| MAKING GREEN ROOFS HAPPEN!!! FYEAH! |
[Feb. 2nd, 2006|08:10 am] |
After 60 smog days and finding out how much money
they will save... the T.dot gets greener. En Masse!
Toronto City Council approved "Making Green Roofs Happen", its green roofs strategy The recommendations that Council approved today include a commitment to install green roofs on new and existing buildings owned by the City, green roofs are to be considered for existing municipal buildings when roofs are due to be replaced. For new City-owned buildings, the Green Roofs strategy sets a target of green roofs covering 50 to 75 per cent of a building's footprint. The council also recommended that a pilot program of financial incentives be initiated this year for the construction of green roofs. City officials will also work with Toronto Hydro and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund on the possibility of offering building owners additional financial incentives for retrofits.
Joe Pantalone, Deputy Mayor and Chair of the City's Environmental Round Table said, "Torontonians have asked us to do more to promote green roofs. In response, the City has approved a comprehensive approach - from establishing standards and building our capacity to support Green Roofs at the City level, to offering education, funding, expert advice and promotion." Yeah that's all it takes, ask. Oh and save the city $300M.. The City recently commissioned a multi-disciplinary green roof benefits study by Ryerson University. Researchers found that an eight-percent coverage of existing rooftops with extensive green roofs would generate over $300 million in initial cost savings in areas such as storm water management, combined sewer overflow reduction, building energy savings, and the urban heat island reductions. Operational cost savings for the city from this level of coverage were calculated at approximately $40 million per year. So remember kids, all you have to do is ask:p Still as we say up here; Awesome news, eh?
[CNW Group] |
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| vertical axis bold as love... |
[Jan. 30th, 2006|11:29 am] |
welcome to the wacky world of
Vertical Axis Wind Turines!
treehugger has this super cute pic on their site today talking about The QuietRevolution; these really hot vertical turbines that light up at night! And, being the TH-junkie that i am, went to comment right away. And i was going to splather the comments with a bunch of links (like I often do- under my typekey pseudonym du jour) 'bout all of these different types of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines.. instead I simply wrote: "VAWTs ROCK THe HOUSE!!" and that was it(!) Besides, it was a really hot VAWT: Carbon fiber ...only one moving part... I may have a new winner in my favorite VAWT catregory.
 "
There were others... I used to have a thing for that one up there-- still do. My first vawtlove, the Windaus (which BTW STILL has the best homepage for any vawt) was a local one. But like I said, there have been others.. See, here's the deal. They make no noise (ok the mega-huge 1.5MW turbines don't iether), and kill no birds or bats --again with most new mega turbines that isn't a problem, but if you live in the country and want to have a 2KW Bergy or SouthWest Windpower, you will have noise and you will have dead birds... and you don't go to the country to hear a windmill whine.. So again, VAWTs ROCK THe HOUSE!!
...and they have cool designs like mad!! ( Read more... ) |
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| next year they oughta at least nominate Jamais.... |
[Jan. 27th, 2006|05:18 pm] |
Concrete Canvas beats Plantic for
Saatchi's prestigious World Changing Awards!
Well Saatchi & Saatchi have given the 2005 World Changing Award (a shabby $100K) to Peter Brewin and William Crawford, the engineering team from London's Royal College of Art who invented the "Concrete Canvas"-- a quick install emergency shelter system. They took the prize over a dozen other finalists who included my favorite bioplastic company (Plantic), as well as the FROZEN ARK PROJECT (Nottingham University, UK) -- Plan to save the DNA of all Earth's endangered species, BIO-SOLAR ENERGY NANODEVICES (MIT, Cambridge, USA) -- Minute solar cells that use spinach to convert sunlight into electrical energy, JOT-A-DOT (Rydalmere, New South Wales, Australia) -- The first real innovation in Braille writing in 50 years, A LENS-FREE OPHTHALMOSCOPE (Cambridge, UK) -- Simpler, much less expensive than traditional models, for carrying out accurate, highly revealing retinal examinations, SPLASHPOWER (Cambridge, UK) -- Recharges cell phones etc wirelessly when placed on mouse mat-sized pad., WIKIPEDIA (Florida, USA) -- Free-content, on-line encyclopedia, written collaboratively by volunteers worldwide, and a handful of other finalists. While David Byrne wasn't a judge this year, Philip Glass and Lou Reed were. The awards are still a little quite but I figure in a few more years these are going to be the academy awards of sustainability..... |
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| more movies!! |
[Jan. 26th, 2006|08:57 am] |
The materials can conduct an electrical current without any losses and expel an external magnetic field, making a permanent magnet levitating in free space above the surface of a superconductor.
