By Greg Brown
October 8, 2007 – 4:37 pm
 
If you’ve been feeling like your conversations with your vehicle have been something of a one-way street, Audi’s new Eco Trainer technology (which is actually available for almost any vehicle) will give you the valuable input you’ve been missing. At least — when it comes to the environment.
The software turns driving your vehicle into an efficiency game. How much gas can you save today over yesterday? What might you do different to save fuel? From the site,
“A display mounted in the instrument cluster shows your top three fuel-consuming accessories—and the fuel you can save by cutting off each one. Eco Trainer also offer tips based on current conditions, such as advising you to close open windows that create unnecessary drag at high speeds.”
Even cooler (or annoying — your pick) the car will announce every five minutes your grade in each area of resource conservation. An animated LCD aura, called power glow, shows how “happy†the car is, in terms of efficiency, with a five-point scale and a power glow function changing color from blue (happy) to red (back off the gas, man!). I love this concept and think more games that keep track of fuel efficiency and offer tips on what to do better would take off. Especially cool would be a site where you could upload this information and compete with others for “Supreme Green Driving”. Hopefully, we’ll see this creep into more affordable vehicles (Prius, Civic) over the next couple years.
via german car blog
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It's possible, even livable, but so far few and far between in the real world housing market
By Greg Brown
September 20, 2007 – 8:39 pm
Long a proponent of mandates from above and people-led propositions with hugely unintended consequences, California regulators have proposed that new building projects be “zero net energy” by 2020. As the local press has pointed out, the state utilities commission cannot regulate construction, but that’s probably just a minor obstacle from the Californian perspective.
Reasonable or not, it raises the question: Can a new home — a normal new home people would live in, not a tepee in field — be made “zero net energy”?
Turns out a few different groups are hard at work on just that idea. The key is “zero net.” These are not homes that use no power, but hyper-efficient homes that use power when necessary, then generate power back to the utility grid when possible. One such home, the Rose House, is under development at the Oregon Institute of Technology. The U.S. Department of Energy built two homes in Lakeland, Fla. — one zero-net and the other as a “control” home — back in 1998. Private builder Ideal Homes built one in Oklahoma as well, as part of a DOE project.
But the British are taking an entirely different tack, aiming instead for a net-zero carbon emitting home, part of a U.K. initiative that is also likely to become law, eventually. Kingspan, a construction materials firm, came up with a model home that burns sawdust pellets and has super-efficient cooling systems, just one of several entries in the Offsite competition.
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Keep your cukes cool and your power bill down at the same time
By Greg Brown
September 18, 2007 – 10:57 am
What would it take to put your refrigerator — an inherently energy-hungry beast — on a permanent kilowatt diet? A little out of the box thinking, that’s all.
An Australian man has come up with a conversion plan that turns an ordinary chest freezer, like you might buy at Sears, into a chest refrigerator he claims consumes 0.1 kilowatt hours a day. Essentially, opening a box from the top saves power because cold air stays inside, rather than falling out onto the floor while you noodle around with the condiments. But our stalwart experimenter goes one further, installing an after-market thermostat that turns on the unit only a few minutes an hour, to maintain temperature. Some other guys have created an entire visual tutorial on this, if you want to see the guts of the process.
If a box on the floor isn’t in your design plans, you might consider an upright model from California’s SunFrost. The company custom manufactures appliances for use in solar homes, so you know they scrimp on every kilowatt. They claim 80% savings over normal refrigerators in part on design factors like insulation and separation of the freezer and ‘fridge compartments.
An under-counter ‘fridge is a power saver, too, presuming you can deal with 7.75 cubic feet of space or less, just because it’s smaller. Of course, there are also plenty of highly efficient production refrigerators already on the market. Take a look at the breakdown by model at the Energy Star page on refrigerators.
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Probably not, but that doesn't mean some airlines aren't trying
By Greg Brown
September 17, 2007 – 9:09 am
If you listen to U.K. climate activist George Monbiot, we’re going to fly ourselves to death. And while the numbers suggest that air travel is responsible for just 2% of global CO2, it’s the 2% that’s easiest to criticize, particularly if you are a globe-trotting do-gooder like Bono or Al Gore.
