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Filed under: Coal to Liquid, Carbon Capture

Even if you disregard the environmental catastrophe that is mountaintop removal, the reasons not to increase the use of coal are numerous. The current popular idea for using coal is convert it to liquid fuel via the Fischer-Tropsch process for use in transportation. Like petroleum, coal is a fossil fuel so burning it or any derivative of it is taking carbon that is trapped in the earth and releasing it into the atmosphere.

While coal to liquid diesel fuel is definitely an alternative fuel, it is most definitely definitely not renewable and absolutely not green. According to the EPA even if coal to liquid production is combined with carbon capture and storage, greenhouse gases will rise by four percent compared to petroleum. Since no one has done a commercial scale coal to liquid plant with carbon capture it is likely that at least early plants will not have it. Without carbon capture, coal to liquid could increase well to tank greenhouse gas emissions by 119% compared to petroleum.

It would appear that the only advantage of coal to liquid technology is the security issue since we have lots of coal. Beyond that it is even more of a boondoggle than corn ethanol.

Update: Hank the EcoGeek has more on this on this story as well.

[Source: New York Times via TreeHugger]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Biodiesel, Ethanol

In an article published on Monday, the FT blames (subs req’d) the raise of soft commodities on the rise on the demand for biofuels (also known as the sometimes disputed “Tortilla effect”).

“Just as energy and metals prices have rallied sharply in real terms, a similar fate awaits grains, which remain significantly below the highs of the 1970s and mid-1990s,” says Michael Hughes of Deutsche Bank.

There are serious concerns about food prices rising, which would be considered bad for inflation. In addition, the demand keeps on growing strongly, thanks to the current economical situation.

The article also claims that biofuels are gradually taking over as the main growth driver of agriculture demand. Goldman Sachs says that if government policies (especially in the US and the EU) are adopted in full, global demand for biofuels could increase from 10bn gallons a year to 25bn gallons by 2010. Goldman expects the trend rate of growth in demand for agricultural commodities to rise from 1.9 per cent a year between 1997 and 2006 to 2.6 per cent a year between 1996 and 2015.

This is expected to lead to an extended period of high prices. Goldman forecasts that five years from now, corn will trade at $5 a bushel, compared with about current $3.50, while wheat will rise from $4.50 to $6 a bushel.

[Source: Financial Tribune]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Editor's Note: This Week, Chris Baskind from Lighter Footstep explores going vegetarian and its impact upon the environment. You can check out the original post here.
 

Want to help the environment? Consider cutting back on the amount of meat you consume — or go vegetarian altogether.

It's not just a question of animal ethics. Meat production is humankind's least-efficient means of feeding itself. For every pound of meat that goes to the plate, it took sixteen pounds of grain and soybean feed to put it there. On top of this, each calorie of meat protein requires approximately 78 calories of fossil fuels to produce. And at a time where 4,000 children die each day from the lack of safe water, livestock production — including feeds — accounts for about half the fresh water used in industrialized nations.

In short: an affluent, meat-rich diet consumes up to three times more resources than one based on vegetables.

Pretty gloomy statistics. There's really no argument with the idea that a well-constructed vegetarian diet is better for our bodies and the environment. Of course, it's easier said than done. Meat-eating is synonymous with health and prosperity in much of the West. Attend a business dinner, and you can be assured the main course is meat. It's tough to find vegetarian food when you're eating out. Going veggie is a significant commitment.

Photo Credit: Kansas City StarA bookstore in Kansas City has a huge glut of books in its warehouse. There are books that have gone unsold for more than a decade. Copies of books that had huge print runs, but now no one wants. Books that are decades old. Books that are in foreign languages. And, unfortunately for the store's owner, books that are not selling.

The owner has decided that the best way of dealing with this problem is to burn the books. So he loaded up a cauldron in front of his store and burned a pile of books in what he saw as a protest against what he sees as, "society's diminishing support for the printed word." But this isn't necessary at all, there are a number of online services that facilitate the exchange of books (as well as a range of other things). One of these, Paperback Swap, has begun an online petition to save the books and is offering to collect all the books from the store's warehouse, and then distribute them to people for free on a road trip from Kansas City to the company's hometown of Atlanta. This seems to be a much greener way of dealing with the glut.

Filed under: Renault

The new Renault Twingo is set to hit dealer floors in Europe on June 15, says Automotive News Europe (subs req’d). The compact and low-emissions Twingo (the beefiest petrol model emits 140 grams of CO2 per kilometer) will also come with a 1.5 dCi diesel engine option. Renault has sold over 2.4 million Twingos since introducing the vehicle in 1993. The company makes the Twingo at the Novo Mesto plant in Slovenia

Renault’s announcement of the Twingo back in March at the Geneva Motor Show came with a chapter-laden press release. I like the look of the production version more than the Twingo concept shown last year.

