Exuberant Pantaphobia

Cleantech seen the worst? Rebounding to $1.2B in 2Q09

2009-07-03T11:20:57Z

The end in sight?

Is it a sign that, at least in Greensville, things are looking up?
Cleantech Group Llc certainly thinks so.

Korean EV wars come Stateside....

2009-07-03T10:56:57Z

Much * Ado about * Shitty * Hoopties

Lots of talk this morning about CT&T EVs. Apparently they might be moving to Alabama, creating almost 3,000 jobs, and making their EVs local. Very much in the style of V-Vehicle's move in TN, and also like V-V (which would have been cooler had it been V_Vehicles) the cars themselves are the only iffy part. Sure, they're not the mystery cars that Al Gore an T-Boon Pickens plan on making, but what's worse, they are just more shitty little NEVs:

And whats even worse, they're Li-Ion NEVS (really, when you're cruising at a top speed of 35kmh, do you need batteries that will last for a 10 hour sprint? Where are you going to go??)

But this got me thinking... Sure we always talk about Chinese BEVs and PHEVs-- the Cherry, BYD et al, but what about Korea? And more importantly Korean-American, let's call them "Amerasian EVs" There's at least one other KorAm EV coming, and at least this one is a hottie! Sand Diego Based Korean EV Company, Leo Motors, is gunning to be top dog in the biz, and they have some nice recent stats, and look at the hotties:

Now that's a serious SUV. Can easily compete with the Phoenix, and then they even have something to go head to head with 'el Tesla:

But what's most exciting to a guy like me, is what they said in their most recent PR blast. See, they are actually converting Kia SUVs, and converting some other Korean sports cars... and as they say:

Leo's conversion solution can be used in any type of small to midsize vehicle platform (2,000 cc engines or below), for any manufacturer. Using Leo's solution, cars can be converted to electric vehicles for real world use both for high-speed highway and city traffic. The conversion kit solution is the result of evolutionary EV technologies from Leo Motors that focused on the development of the motor system, battery pack, power control, and power management system. Leo's particular solution set or "kit" consists of a 60kW water-cooled AC motor with controller, 30kWh or 16kWh lithium polymer power pack with multi-battery management system (BMS), and charger.

...and --seeing how there are more than 350 million cars that can be converted-- that simply kicks ass! So here's hoping that Leo expands its San Diego operations, and fights the good fight in the Korean/US EV War!

over the top

2009-07-03T10:23:47Z

Excess is not 'green' ok??

Look I love Dean Kamen as much as the next guy--- sure the Segway wasn't exactly the "it" we were promised (of course it never got the fuel cells needed to make it a serious machine), and his water tratment systems are GENUIS. But the latest story, about the Kamen making a "Hybrid Stirling Engine Scooter" is stupid. Yes, I said it, it's just wasteful and shows whats wrong with more than 1/2 of the EV "market."

Kamen is now working on a stirling engine hybrid scooter. That means a scooter that uses gas, but also has some hybrid electric motor, and now his fancy stirling engine (which works with TH!NK but not so much on a scooter). Why why why??? There is no need for this.

See, until the police pried me off my electric scooter, I ran around Montreal for years and never once ran out of electricity. That's just the nature of the beats-- a scooter that only goes 75 kmh can not go on highways, hence the average commute on a scooter is less than 30km. LEAD ACID BATTERIES ARE PERFECT FOR THIS! There is no need for li-ion (like many scooters are now selling as an 'upgrade') and certainly no need for a hybrid motor. This is what Yamahaha is said to be doing as well, put out a hybrid scooter. These are BS. There is no need to have both an electric motor and an ICE, you can get everything done on Lead Acid Batteries (and LABats are infinitely more recyclable than lithium, cadmium, little metal hydrides....).

This is the same as the EV industry where people just wont buy an electric car if it only has a 100km range, and I'm sorry for sounding like a jerk, but this is just pure stupidity. People pay no attention to how much they drive per day-- if they did, they would know that they drive less than 50km a day! This means that for 99.9% of your average 2-car owner's driving, simple (and cheap) Lead Acid batteries and a 9" electric motor is all they need! Face it, you're not in college anymore, the Grateful Dead no longer tour, and there will be no big road trip (except for maybe driving the kids to Florida over Xmas).

If one were to convert their car to electric, or buy a preconverted electric, with lead acid, the money they save from EV commuting would afford the commuter to rent a rolls royce for their once annual road trip. And still pundits daliy bemoan the fact that EVs batteries don't go 300 miles on a charge! WHO DOES A 300 MILE COMMUTE????

I love ya Dean, but go back to the water and th!nk cars....

Look who's talking II

2008-01-19T17:32:20Z

Move over Denny Terrio-- I just taught Vincent Vega how to offset!

So last week I got asked to do this really neat thing: I got asked to teach JT how to offset his carbon emissions. It's a long story about how I got that gig, and if I get to do phase II: actually helping the guy offset his carbon footprint, then I might tell you the whole story (believe it or not, some of the names are even bigger!), but for now, it was cool-- the guy needed to know ASAP what it meant and how it works, and i woke up to an email reading "Help! John Travolta needs to know all about carbon offsetting, would you please explain it in a few short paragraphs or bullets? Thanks!!"

