The Greenest Energy is the Energy That We Do Not Use
It seems like everyone is complaining about the size of their monthly electric bill, from companies to homeowners to renters. But how many people actually have an idea how they accrued their kWh (kilowatt hours), and even more importantly, what they can do about lowering them?
The solution is getting insight and control over our plug loads – the amount of energy consumed by our plugged-in devices. In the United States an estimated $10 billion (100 billion kWh) per year is wasted on appliances that are left on, or that are left plugged in, all the while consuming energy. Standby power consumption single handedly contributes to 10% of residential use nationally, and more than half of all the energy used in buildings is outside of office hours, which tells you that our systems and habits are simply not efficient. (more…)
For those of you who have ATV (all terrain vehicles), why not check this one out. I mean, if you want to utilize atvs for your enjoyment, why not do it environmentally sound. Not only does it run on batteries but is silent enough to not have the gas guzzler, smoke generating and noisy machines you own today.
It is powerful and silent, climbs hills with ease and works exceptionally well around warehouse complexes, farms, outlets, hotels/motels and anywhere else you may need a quiet workhorse. It is also outfitted with a hitch that can tow either a two or four wheel trailer behind it.
Urban ATV also have other atvs that are much cheaper than the ATVs that are being sold here in the states.
Pretty cool, right? Would you like to own one? I think I would. I know it would be very beneficial around the farm.
This is an electric scooter made with a used car battery (junk yard $20) and two electric car heater fan motors (junk yard $10). Wheels, brakes and steering components were taken from kids bikes bought at Salvation Army for $5 each. Throttle response is a PWM from ebay ($50). Yep, entire project was under $100.
Then there is the drill bike! Pretty nice looking and unique bike. (more…)
Cargohopper is the Solution for the City of Utrecht
cargohopper
The Europeans are constantly working on improving the conditions of their cities and here is an example.
Cargohopper is a vehicle that is able to tow 3 metric tonnes in a linear line by means of a 48 Volt 28 hp electric engine. Its max speed is 20 kilometers an hour but that is more than enough as it is only driving in the inner city of Utrecht and does not make more mileage than 60 kilometers max daily. The three trailers are steered on both axles which gives it a great maneuverability.
Driving on green power, Cargohopper is designed for the delivery of packages (not for pallets) an is able to do the work of 5 to 8 regular (European sized) vans as there are Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and so on. It can do that because Cargohopper is a more than a nice looking little train, it is a complete logistic system. The three containers you see, are in fact separate boxes that can be put on and of the undercarriages by means of a forklift. 8 of those boxes fit on a European sized trailer of 13.60 meters. The boxes are preloaded outside the city in the Cargohoppers Distribution Centre and towed to the boarder of the inner city by means of a regular truck. There we have a transhipment point where the boxes are put on the Cargohopper and rolled into the pedestrian zone: from there the deliveries to the shops starts. That is very effective, Cargohopper never leaves its ‘natural habitat’, and the reloading is done within 10 minutes. So it is almost always ready to roll.
Once empty, it collects dry carton, paper and empty packaging from shops for recycling so it never runs empty. In this way, Cargohopper removes up to 100.000 Van kilometers from the inner city streets and saves approx. 30 tons of CO2 on an annual bases.
Important is, that we have strict delivery rules in The Netherlands. If you are a normal van or truck you are only allowed during a small window of time into the city for unloading. Then we have environmental rules too: the city is divided in zones that you only are allowed to enter with an Euro IV or better vehicle. Cargohopper has zero emission and is allowed in the inner city at any time and any place. That is part of the advantage. It is also quite narrow: only 1.25 meters wide so when stopped to make a delivery in narrow streets, that we have a lot here as you correctly assumed, most of the other traffic is able to pass. Where it would have been trapped by a regular van.
Pretty intelligent don’t you think? I believe that this will certainly take off in Europe, especially in cities that have all of those narrow streets.
Green Fuels That Have Been Overlooked Through the Years
Petrol is running out, diesel hasn’t got too long left and fossil fuels, in general, are on death’s door. Whether we like it or not, we have to look at alternative and green fuels for the future – otherwise, we’ll all burn to a crisp and the South-American dingo bat will definitely die. So what do we do? What technologies and fuels have been overlooked over the years? Are we still being naïve about certain fuel sources or should we just continue on the same path? (more…)
One of the 100 most influential people of 2009 by Time magazine is a 42 year old Israeli businessman, Shai Agassi. Whom happens to be developing a global network of charging spots and “battery switch stations,” which will effectively work as gas stations for electric cars. He is a man on a mission to wean the world off it’s oil addiction and turn everyone into electric car drivers. With his California-based company, Better Place, Agassi has partnered with car maker Renault-Nissan to produce the first generation of emission-free electric cars, the Renault Fluence ZE design delivers comfort, styling and flexibility. The world’s first switchable battery electric car will be available in early 2011, which Agassi says “will not be more expensive than your average Sedan.” (more…)
The Government handed out some big bucks this week. How does 338 million in grants sound? Well, this is in an effort to get the development of geothermal energy on a fast track.
Some of the companies that got the grants were:
Ormat Technologies
AltaRock Energy
City government of Raleigh, NC
County government of Hattiesburg, MS
Companies that are putting the grants into their projects ranging from putting geothermal heat pump into a waste water processing center to putting heat pumps in to keep prisoners comfortable. (more…)
It seems like everyone is complaining about the size of their monthly electric bill, from companies to homeowners to renters. But how many people actually have an idea how they accrued their kWh (kilowatt hours), and even more importantly, what they can do about lowering them?
One of the 100 most influential people of 2009 by Time magazine is a 42 year old Israeli businessman, Shai Agassi. Whom happens to be developing a global network of charging spots and “battery switch stations,” which will effectively work as gas stations for electric cars. He is a man on a mission to wean the world off it’s oil addiction and turn everyone into electric car drivers. With his California-based company, Better Place, Agassi has partnered with car maker Renault-Nissan to produce the first generation of emission-free electric cars, the Renault Fluence ZE design delivers comfort, styling and flexibility. The world’s first switchable battery electric car will be available in early 2011, which Agassi says “
The Government handed out some big bucks this week. How does 338 million in grants sound? Well, this is in an effort to get the development of geothermal energy on a fast track.