Related:

• Renault opens a new chapter with the New Twingo

[Source: Automotive News Europe]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Transportation Alternatives, On Two Wheels

Armor Electric has handed over to a dealer in Florida an electric-powered scooter/moped for beta testing. It is a prototype that will shape the production scooters, and the sale of a fleet of which has been negotiated with said dealer. The scooter runs on lithium ion batteries, which are said to outlast lead-acid systems by four or five times. This power source provides a top speed of 40 mph, a 60-mile range, and a 4-hour recharge time.

Over the past year and a half, Armor’s EPS partner has been rigorously testing, developing and retesting the product, and is now ready for the final phase. No timeframes for a commercial sale date have been released yet, but we’ll let you know.
[Source: Armor Electric]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Sustainably Produced Crib by Kalon StudiosThe Green Movement and sustainable living are often accused of being only accessible to those with a higher level of socioeconomic status. In some ways this statement is true, but in other ways it is false. Many families simply cannot afford to buy organic food and clothing, wooden toys, sustainable children's furniture, etc., because they do not earn living wages. However, these families often make sustainable choices, such as purchasing clothing from thrift stores, based upon their economic needs. Other families are used to megastore prices and go into sticker shock when they see what sustainability costs. Still other families can afford to buy expensive, sustainable products as they make choices to live greener lives. The real question is not how expensive sustainable products are, but how our purchasing habits affect the global population and environment.

Houston's Bike Shop: Photo Credit: The Bike ShopIn many ways, sustainable living is about returning to simpler, less expensive model of living used by families of lower socioeconomic status. For example, many families must use public transportation and bicycles to get around, because they cannot afford vehicle and fuel costs. The choices these families make may be driven by economics, but these choices reflect a more sustainable global lifestyle. In addition, programs have sprung up in poor neighborhoods to help residents maintain and repair their sustainable practices. For example, The Bike Shop of Houston conducts youth programs and promotes recycled bicycles as "an affordable means of transportation in the Third Ward…..Our youth and adult programs focus on hands-on self-directed education as a path to self empowerment." Such programs include Open Shop, where residents fix their own bikes with help from volunteer mechanics, and Earn-A-Bike, where participants receive their own bike by salvaging and repairing a bike for the community, then repairing a bike for themselves. The Bike Shop was recently featured on PBS NOW.

On the other end of the spectrum, Kalon Studios is a new company offering "design for a sustainable culture." Yes, their prices may send you into sticker shock. Their explanation: "In today’s world, sustainability is more than just being green. Rather, it has evolved into a belief system, an approach to living, being." Kalon Studios uses renewable, raw materials and food-grade oil finishes on their products. Although the prices are high, the company's children's products are designed to be versatile and multifunctional. For example, the Ioline Crib converts to a toddler bed, and the Ioline Changing Trunk can be used as a toy chest or reading bench. Kalon Studios believes that loss of aesthetics, chaos, and clutter do not have to rule family life, but sustainability and beauty can go hand in hand with parenthood. Their products are locally made in southern California.

Are sustainable products really more expensive? There are many costs not reflected in the prices we pay for products and services. When looking at a price tag, we are not seeing the true impact of our purchases reflected in the price. As Tom Kemper of environmentally responsible office supply company Dolphin Blue explains,

Please also consider the cost of the loss of resources like habitat; native forests being replaced by mono-cultural species of trees; loss of air quality because we use more energy and create more tons of emissions to make virgin-material products; loss of clean water because of unnecessary and excessive bleaching of paper; excessive reliance on oil because every time we don’t recycle and remanufacture a toner cartridge we use another pint of oil; and then, the associated costs to all of us through increased disease caused by pollution, and the transference of cost to each of us through healthcare premiums and medical care. The list goes on. Unfortunately, our balance sheets don’t account for these costs. So, if we now measure all these costs, which are only a portion of the true costs of 'business as usual,' then what are the costs of that cheap paper, or that non-recycled and non-remanufactured toner cartridge? And, with global population increasing by approximately 90 million people each year, accompanied by eco-systems and resources in severe decline, in what state are we leaving the planet for our children and their children?”

Remember the mantra "less is more": If we buy less, we can afford more expensive, sustainably produced products and services for our families and live with a clear conscious. The prices of sustainably produced products and services reflect the true cost of our purchases.

Image Credit: Homeless DaveSome people looking to reduce their home power use may be interested in alternatives to the typical clothes washer and dryer. While the washer and dryer aren't the appliance with the biggest energy budget in the typical household (that distinction belongs to the refrigerator), an opportunity to save energy here may be something to consider.