And sure, the guy made that so-so sci-fi movie (but he did shoot it in my hometown, Montreal, and he did use some of my old pals in the film), and sure, he does like to park a 747 in front of his house... but really, how could I say no? I grew up with the guy... first as Chuck Bensen on Emergency, and then mean Billie Nolan spraying Sissy Spacek full of pig's blood, and of course Vinnie Barbarino... and that lovable George Malley in phenomena tinkering with solar panels and organic fertilizers... how could I say no?

So I wrote it up nice & simple, didn't take too long, and sent it off. It went from "my people" to "his people" so I don't even know if he knows who I am. But I know if he liked it he will come back for more (they always seem to now), and at the very least i got to pay him back a little for all those years of entertainment! Hopefully next we can get him into biofuels for that big jet of his.. or maybe even some of that cryogenic hydrogen.. that would be cool. Anyway, it's certainly as much fun as when I used to be writing here all night and working in the recycling plant all day....

And at the least i thought it was good fodder for people on my friends list :p thanks y'alls for all your support over the times when it was tough(er)

viropop's latest Zaproot 4 u!

2008-01-17T14:44:43Z

Met this guy Damien recently, not sure at HGG or EcoGift
... he doesn't know which one either, but his videos rock!

~enjoy!

they tell us that we lost our tails evolving up from little snails i say its all windmills and sails

2007-11-29T11:58:49Z

Are We not Green? We Are E-V-O!

EVO! it's eco. it's EVOlutionary. It's "your marketplace for natural, clean & green products" and it's brand new (there was actually a media embargo until 8:00 am this morning). it's a web 2.0 green play, but looks way solid + fun! Think of a green version of amazondotcom meets digg, meets GroovyGreen. EVO is a green e-commerce hub-- there's already over 20,000 green products available a mouse click away, but the goal is more than that--- a place for news and views, and (online) community building.

And that they will eventually have members of their community adding products (as well as of course suggesting products to their "friends"). I think this 2.0 part makes this a killer ap (in the sense that a crappy product, a greenwashed product, or a company with horrible customer service will be mentioned by the masses--- as well as the best) so the creme will rise, and the newest-and-greenest will also be able to share the spotlight! Seriously, this is going to be a great watershed for finding the ideal green paint, the ideal eco fashion fall collection, or anything else you can consume. But it's not just about consumption right? Heck no.

Well it is a store, so there is some of that marketing & commercialization (a lot of that-- but really cool stuff like solar purses and electric cars!) But there is a whole section where you can shop around to find the best places to put your money (clean tech, green investments...). And there are so many articles, one might just think this is a blog (but it's not). I read a really nice clear post about B Corporations--- (and boy how i love learning a new term!!!!). And they even have cute video news!

So go check it out! it's EVO, it's live now. Sign up and they'll plant a tree in your name!!!

...greən is the new blog

2007-11-27T13:09:56Z

It’s easy being greən

What do you call a carbon neutral airplane flight? Especially one that is neutralized by just the right number of trees that will (if they all stay alive) consume that carbon over the next 80 years (+ no mention of neutralizing all of the other emissions, only the carbon is neutralized)? Offsets have been talked about in many places (although I gotta say, I just recently saw that Shell up here in Canada is going carbon neutral, ha ha ha.. with trees, of course!), that is just one example, it seems to be that these days you can see it creeping into pretty much everywhere-- or at least I do, because I work with green info, I see a steady stream of PR (and a lot of it is amazing.. and actually green-er than what was being done before!)

But there is a lot of stuff that is so borderline it would be comical except that it does less good than many easier—and just as available-- alternatives. And some do more harm. So I decided the other day, that this ought to be called "Greən." Greən is almost like green, but the schwa makes one pronounce it with a little bit more of a numbed-accent on the second e so its not eeee like green, but more like the ‘e’ in taken (ta-k-ən) or the ‘u’ in circus (sir-kəs), gre-ən—it’s almost green. But you kinda have to pause in the middle of the word, like you know it really isn’t a worldchanger, but you just watch, I bet there will soon be a Swiffer toss away (oooh I hate those!) that’s biodegradable, Sure it won’t actually degrade in a landfill, but it will be advertised as a green alternative, and at least those of us in the know, can say; That’s not green. Greən, maybe, but definitely not green.

[note: in looking for a pic to paste with this, i saw this great article from inhabitat, they're not there yet... but the biodegradeable Swiffer is not that far off, i bet ya!]

get ready for the GREEN NOUVEAU

2007-11-21T17:28:28Z

Green Nouveau ...because every good movement deserves a name

Anyone else notice the brand spanking new ecorazzi???

I hope you feel as much glee as I do looking at that design and detail. It’s so lush yet playful, so nature-aware, but those colors—so now! And it makes me think of this term I’ve been playing around with a lot lately; Green Nouveau. it’s a growing trend I’ve noticed at first, like a trickle in the designs from a green PR company in Portland/NYC, but then really played out in the new ‘razzi do (Michael showed me a mockup of it a month ago which really got me thinking about this Green Nouveau). There are a many ways that what’s happening now in the green world resembles what was going on in the art world a hundred years ago, and its bold and exciting, but even better, it’s a way out of being called environmentalist. Cause nothing spoils the party faster than bringing the environmentalist along, and Green Nouveau just wanna have fun. just wanna party like its 1899.

