The Greener Truth

A Bendable Bike

Aaron Midgett — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:55:26 +0000

I am alsways looking for new ideas that will make greener forms of transportation easier and last week I found a great one. This may seem like an odd concept, but in big cities, where bikes locked with massive chains routinely dissapear, what better way to keep your bike from being stolen than to use it as the lock. Now, I am not too sure how this works, or how well it rides, but the idea behind this bendable bike is genius. Kevin Scott’s bike simply bends around a post and the two wheels and the frame can all be locked together with a U lock. In order to make the bike bendable when needed and stable when being ridden, a crank tightens a cable inside the frame. The next step will be to incorporate the lock so that the bike can just lock to itself. But for now, what a cool invention.

ELECTRIX

Aaron Midgett — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 22:36:05 +0000

It has been too long since my last post. I have no good excuse other than having a crazy few weeks. On my way to work today, I get a little incentive when I had the pleasure of driving behind a Tesla Roadster with the liscense plate ELECTRIX. I was surprised by two things. First, how small and sporty it looks and second, the acceleration it had. The lucky guy doing the driving was in his 60s and was by no means a spead deamon when driving, but we stoppped next to eachother at a stop light and when it turned green, he blew me away. You hear that this car can do 0-60 in 3.7 seconds, but you don’t realize how fast that really is until you are sitting next to one as it takes off. Now I see why everyone wants to drive one. The best part about this car, is that not only is it one of the sportiest cars to drive, it is also one of the greenest . This just shows that going greener does not always have to mean sacrificing quality or comfort. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford the $110 price tag, but if I did have an extra hundred grand to throw around, I would seriously consider it. Maybe the $32K Nissan Leaf or the newly announced $41K Chevy Volt will be a little closer to my price range. Too bad it doesn’t look as fun to drive as the Roadster.

More Information about the Tesla Roadster and Electric Cars

-Nissan

-Tesla

-Hybrid Cars

-Wikipedia:Tesla Roadster

-Wikipedia:Electric Car

Peddle Power at the Copenhagen Crowne Plaza

Aaron Midgett — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:11:49 +0000

I have often fondly talked about my experience with biking in the Danish capital Copenhagen, but a the Crowne Plaza has come up with a great idea to take this to a new level. They have installed two bikes in the hotel lobby that are used to generate electricity. This by itself is a brilliant idea, not so much different from the idea of a gym powered by the patrons (one of our Greener Truth bloggers has always wanted to start a gym like this called the Powerhouse), but they have taken this idea a step farther and passed the savings along to the people doing the work. If you are staying at the hotel, a short workout on the bikes will earn you a free meal or drinks at the bar. This is the first such program that I know about and the Crowne Plaza is using this as a test program before expanding to other hotels. On top of this idea, the hotel was designed with energy saving in mind and uses 90% less energy than traditional buildings. Here are just a few of the energy saving ideas that have been implemented.

-solar pannels on the roof and exterior

-a geothermal well for heating and cooling

-the use of a biogas facility for organic waste

-organic food

-water saving faucets

-low energy lighting and electronics

I think that this is a great idea and would love to see these sorts of ideas catch on. To date, most business think of green practices as costly and unnecessary, but ideas like this will show that it is possible to run a greener business and save money as long as people are willing to think out of the box.

Lance Leads the Leaf Electric Car Charge

Aaron Midgett — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:38:41 +0000

Lance Armstrong may be 17 minutes behind the leaders in the Tour de France this summer, but that is ok with me, because he is stepping up to lead the charge for the Nissan Leaf. Not long ago, Lance was named the official spokesperson for the electric car, and now he stars in their new commercial about the clean design of the car.

While this may just be another paycheck for the cycling superstar, he is also set to be the first recipient of a Leaf and genuinly seems dedicated to the cause. More celebrities are standing up for causes they care about, and in a culture that is always trying to find the best deal, this is one way that alternative forms of transportation and renewable energy are going to take hold. Next time you see you see Matt Damon or Brad Pitt driving around in a sporty Tesla Roadster, don’t think about the $100K that they dropped to get the car, but the service they are doing to promote a cleaner driving experience for us all.