But Bono and Gore are just a couple of the tens of thousands of people in the air. The rise of super-cheap flights around Europe, Asia and South America means more planes, more takeoffs and landings (when most fuel is burned) and rising emissions.
Big companies like Cisco and HP are trying to get out ahead of the story by announcing cuts in travel for their executives, meaning more virtual meetings, but that seems an unlikely pledge considering that big deals are closed in person. Major airlines, too, are reinvesting into new generations of aircraft which, by dint of being new, are more fuel-efficient. Fuel efficiency among the biggest U.S. airlines is up 23% since 2000, says the Air Transport Association of America.
But the most interesting cuts are being made by the tiny, executive airlines, where the travelers have the most means to make a difference. Silverjet, which flies to New York, London and Dubai, built offsets into its tickets. NetJets Europe expects to be carbon neutral by 2012 through a similar scheme. Some of the big airlines are making purchasing a “carbon offset,” basically a payment to a third-party to plant trees or otherwise balance your portion of that trip’s polluting effect, an option on-board. Or you could just go directly to TerraPass and sign up.
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It isn't enough just to look for that government Energy Star label
By Greg Brown
September 16, 2007 – 1:05 pm
The U.S. government’s plan to educate us consumers when it comes to saving energy was well-placed but perhaps not fully thought out. For instance, it can be easy to presume that the mere presence of a yellow Energy Star sticker means that your refrigerater is tops.
Nope, sorry. Despite what “star” implies, most new ‘fridges will qualify and the differences between them can be astounding. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, for instance, suggests that you shoot for the refrigerate that beats the government’s standard by at least 20%. Check the Energy Star site for models and ratings on all kinds of appliances, and the ACEE has tips on what to look for.
Also, the government revised all its standards tighter a few years ago, so buying an older model off the floor or keeping your old ‘fridge in the garage — star or not — could mean you’re actually running an energy hog using up to 40% more energy than necessary. What about small refigerators? Absolutely, if you can manage on less than 7.75 cubic feet, you’re saving serious watts. Definitely buy less than 25 cubic feet in any case, says the ACEEE, and buy a top-mount freezer (rather than side-to-side), avoid ice machines and, if you really need two refrigerators, recycle the older one and consider a new, second mini-fridge instead.
Want numbers? The feds say appliances alone (not counting heating or cooling) account from 24% to 34% of your home’s power use right now.
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The race is on to supplant Detroit in the green car revolution
By Greg Brown
September 14, 2007 – 9:53 am
One of the standing jokes about the Big Three automakers is that the Car of Tomorrow always seems to be coming … tomorrow. Even Japan can fall into that trap. Honda led early in hybrids and is now having to play catch-up to Toyota’s Prius.
So it’s heartening to see all the electric hopefuls who see a clear need in the market for urban commuters. You have the Tesla Motors entry, a performance car. The Zap Xebra is on sale now. Miles Automotive is bringing Chinese made electrics into the United States, including in 2008 a mid-size model capable of 80 mph and with a 120-mile range.
This has prompted some serious, although seriously late, reactions from the bigger auto makers, whose financial clout and dealer relationships are absolutely necessary (as is consumer acceptance) to get the electric/hybrid market really cooking. Chrysler, which has extremely little left to lose in terms of prestige, has opened an alternative car arm it calls ENVI, for environmental. Hyundai just showed its crossover concept i-Blue.
One wonders who in the this race will be the Toyota, the company that got it right and then bit down in time to gain the upper hand, image-wise? Who knows, it might even be GM’s Chevy Volt (above). If we keeping seeing $3 a gallon gas, all bets are off.
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Search engine foundation turns green venture capital fund
By Greg Brown
September 13, 2007 – 12:20 pm
What would happen if you had plenty of money but not enough good ideas? The answer is corporate venture capital, a tried-and-true sideline of technology companies, including Xerox, Intel and HP, all of which have funded promising new ideas outside of their own labs.