[Art Nouveau platter circa 1907. Add 100 years and
the Peter Max palette and you get the picture...]

And hey, I’m as green as the next guy, and some of my best friends are greenies, but it’s still feels weird when being introduced, or written about, and they say that I am an “environmentalist,” and I feel affronted when I read OP-EDs talking about “environmentalists” in terms of what they think, or want, as if environmentalism is an actual ism (like Stalin, Fasc …Satan?), or like we all get together at weekly vegetarian potlucks and hash out strategy, ideology, and general correctness (and how to take over the world).

But seriously, it would be hard for anyone to say that there isn’t some sort of movement going on, not a Movement, but something is moving. There’s action in the green streets: LOHAS markets are doing amazing, the housing bubble in the States has hardly put a dent in the Green Build world, Clean Tech is the new dotcom, green is the new blog, anymagazine’s 2nd annual “green edition” (or 3rd for VF), TV Shows (Americas Top Model goes green??) ...I could go on. Trust me. I usually do… But basically people of all walks and sizes now, from dorm-room to boardroom are getting into this. And –in terms of new green goodies-- we ain’t seen nothing yet! This is just the beginning of the 'Nouveau

[this time around there will be
agribots growing our food as well]

...this is the begging of an era, and all the tools we need to get started are right at hand, many already sprouting like Purple Loosestrife and spreading like Zebra Mussels. And the tools to complete the job are pining and waiting to come into being; on campuses, in r&d labs, and backyard sheds …and the best part of all— we are going to change the world. For the better.

And we’re not going to do it going macrobiotic back-to-the-earth, and bearded. And while many people will find things like Voluntary Simplicity peaceful, and bask in the glow of their micro-footprint, there are 7 billion of us. And what is needed to create the massive change that we know we need, is not to fight “the Machine” but to turn the machine green, and softer, and more in harmony with the other reality that keeps us alive, our biosphere. So there’s this burgeoning mind-state now, that both our world, and our non-human world can work together, and must, because this delicate balance sustains us.

But is this environmentalism?

It’s way too much fun, driving an electric Vectrix to be dour, and eco clothes are chic and good-looking now. This isn’t less. This is more! So how can it be an eco-ist Movement?

And yet this is what we do, name things, right? And as long as we don’t call it something, it will continued to be called environmentalism, so lets deal with this movement. But hey, it can be fun. Like a movement in Art History instead of molotov cocktails and all that EarthFirst angry stuff? I’m compelled to call it something fun like that, like art, like the impressionists or expressionist. But because of the style aspect, and the design aspect (not to mention bold exuberance to forge a new world), I call this new movement Green Nouveau!

Like Art Nouveau, the design movement that peaked just around the turn of the last century, Green Nouveau is full of floral and nature-inspired design, but new and fresh. And just like how Art Nouveau was excited about the latest tools and materials, and mocked their predecessor the Pre-Raphaelites for their pastoral use of only the crudest technologies, we see now Green Nouveau poking fun at the hippies --in their hemp burlap pantaloons and millet stew-- and instead, open up to all the new green materials that are available to us, all the biomimic bioplastic biofuels, and triple certified cradle to cradle composites. We are picking up where they left off a hundred years ago (only with cool sci-fi green techs and materials-- and branding savoir fair).

And as we harness more and more of that exuberance (the very same enthusiasm they had for creating their new world), and see not our survival or extinction, but rather see us able to create a thriving vibrant harmonious world for 7, 10 even 20 billion of us, sustainably, then the more this possibility becomes an actuality. It is by having a vision of where we want to go that we can get there. And Green Nouveau, I think, is the place where that vision is hatching.

We’re either going to make it or we’re not, sure enough. But if we do, it will be with all these compostable plastics and funky eco fabrics, biobased products, and climate-adaptable technologies. And life as we know it right now, will be a thing of the past, like a buggy, or an ice box.

[the future will be blobjectably delicious]

And how is it going to happen? In our hearts. Because when we embraced this vision, we don’t have to do it standing outside of a building protesting, we do it when we decide not to use virgin trees to wipe our ass, and buy recycled toilet paper instead. I don’t have to argue with my neighbor about the benefits of wind power* I can sign up with my local green power provider, and with that simple action (and a tiny premium), know that each month the money goes to the utility company buying that amount of clean energy from the green power company’s wind farms. We are the most advanced hominids out there, surely we can walk our talk.

And the Green Nouveau “movement” enables this shift. Right now sure it may just look like a suburban dad proud about his ford Escape Hybrid. And while it’s still an SUV and not really how you say, a massive change, he is now open to everything from composting to organic sheets, it’s like a virus. It gets into the system and now he’s on the team, so he’s not going to shut off that feeling when he encounters any other (perhaps foreign) aspect of Green Nouveau. Now he's the kind of guy who will read treehugger dot com. And it’s only the beginning, because his next car might be a Phoenix (100% electric and charges in 10 minutes), or maybe he’ll decide to just pop that engine out, and put in some killer electric motors and an ultracapacitor—it’s coming down the pipe that fast, folks.