From MRIs to MAGLEV 500 kmH trains to High Energy Particle physics.. super-
conductivity, magnets and wild magnetic fields are very important. If you want to brush up on your superconductivity, or have some questions, check out the bar ilan institute of superconductivity or the good folks at Penn State. But if you really just want to see something wiked kewl and stare in awe at some of our future technologies, then click on this here link and watch a 2 minute movie where you can see the magic behind the 500KmH trains.. |
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| Toto, I think we are in kansas still |
[Jan. 25th, 2006|01:27 pm] |
In Lawrence Kansas, Plans for a $75 million sewer plant considered crucial for future community growth may be delayed while city leaders learn all about living machines
“I think it would be easier on the river and the environment,” said Tom Bracciano, a member of the Public Advisory Committee and facilities planning director for the Lawrence school district. “Anytime you can use a natural approach, that’s good.” they are actually going ahead with this! Makes me so happy! |
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| DAMOCLES |
[Jan. 24th, 2006|07:17 am] |
"Developing Arctic Modelling and Observing Capabilities
for Longterm Environmental Studies"
 
OK it's no secret that i love WorldChanging, and today's article by Jamais cascio on DAMOCLES is a perfect example of why-- not only does he show us this amazing new tool but he brings it up in the light of MashUps and that just rocks! MashUps as you probably know, used to be audio and video collages where two predominant cultural artifices (say, a Madonna song and a song by Young Buck) get spliced and mixed together to create a synthesis of the two in a new and funny way... Well the MashUp Jamais is talking about is a little different, but amazing!! He brings our attention to DAMOCLES, a project by the Technical University of Denmark to provide compelling and useful information on the effects of climate change on Arctic ice. DAMOCLES adds satellite and ground-level sensor data to Google Earth polar maps, providing daily-updated readings of ice motion and thickness. Wow! so you can now see whats happening in real time (almost, you can see the Total ice concentration image, 3-day ice drift vectors from Global Monitoring Mode data of ESA's ENVISAT ASAR, Location and drift track of the Russian North Pole 34 manned ice drift station, and Location of a number of drift buoys in the Arctic region. Most of these buoys are deployed as part of the International Arctic Ocean Buoy Project. Updated daily, Data supplied by the AARI (Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute) in St. Petersburg. ).
Love it!!! forget video games, this is the real deal..... |
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| .....enlightening |
[Jan. 23rd, 2006|08:51 am] |
Levitating wirelessly powered lightbulbs!
Jeff Lieberman, MIT PhD student showed off this beaut recently, and posted about it on his website. he invented a lightbulb that gets its juice wirelessly... not only that, but as you can see, the lightbulb levitates(!) As he explains on his website (which has some groovy movies about the experiments); "Lightbulb explores two phenomena I find interesting, the stabilization of unstable systems using feedback, and wireless power transmission. Feedback systems often levitate objects, stabilize inverted pendulums, and the like. Wireless power transmission has been around since Tesla's invention a century ago, although it is still not widely utilized. I wanted to explore these effects together." I think it's a great first exploration! Check out the movies as the text is a little techy.... not only is this waykewl-- the implications of these experiments are far reaching.... |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 19th, 2006|03:35 pm] |
Michael Reynolds and Gang take reuse to the nth
Ok, so this may be old hat to many of you-- but to some of you, this may come as one more inspiring evidence of our evolution, and people turning a negative into a positive! So lets go. No doubt you're aware that there are around 4 billion used tires in North American Dumps, we throw out close to 300 million a year, and Europe isn't that far behind. From the micro swamp breeding grounds for west nile and (increasingly) malaria, to the horrendous tire fires, this is a huge problem that won't go away on its own. But here's Michael Reynolds to show us how problems are sometimes solutions in waiting....
( prepare to be dazzled.... ) |
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| reGrowing the RainForests |
[Jan. 18th, 2006|01:34 pm] |
meet my bud Ranil. He proves that nothing is impossible!
I've been meaning to write about this for some time now... and today i guess is the day... because everyone needs some good news now and then... So sit back and enjoy. And if you only take one thing from this tale, please know that nothing is finite. People will try to make you feel bad and helpless, and say stuff like "once the Rainforest has been cut down it can never grow back!" And the point is, that is just plain not true. Over the past two decade, Ranil, um, Dr. Ranil Senenayake has been re-growing rainforests. He, and his army of forest gardeners have been proving just how resilient our planet is. And the positivity is infectious!
