It's Easy Being Green

With gas prices still on the rise and holding at record levels, there seems to be a lot of discussion revolving around shortening the work week to only four days.  Some schools in Arizona are considering the move because not running busses one day out of the week would save a tremendous amount on fuel costs.  It would also help out family budgets since they would be driving to school one less day every week.  But can parents handle the extra day of the kids being home to save some money on gas?  Is it worth one less day of education every week?  Those are interesting questions that will only be answered if someone actually passes this measure and it goes into effect.

In addition to schools, some employers are kicking around the idea of going to 4 day work weeks as well.  You’re still going to work 40 hours in those 4 days.  Or you could telecommute one day out of the week.  That move would supposedly save a lot of fuel consumption too.  But, if you had one extra day off work, do you think you would end up driving the same amount you would normally going to and from work that day?  Has your employer considered an idea like this or have you presented it to them?  Let us know!

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The University of Arizona has unveiled their new, completely solar powered car for an upcoming competition.  Apparently it is completely street-legal.  Check out the link below:

UofA Solar Powered Car

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Last week, Arizona’s newest renewable energy project went online and started generating enough electricity to supply about 9,000 homes.  Renegy’s Biomass Power Plant is located near Snowflake, AZ.  The plant takes forest waste generated from thinning projects, chips it up, dries it and then burns it in a boiler more than 10 stories tall.  Renegy claims that the process is 98% cleaner burning then if forest crews just burned the slash piles like they normally do.  Plus, we’re getting electrcity out of it.  Some of the first fuel that came to the plant is actually being cleaned out of the devastating Rodeo-Chediski burn area in Arizona’s eastern White Mountain region.  The plant has about a 2 year supply of wood chips already spread across 120 acres of land and expects there will be plenty more fuel coming from forest waste over the years.

The plant actually sits next to the old Abitibi pulp paper mill.  The plant takes all of the recycled paper from the Phoenix area and turns it into new paper.  Some of the recycled paper pulp can’t be reused again so that is normally sorted out and dumped into a landfill in the area.  But now, that waste paper that can’t be used again is dried into chips and burned along with the wood chips.  It creates another steady fuel supply that would normally just go to waste.  Both APS and SRP are purchasing power from the Snowflake Biomass Power Plant which I think is a great demonstration of renewable energy ideas we need to pursue full speed right now.

To read more about Renegy or their new plant in Snowflake, AZ head to their website.

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It looks like, at least temporarily, gas guzzling trucks and SUV’s produced by General Motors will be singing their swan song.  Today, GM has announced they will shutter 4 GM plants that produce trucks and SUV’s as sales sag even more as the price of oil continues to climb.  CEO Rick Wagoner also indicated that GM may stop producing the ultimate gas guzzling vehicle all-together: the Hummer.  That would be music to my ears!  Every time I see a Hummer driving down the road all I can think about is the ultimate symbol of greed, phony power and wastefulness as it rolls on by.

During his comments, Wagoner indicated that he thinks the shift to smaller more economical vehicles is going to be permanent.  I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Wagoner and feel like possible this American auto manufacturer is looking ahead and not back at their past.  Smaller, more efficient vehicles have been the mainstream in dozens of other countries around the globe and I think it’s about time we make them more available here as well.  There is more good news when it comes to alternative fueled vehicles too.  Waonger said that the board of GM approved the production of the Chevy Volt, the new electric concept car that was unveiled awhile back.  Apparently the electric car will be available beginning in 2010.

The Volt won’t be all electric but with a large, re-chargeable lithium-ion battery pack, Chevy engineers say the plug-in can travel up to 40 miles on just the electric charge alone.  They estimate that during peak energy-usage hours it will cost you a mere $0.80 to recharge the battery.  During off-peak just $0.40.  If you travel longer than 40 miles the hybrid engine will kick-on and help power you to your destination at what engineers say would average 100 miles per gallon of gas.

By cutting production of SUV’s and trucks, GM hopes to save more than $1 billion a year.

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Would you believe that it is possible to have a floating greenhouse in New York that actually produces food? Well it is and the full scale greenhouse operation on the Hudson River in New York has once again opened its doors for all to see. The project is called the science barge and is a prototype of a sustainable urban farm. It also serves as an education center. Last year, more than 3,000 school students made their way through the Science Barge.

So what makes the floating greenhouse so special? Inside the greenhouse they grow tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce with zero emissions and no runoff into the Hudson River. The barge is powered by solar, wind and biofuels and harvests irrigation water by filtering from the Hudson River and catching rainwater. The developers say the Science Barge requires 7 times less land and 4 times less water to grow than conventionally grown crops. In a city like New York, land has skyrocketed to the point that it would be nearly impossible to grow food in town. Riverfront barges could be the answer to the dilemma. Some studies have also suggested that there is enough rooftop space in New York to grown enough food for the entire city.

What are the hopes? The non-profit group New York Sun Works wants to demonstrate that it is possible for cities to reduce their global footprint by looking at ways to provide their own food. They say most land in cities is contaminated and shouldn’t be used to grow food anyway. That’s why they think they’re hydroponic growing system is the best, most sustainable way to grow! If you’d like to learn more about the project or how to visit, head over to The Science Barge website.

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Today is my birthday and my girlfriend bought me one of the best birthday presents ever! She picked up this little device called a Solio. It’s basically an array of 3 solar panels that open up like a flower. The panels have an internal battery and produce enough power to recharge just about an cell phone or mp3 player you might have on the road with you. It’s great because while you’re driving, you can harness the power of the sun right on your dashboard. You can also take these devices out into the field and not have to rely on an wall power or other random outlet to recharge your phone.

I’m super excited because over the last month I started travelling more for my job. It can take me to some really remote, out of the way places and this is one simple way I can make sure I have power for all my portable devices while living a little greener! I can’t wait to take it out with me on the next trip to see just how well it works. If you’d like to learn more about the Solio line of products, head on over to the Solio website.

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Everyone has probably had the big brown truck driven by your local UPS driver drop off a package at some time. But did you know the company has completely redesigned their delivery routes to save gas and carbon emissions? They have and it’s as simple as eliminating most left hand turns from the routes.

With the redesign, UPS chopped about 30 million miles from their deliveries over the course of 2007. That saved the company 3 million gallons of fuel and reduced emissions by 32,000 metric tons. That would be about the same amount after taking more than 5,000 cars off the road. The idea is simple. The more right hand turns you make, the less time you’re idling in traffic producing more carbon emissions and burning more fuel. It’s also a lot safer because you’re not taking traffic head-on like you do when you make a left hand turn.

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