And that’s just cars, by definition Green Nouveau encompasses every aspect of design and the built world; architecture, engineering, systems and services. So a pair of hemp Etnies shoes that can be completely composted at the end of its use, or a CSA that brings a box of local organic fruits and vegetables to your door every week, it’s all part of the new system.

And did you notice the use of greenhouses and domes? Sure its hard to not see the similarities between some Gaudi apartment building and a BeckyBee cob house, but that’s just derivative. I think the domes and the green roofs are where its going to really come into people mind’s that we are picking up where the art nouveau people left off, only this time we’re not just painting it, we’re living it.

And unlike a fad like some movement in art or a pop genre, this movement is for everyone, not only for those in-the-know. And while it’s got style, it’s not about style it’s about Life style, and about life. And that doesn’t go out of style. So what we can envision here at the begging in stages of Green Nouveau, is nothing. A generation or two into this, we will look back as old folks on all the changes and still be amazed at how much has changed, and how much better it all is. Our food will be organic and local, our wrappings and containers will turn into soil and then into local food again, we will be energy literate, we will have transportation that is as of yet unimaginable, but perfect. We can’t see it yet, how it will play out, but we are at that point in time which will be referred to for centuries. And the Green Nouveau, er, Movement is the blaze on that trail. La nouvelle vague est Vert, Nouveau, et bien fun en h'sti.

MDI finds Indian love with TATA. Will finally manufacture theaircar!

2007-11-04T19:12:15Z

No, not hot air. Compressed. C-o-m-p-r-e-s-s-e-...

Woooooot! Well there you have it, once more, it pays to be persistent. At least that's how it's panning out for Guy Nègre who, as Green Car Congress just revealed has signed a manufacturing deal for his long awaited MDI Air Car. Yes! the silent car that gets about 125 Miles [at 70 MPH] on a tank of compressed air (and can fill back up in a couple of minutes). So Tata Motors, India's largest automotive manufacturer is going to start cranking these baddies out! And everybody says "Oh yeah!" ...Newly added, they are also going to be manufacturing a hybrid version that runs on gas and compressed air (gas to boost it at higher speeds, as well as to refill the air compression making road trips more doable).
And they don't just have the city cab version anymore, they got a sleek 21st century pickup truck now, and a family vehicle! I wonder if it is silent though, or if it sounds like a balloon slowly deflating (or a whoopee cushion?) Will have to wait and see, but so the question i am thinking is not so much when can i get my hands on a waycool EV, but more, in about 18 months which type of green car is going to be the one to get??

Burlingon-IBM turn semiconductor scrap into photovoltaics

2007-11-04T18:50:36Z

...first Ben & Jerry's, then Phish, now this!

Here's another cool story out of PhysOrg, about a Vermont IBM team who have pioneered a way to turn semiconductor waste in to solar grade silicon for PV panels (well, actually, that part is not brain science, the new trick was more about erasing IBM's intellectual property before it leaves their hands and ends up on someone's roof). And this is good news, because in the semiconductor world, 250,000 silicon wafers are used a day (and 3.3% of that get scrapped on the factory floor) and so there are about 3 million silicon wafers sitting around waiting to be made useful. They would look nice on my roof :p

...speaking of computers, have you heard the one about OLPC the one laptop per child group has been looking at that run on cow power? No, seriously, and not what you might think, from some cow-poo biofuel or biogas.. but actually hooking the Mumbai cows (for example) up to pulleys and generating electricity from the cows... I dunno, sounds cool, but a little too much like the Professor from Gilligan and not enough like a gizmo from a Brice Stirling book = (

Here Comes the Total Mobility Project's Solar Mazda

2007-11-04T18:39:03Z

...feels like years since it's been here!

...just read in PhysOrg about The Total Mobility Project, a group in Japan who have
turned a Mazda car into a 100% Solar Powered Electric Vehicle. It's not 100% there, yet, seeing how it only gives you <20 Miles per charge, and seeing how the conversion kit so far costs about $20K, it's still a little out there ...but look at the capacitors coming down the pipe, the advanced-LA Batteries and LI-batteries, and you can see where this will go (throw in some phat Ted Seargent spray-on PV for a total chassis chargeability and then all of the sudden, voilà, ur solar whip is teh kewl (!)

NREL does CHEVRON, algae style!

2007-11-04T18:23:35Z

The Green Slimy blobs from
Roswell NM are taking over!!!

Some interesting news just came onto the wired about Chevron and the NREL's Algae peeps hooking up to develop algae fuels. Finally. It has sunk in. And they're keen to leapfrog whatever developments have already happened, and work with startups to see which algae techs will be the winners. Pretty cool for an Oilco (hope they remember to also bust out the algae jet fuels, as well... ((and yeah i kinda kid about that green slimy thing, algae is green and slimy, but not alien, it's just that when John Sheehan (now VP Sustainability at LiveFuels)started the NREL's aquatic species program ages ago, they had algae "racetracks" in Roswell --of all places-- where they really developed the concept. Anyway, this is a kinda wikked cool story, maybe one day the Condolezza Rice will be filled with biofuels made from waste CO2! wouldn't that be awesome (and even better if Condi is in Jail for War Crimes)?

You Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Bullshit Blows

2007-10-19T09:41:57Z

Marlo Lewis vs. Al Gore?? on Fox, right? No! On CNN!
In other news, baby foxes, little foxes are called Kits

...So I saw the CEI on CNN last week (well good 'ol Marlo Lie-ass anyway) to give, you know, the "other side of the story." It was nice to see Heidi Collins 'tough' questions to Marlo, i guess, but basically let Marlo jr. rant for 5 full minutes. So the fog about uncertainties just refused to lift... Sheesh! A Nobel Prize and CNN is busy butt-licking the CEI (What? was the AEI and "singer" not available??) That seemed to go nowhere. Maybe Schullemberger and Nordhaus are right. Either that, or maybe this guy below, maybe he can tell us whats up with the weather?

oh wait! that was the esteemed Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Marlow Lewis yikes. So apparently the 'global warming crusaders are plotting to put an "Energy Starved Planet on an Energy Diet." And apparently energy efficiency, according to Marlo Jr. will lead to economic meltdown. Mr. Marlow obviously has no idea who David Goldstein is.

So far I think that weatherman #1 up there makes more sense. But maybe one of these, from FOX (you know, to be fair & balanced) might make more sense...

that last one is my fav. i think they're on the money! Just like CEI....

koyaanisqHOTsi !

2007-08-24T06:44:38Z

I get it! ...it's 'cause they're from iceland! Right??

i went to see Leo Di's new movie (Leo Leila & Nadia's movie; The 11th Hour. Pretty impressive. Lots of Bioneers doing what they do best -explaining the situation (or most of it- he doesn't go that deep into climate change), and examining the multi-causal planetary breakdown that is now starting to happen. And by the last third of the flick, it's peppered with solution on top of solution. And with 52 interviews, while everyone only gets a few moments here & there to push the -well structured- parts of the essay, it does present a cohesive argument for action and optimism. And it's full of archival imagery, and a total buzzclip intro (i guess if you know me, you'd know i dig that).

And cool music. At one poignant moment --a peaceful lull after a particularly tense earth-in-crisis montage, there was even some Sigur Rós with whom to fly-over ice-fields

i was thinking 'Wow Ágætis byrjun, what an odd choice'... but now i get it! they're from Iceland! And at the time, the visuals were these relaxed pan-o-rama ice shots from greenland. which is a land full of (that melting) ice... cute

And just like i like it, they really looked at as wide an angle as they perhaps felt they could (Meat was shockingly absent in this movie). Which is really the best way to deal with climate change, omnilateraly, right? But they are not just looking at climate change -thought it's a big part of it, but almost everything. Almost to the point like what i was accused of back in the day (getting chewed out by a documentary legend); that you can't try to solve all of the worlds problems in one movie. And i am sure some critics will accuse these Directors/Writer/Producers of just that (if they stop harping on his flight patterns). But fuck 'em Leo, personally I agree that that is the way the story ought to be told. This is about our evolution or sticking to a lifestyle that east its young till theres nothing left... why pussyfoot around that? Why deal with CO2s and NOXs when it goes so much deeper and people really have to "get it" if they're going to commit to it. At one point someone quotes someone else (sorry for being vague but with 52 interviews in 90 minutes its hard to remember who said what, i just remember he said it was a quote: After asking what we are really looking for with all this hyperconsumption: "One can never really be full, if they're filling themselves with things that they don't really want" or something like that. And that and climate change are in as much of a dance, as emissions or cows or hurricanes...

Their view of stuff like the rainforests was obviously different than mine as there's room for hope and optimism even there, but all in all, it is a moving eye opener for anyone who is somewhat aware, and especially the ones who aren't but will be compelled to go for Leo Di (or soon to be converts) or from the soon-to-be Leo Di army (mark my words. Leo Di army). And even for the choir who wants to be preached at, by the third part you will be happy to see so many green techs you know everyone and every kid in America ought to know exists (like the Tesla, living machines...). And you may just learn a new one or two (while i dig the Fungi Perfecti guy Paul Stamets a lot, and heard him talk about those mushrooms that eat up heavy metal spills an such, i never heard the words "mycofiltration" and "mycorestoration" before. Awesome!

And again i particularly like is that it even take that extra bold step, asking the question that really lies even at the heart of the entire climate change thing. What is it that is really happening deep at the core of us that is out of whack. Because it's not just about CO2, but about what our species has become... and where we are (very able and) headed

kudos to Leila Connors Peterson, Her Sister Nadia Connors and of course Mr. Leo DiCaprio (that's not him. That's Kenny Ausable founder of the Bioneers (and founder exCEO of Seeds of Change, and filmaker).

Oh heck. go see the movie when it hits your town! and in the meantime, the website they have is pretty good to see what it's all about, including everyone interviewed and much much more... go!

A Baby Step I Can Really Get Behind!

2007-08-08T07:26:44Z

get it? behind? it's a diaper bag...

Baby Steps. I'm not usually into them. At best they're usually up there with greenisthenewblack and INEBG/IEBG as far as hackneyed and bootless. And most often end up being abortive. Sure, what with the scale of some things today, what many consider a baby step, say, WalMart implementing energy & fuel efficiencies can lead to gargantuan eco-effective moves (but I'd argue that those are at the very least infant steps, almost, a child's step, not baby).