Ok the ¿HOW? first:
What they do (Analog Forest gardeners) is go to a place where a rainforest once was (and of course cleared for burgers, car paneling, or guitars...). They find out from the signs there (pollen...) what the trees were that were living there before the devastation. And they get baby trees, the same as were there, or analogous to those, and replant those trees in the groupings as before. Of course the baby trees, in a real rainforest have a shady setting in which to grow, so what the forest gardeners do is plant shade producing crops around the trees (like tomatoes, yerba, yucca, and other things to eat). And i tell you, it's magic! Within a few years they can no longer grow the vegetables because the trees are already tall and even producing things (cinnamon, nuts, avocados...). At this point the forest gardeners have ample produce to gather and actually earn a decent wage. Beyond that what the trees bring, somehow, is the rest of the forest; I don't know how, but they bring back the flowers, medicinal herbs, clingy vines, birds... i swear you look at a 15-20 year old analog forest and you will be shocked that it was once a clearcut!
Additional !Wow! Factor:
So, here's Ranil's story: When he was growing up in Sri Lanka, Ranil got a job as a lizard-catcher. Obviously, with some time to enjoy and appreciate nature, he started to tinker on his analog systems where the tea plantations had abandoned lands they previously sucked the life out of with Monoculture and NPK. He got really excited when he saw the results and tried to alert the authorities that there was a way to bring the Rainforests back to life. But no one in the government would believe a lizard catcher. so Ranil, see he's cool enough not to be deterred, ended up getting accepted to UC Berkeley, and in the late 60's at the Haight of radicalism, Ranil received his PhD in Systems Ecology. He returned to Sri Lanka where all of the sudden everyone wanted to know how they could revive their rainforests.
Now, a few decades later, Dr. S has spread his system to Brazil, Costa Rica, the Philliipines, Canada, and many other places around the globe. you can join in the fun! In Sri Lanka you can stay at a hotel in the middle of a revived analog Rainforst, you can take take courses in the North to then implement elsewhere, and you can support companies that not only work spreading the good news of Dr S, but also sell products from the Forest Gardeners.. Learn more about it from this awesome primer Ranil helped write, and of course, if Sri Lanka is too far, you can always check out the new forests in costa rica! |
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| Organic + Solar = $1/Watt |
[Jan. 18th, 2006|12:14 pm] |
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.....
...Or, more roll-up solar materials for funky clothes!
..So, this company in Pittsburgh called Plexatronics just got $1Million dollars from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority to pursue the development of their printable organic solar cells. They have this stuff called PlexCore PV which, they say, will bring the price of solar panels down to a dollar a watt!
Plexatronics has been a leader in RFID technology, printable electronics and some way-kewl light emitting polymers (with the catchy acronym, PLEDs, but hey that's nothing. who coined their Highest Orbital Molecular Orbital energy levels, really?) Anyway, the Plexicor is a (printed organic polymer) P-Type semi-conductor (gathers the positives) backed with "Bucky" Fullerene on the back which is an N-Type semi-conductor (yeah you got it, gathering the positives...)
 (bonus points for using Bucky Balls!). The grant's not huge, and the technology is in it's infancy, but seriously we're going to have recharging jackets and bags in no time!!! |
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| ..advanced generation of living machines |
[Jan. 17th, 2006|08:36 am] |
...from designer microbes, to the waste eating kind...
..the news today is that the Living Design Group has launched a new generation of Living Machines. Now, even more simple to operate, cost effective and aesthetically pleasant! As opposed to the first generation of (greenhouse enclosed) Living Machines, this Advanced Generation of Living Machine systems require no environmental enclosure in moderate climates, and can be integrated seamlessly into the working green space of a variety of project types and scales. In addition, they do not produce bio-solids (sludge) and can withstand large variations of loadings associated with seasonal uses.
Just to back up a little, Living Machines, invented by Dr. John Todd, use plants and microbes to clean water instead of chemicals. They can handle household waste, and easily tackle industrial wastes, turning 600 to 750,000 gallons of waste per day into hyacinths and snails... Dr. Todd (a student of Bucky Fuller BTW), has been working with Living Machines for decades has found that there are certain plants or small animals that love certain kinds of waste. What he does is let the water run through a series of cisterns with different plants in each. What one plant likes to eat, it turns into other forms of waste, so in the next cistern he has the plant that considers that waste food. By the time the water comes out, it's 5 times cleaner than traditional waste water treatment.
For communities, Living Machine systems are an alternative to dependence on municipal wastewater treatment facilities and provide a cost effective and smart growth alternative to extending existing municipal sewer lines. In addition, they can be designed and expanded in a modular fashion so that wastewater treatment is consistent with the needs of a growing community.
the LDG is based in Taos NM (what a wild place!!) and while Dr. Todd is not actively involved in the Group (he teaches at UVM, it's a little far) he is in their hearts, that's for sure... they (LDG) also do have a pretty active blog, so you can follow the advancements of this technology, sure to spread around the globe to anywhere where.. where we can use clean water! |
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| tailor made biology |
[Jan. 17th, 2006|08:26 am] |
The Lowdown on custom made microbes....
