Article Archive for July 2008
After seeing the Torqeedo electric motor last fall at the Cottage Life Show, I wanted to try one to see if it had the guts to move a boat at a reasonable speed. Tim of Green Boat Supply said earlier ““This is not water-skiing speed, obviously. But you’ll cruise along at a respectable clip and enjoy your surroundings so much more. Many people aren’t looking for a faster, noisier boat ride.” which pretty much nailed it.
The design is absolutely lovely an…
ONE Friday afternoon a few weeks ago, as cable news channels carried bulletins that two government-sponsored mortgage lenders might go bankrupt, Kathy Harrison stood in the kitchen of her two-story, 19th-century farmhouse here, about 20 miles northwest of Northampton, laying out herbs from the garden.
With commentators throwing around phrases like “mortgage meltdown” and “peak oil,” the American economy seemed, at least to some, at the edge of an abyss, but all was calm in the Harrison household. Two loaves of bread, baked fresh that morning, sat on the counter. Mrs. Harrison’s daughters, Karen, 14, and Phoebe, 5, were laughing and playing dress-up, while her husband, Bruce, 62, stood at his wife’s side.
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Asia refiners may seek heavy crude as fuel oil firms
SINGAPORE, July 31 (Reuters) - Asian refiners could seek more heavy sour crude if fuel oil cracks strengthen further as distillates weaken, giving a lift to differentials of such grades that have been in the doldrums in recent months, industry sources said on Thursday.
Fuel oil cracks have improved more than 55 percent to a discount of $12-$13 a barrel — the strongest in seven months — from its record low of almost minus $30 in early June, due to tightening supply flows into Asia.
South Asian nations discuss food bank to fight hunger
COLOMBO (Reuters) - South Asian foreign ministers began discussing on Thursday details of an ambitious plan to fight hunger in the region, including building a common food grains reserve.
The ministers are meeting to set the stage for an Aug. 2-3 summit of South Asian leaders where their recommendations on food and energy security and terrorism will be adopted for action.
Caribbean utility companies urged to collaborate
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (JIS): Jamaica’s Minister of Energy, Clive Mullings has called on Caribbean electric utility companies to collaborate, in order to combat the challenges posed by the escalating price of fuel and the energy crisis on the global market.
DNC Platform on Energy Policy and Global Warming
The Democrats have been relying on the development of renewable energy to not only provide new energy required by our growing economy, but also replace the fossil fuels that we are currently using. They have been opposed to offshore drilling, while oil becomes a scarcer commodity in the world. Newly developing countries and oil producers are all using more oil, leaving less for us and driving prices up.
What about the platform for 2008? That will be decided at the convention, but we can get some ideas of what it might contain by looking at the position statements from presidential candidate, Barack Obama.
Boulder-based team designing homes with ‘geo-green’ features
The world of green building continues to get more competitive — and while it’s still admirable to build housing with top-notch insulation and solar panels, it’s no longer cutting-edge.
Closer to the edge might be the upcoming Geos Neighborhood, a 250-home housing project to be built in Arvada. Geos homes will have airtight construction and photovoltaic (PV) panels, but the design also includes geothermal systems, heat recovery ventilators, “checkerboard” building placement to maximize solar exposure, and water conservation features.
What is going to power our cars?
It wasn’t the sound of his car engine that was distracting Ian Clifford. The chief executive of Canadian business Zenn Motors makes electric vehicles that give off no noise. He was worried that the obvious choice to power his next car - the same stuff that goes into laptops and cellphone batteries - was going to be in short supply.
“If you look at the increase in lithium prices over the past seven to 10 years, it’s been dramatic,” says Clifford. Zenn’s short-range urban cars traditionally used nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, but his next vehicle - an 80mph model with a 250-mile range - needed more efficiency. “There are very limited global reserves, and they’re in potentially very unstable parts of the world,” adds Clifford.
U.S. drivers should think in gallons per mile: report
“There is a math illusion here,” said Richard Larrick, a management professor at Duke University, whose research appears in the journal Science.
Larrick said most people think improvements in miles per gallon are all the same, where a 5 gallon per mile improvement would yield the same gas savings in a car that gets 10 miles per gallon or 20 miles per gallon. (One mile equals 1.61 kilometers, and one U.S. gallon equals 3.79 liters.)
“The reality that few people appreciate is that improving fuel efficiency from 10 to 20 miles per gallon is actually a more significant savings than improving from 25 to 50 miles per gallon for the same distance of driving,” Larrick said.
Energy Prices Are Bright Sliver in Grim Economy
The sharp drop in energy prices since the beginning of the month is turning into a rare bright spot in a bleak economic landscape.
For the moment, at least, fears of a prolonged energy shock seem to have subsided a bit.
