The scores are from 0-100 and “based on the availability of bike infrastructure (lanes and trails), the hilliness of the area, destinations and road connectivity, and the number of bike commuters.”

Bike Score is new, though, and hasn’t been implemented everywhere. They are expanding, so if your city isn’t currently listed, let them know you want it added.

Perhaps in a fitting show of how our cities and neighborhoods are not designed to biking, number one ranked Minneapolis doesn’t even get a B for its effort. The 79 score it has is the highest in the country.

• The WTC central chiller plant will circulate 30,000 gallons of Hudson River water every minute – enough to flush about 15,000 toilets.
• The electricity generated by the 1 WTC’s fuel-cell plant will be able to continuously light 52,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs.
• At least 75% of 1 WTC construction waste is recylced.
• Everything from the gypsum boards to ceiling tiles at the WTC contains a minimum of 20% post-industrial recycled content.
• At least 50% of the wood for 1 WTC comes from Forest Stewardship Council certified sustainable harvested forests.

The organization is sponsoring a Learning Journey in Tohoku which aims to offer students from both Tohoku and other parts of the world a learning journey; to observe change in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and today. They will meet and listen to people who experienced the disaster and are working for the recovery of the disaster-affected area. At the end of the journey, there will be an opportunity to report what they have learned in the disaster area, and to present their hopes and dreams for creating a sustainable society in the future.

It sounds like a great opportunity to go abroad, learn firsthand, and think about how the area can comeback from disaster in a sustainable way. Here are the instructions for overseas students.

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This marks a remarkable change in electricity production for Japan. Before last year’s earthquake and tsunami, a third of the country’s energy came from nuclear power. For decades, nuclear power was a huge part of Japan’s energy policies and also became a major part of Japan’s plan to meet its bold carbon emissions reduction targets. With the loss of nuclear energy, the Ministry of Environment projects that Japan will produce about 15 percent more greenhouse gas emissions this fiscal year than it did in 1990.

Until the Fukushima disaster last year, Tokyo had planned to expand the amount of overall electricity produced by fission to half of all production by 2030. Since last year’s meltdown, however, citizen opposition to nuclear power has run high. Japan requires new tests on withstanding quakes and tsunamis, and it needs local residents’ approval to restart reactors. No reactor stopped for stress tests or maintenance has gone back on line.

Political and business leaders are worried about summer energy shortages and the effect it could have on the economy. Critics of Japan’s nuclear policy maintain that not enough has been done to improve nuclear safety standards. To make up for the shortage of fuel to produce electricity, Japan has ramped up imports of costly natural gas, but it is not certain that those imports will be able to keep up with demand with the hot and humid Japanese summer right around the corner.

This all underscores the difficulty in providing electricity to meet demand while reducing emissions without the use of nuclear power. Germany will be another interesting country to watch as they voluntarily shift to nuclear free production.

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• 1774: USS Alfred, Navy’s first battleship, powered by wind and sails.

• 1955: USS Nautilus, first nuclear submarine

• 2009: First Navy aircraft engine tested on biofuel blend

• 2010: First flight of F/A-18 Hornet on biofuel blend

• 2016: The Great Green Fleet set to debut

The Green Fleet will include changes such as replacing incandescent bulbs with LEDs, cutting fuel consumption by 500 barrels per year; new coatings on hulls to keep them clean and thus reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency and slash fuel use by 10%;optimized ship routing that takes into consideration ocean currents and weather; hybrid-electric drive propulsion.

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