Using a technique developed at Rutgers Universtity, Axion International from New Providence, N.J. is building small bridges from recycled plastic bottles. Aside from reusing the bottles, the company says the I-beams, rail ties, and other structural building products it makes are rust and corrosion proof, cost competitive, and won’t become food for termites. Take their [...]
Archive for the ‘Transportation’ Category
Axion: Turning Bottles into Bridges
May 2nd, 2012 
Justin Manger 
Posted in Business, Conservation, Green Building, Green Products, Justin Manger, News, Recylcing, Sustainability, Transportation 
Tags: Green Product 
No Comments »Designing Cities with People in Mind
April 29th, 2012 Eric Wilson I’m not a city planner. I took one class in college, so I don’t even pretend to be qualified. However, living in a city and trying to commute without a car has led to some insights that I would not get out of a book. Last year I wrote a piece called “The Hegemony of [...]
NASCAR to Use Electric Ford Focus as Pace Car
April 25th, 2012 Eric Wilson It’s not often that we mention NASCAR. In fact, the term shows up twice, on back to back days three years ago. There’s good reason. The amount of resources (tires, fuel, motor oil, asphalt, etc) consumed by the association (NASCAR stands for National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing) boggles the mind and does not [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, News, Transportation Tags: Cars, Electric Vehicles, Ford, Hybrids No Comments »Hertz on Demand: Toward Sustainable Transportation
April 18th, 2012 Eric Wilson Can a rental car company really move society toward sustainable transport? Hertz on Demand, a car sharing service from the eponymous rental agency, believes they have devised a way to more appropriately share cars. Currently there are a wealth of these types of services. Occasional Car, eGo Car Share, and ZipCar are some of the [...]
What Does the Natural Gas Boom Mean for Sustainability?
April 15th, 2012 Eric Wilson Both NPR and the New York Times ran stories last week that highlighted the role of natural gas in the U.S. energy economy. NPR interviewed Amy Myers Jaffe, director of Rice University’s Baker Institute Energy Forum. Jaffe predicted that natural gas prices would remain low for the foreseeable future, specifically 5-10 years. The New York [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Op-Ed, Renewable Energy, Sustainability, Transportation Tags: Biomimicry, Fracking, Natural Gas, Solar Energy, Wastewater No Comments »Department of Energy to Fund Wireless EV Charging
April 14th, 2012 Eric Wilson Nikola Tesla, a major proponent of alternating currents (as in AC of AC/DC; no not the band), envisioned wireless transmission of electricity more than a century ago. Its time may finally be coming as electric vehicles (EVs) start to proliferate. The Department of Energy recently announced $4 million for the development of wireless charging for [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, News, Transportation Tags: Department of Energy, Electric Vehicles, Tesla No Comments »EPA Closer to Approving 15 percent Ethanol-Gasoline Blend
April 5th, 2012 Chris DeArmond The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently gave approval to 20 fuel and fuel additive manufacturers registering ethanol to use in the production of E15—a gasoline blend containing 15 percent ethanol. Since the fuel may only be used in vehicles model year (MY) 2001 and newer, the approved manufacturers must also develop a misfueling mitigation plan [...]
Five Friday Facts: Tour de Fat
March 30th, 2012 Eric Wilson Earlier this week, the 2012 Tour de Fat dates were released. Organized by sustainability heroes New Belgium Brewing, the Tour is a celebration of bicyclists. Here are this week’s Five Friday Facts based on the 2011 and upcoming 2012 festival. In 2011, Tour de Fat traveled to 13 cities, attracting a total of 69,550 festival [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Five Friday Facts, Sustainability, Transportation Tags: Bicycles, Landfill, New Belgium Brewery, Washington DC, Waste No Comments »President Obama Announces EV-EVerywhere Challenge
March 28th, 2012 Eric Wilson Earlier this month while in North Carolina, President Obama kicked off “EV-EVerywhere”, the second step in the Energy Department’s “Clean Energy Grand Challenges.” According to the press release, the grand challenges are “aimed at addressing the most pressing energy challenges of our time.” The goal of this particular challenge is to create electric vehicles that [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, News, President Obama, Transportation Tags: California, Department of Energy, Electric Vehicles, Natural Gas No Comments »2012 Tour de Fat Dates Announced
March 27th, 2012 Eric Wilson This year’s Tour de Fat, New Belgium Brewing’s celebration of the bike, has announced its 2012 dates and locations. Two new cities have been added. Washington, DC and Atlanta, GA bring the total number of cities involved to 15. See the full list below. Dates and locations are also available on our calendar. 2012 marks [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, News, Transportation Tags: Bicycles, Bike Sharing, California, Denver, Fort Collins, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New Belgium Brewery, Video, Washington DC No Comments »