Weegeneration.com Born 07/08/007. Happy birthday, baby!

But this post is about a really cool baby step (it's actually probably a "Tween Step" at the very least, maybe even an adult step). This is about the Wee Generation which is such a great name-- the antidote to the 70s & 80's "me generation"? back to the 60's "we generation" but with an extra e for eco? Just for the wee wittle wuns? ...When i was little kid, i loved when my folks would swing me by my arms and i'd go "Weeeee!" So if thats the vibe for this green product/(r)evolutionary baby gear, this is the sign of something really good to come!

What is it? It's a baby bag. But it's not yet a baby bag. Right now it's your baby bag to be . And it going to be amazing. Wm McDonough is on board and its going to be C2C certified, but that's not all, it's also being developed by the eco-supergroup of: IDEO, 7th Generation, Healthy Child Healthy World (HCHW), and the swankygreen Baby Style. And guess who the designer is? You! That's right, you, no we (wee?) get to designs it. That's right, they are totally transparent about the fact that they know some things about the bag, like its going to be greener than green, but don't really know what it will look like till wee tell them what wee want.

Mee, i don't know, but sure hope that this is just a prototype:

...at least to start with. That polkadot bag on the floor? it may be something --seeing how this baby shower, for three-month old Wyatt Stephen Crow and his mommy Sheryl was reported to be sponsored by WeeGenration and HCHW; "two foundations Sheryl supports." So, um, yeah, good thing 'wee' get to design the final product.

But think about this. If you happen, like me, to be somewhat cynical sometimes in the face of endless PR about the latest green inchworm-step, this here is a total sweetheart deal. It's C2C Certified and its not an industrial carpert or vehicle upholstry!! This is a C2C consumer product!! Finally. Someone (in the consumer product world) is stepping up to the plate and getting Cradle to Cradle certified by MBDC. That kicks ass! But wait, there's more (reason to be gleeful). Think about it from the baby's point of view.

I don't mean, like, 'think about the baby's future', but think about this: That bag is going to be your baby's first real thing. Aside from producing toys while out of the nest and baby getting antsy, that bag is going to be the ubiquitous godlike object that mommy and daddy know how to use to get juice and bottles, toys ...and even deal with all that messy stinky baby stuff. And it's C2C! So, maybe it's just me, but i really dig the idea of all these 'wee' kids growing up, hopefully a whole generation of them, whose very first material thing that is fully in their world, is Cradle To Cradle certified! They wont know it for a little while, but somehow i believe that these kids will grow up knowing it, and feeling it, and helping us save life on planet Earth ....now, that's a baby step!

[the even got AMAZING contests!! WeeGeneration]

Fast Times at Russ College of Engineering and Technology

2007-08-07T12:37:10Z

cheap abundant hydrogen is about to become a reality

Frank Neukomm is a smart man. ok he's not Dean Kamen, but man o man would i love to be involved in the games this guy -CEO of American Security Resources Corporation-is playing. He seems like some Gordon Geko but for good worldchanging! Just a month ago he bought MagWind, one of the coolest VAWT companies there is (i guess Mr. Perot Jr. makes better deals than his dad :p ..but what he did this week blew me away! Blew-me-away.

Not content to wait for companies to develop the technologies we need, he went to the core, and just struck a deal with Ohio University to bring chemical and biomolecular engineering associate professor Gerardine Botte's brand new technology to market. And what does it do? It efficiently turns amonia into hydrogen! And he's a nice guy, OU also gets equity in the company --brand new ASRC subsidiary American Hydrogen Corp. See, ASRC was looking at hydrogen feeds to satisfy the hunger of (yet) another subsidiary; HydraFuel Cell Corp, they read Dr. Botte's research and pounced! Well it took a year to do the deal, but now they are ready to go! And why not? Ammonia is made everywhere... you can make it from fermenting waste, and when you look at the molecular structure, it's as easy to split as water. Maybe easier.
.
I still like making H out of methane myself, as we end up dealing with mitigating a greenhouse gas as well... but heck, cheap hydrogen would be a way to get us using the stuff regularly, and building up the demand for the slightly more expensive approaches. Just one more small step for Frank Neukomm, one giant step for humankind!!

[important note: i have to put a caveat vaporptor on this story. I'd like to believe it's true, but MagWins while a cool idea, may not really be all that hot, and hasn't really produced anything. And that last pitch they has in TH a month ago with a GIANT sized magwind was so pie in the sky... so that, plus a Fuel Cell company, and we have to make sure that this guy isn't just doing one more vaporware stock push... you know like Zapworld does, or Hybrid Technologies, no real product just lots of green hype. we have to at least keep one eye open, ok cowboys?]

'GARBAGE WARRIOR' ...the trailer

2007-07-28T23:57:38Z

Can't wait to see this movie!!

if you've been reading this for long you know how much i love earthships (if not, here, look), so yeah, psyched to see this movie! It's still in the festival circuit (and getting some pretty good nods) but now being made into a 35mm for theatrical release ....Keep your eyes open for Michael Reynolds, in: GARBAGE WARRIOR!

things are panning out in the wild west.....

