2nd Green Revolution

I Don’t Understand Parking Lots

In an op-ed a few months back I alluded to the coming diatribe against parking lots. As a form of land use, parking lots make no sense to me. Conversely, ...

The Angry Pedestrian: An Introduction

Let me say first off that I own a car. I drive. I don't drive a ton, I don't drive everyday, I don't drive to my job, but I understand ...

What Will It Take to Make Mass Transit the Norm?

Will people start consistently riding mass transit when gas prices stay above $5 per gallon? $10? What about when we are paying the true cost of driving (i.e. emissions, disposal)? ...

Designing Cities with People in Mind

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 ...

Earth Day 2012

Celebrating the 42nd Earth Day and 4.5 billion years of earth. Image from NASA Johnson Space Center

DOE’s SunShot Initiative Announces Funding Opportunity for “Plug and Play” Photovoltaic Systems

by Chris DeArmond on May 4th, 2012

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) SunShot Initiative is an ambitious program that aims to dramatically reduce the cost of solar energy. By the end of the decade, one of SunShot’s official goals is to cut the cost of photovoltaic (PV) systems by 75 percent, or to about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour. Besides making the cost of solar comparable to non-renewable sources of energy, it is hoped this will enable solar power to generate up to 18 percent of electricity in the U.S. by 2030. Read more about it here.

To accomplish these goals, the SunShot Initiative announced last month it would focus on making solar installation “as easy as plugging in an appliance.” The program says it hopes that plug-and-play technology—similar to that used in many printers, webcams, and smart phones—will be applied to PV systems. The idea is that these systems can be plugged into a “PV-ready circuit to initiate an automatic detection system that would connect your system with your local utility.” Ultimately, the goal is that plug-and-play technology will allow PV systems to be purchased, installed and begin to generate electricity all in one day, rather than today’s ideal time frame of two to four days. This streamlined process will effectively

Five Friday Facts: U.S. Navy as Energy Innovator

by Justin Manger on May 4th, 2012

Here is an interesting time line from a pamphlet from the Esri Federal GIS Conference on the Navy’s evolution with energy, including last year’s large purchase of biofuels.

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.

Billboard Ecology: Turning Old Billboards into Consumer Goods

by Eric Wilson on May 3rd, 2012

While the number of electronic billboards is on the rise, most billboards are still comprised of a single banner. Neither type of billboard ranks high in terms of sustainability. Even the electronic ones that use LED lights to conserve energy are still using electricity where older banner style require huge inputs of materials, but do not need to be lit up during the day. Night time illumination is an issue for both.

When a billboard advertisement (aka “the banner”) is taken down, it often ends up in the landfill. According to Frequently Asked Questions from Comstor Billboards, vinyl displays are used instead of paper. Comstor uses vinyl because “customers want reliability and results. Which is why we use a high quality product that provides guaranteed visibility year after year. Unlike paper, our product doesn’t rip, fade or tear.” In fact, they guarantee it for the duration of the contract. This durability is important, but the vinyl is not easily recyclable.

This is where Billboard Ecology, a Colorado based company founded in 2008 comes into play. They “take retired advertising billboards, rescue them from a date with the landfill, and make them into great tote bags and other unique items.” They refer to the process as “upcycling” as opposed to downcylcing, which occurs when a material is broken down into a new product of reduced quality or functionality.

Axion: Turning Bottles into Bridges

by Justin Manger on May 2nd, 2012

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 rail ties, for example. The ECOTRAX™ Composite Railroad Ties “resist plate wear, hold spikes, and maintain gauge – after more than ten years at the TTCI HTL test track, accumulating over 1,800 MGT of 39-ton axle loads.”

The company describes itself as “a green technology firm that manufactures, markets and sells composite rail ties and structural building products such as boards, pilings, I-beams, and T-beams. Using patented technology, our products are made from 100% post-consumer and post-industrial recycled plastics and industrial scrap.”

The process for producing these beams is described by Fortune in 5 steps:

May 2012 Clean Energy and Sustainability Events

by Eric Wilson on May 1st, 2012

A recent report measured American “Green Jobs” for the first time. Perhaps no place in the U.S. was hit as hard by the economy of the past several years than Detroit. The Motor City has seen a decline for quite some time, but later this month there is a conference focused on green jobs in the area. Details can be found below.

In addition to the “Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference“, a regional event that also takes place in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia at various times throughout the year, there are a couple of symposiums looking at education and the role of sustainability. One is a domestic event at Prescott College in Arizona, the other is in Sweden, at Uppsala University.