Oil will push U.S. inflation to 6%, CIBC’s Rubin forecasts
The last bastion against an all-encompassing surge in U.S. inflation is set to fall, Jeff Rubin, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, said Wednesday.
Wages are primed to jump as surging oil prices prompt the “triumphant return” of 1980s-style cost-of-living allowances (COLA), sending the U.S. inflation rate to 6% by 2009, Mr. Rubin said in another of his provocative forecasts.
Oil Price at $90 Is Enough to Save Global Economy
It may well be enough to dig the financial system out of its mess. Oil at a more sustainable $80 to $90 a barrel would suddenly make the economic weather feel a lot sunnier. With inflation under control, central banks could cut interest rates again. Property markets would stabilize, helping banks to begin lending and to reinvigorate the global economy.
Shell Says Nigerian Production Is Cut By 220,000 Barrels a Day
(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company by market value, said as much as 220,000 barrels a day of crude production in Nigeria is shut in because of militant attacks.
Gas prices fall, but drivers don’t feel relief
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Gasoline prices may have fallen over the last 13 days, but the decline has offered little relief to long-distance commuters who still blanch at the pump every time they fill up.
Exxon Mobil 2Q profit sets US record
HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest quarterly profit ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results fell well short of Wall Street expectations and shares fell in premarket trading.
British Gas: Windfall tax should protect consumers
I’m sure I’m not the only one to find the practice of splitting profits within the same company into upstream and downstream to be entirely spurious. The big oil companies play the same game; their upstream activities are hyper profitable while the petrol stations contrive to make a loss.
Consumer fury at hikes and profits
Consumers were left furious today as British Gas’ parent company posted almost £1 billions worth of profit for the first half of this year just one day after announcing huge price rises for their customers.
Thanksgiving travelers will find fewer flight options
Planned your Thanksgiving trip yet? Be warned: Fewer nonstop flights are scheduled on many routes because airlines are cutting their schedules due to high fuel prices.
Asiana Air Posts First Loss in Almost 3 Years on Fuel
Bloomberg) — Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea’s second-biggest carrier, posted its first loss in almost three years as the price of jet fuel, the airline’s single-biggest expense, rose to a record.
Lufthansa Expands Cost Cuts as Fuel Expenses Rise
(Bloomberg) — Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s second-biggest airline, is increasing efforts to cut spending this year to help counter rising fuel costs that are threatening earnings at its main passenger business.
Vancouver needs to plan for a post-oil world — now
North American cities had better start adapting to a future characterized by climate change and depleting oil. Fewer parking lots. More condominiums. No more big highway upgrades. No further airport expansion. Emergency response and health care systems that can respond to the potential impacts of global warming and energy shocks.
Oil man Pickens seeks ‘army’ to back energy plan
TOPEKA, Kansas (Reuters) - Energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens said on Wednesday he is creating an “army” of business leaders and mainstream Americans to lobby for his plan to revamp U.S. energy policy in favour of wind power and natural gas over imported oil.
Alaska gas pipeline bill nears state Senate vote
JUNEAU, Alaska - The Alaska state Senate is down to the final days of a second special session to decide whether to grant a state license for a natural gas pipeline project designed to unlock 4.5 billion cubic feet of North Slope reserves daily.
Russia: 2 More Coal Firms Come Under Fire
The government’s antitrust probe into rising coal prices widened Wednesday to include Evraz Group and Raspadskaya, just days after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attacked miner Mechel.
The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service said in a statement Wednesday that it had launched an investigation into whether Evraz and Raspadskaya had abused their “dominant position in the market for coking coal, setting unjustifiably high domestic prices and discriminated against the domestic market.”
Tax hike would force German biodiesel closures
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s crisis-hit biodiesel industry faces further closures if the government goes ahead with plans to further raise biofuel taxes, a biofuels industry leader said on Wednesday.
Germany’s government plans to increase taxes on biodiesel in January 2009 to 21 euro cents a litre, from 15 cents, in the next stage of its programme to raise taxes on green fuels to the same level as fossil fuels.
Inuit advocate against uranium mining in Greenland
The president of the International Circumpolar Council in Greenland believes mining companies should not be permitted to remove uranium from Greenland’s underground, under any circumstances.
‘Why should be spoil our nature and our people’s health,’ Aqqaluk Lynge told CBS News.
Money for crop research just a drop in the bucket
WASHINGTON — A deadly wheat fungus known as stem rust is shriveling crops from Africa to the Middle East, threatening the breadbasket of Pakistan and India, and could eventually reach the United States.
The potential threat to food supplies and the economy is enormous, yet Congress and the White House during the past several years did not react to urgent pleas from U.S. scientists for millions of dollars to develop wheat varieties resistant to stem rust. Instead, the main federal lab working on the disease fought budget cuts.