The dryer is the easy part. A clothesline is about the simplest, cheapest alternative to a clothes dryer you can find. But the washer is harder. Hand-washing clothes is a difficult task. And wringer washers are a hand-operated option, but they aren't very efficient. A bicycle powered clothes washer is a more efficient, and much more ambitious project. While it's not likely that most of you will rush out to build one of these for yourselves, it offers a wonderful insight into how far you can take DIY if you are inclined to.

The pedal-powered washer was designed and built by Homeless Dave (who is not really homeless, but whose real name is Dave), a local advocate for community and for human-powered tools in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His website, Teeter Talk, features interviews with "folks from Ann Arbor … Detroit … and beyond" which are conducted on a teeter-totter in his back yard.

HD explains the origin of the concept for the washer began after he had been using a wringer washer for a number of years, but was finding it awkward and unpleasant to use. He wanted to come up with something like a salad spinner that could be used to spin out the clothes more efficently than the wringer was able to. And, as he writes, "the engineers at General Electric, Maytag, or really any manufacturer of automatic washers, have already invented this wheel." So, the inventive portion of the project was just figuring out how to connect an old washing machine tub to a stationary bicycle to provide the motive power for the system.

Image Credit: Homeless Dave

The basic idea is to use a stationary bicycle stand as the power source, and use an assembly of belts and pulleys to connect it to an old, salvaged washing machine tub. Rather than reiterate all of the details here, I will instead direct you to HD's website, which contains extensive details about how he worked out the connection. HD did tell me that, in the intervening time since he first put together his page about the project, he has now replaced the front chainring with a much smaller one, which makes operating the assembly a much more reasonable task. He has also hooked up an assembly that runs a permanent-magnet electric motor backwards, serving as a electrical generator, as well.

I have removed the magnetic resistance unit opposite the pulley driving the laundry spinner and mounted a pulley on that shaft, which drives a permanent magnet DC motor backwards, generating DC current, which is fed through a capacitor and then an inverter, into which ordinary household appliances can be plugged. I managed to fry the inverter (for reasons not fully understood), but when it's replaced, the vision is that I can power an electric fan aimed at the freshly spun clothes hanging on their rack and reduce drying time further.

There are several benefits to this system, in addition to the electricity savings. The grey water from this washing can be recycled for filling toilet tanks or for watering plants. It puts moisture into the air, which is especially good in the wintertime. It also provides an aerobic workout for the rider, which also puts heat (and some additional moisture) into the air, which is also a good thing in the wintertime.

Dave also offered a DIY Challenge idea:

Design a replacement toilet tank lid that accommodates an inverted five-gallon drinking water plastic jug with the bottom cut out plus a mechanism that allows water to fill preferentially from this additional five-gallon reservoir, but if it's empty fills the tank from the water line. Why? I'm tired of recycling the grey water, by waiting to flush the toilet until I have a filled drain bucket from the laundry spinner, then moving the tank lid, dumping the gallon or so of drain water in there.

If you have a suggestion for a DIY mechanism that can allow for automatic refill of a toilet tank from a grey water supply, let us know, and we'll feature your idea in a future Weekly DIY article.

 

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels

The Killacycle is the current world record holder for the quickest quarter mile time for any electric vehicle. It is powered by two 6.7 inch electric motors, which operate on 374 volts of lithium ion power using a custom battery pack provided by A123 Systems. The record run stands at 8.168 seconds at 155.74mph. Think that’s fast? Yeah, me too… but not fast enough for the bike’s owner, Bill Dube, who believes that he should be able to break the regular motorcycle record of 5.88 seconds at 243mph. This would be a great headline generating story, and would show exactly what is possible from electric motors and new battery technology. While a vehicle that is this fast is probably best left off the street, those who know something about batteries know that by reducing the power output of these same batteries can drastically extend their runtime, which is very exciting indeed.

Related:

• Edmunds editor Karl Brauer offers a brief opinion on batteries for electric cars
• Watch an electric motorcycle run an 8-second quarter mile

[Source: Killacycle via Youtube and Motorcycle News]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota

Click on the photo for a gallery of high-res images of the Hybrid-X Concept

At the same time that Lithium Technologies is showing off their plug-in conversion of a Toyota Prius comes word from Japan that Toyota themselves are delaying the introduction of lithium batteries to the next generation Prius. Apparently the production hybrid pioneer is not yet convinced of the safety of lithium ion in an automotive application.

The rising rates of quality issues and recalls that Toyota has been experiencing of late may be causing them to be somewhat more cautious about introducing the new technology. Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe had previously indicated that the next-generation Prius would be using lithium ion batteries. So far there is no indication if this means the new Prius introduction will be delayed or they will just continue with nickel metal hydride batteries.

[Source: Winding Road]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.