...and no, they aren't all as useful as the microbes pictured up there who have learnt how to "blink on and off like a christmas tree light," some are WAY more useful. Keywords like BioBricks, writing code for cells, microbial hydrogen, spliced genetric wormwood for anti-malaria (OK thats a shitty keyword), cancer killing sleeper cells, and a host of other neat-o inventions covered in this great read from today's New York Times (and of course it's subscriber only, so either sign up or read past the LJ Cut).
( Read more... ) |
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| in the future we'll all be cool! |
[Jan. 17th, 2006|08:14 am] |
more clean motorcycle news....
Intelligent Energy, makers of those uber beautiful hydrogen fuel cell motorcycles, announced that they will in fact be exhibiting their good at the second international FC Expo in Tokyo, to be held at the ‘Big Sight’ from 25th – 27th January 2006. This event will mark the inaugural appearance in Japan of Intelligent Energy’s ENV (Emissions Neutral Vehicle), their hydrogen fuel cell motorcycle. The bike has been getting loads of accolades, won a Popular Science ‘Best of What’s New Award’ and was recently named as one of the ‘Greatest Innovations of 2005’ by TIME Magazine. Also winning the Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track Research and Development Award and being named as one of only 8 British companies to be nominated as a Technology Pioneer 2006 by The World Economic Forum.
...not to mention it's a pretty hot ride! |
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| DIY Electric |
[Jan. 16th, 2006|08:07 am] |
I was just thinking about John Shaeffer's electric Porsche, and the link to that DIY electric motorcycle, and thought, well who are the grandaddys of electric conversions? Why it's Northern California's Electro Automotive! Yes! They are the guys who turned Mr. Real Good's Porsche into an electric (Sure it's a 914, but still...).
I was just yammering on over at treehugger with some people who are goo-gooing and ga-gaing and drooling over this 3-wheeled volkswagon (which is basically a motorcycle in a weird car-shell). And it dawned on me, instead of spending $20-50,000 on a gasoline vehicle (sure it was in treehugger because it gets 43 MPG, big whoop!) what else could you do with that amount of $$$ and I realized that one could buy a cool 70's car, and then convert it to electrism. Not only would you be under $10K but with the leftovers you could buy a few solar panels and either feed in to the grid to offset your electrical needs, or solar power your charger and then have (virtually) zero emissions, and get around in style... |
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| Zen and the Art of D.I.Y. Electric Motrorcycles |
[Jan. 14th, 2006|08:39 am] |
$40 and you get the manual, the instructions and all you need to get going....
Over at EVDeals, they are offering a unique product! A build-it-yourself kit for building the gorgeous electric El-Chopper. Sure, it's the 2D and 3D designs, and easy-to-follow instructions, not the actual pieces (which run you appx $1,000), but from reviews I've seen, some basic mechanics training under your belt and you're good to go! Literally. And while it looks like a chopper, it acts a lot more like a moped (top speed of 30mph), so it's even easier to license and operate (in many places, like NHTSA, if it doesn't go faster than 30 you get a lot of slack with the standards). What fun!! I can't wait to start building my own!!! |
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| Yeah it cost $10G but.... |
[Jan. 12th, 2006|09:01 am] |
...but 60MPH and 1 hour recharge is kinda worth it....
I always wondered what was going to happen to Bill Badsey's legacy. He had some interesting guys working with him in his final incarnation. They had a few models of those motorized (stand-up) scooters. Kinda like Zappy's but the mecha-SUV Versions: like this:
Sadly,(record boating champion, industrial designer, & speed freak) Bill passed away a few years ago, and the two brothers who got a deal with Badsey didn't really do anything with the company but slowly let it wither away... Along comes this guy KT who obviously saw what a gem-in-the-rough these technologies were, and has somehow resuscitated the co. as Zortch! (wonder what happened to Don & John?). They have the old designs, updated too, and now Zortch has released some amazing beasts! Sure they are expensive (10-Grand for the delux uber cool Zortch SwitchBlade pictured above), but gorgeous! And awesome performers. Here's the blurb from their website:
This electric chopper takes extreme to a whole new level. The already intense SwitchBlade is juiced up to 72V with more SVR-14 drag racing batteries, the motor is upgraded to the beefy Lemco, the controller is a huge 450A Alltrax AXE. This ride delivers 27,000W of power (over 30 hp) with a top speed of over 60 mph and a top range of over 20 miles. Forged CNC machined aluminum wheels. Dual front and single rear disc brakes. Custom front springer suspension. Custom gel seat. Silent Kevlar synchronous belt drive system. The dual mode digital controller keeps this monster under control. Keep it in street mode to maximize range and comfortable enjoyment. Switch to race track mode and unleash the beast, unlocking the power of this outrageous design. The SwitchBlade Extreme recovers most of its charge in under one hour from any standard 120V outlet using the included super charger package.
