The Greener Truth » transportation

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

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

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

Mentos and Coke for Transportation?

Aaron Midgett — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:15:43 +0000

Well this certainly is not going to be the transportation of the future, and it certainly is not good for the environment with all those plastic bottles and carbon dioxide released, but I like the creativity and the out of the box thinking. You have seen the original mentos and diet coke synphony, but check out what Eepy Bird Productions can do with Coke Zero.
I am in no way suggesting that we look into mentos and coke as a form of travel, but I don’t know that I will be eating the two together either. Sort of a cool idea, and the kind of ingenious thinking that we need more of. If you are interested in how this works, take a look at the MythBusters explanation about how this reaction happens.

More information on Coke and Mentos

-Eepy Bird Productions

-MythBusters

-Wikipedia

Peddle Powered Porsche

Aaron Midgett — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:01:24 +0000

Thanks to Johannes Ferdinand

Check out this awesome new Porsche. And why, you ask are we at the greener truth interested in a sports car? The Ferdinand GT3 RS is not just another sporty 911, it is the slowest and most efficient Porsche on the road. It also happens to be peddle powered with a body made out of cardboard and foil. By the way, it is completely off the WAVE scale as far as efficiency goes. When you watch the video, make sure that you check out the velcro emergency brake when he gets in the car to drive away. That is German engineering at it’s finest. The video is in German, but Johannes Ferdinand makes to totally worth while with his deadpan face and fantastic mustache.

Here is a picture of the construction, but for more on how this was built, here is Ferdinand’s website (Be warned it is in German though).

Cost of Transportation

Aaron Midgett — Thu, 20 May 2010 23:06:21 +0000

When we talk about forms of transportation, we are often interested in fuel economy because that is what we are used to, but what really matters is the amount of energy it takes to move a certain amount of weight a certain distance. We have tried to represent this in the WAVE scale in our automotive section, but here is an old graphic that I found that explain this idea a little better. You can tell how old it is by the fact that it was scanned from a journal article in order to digitize it. You can see the obvious diagonal where most of the methods fall. Lighter and smaller animals use more energy to move one gram a kilometer as would be expected, but it is the outliers in this plot that are the most interesting. If we look at a helicopter for example, its cost of transport is similar to that of a hummingbird and obviously wastes a large amount of energy. Salmon and humans on a bicycle on the other hand, are far more efficient than other forms of transportation . The salmon is a particularly interesting case, because it actually uses the flow of current downstream to help it swim upstream, similar to the way that a sailboat can sail into the wind.

More information on Fuel Economy and the WAVE scale

-The Wave Scale

-Weight Friend or Foe

-FuelEconomy.gov

-EPA

-Wikipedia

Bruce Maynard has Started Walking

Aaron Midgett — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:41:09 +0000

I promised to keep you all updated with Bruce Maynard and his walk across America with his solar powered stroller. Bruce’s journey began wednesday (just in time for Earth Day) and as of last night he was 26 miles in. If you haven’t heard about Bruce, here is an article I wrote about him a few months ago, but the gist of the story is that he has decided to walk from Washington St. to Florida using his solar powered stroller S.A.M. to carry his gear at the ripe old age of 74. He is not pushing for a cause, but just because he wants to stay in shape and see the country at a slower pace. If you are interested in keeping up with Bruce’s progress, take a look at his blog. He is just getting going with it, but he is a great writer and it is fascinating stuff. Go bruce, go. We here at the Greener Truth will be keeping an eye on your progress.

-Bruce Maynard’s Blog

-The Greener Truth’s Article

Make Commuting by Bike Easier

Aaron Midgett — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:16:38 +0000

Since the days are starting to get longer and warmer, it is time to reevaluate your commute to work. Biking to work is a great way to get a little exercise while reducing your impact. This can be a daunting task, but it is doable, and once you start, I think you will really enjoy this time. The most common reasons why people don’t ride to work are that it is too far, that it takes to long, that the don’t know the route, and that there is nowhere to put the bike once you get to work. So, to help convince you to start biking, I am going to share what I have learned about my commute as well as a few neat tidbits from other parts of the country.