More Information about the Nissan Leaf and Electric Cars

-Wikipedia:Electric Car

Sail Across the US on a Pterosail

Aaron Midgett — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:47:42 +0000

I am always excited about new eco adventures, and here is one that I think would be a ton of fun. The Pterosail is a recumbant trike that is equiped with a special stable sail. For me, this is the perfect combination, because I love riding a bike and sailing. When I was 12, my grandmother gave me lessons in a little sunfish, and since then, I have always loved being on the water, but now that I live in colorado it is chalenging to get to an ocean. The Pterosail solves this problem, and they will be proving it over the next few weeks. On June 28th they started a journey from San Diego, CA to St. Augistine, FL. So far they are averaging 50-60 miles a day thanks to the wind and the sun. Along with the sail and peddle power, there is also a solar pannel that rides above the driver and powers electronics and a small electric backup motor. I am sure that they are getting some wierd looks, but at this rate it won’t be long before they make it to the Atlantic. Right now, these wind powered trikes are crazy expensive ($5500), but I hope that with time that will come down some. From my experience traveling by bike, I am sure that this is a great way to see the country and I hope one day I will get a chance to try it out.

More information on Sail Bikes

-Pterosail

-EcoFriend

-SolarFeeds

The Starbucks Karma Cup

Aaron Midgett — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:49:10 +0000

I have railed on Starbucks (and all the other coffee stores) in that past over all of the wasted paper coffee cups, but after a long time coming, the company has joined with the Betacup program and decided to make some improvements. The Betacup program initially asked for sugestions from customers on how to fight the coffee cup waste. Here is a video explaining the problem and how to find the solution.
Now the winning idea has been chosen, and it is a brilliant one. Instead of redesigning the reusable coffee mug, the solution was simply to give folks an incentive to remember their mug. Every coffee addict that I know has multiple reusable mugs, but I don’t often see them being used. Reusable mugs are hard to clean and easy to forget, so to help people remember, the Karma cup idea will reward every tenth customer bringing a reusable mug with a free cup of coffee. This is so much smarter than a punch card, or a discount, because you never know when you are going to be a winner, so you always have to be on your toes and bring your mug. The only addition that I would make would be mug cleaning station. How many times have you had a reusable mug, wanted to use it, but just couldn’t stomach drinking out of the same cup for another day without washing it? So now, what if Starbucks had a quick wash station so that while you were waiting in line, you could wash out and sanitize your mug? Now that would be convenient, and with the addition of the Karma cup idea, could change some attitudes about coffee.

More information on Betacup and the coffee cup problem

-Betacup: Check out these other great solutions

-Treehugger

-Coffee Waste Calculator

-Sustainability is Sexy

Flaming Tap Water is Fracking Crazy!

Aaron Midgett — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:48:33 +0000

Considering all of the horrors of the gulf oil spill, I don’t think that there is an American left that doesn’t wish for a better alternative than oil. Then again, with some of the responses floating around lately, maybe I am wrong. Natural gas, which many tout as a greener alternative than oil, has become more popular and accounts for 17% of Us electricity and over 50% of heating. It is true, that natural gas releases less carbon dioxide and other pollutants per unit of energy released, but the consequences shown in this video from the new documentary Gasland blew me out of the water.
YES, if you were wondering, that is the tap water catching fire! And by the way, this is not because of some horrible spill, but just a normal (and expected) consequence of extracting natural gas from the ground. As explained in the video, this is caused when natural gas companies use a process called fracking (hydraulic fracturing) that releases the gas buried deep in the earth so it can be extracted. The side effect of this this process is that natural gas leaks into the water supply, leading to contamination and eventually tap water that catches fire. Here is a great article from the makers of the movie Gasland that explain fracking and natural gas production in more detail.