WOW! we have this guy to thank,
Ken Trough, Thank you Ken! keep up the awesome work!! |
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| hot tip for me to follow... |
[Jan. 11th, 2006|09:31 am] |
...speaking of that beer waste technology
...going to have to do a lot more research on this one.... but i can smell it a mile away... Dr. Ozeki's Beer waste plastic is now being used for DoCoMo phones (seriously if you never been to asia DoCoMo phones make a Razor look like boring crap!) Here's the quote: "NTT DoCoMo and NEC developed a mobile phone using an environmentally friendly bioplastic material (called polylactide) for 75% of the surface of the 3G phone (announced December 13, 2005)." It's from Pamela Gordon, at EMSnow. I know Shuimadzu, they kick butt (especially when it comes to the beer-waste plastic)! How much you wanna bet that these DoCoMo's ain't Cargil NatureworksPLZZzzz? |
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| more movies and a good read..... |
[Jan. 10th, 2006|08:32 am] |
is cold fusion making a comeback? Brrrrrrr
Ok who can really tell, were Ponds and Fleishman scammers? Or, were they on the ball? And while I'm asking questions, why is it that whenever I google cold fusion all i see is "Ponds & Fleishman" what? Don't they have first names, or is it like "Simon & Garfunkle?" But anyway, ten years later, and there seems to be quite a few people into this, again.... Most notably the LenrCanr.org people (LENR, Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, also known as Cold Fusion, CANR, Chemically Assisted Nuclear Reactions).
And Lenrcanr (seriously, a few PRflacks ought to come up with a better acronym for these guys), despite having a goofy name, have some goodies to share with the world. First off, they have a short video (Win MediaPlaya only, srry), it's a 17 minute lecture from the International Congress on Nanotechnology in San Francisco, Calif. It's Steven Krivit asking and answering: "What Really Happened with Cold Fusion, and Why Is It Coming Back?"
They also have another neat goody for y'all: They posted an internal memo from Amoco circa 1990. It's about their own internal Cold Fusion research, where (and I'm just quoting the cover page here): "The latest cold fusion experiment run at the Tulsa Research Center documented anomalous energy production, as measured through careful calorimetry, and produced enhanced levels of tritium, an indication that a nuclear process is involved in the experiment". You can get the whole document from Lenrcanr in PDF form... It's interesting to note that it's Amoco-- and thank god that they now belong to BP.
( click here for yet another yarn... ) |
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| My Own Private Livingwall...... |
[Jan. 6th, 2006|10:02 am] |
Scalability brings natural brilliance down to the homefront
Living walls are awesome! There's no question to that. Sure they're gorgeous, like vertical rainforests, but the truly innovative part of these biofilters are their capacity to break down hundreds of different kinds of contaminants found in indoor air. Thanks to the action of microbes that live on the plant roots, common pollutants such as formaldehyde, toluene, carbon monoxide, and benzene are transformed into water and air. Not only that, but as you can imagine, on a cold grey winters day, These walls become havens.
Traditionally these walls have been built into office towers and malls, but now they have been scaled down (just as efficient) and are available for individuals and families!
( Read more... ) |
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| Silicon Batteries, anyone? |
[Jan. 4th, 2006|10:41 am] |
Move over Lead Acid Battery, here's a new and powerful performer from China!
The Chinese company Guineng, has developed a very interesting non-polluting battery based on an electrolyte of liquid low sodium silicate compound. Not only can the electrolites be used, they say, as fertilizer after being replaced, but the batteries pack a punch! Obviously superior to Lead Acid Batteries, they compare pretty much to NiCads as far as energy density (52Wh/Kg), but unlike NiCads, they can be recharged in 2-3 hours (witout fancy-pants pulse charging) as opposed to NiCad's 16 hours. According to Guineng, this brand new neutral electrolyte does not corrode the electrodes, which makes it possible to recycle the electrodes after the battery is properly disposed of. The disposed electrolyte, in the state of semi-solid grains, is a high quality fertilizer rather than soil pollutant. The factory is rated as Factory of Environment Friendliness by the relevant environment protection authority for its contribution to the commitment of green environment protection. And even cooler than that, you can already get one! See, that scooter up there, the e-max classic, is available NOW with these new silicon batteries! E-Max is pretty stoked about this! On their website, they have a great table that shows just how much better these batteries can be. Price, power, recyclability and less toxic materials makes em want an EMax more than ever before.... |
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| Underwater energy production is finally comercial!!! |
[Dec. 27th, 2005|08:58 am] |
Marine Current Technology and UK Minister of Energy christen new tech play
The rotors are 10 times slower than those on ships so you don't have to worry about no free Willies getting chopped up by the turbines. And all I can say is after years of waiting, it looks like we are finally going to see some tidal power! Wooo hooo!
