Smart Water

A standalone desalinator needs 17 gallons of diesel fuel and 66.5 kilowatts of
electricity to make 1,000 gallons of freshwater, but now, the Solar Cube, (made
by Spectra Watermakers in California), churns out 1,500 gallons of drinking water
on just 22 kilowatts of its own solar and wind power. The innovation is a pump
that triples efficiency by recapturing hydraulic pressure during the filtering
process. Solar Cubes are now bringing freshwater to remote regions and places
short on infrastructure and electricity without paying the CO2 price – way cool. (more…)

Electric Bikes & Battery-Powered Scooters – An Economical & Eco-Friendly Alternative New electric bike shop specializes in economical & eco-friendly forms of alternative transportation – cheaper and cleaner than gas-powered vehicles.

Plymouth, MI (PRWEB) October 23, 2008 — There’s a new bike shop in town, but this isn’t your typical bike dealer. eCo Wheelz specializes in electric-powered bikes, scooters and mopeds. Founded by the father and son team of Craig and Jeremy Panizzoli, eCo Wheelz intends to change the way people commute by providing eco-friendly alternatives that are cleaner and cheaper than gas-powered vehicles. Travel up to 40 miles per (more…)

Starbucks addresses water wastage following tabloid indictment

Following the revelation in British rag-mag The Sun that constantly running
dipper wells waste a humongous amount of water, a Starbucks spokesperson confirms, “Stores will be instructed to switch off the dipper well tap and will wash
spoons after use.” And the plot thickens: According to PRWeek.com, a senior-
level source at an unnamed PR agency claims, “We warned [Starbucks] several
years ago that their usage of water was not good for their environmental
credentials and could be a potential problem for them. They listened, but
they didn’t do anything about it.” Starbucks has tried to polish its green
image, saying that by 2010 it wants to source 50 percent of its energy from
renewables, use green-building practices in all new stores, and “reestablish” (more…)

Afsaneh Rabiei, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at
North Carolina State University, has invented a space-age material so light and
strong that it could revolutionize everything from vehicle bumpers to armor to
biomedical devices.  A brand new material that can save energy and lives.

“Basically, it is a new material for all sorts of safety devices,” said Rabiei
Her invention isn’t the first metal foam, but she says it’s the strongest. The main weakness of
existing metal foams is the varying sizes of their cells – tiny pockets (more…)

Okay, so I thought I would never be writing on a 60 minutes segment, but Leslie
Stahl had one last night that you might be a little interested in, it deals with
electric and electric/hybrids Forced Green has posted on before, so here we go:

One of the reasons electric cars have never taken off has been battery technology.
A few years ago, someone wondered: why not use the batteries they put in laptop
computers called lithium-ion batteries? That’s when the environmentally-conscious
hi-tech industry in California jumped in.

The first all-electric sports car is called the “Roadster” and is made by Tesla
Motors, a small start-up in Northern California. (more…)

Well folks, here comes hurricane Ike.  His path is predicted to hit between
Galveston and Corpus Christi.  Should that be the case, I am going to be hit
pretty hard as I will be on the dirty side of the storm.  As of tonight, they
are predicting anywhere from 30 – 60 mph sustained winds, possible tornados,
drenching rains of 6 – 8 inches.  So, it is going to be a rock n roll weekend.

I am battening down the hatches again this week.  We just had a heck of a storm
day before yesterday, got 2 inches of rain in 1 hour, lots of wind along with
ground lightening and thunder that would rip your ears off.  My parents across
the pasture, lost their garage roof.  If they did not have this huge oak tree
in front of their back door, they would of had all of that metal, through the
back of the house.  So, we are in the process of trying to figure out what to
do with the metal since Ike is on his way.  The sides, the door and the rafters
are the only thing left of that garage.  Not sure tarping the garage will even
last with the winds that are predicted to hit us. (more…)

Have you ever thought of what to do with your old out of service satellite dish?
Maybe you thought of decorating it. Here are some ideas that you could do as a
recycling project.

BTW, the old large satellite dishes were mostly made of fiberglass or mesh.  The
new smaller ones are made of metal.

Mirror & stained glass can be used to create work of art, painting the dish with
murals, state flags, stars, etc. (more…)