Using West’s oil shale would pump up greenhouse gases
WASHINGTON — Oil shale in the American West might contain three times the oil of Saudi Arabia, but getting it out of the ground would require much more energy than drilling for conventional oil does, and the result would be more greenhouse-gas emissions.
Japan adopts action plan against global warming
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan’s cabinet on Tuesday adopted a plan to slash carbon emissions up to 80 percent by 2050 by starting carbon trading and stepping up research on carbon-capture technologies.
“Japan must continue showing leadership on the issue of environment,” Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told the cabinet meeting. “To lead the world, Japan must take the initiative by achieving a low-carbon society.”
WTO failure bodes ill for climate change: delegates
GENEVA (AFP) - The failure of key powers to agree a new pact on global trade does not bode well for international cooperation in other areas such as climate change, top delegates warned Tuesday.
Three senators call for EPA chief to resign
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic senators called on Tuesday for the resignation of Stephen Johnson, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying he sided with polluters instead of fighting global warming and other ecological problems.
Staff urged to dress down, stay cool as U.N. heats up
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations is encouraging its New York staff to trade wool business suits for cooler attire this summer so the organization can slash air conditioning costs and help the environment.
“There is going to be a relaxing of the dress protocols and people are being encouraged to wear lighter clothing,” said U.S. architect Michael Adlerstein, who is overseeing a $1.8 billion renovation of the 60-year-old U.N. skyscraper.
Arctic ice bigger than 2007, but thawing long-term
OSLO (Reuters) - Arctic sea ice is unlikely to shrink below a 2007 record low this year in a reprieve from the worst predictions of climate change even though new evidence confirms a long-term thaw is under way, experts said.
Spain Announces Major Energy Saving Plans
This is one of those stories that sounds almost too radical to be true. We’ve already noted that bringing back the 55 mph speed limit could do a lot to reduce gas consumption and cut CO2 emissions, but usually when the idea is discussed we hear from numerous commenters that it would be political suicide. Spain’s government might not agree, as it has apparently just announced a raft of incredibly amb…
Allie’s Answers: Carnival of the Green #138 by Allie
“I am so excited to be hosting Carnival of the Green #138. I moved my column from CelebCause.com over to start Allie’s Answers on July 31, 2007, and immediately signed up to host Carnival of the Green. My hosting date seemed so far off, and I worried I’d run out of eco-friendly things to talk about before I made it to my first blogiversary. But here I am, a year later, full of ideas, excited to move forward into year two.”
<a href=”http://junkraft.blogspot.com/2008/07/junk-flying-along-launch-revi…
You might not see girls in thongs getting all hot and sudsy as they wash down corvettes (a la 90’s-style music videos), but you will see another sort of car wash going down in an episode of Planet Green’s Battleground Earth—a waterless car wash that is.
Is it true? Have Tommy Lee and Luda traded in their bad boy ways and cute music video girls for a responsible, greener way of life where water conservation becomes sexier than lathered up ba…
Canaries were once used to warn miners of deadly methane levels. The Canary Project is about exactly that: warning us of severe changes to come. Using visual media and art works, the Canary Project spreads public understanding of climate change and supports those who commit to find solutions.
One of their latest projects is the Green Patriot Bus Ads, designed by world-famous, Cleveland-born artist Michael Bierut. This month, more than 60 buses were released into the streets of Cleveland to encourage what they call “Green Patriotism”. The latter can be describes as a new form…
Etsy invited TreeHugger to write about their favorite green baby items in the Handmade Kids series; clothes and accessories made for children by independent designers. Etsy is that wonderful website that features all things handmade to buy and sell by artists and artisans. We were delighted to find so many interesting, well-designed and hip, if you can use that word for a baby, items that are environmental, and ecological as well. While it is true that charity shops are a major resource for finding good recycled clothing and toys, there are so many adorable things made out of recycled and reused products on the market. …
(Image from Arirang of ice-cold peach punch served in Seoul to help people beat the summer heat)
South Korea is coming up with innovative ways to deal with the current energy crisis. According to Arirang News, the country is fed up with electric appliances that waste energy while they are shut off.
According to Korea Energy Management Corporation electricity spent as standby power occupies 11 percent of the …
A bill introduced by Senate Tax Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) containing a one-year renewable energy production tax credit (PTC) extension and a small wind turbine investment tax credit has failed to move past a Cloture Vote in the U.S. Senate once again.
Day4 Energy Inc. announced that its R&D program, after months of research and experimental trials, has developed a design and manufacturing process for its Generation II solar cells with efficiency up to 19 percent on mono-crystalline and 18 percent on multi-crystalline silicon materials. According to the company, the new design constitutes a significant improvement not only in maximum efficiency of the product, but also in low cost manufacturing and lower commercialization risk.