So according to the BBC, the news last week was that Bristol based MCT and UK Minister Angela Smith announced that they are going to launch a commercial scale pilot project that will generate enough electricity for 800 homes (at a cost of +/-£4.5m)in the Strangford Narrows, County Down, Ireland. This is great! We've all been reading about these tidal energy plays for ages, but it's such heartening news to see that we're actually taking strides now! again alls i can say is Wooo Hooo! |
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| The Bucky Preservation Society |
[Dec. 14th, 2005|11:10 pm] |
you will have to beat a critical path to get these Bucky books
Did you know that Buckminster Fuller wrote 28 Books? Betcha didn't know that up to very recently, only 3 were still in print (operation manual for spaceship earth, critical path and ??). But at least I'm happy that I found this out because of a great group called Critical Path Publishing. It's their goal to republish all of his works, which truly we need now more than ever. And so far they have already gotten the first two to print, as well as a CD series of his final lectures. Sure, you can go to powell or Amazon and find a few rarities.. But next time you got a hankerin' for some Fuller wisdom (or just want to help a group of insanely committed individuals), try Critical Path Publishing!
ok couldn't resist one last pic, cause RBF kicks ass! |
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| a first(!) a comercial solar/landfill/hyrdogen plant |
[Dec. 14th, 2005|10:35 pm] |
Fast Times in Dog River
As you know-- whenever I get some PR saying something is a first, it just gets me obsessively searching to see if there were any firsts before that first. But tonight I am pleased to tell you that this first is really a first. And Canadian! (BTW, that guy, its a Canadian thing, you wouldn't understand...)
So, it appears that Saskatchewan's Solar Hydrogen Energy Corporation has completed their pilot phase and is now ready to beguin building the world's first solar-hydrogen production station. This project, 'SHEC Station #1', when completed will have the capacity of producing 1.2 million kg of renewable hydrogen per year! All from methane that would have otherwise waft up from the bowels of the landfill, only to add greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. Instead, the solar power will be used to break those C's away from the H's and then use the 1.2 Million Kilos of Hydrogen to do fun stuff, like run fuel cells (ok not the really-BMW-style-fun stuff like hydrogen internal combustion, but hey, it's Saskatchewan... this is pretty advanced for that place!).
Wow, a real first!
[thanks to open source energy dot com] |
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| we got SOUL |
[Dec. 13th, 2005|07:30 am] |
Triple Five Soul announcs new line of hemp & soy clothing
The news rolling off today's PR Newswire is that Brooklyn's Triple Five Soul and L.A.'s Syrum Versus Venom have signed supply deals with Candian Hemptown to make future T5Soul and SVV clothing form hemp, soy, bamboo and a new enxymaticly processed hemp silky tissue. Way to go guys!! Proud Hemptown cheif, Jason Finnis beams: "Our partnership with SVSV will promote alternative organic fabrics to a mainstream fashion customer. David Gensler and his team have created amazing brands and this alternative fabric line will go a long way to promote organic textiles as a fashion item."
Now the mainstream can get behind these truley innovative fabrics! the PRN wire goes further describing the new technologies: "In addition to the company's expertise in Bamboo and Soy, Hemptown and the Canadian federal science organization NRC have jointly developed a patentable enzyme process to transform industrial hemp into a soft, white fibre. The process and the end product, called CRAILAR(TM) is highly environmentally sensitive, grown organically without the use of pesticides, toxic fertilizers or the enormous fresh water irrigation required by cotton"
...just remember, you can't smoke it, don't even think about it. |
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| 'twas bound to happen..... |
[Dec. 8th, 2005|08:01 pm] |
SoGsi Ltd plans to expand Moses Lake Facility
Why does no one write about this company? Why do I only find out about them from papers like the Columbia Basin Herald Online? Well, anyway, the elusive Tor Hartman, pictured above, let the cat out of the bag yesterday, saying that they are in the process of reviewing an expansion of his Moses Lake WA facility, the base for REC Solar Grade Silicon the only manufacturer of Solar Grade Silicon in the United States. Since now, everyone and their grandma is in on the SoG-Si game, they must be evaluating the playing field to really see if this wil be a strong move (too bad they didnt do it two years ago, they'd be king). The decision will come in March, and it looks like they will be able to manufacture an additional 11,000 tons if Sog-Si a year when they bust open the expansion. I am certain that these guys will be making a big announcement in early 2006! Bythen perhaps the media will notice them, and the solar drough of '05 will be but a memory.... |
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| roofoop water filters. green, of course |
[Dec. 8th, 2005|07:49 pm] |
In Bedfordshire the water cleans
Chris Shirley-Smith and the professors at Imperial College London and Cranfield University in Bedfordshire have perfected a rooftop garden system that cleans your home's grey water and then allows you to reuse it as "green" water (water that was grey, but is now clean enough to use to flush, saving more water...).