What’s different about Google’s efforts to fund a plug-in hybrid car is that, mostly, technology companies in the past have focused on products and start-ups at least arguably in the same ecosystem. They look for concepts that will feed their own business, if only indirectly. It’s hard to imagine how Google — for better or worse a search engine with a side businesses in data management and advertising — has anything to do with transportation.
Yet Google does have its green credentials. It built its huge new server farm in The Dalles, Oregon (hydro power) and has been working with the Brazilian government to track down illegal loggers in the Amazon. Its foundation, Google.org, is putting up $10 million in a peculiar request for proposals (real venture capitalists work nearly undercover), a move that seems more like the X Prize for private human space flight than something you might see from Intel Capital.
Still, deep pockets, all that Google cachet, plus the undeniable brain power of the Google Guys. It will be interesting to see what comes out the other side.
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Enough juice for 350 homes and late-night shootouts
By Greg Brown
September 11, 2007 – 9:09 pm
Just like cellphone towers and radio antennas, it was only a matter of time before solar panels began to work their way into the architecture. And what better slab of exposed, empty building than the upper decks of a football stadium?
Japanese materials giant Kyocera has completed its goal of adding nearly 3,000 new panels to the Bern Young Boys soccer stadium, bring the total to 7,930 modules. That makes the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern, which had been undergoing a serious facelift anyway, the largest stadium-integrated solar plant in the world. Wankdorf (yes, that’s correct) only seats 32,000 — about half of a normal big U.S. college football stadium — so imagine the potential once this kind of thinking goes more mainstream. Squads could rename themselves the Blazing Rays, or the Burning Sensations. Baseball teams might actually make a profit.
In all seriousness, the stadium installation took just 10 months, a blip in a construction schedule, and it will put out 1.1 million kilowatt hours a year, covering more than 350 homes. The club plans to sell the power at break-even. Kyocera has another 5,122 panels on the Swiss National Stadium.
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A new super battery could be the bridge to electric mobility
By Greg Brown
September 10, 2007 – 9:17 pm
Well, we certainly hope the folks at EEstor have what they say they have. The Texas company claims to have developed a high-capacity battery that would obviate city driving using gasoline. Toronto’s Zenn Motors bought the rights to the super battery in 2005. EEstor says it will have batteries ready for production cars sometime in 2008. Most batteries are, effectively, small chemical power plants. The EEstor battery, should it work as advertised, uses layers of paper-thin metal sheets, deriving power from particles moving between them and along a mystery material.
Sounds spooky, but venture capitalists have already dumped in millions to back the idea. If it works for cars, imagine a cellular phone that charges in seconds and runs for weeks. Charging up a laptop monthly. Lawn mowers and hedge trimmers that run for days and don’t spew small-engine smoke (or whine). Thousands of silent cars whizzing around our cities, emitting zero and charging up at all-electric “gas” stations in less time than it takes to pump a quarter tank of regular. Almost makes you feel bad for Exxon. Almost.
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The future of solar technology is written in Mandarin
By Greg Brown
September 10, 2007 – 7:00 am
One of the truisms of business journalism is that any deal that leads with the “b-word” is automatically news. As in $1 billion, a.k.a 1,000 millions of dollars. Once you begin factoring in China, though, that rule might need re-thinking. After all, 1.3 billion of people often ensures billions in demand.
Yet it’s news — big news — when a U.S. engineering firm, Fluor, lands a single $1 billion contract to build a production plant for LDK Solar, which makes the solar wafers that go into solar panels. LDK, which recently IPO’d on Wall Street, says with this plant its output will hit 15,000 metric tons of polysilicon by 2009, more than double its 2008 goal. Other key solar suppliers in China followed by the markets include Suntech Power Holdings and Yingli Green Energy Holding.
What’s amazing, if you think about for a second, is here you have the convergence of two absolutely key trends: A huge, fast-growing emerging economy that needs power to continue to grow and, thanks to China’s export juggernaut (toy recalls notwithstanding), enough cash to really throw at making solar and other pollution-free, high-return energy investments. The so-called “developed” world may find itself on the receiving end of amazing new technology transfers in only a few years.
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