My wife and I work about 45 minutes apart (in Golden and Boulder), and we are luck enough to live in between the two. That means that it is about 15 miles to work for both of us, which is not too bad in the car, but can take a while by bike (about an hour). I would love to bike to work every day, but it is difficult to take two hours out of every work day to bike. It is a goal of mine, so I am working up to that, but for now, I have developed a new system. Yesterday, I drove my car to work with my bike in the trunk. Then after work, I rode home and then this morning rode back to work. It was really enjoyable to be able to ride home, and after perfecting my route a bit, I think that it will be my preferred mode of commuting. The only problem that I had was that it was all uphill this morning heading to work. It is funny how you never realize that there are hills until you have to bike them. This method makes a full round trip on the bike, but it means that I can split the commute up so I only bike 15 miles a day and only commute for an hour and a half. Think of it as a way to cut your bike commute in half. Another way to accomplish this goal, are to ride public transportation for half of your ride, often making both parts faster.

thanks to Bicycling Magazine

The next problem that a lot of people have is knowing where to ride that will be safe and direct. This can be difficult if you are used to commuting in the car, but there are a few resources out there to help you. Google maps has started a new service, where they suggest biking routes. While they don’t have all of the bike routes charted yet, it is a good place to get started. Here is an article that we wrote about Google Bike Maps earlier this year. Another resource is called “Map My Ride” and allows people to share their favorite bike routes. The challenge with this service is that it can be difficult to find a route to a specific location (like work). One final suggestion is to check out your cities bike maps. You might be surprised how comprehensive they are, especially if you live in a semi bike friendly city, and if you are lucky enough to live in one of the top 50 bike friendly cities like I am, then you will be blown away. I just searched for “Bike Denver” in order to find my local resource.

And finally, if you don’t know where to put your bike when you get to work, here are a few ideas that I have picked up recently. There is the obvious idea of locking your bike up in the parking lot, but people often worry about their bike getting stolen this way. One way to prevent that is to carry a massive chain lock, but another way is to just make your bike look unappealing. There is no reason to commute on your new Litespeed, and it probably is not even the best bike for the job. You want a bike that can handle pot holes without getting a flat, has a rack and even a basket to carry your stuff, is comfortable, and looks like a piece of crap. The rack is a necessity, and what I have done to my commuter is to strap an old milk crate to the back making a perfect spot to carry my backpack. Nothing will get you sweaty faster than wearing a backpack while biking. For comfort, a steal frame bike is much better than aluminum and is much cheeper too. The best part about a commuter bike like these are that they are for sale inexpensively on Craig’s lists everywhere and can be turned into a smooth riding machine with $50 at your local bike shop.

Other places to store your bike, if you are lucky enough to have access, are inside stairwells of your office, in your office, or at the train station. This last one is not available to everyone, but after this amazing new bikestation at Union Station in DC, I couldn’t help but mention it.

So, take advantage of the nice weather and in the process get rid of those extra few pounds from the winter; I know that I could use a little help myself. Start slow, but give biking a shot. Who knows you might enjoy it.

More Information on Commuting by Bike

-Commute by Bike

-Bike Commuters

-Wikipedia: Bicycle Commuting

-Ebay: Touring Bikes

-MetaEfficient (best new commuter bikes, but we recommend an old one that no one will steal)

No Idle Ad Campaign: Turn off the Car

Aaron Midgett — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:45:37 +0000

This video made me laugh. It may be a bit over the top, but I think that the idea is entertaining and gets the point across quite well. Maybe it takes something as memorable as this to help promote change

Here is a quote from the makers of this video about the negative impacts of idling.

The negative health and environmental impacts of idling have been known for over a decade. Yet, all over the city of Calgary we are leaving our cars running while not in use for an average of 5-10 minutes per car per day. Idling is unnecessary. It wastes fuel, produces more harmful emissions than normal driving, damages engines, and contributes to climate change.

Your car uses about a mile’s worth of gas in two minutes of idling. That is a ton of unnecessary emissions and makes a solid argument for supporting the implementation of no idling laws and more round’a’bouts than stop lights or stop signs… let’s keep those cars truckin! Also, air pollution is not the only problem with idling your car. In a neighborhood, noise pollution can be pretty bad too, especially if you have a souped-up car with a giant muffler. I for one, love it that my neighbor has stopped idling (and rev-ing) his race car at 5am for half an hour, so next time you leave your engine running at the post office (or in your driveway at 5am), think about this video, laugh, and then turn off the car.

More information on Idling your car

-EPA

-Consumer Energy Center

-The Hinkle Charitable Foundation

-Natural Resources Canada