"The beauty of the system is that it is not ‘high-tech’ in the traditional sense.
It does not require sophisticated maintenance, just tending, like any garden." Says professor David Butler, and that just pleases me as punch! Almost like that's what i've been moaning for in the past few posts. Ahhh a nice resolution to the day!
The company is called WaterWorks UK. They rock! Made my day! |
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| Sony & Idemitsu partner for uber efficient OLED tvs and monitors!! |
[Dec. 3rd, 2005|10:03 am] |
do i only like OLEDs because they use the word 'organic'?
 
....or maybe it's cause they're so darn efficient and cute!
 
...either way, OLEDs are HOT! Multi configurational, they use way less electricity than even a plasma or (traditional) LCD as they have no backlighting (they make pictures by sending electricity through an organic matter (which would suck, if it was being passed through say, a walrus, but since it's something cooked up in a petri dish, it's all-right with me!
so the story out of Electronic Engineering Times yesterday, is that Sony and a company called Idemitsu (I'm taking a guess here, that they're in Japan too) joined forced regarding their OLED development! They're going to share all intellectual property, and patents ( wow! a nice story about sharing and co-operation in business! what a bonus!)
so that's what we're going to get, cheaper more efficient better pictures, and they get to share and play nice!
Incidentally, if you wanted to get in on the OLED racket, but fear that you aren't nearly as bug as a Sony or a Phillips, so how could you possibly compete? Well here's your solution! Anders Electronics just released a kit for any young aspiring OLED practitioners...the kit contains a value-for-money development kit that also contains source code for firmware as well as extensive application notes. The new kit reduces the cost of entry to OLED technology, and aids rapid integration of OLEDs into a wide range of electronic displays. Oh, did I mention it's free, too? go get 'em!
[for more OLED info click here] |
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| first fleet of FC Bikes good to go |
[Nov. 26th, 2005|03:11 pm] |
While I usually cringe with the term First in a news release, it seems that German Fuel Cell manufacturer Masterflex is now supplying the world's first fleet of bicycles with fuel cell propulsion systems to the city of Herten in North Rhine Westphalia. pretty nice, it was displayed last year, and now less than a year later, it's already in production! At first, they're going to be used for tourists who'll rent them for quite day-trips through the Rhine. Partnering with a manufacturer of hydrogen storage systems they provide users with a safe and simple supply of hydrogen. There's plenty of bikes, too, open for now to anyone who wishes to buy 10 or more. Just call Stefan Schulte at Masterflex Brennstoffzellentechnik, Herten, Tel. 49 (0) 02366 305 191, schulte@masterflex-bz.de.
[from FuelCells Today]
...just as an aside-- while I gripe (a bit too much) about the word first, surely you remember the hydrogen bikes from Manhattan Scientificlike, 5 years ago, right?
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| XSunX wins big @WTNAwards |
[Nov. 18th, 2005|09:09 am] |
XSUNX wins the World Technology Network's coveted "coporate energy prize"
...don't really know what it means to win this, aside from some accolades, but it turns out that everyone's solar darlings, the XSunX gang has been selected as this years winner at the annual World Technology Network get-together this past week in San Francisco. Xsunx who make those incredible hot solar see-through windows (no, not the kind that become TVs at night, but seriously) look at how nice looking these are:
   
yes! they are windows and they are solar panels. and yes! they can be used in every office tower on the planet! Do you wonder why they won? to see the complete list of winners and nominees, click here.
and once more, kudos, you guys deserve it! |
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| the move! ..based on the novel Sunshine2Dollaz |
[Nov. 14th, 2005|06:59 am] |
Smartest $19.95 you may ever invest
This book teaches you:
Where to get free solar panels, where to get free glass (enough to greenhouse every roof on your block, bourrough, city..), how2 build your DIY free solar ovens, how2 make: free fresnel lenses, free solar hot water, passive solar water desalination(!), the 25 cent solar window heaters, home cooling, ice making, and many many more...
step-by-step and doable --most are at the level of "a 6 year old can do it in 30 minutes."
so what are you waiting for?? go buy the book!! |
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| I've been holding out on you..... |
[Oct. 15th, 2005|08:01 am] |
my newest favorite architect, and, one good turn....