Take a look at some of the choice events and peruse our calendar for conferences near you. Please let us know of any conferences, events, or festivals in your area. If they are appropriate, we will gladly add them to our green events calendar. Send us an email with the event’s name, date, location, description, and website. In fact, one of the events listed below was submitted by a reader of the site.

Here are a few of the events happening around the world:

How You Actually Crack Shale Rock 2 Miles Underground

by Justin Manger on May 1st, 2012

How is it possible to drill through 10,000 feet of impermeable rock, turn 90 degrees and continue drilling horizontally all that way under the surface, then blast chemical water and sand at high pressure to crack open rocks, and then – if that weren’t enough – capture the gas once it has come back up the well to the surface? Questions aside, the American technology is real and it is turning the energy world and likely the U.S. economy upside down.

It is still hard to imagine the process described above, but understanding how the technology works leads to more informed debate about the process and its pros, cons, and overall impact on the environment and the economy. So, we took to the wonderfully open internet and found a helping hand in this article about Exxon’s big bet on natural gas in Fortune. The article is worth a read as well. It describes how Rex Tillerson, now the CEO of Exxon Mobil,

Movie Review: Fresh

by Eric Wilson on April 30th, 2012

The other day I attended a showing of the documentary “Fresh”, directed by Ana Sofia Joanes, organized by Chipotle Mexican Grill, the locally-grown restaurant known for its burritos made with sustainable ingredients. At 72 minutes, the documentary focuses on people working to make a more sustainable food system. Kelly Smith, a marketing strategist for Chipotle, introduced the film with the following statistic: Chipotle served 10 million pounds of local produce in 2011 at its restaurants across the U.S. The film (originally released in 2009) shares a number of features in common with “Food, Inc.” (reviewed here). Food journalist Michael Pollan, farmer Joel Salatin, and urban farming pioneer Will Allen, founder of Growing Power in Milwaukee are featured in the film. While big agriculture is mentioned a number of times, the film focuses more on solutions and what is being done to ensure a sustainable agricultural system.

“Fresh” opens with Joel Salatin walking the grounds of Polyface Farms in Virginia. One of the most intriguing quotes was early on, when an interviewee said something to the effect of “American’s fear inconvenience.” This single sentence summarizes the industrial food system, one in which food is engineered and packaged for easy and mass consumption. Pollan points out the current system is unsustainable because it cannot continue indefinitely. He goes on to explain that

Designing Cities with People in Mind

by Eric Wilson on April 29th, 2012

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 the Automobile“. The more I think about it, the more I believe in this position.

Cities are not laid out with people in mind. They are designed for the car. Walking across 8 lanes of traffic to cross the street in 15 seconds may not be too challenging for able bodied individuals, but when I’m out walking, I see plenty of people who walk with devices to assist their mobility. With cars darting in and out of alleyways, parking lots, driveways, and side streets, it is clear that the sidewalk is an after thought, not a starting point. Cars are the center of the universe. Having grown up in LA, I’m painfully aware of the need for a car. However, when space is an issue, like Manhattan, cars are not king. Even in New York City though, there are plenty of multi-lane roads that impede the pedestrian.

2012 HGTV Green Home Unveiled

by Eric Wilson on April 28th, 2012

This year’s 2012 HGTV Green Home, a sweepstakes give away, is located just south of Atlanta, Georgia. Individuals may enter twice a day at either HGTV.com/greenhome or HGTVremodels.com. June 1st at 5pm ET is the deadline for entering the sweepstakes, valued at roughly $800,000. A car (from sponsor GM), the house, and $100,000 comprise the grand prize.

The home’s lot is heavily wooded, with a small footprint, which allows for minimal disturbance of the surrounding habitat. Click here for a time lapse series of photos showing the construction of the home. A virtual tour of the home is available. This marks the 5th HGTV Green Home give away. All previous homes can be seen on HGTV’s website.

At 2,300 square feet, the home combines indoor and outdoor spaces to feel larger.

Five Friday Facts: Most Polluted Air in the U.S.

by Justin Manger on April 27th, 2012

41% of Americans, or 127 million people, live in areas with air that is often unhealthy to breath.
This is according to the American Lung Association, which just released its annual ‘State of the Air’ report. The top 5 most polluted cities, as determined by year-round pollution, are in California. See top ten list below.
California, and particularly it’s Central Valley, have the most polluted air in the country. In fact, 9 of the top 10 cities with highest level of ozone pollution are found there.
Bakersfield, CA is the city with the most year-round particulate pollution in the country
One bright spot: 22 of the 25 most polluted cities showed signs of improvement from last year’s report.

Top Ten list below.

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