| F R E E A I R E a "cool" nobrainer energysaver! |
[Oct. 25th, 2007|07:30 am] |
Free Commercial Refrigeration From Now Until March!!
[yah it’s a rehash, but then again its getting on that time of year]
Today, in 21+ States and all across Canada there are two things you can be certain of; one, no matter how tasty it looks, do not lick any metal outside! And two, across these 21 states 9 provinces and two territories, there are countless walk-in refrigerators (corner stores, beer stores, restaurants, butcher shops, grocery stores…) and no matter that it’s colder outside than a witches… almost each and every one of these walk-ins is using an insane amount of energy (2-3KwH to ‘frigerate’ the air and keep everything cool & fresh. I say ‘almost’ because there are some—the few, the brave in Vermont, Ontario, Mass, NH and TX(!) who have already gotten hooked up with the BRILLIANT FreeAire. And this one is really a no-brainer.
See, as the tradition goes, walk-in fridges are built inside the buildings, which are heated all winter long. So the temperature inside the walk in has to be cooled down around 21°c. So what Richard Travis invented in Vermont years ago, is a series of ducts and sensors that allow the air conditioning to stop the moment the temperature outside dips below a preset minimum, and instead intakes cool outdoor air. I mean seriously, how much of a no-brainer is this one? Here, let’s look at the AC costs for a small Mom & Pop shop in New England:
…and this is what it costs after installing FreeAire:
And look at that payback! Its not too tough to sell an innovation when it amortizes in 1.5 Years. And if it’s truly 1.5 lbs of CO2 for every KWh we generate, then the little unit illustrated above will save roughly 20 Tons of CO2 from being emitted each year (and imagine just how many walk-ins there are)! This is what some would call a triple win win win (and yes I have mentioned this before and I thought others would have blabbed about it, but I figure its cold outside, the silliness is still going on, and plus I’m stoked that someone in my own hometown is now selling them, woo hoo! |
|
|
| things are panning out in the wild west..... |
[Jul. 23rd, 2007|09:01 am] |
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! |
|
|
| Clean EDGE Act of 2006 |
[May. 22nd, 2006|08:54 am] |
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today joined with Senate Democrats to unveil sweeping new legislation to take charge of America’s energy future. The plan, the Clean EDGE Act of 2006, is a comprehensive bill that will put America on the road to energy independence by 2020. The bill will launch an aggressive effort to:, Increase the number of alternative fuel vehicles sold; Protect consumers from gas price gouging and market manipulation; Reduce our dependence on fossil fuels; Put the Federal government in the lead in reducing our dependence on foreign oil; and Level the playing field for new renewable and energy efficient technologies. Bush sent Cheney out to shoot them all in the face. |
|
|
| Xcel + Wind + NREL + Hydrogen + DOE =? |
[May. 11th, 2006|04:05 am] |
The U.S. Department of Energy, NREL, and Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) recently signed an agreement for a "wind to hydrogen" research, development and demonstration project. Pretty cool. As the focus is electrolizing water into Hydrogen with air power :DDD
The new wind-electrolysis system will be at NREL's National Wind Technology Center, where hydrogen will be produced, compressed and stored to be used as a vehicle fuel or to generate electricity. The project will compare electrolyzer technologies and researchers will examine issues related to system efficiency, integration, compression, storage, cost and the use of a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas. "One unique feature of this system is the direct connection between the wind turbine and the electrolyzer, which will make the system more efficient," (yeah.... fairly unique... in Toronto on the lakeshore there's one of those that's been making H from wind for almost 2 years now). Still a good bigger-than-a-baby step!
[fuelcell works] |
|
|
| for my HUGG peeps |
[May. 8th, 2006|05:22 am] |
more on the electric slugs
 im
ok the whole article wasn't available online so if you want to read it just click past the cut [note to non huggers; 1) this is still interesting and you may wanna read it, and b) check out hugg.com]
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| 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... ) |
|
|
| more in the upstanding corporate citizenry department: |
[Jan. 11th, 2006|06:58 am] |
...from the whole fizzle to the fedxizzle!
Kevin at Unplugged Living has some more great green corporate news for y'all. It appears that FedEx Kinko's (which you may know as FedEx or as Kinkos or as NYSE: FDX, announced new renewable energy purchases at more than 100 locations nationwide, increasing its total green power commitment by 67.5 percent to an estimated 40 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. Which will avert more than 26,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions each year. That's equivalent to the power used by over 3,900 U.S. households in a 12-month period. Already a leading green power purchaser, ((In 2005, FedEx unveiled California's largest corporate solar electric system at its hub at Oakland International Airport. Later that year, The United States EPA and the Department of Energy awarded the FedEx Express solar hub with The 2005 Green Power Leadership Award for green power purchasing)), FedEx Kinko's recently agreed to purchase 10.8 million kWh of Green-e(R) certified renewable energy certificates (RECs) for 88 of its locations in Southern California. The new purchase will provide 50 percent of the annual electricity consumption for those centers. Looks like new CEO Kenny May is continuing the awesome path cut out for him but ex CEO Gary Kusin. And we all say "Aiiiiiight!"
[press release available at CSRWire] |
|
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
scalarparty's journal