Ok, y'all know that i have a particular fondness for these uber futuro green designers and architects, right? I mean, I constantly gush over Ken Yeang, both here at Exuberant Pantaphobia and in person ...and have a personal menagerie of paintings, photos, sketches and even a few animations of these UFG Buildings ...Yes, if i am an info-junkie, green buildings, especially the inspiring ones, are my drug-of-choice.... and that's probably why i have been holding out on you. I apologize for that, and will now try to make amends.
So for a few weeks now i have been crushing like mad over this architect named Emilio Ambasz. I can't get enough of his stuff!! That building up there, the Fukuoka Prefectural International Hall has been built! it's not just an idea! Though the idea is pretty brill-- if you ask me, Ambasz wanted to extend the green space as opposed to cutting it off with concrete... and he did a great job! there's even waterfalls cascading down the building....
and he has many many more amazing designs and buildings under his sleeve. This guy, it turns out, built Leo Castelli's country home (and it is totally smashing in a futuro underground greenie kind of way).
((that's not the Castelli country-house-- it's a head office for a cyber co. in Beltsville Maryland))
....and like i hint up there with the "one good turn," it seems like i might actually get a chance to work with this guy!! As it happens, I'm working a little as a consultant on a super-secret-green-project based out of New York City. And while i was certain that Ambasz was based in Japan or Spain or something exotic like that.... as i have been pouring over every detail i can find, turns out he is also based in the NYC! And now I've successfully hooked up my super-secret boss with the man himself (!) So, as the cat gets out of the bag.. i look forward to telling y'all about this wonderful work and how it-- like life on this planet-- is getting greener by the day!! |
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| I'm in Love!!!! (again!) |
[Sep. 29th, 2005|07:16 am] |
from the people who brought you the Ferrari... here's e-solex
..you might have been awestruck by the beauty of the Yamaha FC Scoot i posted about 10 days ago.. but call me fickle, i have fallen for this! The Pinfarina eSolex (ok the name isn't that hot but no worse than FcMe, right? Wait this is a total aside-- but did Yamaha really call their vehicle "FcMe"?? Are we supposed to pronounce that phonetically?? Maybe it's just Fuel Cell MEthane but sounds a little needy imho)
So anyway, no date set on sales, but it's debut is Sunday at the Paris' International Two Wheel Show, and while i love it's look, I gotta say its pretty superficial my love, as it has only one seat, can only go 30km between charges and top speed of 35KmH. My old flame,long-term SWAP was able to go 50Km on a charge, i took it up to a shaky 65KmH and had two seats... here's a pic (tho mine was white)  while it wasn't nearly as HOT, she was a rocker! Sadly, we split when the police noticed that my experimental license plate had expired about 2000km ago, and took her away.... so now i am looking at this ferrari of a scooter and thinking it would be great to have one... but even better with a double seat (do you have any idea how romantic it is to drive around in a silent(as in you can converse while driving, unlike a Vespa), green vehicle when you have to hold tight?) |
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| do u think it can be true?? do u?? |
[Sep. 6th, 2005|06:03 am] |
ok.. i've been living in Toronto for a little more than a year now, and still have not found the elusive Rothman Technologies. In all actuality it's probably a holy grail for good 'ol me. I mean really, if they are ferreal then i can understand why they are keeping all of this sub-rosa. And if they are just a figment of some new age guy's imagination well then it's easy to understand why no one knows who they are.... Now, doubt gets suspended for two reasons; 1)I have personally videotaped inventors in their warehouses and see that years later both they and their 'free energy machines' are hard to find, like you cant even google them,... 2) if they were dennis lee style scamsters, they would be a little easier to find, after all they would be wanting your wallets. ok and 3) because i really really want this to be true.
seems that Mr. Rothman (whoever you are) has developed a method of electrolyzing water (splitting it into the H and the Os) that uses virtually no electricity. I say virtually because there are some metallic-alloy powders that get dropped into the water, and obviously it took some juice to make those powders. As soon as the alloys are dropped into the water, the water starts bubbling and electrolyzing like mad. No electrodes... just like making chocolate milk! Its a twist on good 'ol Yul Browns' gas ("Browns gas" you can find a lot about this if you googit). And while i am still looking forward to finding this Dr. Rothman, i figured at the very least i could toss this one out to the lions and guage response... should i track this guy down?? if you want to read more and/or see a video of this process in real-time, simply click here |
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