Solar Powered Roofs
Southern California Edison has started a $875 million dollar program to
cover 2 square miles of commercial roof space with solar panels.
This project will take five years and generate enough electricity to power about 162,000 homes. This program, with the support of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will help meet the states mandate of reaching 20% renewable energy by 2010.
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Driving on CO2 Gas
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are proposing an idea that would take CO2
out of the atmosphere, blow it over potassium carbonate, then it would
go through a chemical reaction to produce fuel. This process doesn't
break the laws of thermal dynamic, it might just break the bank.
The real sticking point is cost. For it to be economically feasible, gas would need to be over $4.60 a gallon, which isn't that unlikely. The cost of the plant would be about $5 billion and you would need a dedicated power plant, preferably a newable energy source.
But the concept is sound, take CO2 out of the atmosphere, turn it into fuel, then burn it and then repeat. Fuel would no longer be a contributor to global warming since what you emit is what you capture.
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Yaba Daba DOOOOO
The HumanCar LMV is slated to be released Earth Day 2008, this part human, part electric "car" is available for pre order now. Plop down $15,000 and get set to to be the most popular one in your car pool.
This video is from the prototype, looks fun but is nothing compared to the final result. It has "Mad Cup Holders"
"OPTIONS: Navigation and communications system features voice operated T2S2T (text 2 speech 2 text) Internet functionality. Plug-in w/ your iPod "blast-zone" stereo Stay hooked-up. Integrated H-chat to VOX Communications system to live feed audio/video chat to other H-chat groups and individuals. You know where the party is. Always. RFID locator AWD optional Full graphics kit compliment. Just like your dirt bike. Mad cup holders, A/C, heater, blower, standard. Biometrics- Temps., bpm, calorie and physiological systems monitors. Feedback. Full power capsule, windows, locks, mirrors and wipers. Launch Mode. Full-Lockout and burn-out feature."
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Ireland is Tougher Then New York City
New York City now requires stores that use plastic bags to recycle them, but Ireland has seen a much better success in reducing plastic bag use with a different approach. Five years ago, Ireland imposed a 33 cent a bag tax on consumers when ever they got a plastic bag from a store. The tax also forbid stores from paying the tax on behalf of the shopper. The result, a 94 percent drop in plastic bag use.
Initially, store owners were against this tax, saying shoppers would rebel, but the outcome was much more favorable. Cloth shopping bags became the rag, and using plastic bags became socially unexceptable. Several other countries are banning plastic bags, or requiring stores to charge for their use.
In the US, some citys have taken the initiative to reduce the use of plastic bags, like San Francisco's outright ban. But the force of change here, is by the store. Whole Foods is eliminating their use, and other local stores, like Moscow Idaho's CO-OP, encourages cloth bags with rewarding customers with 10 cents off when they use them.
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Intel Takes the Lead In REC Purchases
Intel now tops the EPA's list of corporations who buy green power. Intel has purchased 1.3 billion kilowatt hours of renewable energy credits or RECs. These RECs are like green currency which gets translated into alternative energy investments. This amount of RECs are equivalent to taking 185,000 cars off the road.
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AutoblogGreen Test Drives the New Tesla
The ultra cool car of the future, the Telsa Roadster was test driven by AutoblogGreen. If you have the means, I would suggest picking up this car. It looks great, performs great and is 100% electric.
I want one!
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Small Montana Town Cancels Nobel Laureate's Presentation
Dr. Steven W. Running is one of the Lead Authors of a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He was scheduled to give a talk to high school students in Choteau Montana, but was canceled due to opposition from vocal towns people.
The towns school board received complaints from some residents and caved into the pressure. This school board has failed the students by not allowing them to hear what a leading expert on climate change is going to say. They owe the students to hear information from scientists and not cave into political pressure.
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Switch Grass is better then Corn for Ethanol
The amount of energy that corn produces is only 25% more energy then it costs to produce it, however a recent article in the Scientific American says that switchgrass can. with optimal rain fall, produce 540 percent more energy then it takes to grow it.
The main reason for this, is that switch grass only needs to be planted once and then it can be harvested over and over again. However, the main problem is that "right now there are no biorefineries built that handle cellulosic material" like that which switchgrass provides". Oops. Hopefully this study will lead to these biorefineries soon. Corn is a harsh crop, that depletes soil nutrients. It requires crop rotations and its impact on food prices is not to be over looked. Finding alternatives to corn based ethanol would be a real winner.
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NYC Requiring Stores To Recycle Plastic Bags
New York City has passed a bill requiring stores over 5000 sq feet or more then 5 locations in the city to be required to collect and recycle plastic bags at their stores. It is estimated that NYC alone uses over a BILLION bags a year. The bill passed 44 to 2 with, surprise, surprise, the 2 dissenting votes coming from 2 out of 3 Republican members.
The US uses 86 billion plastic bags a year. In my house we have switched from getting these plastic bags in grocery stores, to bringing our own canvas bags. This has its own advantages, some stores are starting to give 10 cent discounts for using your own bag. I think this is a positive approach and hopefully will encourage more customers to switch. 
Our biggest reuse of plastic was for picking up dog poop on our morning walks. With the use of canvas bags, we have no more plastic bags to use, so we have started using BioBags, which are corn based biodegradable plastic. They work much better then plastic bags, which tend to have holes in them at the wrong time, gross. I haven't tried their cat bags or their kitchen bags yet, but plan on doing so soon.
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Are Offset Companies Legit?
It is estimated that in the US some $54 million dollars were spent on Carbon Offsets last year. Which were purchased through companies like TerraPass or CarbonFund.com. But where is the over site in ensuring that these programs do as they say. Who is watching this industry?
Well for starters, the FTC is starting to look into advertising claims of these companies and making sure that they are living up to their promises.
The FTC has not accused anyone of wrongdoing--neither the providers of carbon offsets nor the consumer brands that sell them. But environmentalists say--and the FTCs hearings suggest--that it is only a matter of time until the market faces greater scrutiny from the government or environmental organizations.
"Is there green substance behind the green sparkle?" said Daniel C. Esty, director of the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale University and author of Green to Gold, a book about how companies use environmental strategies to their advantage. "The carbon market is a leading example of the challenge of making sure that when people put their money into what they hope will improve their planet, that there is real follow-through."
Carbon offsets are essentially promises to use money in a way that will reduce carbon emissions. Panelists at the FTC's session on Tuesday raised a number of questions about certifications behind the claims, wondering if the offset companies might be double-counting carbon reductions that would have happened even without their efforts.
There is even disagreement over how much carbon dioxide can be neutralized by tree-planting, which is the type of offset that is easiest to grasp.
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