2007-07-23T13:14:33Z

Kholsa's Gevo attracts new 'polylactic CEO' and Sir Richard

Big news last Friday as California's Gevo Inc dropped not one but two bombs on the biofuel world.... it appears they have a new CEO-- one Ptrick Gruber, who's name might sound familiar to you.. and who has touched you-- if you have ever had a bioplastic cup, pen, mug, schwag.... any PLA plastic around is basically from his old haunt (he was CTO at Naturworks/Cargil). But then of course, the big news was Vinod Kholsa's new partner in crime;

Yes! The Branson and his $400M "planet cooling company" is getting on the GEVO train! It's basically the Frances H Arnold Technologies, Gevo has exclusive rights to the stuff-- and any friend of cellulostic ethanol is a friend of ours, right? I just wish "Sir B" would have shown up at the conference with Kholsa airdropping himself to the podium, or skydiving in... you know something Branson-style ...but hey, even without the spectacle, it's quite spectacular!

Epuron Commercial!

2007-07-09T11:59:28Z

if you haven't seen it yet, this is the best commercial of the year!

Did you hear the one about the Sanibel Beach Inevntor?

2007-07-08T11:39:15Z

Florida Islander Invents Salt Water Fuel(?)

This article is a little high on claims and kinda light on details, but interesting none the less... it seems that a man in Florida was tinkering with some machines... from what i can tell he was playing around with some sort of Rife/Prioré/Clark frequency generators for cancer treatment (While that part may sound odd to you, check out those three links up there, it's really no different than an opera singer hitting the resonant frequency of crystal and shattering that -just a lot smaller...)

"Observing a bright blue flame, John Kanzius claims that it is salt water and salt water alone that is burning inside a test tube ....During his garage experiments Kanzius says he ignited plain old salt water with the same radio wave generator he was using in his cancer treatment." Wow. If this is true, the implications are huge!! read more: "Kanzius gave technicians at a Pennsylvania machine manufacturer a demonstration of his discovery. 'We saw it go up to 1500 degrees centigrade. That temperature, that's incredible,' exclaims a lab technician." And back shed or not-- this guy is not some backwoods invent, he's been using the flaming salt water to power a stirling engine, so obviously he knows a thing or two.... way to go Mr. Kanzius! This shows promise, and I hope to read about your name tree times for every one time i come across those stupid Steorn people :DD

who says you cant go back?

2007-07-08T11:19:23Z

Local Boy (me) Does Good!

...So I come back to my home town for a few days and look what happens, I end up on the cover of the newspaper (...with no handcuffs!) I mean I came back to help this writer, who was writing about the Montréal Jazz Festival (the biggest festival in the world according to the Guinness people-- world records, not stout). It seems that they were busy saying they are greening the fest, and "an industry leader in their greening ready to show other events how to do it" .... and If that's the industry leader, we're in trouble. Fortunately, they aren't. And the writer knew that, after all he was out on a particular farm in Tennessee last week, and you-know-who gave him a full-on green tour...

at the time he didn't even know i was from Montreal, but when he found out i was Montréalais he asked me to come to the Jazz fest and help him see if the greening was just greenwashing (turns out it was more like green-rinsing, here, read all about it). So I did, and I knew that he was going to reference Bonnaroo as an example of a green show... but I had no idea that it was going to be like this. And above the fold, wow! Thanks Gazette! Thanks Benjamin! Hopefully this will lead to really greening the Jazz Fest ...and the Just Pour Rire ...and any other Montreal green fests (already working on Osheaga)... I miss my city!

Bonnaroo 2007: an intimate green gatherig :p

2007-07-01T00:11:48Z

the tents are down, the kids safely home...

It's two weeks since.. and my throat has almost finally coughed out the last bits of Tennessee drought-dust, now recuperated, and almost done catching up with everything back home after i took off for two weeks, once again, as you probably know, to moonlight at Bonnaroo and help with the greening (there are many others involved in greening Bonnaroo-- the amazing clean vibes waste geniuses, the planet roo team & their education & outreach "green ambassadors" the concessions peeps, art & decor peeps, electrical and operations, and of course Suprefly Presents, the promoters, who are willing to step and help turn this long strange trip into a boundary stretching green experiment).

So 100 bands and i got to only see 1 1/2* shows!! (gotta maybe pile some extra work on my greening volunteers next year and catch some choonz, while I'm there and all... *i did get to catch Apollo Sunshine however who are my favorite, so it's no big deal. really. even though there were so many I would have loved to see. Then again, my trailer was about 50M behind the second stage (what is called "Which Stage?" as opposed to the main stage which is called "What Stage?"). so i got to hear A LOT of shows like White Stripes, Franti, Franz Ferdinand, Flaming Lips (saw a little of that one)... But really, the music is fun, and i love live music, but that's not why i go, right, but to help create the greenest event the world has ever seen (which we're now into year two of what i think will take 3-5 years max before it becomes the headturning green experience that i know its going to become but i can't tell y'all just everything right here... there's some behind the scenes stuff that you'll just have to wait for..

