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Another Road Block for a Renewable Economy

By
Woody
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0

The senate keeps forgetting to include important tax breaks for renewable energy projects. Last year, senate passed the Energy Act which raised the bar on miles per gallon, and other household efficiency issues. It seems that we’re still stuck with the idea that it’s okay to harm the environment… less. Industry proponents say that the failure to extend tax credits for renewable energy systems installation will dramatically slow down the growth of the wind and solar industries. To add insult to injury, they extended tax breaks to oil companies instead. This adjustment was one made by the senate under the threat of a veto.

The growth of the renewable energies industry is seen as an important avenue to slowing global warming and relieving world citizens from oil dependency. It’s also viewed as an important cure to the energy crisis caused by electricity demands as individual households invest in their own energy source. Decentralization of electricity is a movement that will surely suffer as homeowners will have much less incentive to install wind and solar energy systems. In addition, recent studies have shown that real estate values and occupancy rates are greatly improved through green architecture. The injured housing market that eagerly awaits a boost from renewable energies will have to get it before the end of 2008 when the tax credit expires.

Though the rest of the Energy Act is a good step in the right direction, it’s hard to see Big Oil slap down the rising champion, Renewable Energy (and thanks to you all for permitting the sports analogy). With presidential elections forth coming, we’ll be holding our breath to see how a new administration supports a renewable economy.

Antibacterial Paint?

By
Woody
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0

CNET reported on a paint under development by researchers at Rice University and City College of New York. The trick is an ancient remedy that my unlce used to swear by (and probably still does). It’s silver. Nanoparticles of silver, to be exact. The trick is to insert these tiny particles into a vegetable oil based paint. Tests show the paint is “efficient” against E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

Traditionally, making nanoparticles from silver has been expensive. Researchers “devised a hydrocarbon soup that in turn helps form raw materials into nano-sized particles.” In other words, the researchers break down the silver into tiny particles, add it to the paint, and poof… antibacterial paint. “This means that the process is as simple as adding the metal salts to the oils and let the natural process occur, leading to a good dispersion of nanoparticles in the paints,” stated Pulickel Ajayah, one of Rice’s leading professors.

In summary, a vegetable oil based paint mixed with silver fights bacteria. Studies are ongoing, but the results look promising and the world of household green cleaning looks to have another great product. “The researchers added that the elements in the paint are fairly green and should also last longer than other organic pigment paints.”

credit: CNET Michael Kanellos

Green Build Brick by Brick

By
Woody
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0

Popsci.com gives out invention awards every year. I stumbled across their selections from May and found a great product made from a coal by-product, fly ash. Once part of the problem, retired civil engineer Henry Liu turns fly ash into an effective solution, and he’s planning on releasing it this year!

Brick making is an energy intensive process, one that ruins the natural landscape and burns a lot of fuel. Mining requires a quarry that destroys everything that once stood in it’s place, and takes plenty of gallons of deisel to create. Once the raw material is collected, the bricks are fired in 2,000 F kilns that guzzle more fuel and pollute the air. Coal mining may produce energy but is the dirtiest form of it, spewing out tons of CO2 emissions and sulfer dioxide per year. While improvements have been and are being made to clean up the process, little positive news has come from the coal industry in quite some time. Henry Liu’s brick will salvage the waste from coal and use it to fix the brick problem. His one idea will save the world millions of tons of CO2 and millions of gallons of fuel.

The new brick is made without kilns, and without additional mining. Fly ash is collected as waste from coal operations. Henry takes the fly ash, mixes it with water, and stamps with a hydraulic press. The bricks are then put in a hot steam bath to cure. With over eight years of perfecting the strength and performance, his bricks pass national standards with flying colors and are ready for distribution this year. Lets hope the paper work all goes well for him.

A note to brick lovers: Look for the Fly-Ash Brick from Henry Liu. I’ve looked around and found the same idea called Flash Bricks. However, I wasn’t able to find who the inventor of the Flash Bricks is. It might be the same brick. Additional testing has shown the the Fly-Ash Brick performes better than clay bricks on almost every standard. It will be interesting to see how the brick industry adapts.

A Green Checklist for the World

By
Woody
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0

Al Gore and Anderson Cooper have brought plenty of attention to the Green Topic. Their dismal reports, along with plenty of environmental pioneers like Paul Hawkin, Ray Anderson, etc, have spurred a media frenzy on the need to save our planet. Time magazine recently reported on “51 Ways to Save the Environment”. It’s a good read and combines both drastic government policy issues and personal lifestyle changes that can really cut the carbon.

I like the article, and appreciate the media push. However, I’m disappointed to hear that governments, businesses and scientists are still looking for ways to depend on fossil fuels. At the front of this effort is carbon sequestration, a system where carbon is put into the ground instead of the air. It made number 12 on the list. This still needs a lot of testing and is an expensive excuse to stay in our comfort zone. Number 33 on the list brought back the old Geoengineering ideas like orbiting a mass of mirrors around the earth to cut down on sunlight and offset global warming. Both of these so-called solutions disrupt the natural environment by putting something where it doesn’t belong. How long are we going to foster these ideas?

As ridiculous as some ideas may seem, the anthology of mini-articles provides a brief overview of a wealth of information. Perhaps the most important message shared by Time is number 51, titled “Consume Less, Share More, Live Simply”. A call to simpler times, the concept of changing our lifestyles for the benefit of us all is the only idea powerful enough to reverse our negative environmental impact. In the mean time, keep upgrading your home and your life with products that support the cause and provide the all important return on investment.

Is New Urbanism the cure?

By
Woody
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1

I just read an interesting article about New Urbanism, a movement against sprawling cities and our dependence on the automobile. The philosophy claims that we can retrofit our cities into denser neighborhoods where all of our needs, or most of them, can be within walking distance. This includes work, school, shopping, entertainment, etc. Essentially, the movement calls for a return to lifestyles before WWII, when cars were not such a central part of the average American’s life.

Immediately the question comes to mind – What about our existing infrastructure? How do we redirect the vast majority of business that happens in the big cities? It seems extreme to think we could noticeably impact the environment or the American lifestyle by creating small communities here and there. How can the movement be carried out in large scale? In an effort to amuse the theory, we’ll say that we all adopt the New Urbanism motto and we start decentralizing our major businesses and breaking apart our big cities. Could it be done? I say yes, and I’ll add that I think businesses could adapt to that kind of environment with today’s communication devices. However, the cost would un-imaginable.

The idea behind New Urbanism is fantastic. The health, social, and environmental benefits of a walking or biking community is great. However, it must be integrated with our society. Any business man or woman would tell you that it would not market well to completely change our lifestyle. The convenience of the car far out-weighs anyone’s desire to walk more. It would cost much less to create an infrastructure that would support fully electric cars, and people would get to keep driving. So what do we do with the movement? It’s definitely worth keeping around. The projected sq. footage of new residential space to be built before the year 2030 is in the billions. New developments can be designed around the ideas of New Urbanism. This supports a healthy society, increases opportunities to protect our environment, and decreases the time spent in transit for the community. Both New Urbanism and our advances in technology should be used to work together, to create a large scale impact on our environmental and social damage.

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