The Environmental Protection Agency and Innoventor, an engineering consulting company in “HVAC, mechanical, refrigeration, electrical, environmental, and aerospace,” have teamed up to offer a “manure to energy” solution to the vast lagoons of waste that are found at pig farms: pave roads with it. In Missouri, where there are 280 “concentrated animal feeding operations”, Innoventor [...]
Archive for the ‘Local Energy/Food’ Category
Paving Our Streets with Hog Manure….Only When Pigs Fly?
October 25th, 2010 
Justin Manger Noise from Wind Turbines and Compostable Bags
October 24th, 2010 Eric Wilson In light of the recent news that Frito-Lay will discontinue the compostable chip bag used by subsidiary SunChips, I came across a story from the New York Times that has some similar sentiments. Some history first though. My sister, a physician in the Northeast, told me some time back that she had come across studies [...]
How Green is NYC? Yard Space Underutilized
October 18th, 2010 Justin Manger New York City is actually pretty green (see GreeNYC’s website here). With that many people crammed into such a small space, certain benefits of big city living like using public transportation, walking, living in smaller quarters, etc. result in a smaller per capita carbon footprint for residents. The Big Apple could be even greener, though, [...]
First GE Ecomagination Challenge Award Goes to Solar Roadways
October 14th, 2010 Justin Manger “There’s 25,000 square miles of road surfaces, parking lots, and driveways in the lower 48 states. If we covered that with solar panels with just a 15% efficiency, we’d produce 3 times more energy than this country produces on an annual basis.” – Solar Roadways founder Scott Brusaw We first mentioned Solar Roadways back in [...]
Posted in Business, Clean Technology, Energy Efficiency, Green Building, Green Products, Justin Manger, Local Energy/Food, Recylcing, Renewable Energy, Smart Grid, Sustainable Development, Transportation 
Tags: Alternative Energy, Cars, Electric Vehicles, Electricity Generation, Energy Conservation, Green Product, Green Technology, Photovoltaic, Solar Energy, Solar Roadways 
No Comments »$5 billion for Atlantic Coast Off-Shore Wind Transmission Backbone
October 12th, 2010 Justin Manger There is some very exciting news this morning regarding wind power. The New York Times reports there is funding for a “proposed $5 billion transmission backbone for future offshore wind farms along the Atlantic Seaboard that could ultimately transform the region’s electrical map.” Google, sticking to its pattern of investing in renewable power, has come on [...]
Movie Review: Garbage Warrior
October 9th, 2010 Eric Wilson Last year we wrote about a development in New Mexico that was using reclaimed items (primarily trash) to build homes. A few years back, Open Eye Media out of the United Kingdom produced a documentary titled Garbage Warrior that documented the three plus decade history of the development. Directed by Oliver Hodge and centering on [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Green Building, Local Energy/Food, Sustainable Development Tags: Food, Movie Review, Waste, Wastewater, Water No Comments »White House to Go Solar
October 6th, 2010 Justin Manger For a president that continuously touts clean jobs and solar power, it’s odd that President Obama hasn’t used one of the most famous houses in the world – his 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue address – to lead by example. Yesterday, however, word arrived that the White House will be installing solar panels by spring of 2011 [...]
Battery to Capture Power from SEPTA’s Philadelphia Subway Trains
September 30th, 2010 Justin Manger The Southeastern Pennsylvanian Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the nation’s sixth largest mass transit entity, has recently come up with a plan to save up to 40 percent on its electric bill and generate potentially millions of dollars in revenue. Teaming up with Philadelphia-based smart gird company, Viridity Energy, SEPTA is piloting a project to transfer the [...]
IKEA’s Denver, CO Store to Use Geothermal Energy
September 30th, 2010 Eric Wilson Opening in the fall of 2011, the first Colorado based IKEA store, located in the southern suburb of Centennial, will employ geothermal heat pumps to provide heating and cooling to its newest location. The first of its kind for the big box retailer in the United States, the system will tap into the constant temperature [...]
Posted in Business, Eric Wilson, Local Energy/Food, Renewable Energy Tags: Colorado, Denver, EPA, Geothermal, Green Investments, IKEA, NREL, Wind Power No Comments »October in the D.C. Area Means Solar Home Tour Time
September 22nd, 2010 Justin Manger Last October we toured one house on the DC Solar Tour and recapped the event with this post. Another October is already around the corner. As they’ve done for the past 19 years, SolarTour.org will once again feature open houses around metropolitan Washington, D.C. next month. The main event runs October 2nd and 3rd from [...]