Still all in all it was way greener than last year, and still so many things to tweak more (a lot of time for me is also spent scurrying around the grounds-- in an EV-- taking notes on what needs to be fixed, redone, greener more!). But we had some new milestones, like 300 gallons of VOC free paint, all paper (programs, newspapers) printed on 100% recycled, and programs even on hemp/flax/preconsumer/ postconsumer/FSC blended paper.... and some WAY heavy meetings with lots of green energy peeps and other dignitaries figuring out how pest to proceed with the waycool green techs... Much more to tell you about... thats for sure.. but for now here's some other people's writing on it....

we got a nod from Little Stevie Van Zandt (yes BadaBing Owner Silvio-- and/or mandolin player for The Boss) in the Hollywood Reporter, here's what we did for the 550 Tons of CO2 still emitted by the fest, and here's a pretty good evaluation of everything from blogger JP Gorman who the rest of the week had only gushing reviews of the fest though here, not so much... also there's John Parles from the NYT kicks in with his own effort to help us green by going after a certain type of fan (the kind who miss a lot of the action sitting in their car with the AC running) Just watch out John, next year we're working on getting Uncle Wade out to the event, so there will be another green NYT reporter on the prowl....

ok thats about it for now, but i wanted to share this with you: it's a pic of my greening volunteer, Levi, who in almost no time (with a little help) got a school bus, turned it into an SVO straight veggie bus, jimmy rigged two PV panels on the roof (and retractable solar shower) and filled the bus up with seven of his pals (who were all volunteers recycling for clean vibes). He was an awesome addition to the team! Enthusiastic, levelheaded, dependable and keen for green! A true pleasure having him lighten my load and never stop texting me: "I'm at the Roots show with my GF now.. but do you need anything?" And if i did he would take off to help me. Levi and his clan rock!

here's levi showing off the SVO kit sponsored by LoveCraft (and a close up)

..they drove back home to California on the veggie oil that had been frying food for the 80,000 hungry kids all weekend (it was collected and filtered for them, cause they're such sweeties!)

extra hint; in 1991 he did an American version of Bob's Full House for TV ...lasted one season

2007-05-16T11:12:39Z

....Bonus points for anyone who can name the developer of this new background pic. Need some hints? a) It's designed by my hero Ken Yeang b) he's a bit of a megalomaniac c) he's got some "hair issues" and d) he preferes his name with a 'The' in front of it.... if you need more hints i can't help you. But isn't that a cool thing? That this guy is actually building a Kenny Yeang building? ....in Stutgardt? I think it's cool--- especially the double glazed walls, the interior greenhouse-feel, the "bio climactic design" ....and of course the 6 story forest on the top ain't bad neither :p

Trust me ....I'm in a think-tank!

2007-05-13T17:56:04Z

What me worry?

Well it's always interesting when climate deniers all of the sudden scurry up onto the soapbox to become promoters of climate solutions, right? When they stop even doubting the anthropogenic causes and turn coats 180 degrees. Always interesting... and even more so when its from the AEI, the American Enterprise Institute (which houses of course Fred "2nd hand smoke does not harm the baby" Singer, as well as the bloodthirsty and obsequious Michael "Nuke 'em All" Ledeen... but that is in fact what just happened today (maybe it has something to do with Exxon no longer funding climate skeptics). In a recently released "opinion piece" Joel Schwartz writes that scientist of course are dead set against having a "warmer but richer" planet, and also that the only real way to deal with climate change (now that it is real), is to fill the atmosphere with sulfur and other particulate (just like chemtrails.... but real?). Geoengineering is our only way out he says, and those damn scientists! They just don't seem to get that. Schwartz does, of course, because he's not a scientist (he does have an MS in planetary Sciences, but he spent much more time with the RAND Corporation (nice) and working for the Orwellian "Coalition for Clean Air" (which managed to set back clean air regulations across Florida). Trust me, anything this guy is going to promote is a danger to every living thing.

Shakedown for 07-07-07

2007-05-13T17:32:32Z

7/7/7 ....Seven Star ...and 7 weeks to go!!

well the news is out, all over town, that SevenStar got the Live Earth greening contract. Kudos, and best of luck in what will be a maddening 7 weeks to go. Obviously 7S head-honcho Georgia Malki is pretty stoked as this will cement them as THE event greeners on the planet. And they do deserve some accolades after all these are the peeps who have been greening CoOp America's green festivals, LOHAS fests and even John Shaffer's real good Sol Fest. I mean, damn! I want to work with these guys!! What certainly must feel like a blow to Sara Haynes and her waycool Spitfire Agency (a rumour I heard is that Anthony Keidis refused to play at live earth if Spitfire wasn't involved, but from everything i've seen, this is so way out of her league that in a way there must be a sigh of relief. Then again, maybe Spitfire is still doing the U.S. shows, as Seven has only announced that they are taking care of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tokyo, Japan, Shanghai, China, and Johannesburg, South Africa, so maybe there is some spit in that fire still.... either way it is going to be great to see how this pans out, and to be honest i am really hoping that it won't just be B20 for the gennies, organic cotton for the tees, compostable plastic and offsets-- i mean this is the show that is supposed to set the bar higher, right? So i am still expecting that we are going to see some real innovations, but fear that it is going to just be another low-hanging fruit show. well, i still got my fingers crossed!