More Information about Natural Gas Production

-Gasland the Movie

-What is Fracking

-Wikipedia: Hydraulic Fracturing

-Wikipedia: Natural Gas

DOE asks for Suggestions on how to Stop Oil Spill

Aaron Midgett — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:17:30 +0000

It is hard to believe that the oil spill is still gushing as much as ever and that we still have no idea how to fix it . To top it off, our politicians are too busy arguing over money and apologizing to BP to do anything productive about the situation. We haven’t even effectively paused off-shore drilling in the gulf of mexico due to the recent legal setback. John Stewart says this better than I could.


Day 62 – The Strife Aquatic
www.thedailyshow.com

Because of my work at a national lab, I get e-mails from the Department of Energy, but this one from last week really surprised me.

Subject: DOE Email Address for Deepwater Horizon Solutions

Employees are encouraged to submit ideas and suggestions in topic areas including, but not limited to: sub-surface containment, surface containment, shoreline cleanup and remediation, safety improvements, and flow stoppage. Effective immediately ideas should be sent to oilspillsolutions@hq.doe.gov

As part of the Department of Energy’s response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf, the Office of Fossil Energy has established a new email address to collect the best ideas from within the Department’s research community (i.e. DOE labs, universities, contractors and others that interact with DOE) on how to stop or contain the oil’s release and mitigate impact on the environment. Please send ideas and suggestions directly to oilspillsolutions@hq.doe.gov. Submissions will undergo an internal vetting process and the most immediately applicable suggestions will be elevated to senior DOE leadership for accelerated consideration.

However, ALL suggestions will be placed in the Government’s public Deepwater Horizon database for evaluation by an interagency team. This will ensure that innovative ideas, which are directly applicable to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, receive the highest attention.

Working with the Department of Energy, I know how many smart people there are working here, but this seems a little desperate. The only thing that most people know about the spill is what we hear on TV and it seems a little unreasonable to expect us to be able to put fourth an effective solution without doing a better job of outlining the details of the problem. Here is a start at explaining the technical details if you happen to be up for taking on the challenge. This is a disaster on an unprecedented scale (I am not going to say how big because we can’t even tell you that accurately) and we need to learn something from it. Going forward, I think that it is important to learn from this mistake and in the short term use a lot more caution in oil exploration, while focusing on the long term goal of weaning ourselves off of oil and onto renewables. The cost of fossil fuels is much higher than the price that we pay at the pump and if this is the disaster that makes the world realize that, then maybe we can turn a horrible situation into a turning point for the energy economy.

More information about Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

-DOE

-Wikipedia

Most Honest Ad for Oil Ever!

Aaron Midgett — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:10:07 +0000

With all of the greenwashed adds for oil companies like BP, it is nice for a change to look at and add that really speaks the truth. This ad by Humble Oil (now part of Exxon) from 1962 is possibly the most honest straight forward add I have ever seen.

Maybe BP needs to take lesson from Humble and start putting out a little more honest ads too instead of hogwash like this.

Bike to Work Day Denver

Aaron Midgett — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:55:51 +0000

In many cities around the country, the official bike to work day has already passed, but here in Denver and many other mountainous cities, the weather is a little less predictable in May and so Bike to work Day is moved to late June. Here in Denver, I will be participating in Bike to work Day on June 23rd. As I have written before, I have a decent commute to work on the bike that takes about an hour each way, but I really enjoy it and on days where I bike, that is often the favorite part of my day. I actually biked to work today, and am looking forward to the ride home. Bike to work day, is just a normal day for many commuters, but if you choose to ride to work, there are some nice benefits like free breakfast and bike aid stations. If you are luck enough to live in the Denver area, go sign up for bike to work day right now, but if you aren’t, try biking to work anyway. I think you will like the nice change of pace to start your day.

More information on Commuting by Bike

-How to bike to work, from the Greener Truth

-Wikipedia: Bike to work day

-Denver Bike to work Day

-San Francisco Bike Coalition

-Commute by Bike

-Bike Commuters