored water called Aquafina FlavorSplash and an enhanced water known as Aquafina Alive, Pepsi said.

The Purchase, N.Y., company is slimming its half-liter Aquafina water bottle to 13.2 grams from 15 grams, putting it among the lightest water bottles on the U.S. market.