Got2BeGreen

Is the SOL/WIND Era Just a Dream?

2010-08-29T20:51:48Z

If you’ve been paying attention to the news over the last few years, you’ve no doubt seen all the coverage of solar and wind energy. Both hold promise, from new investment to new jobs to new industries around the country, in depressed economies like Michigan.

But are solar and wind really viable options to replace the backbone of our current energy system, based mostly on dirty coal and potentially dangerous nuclear generation? Walter Kohn, a Ph.D. who shared the 1998 Nobel Prize in chemistry, says yes.

Now Kohn’s viewpoint may not be the final answer on this issue, but it’s worth considering, especially against the backdrop of plans for more coal and nuclear power generation in the United States. Kohn made the statements at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Kohn says total oil and natural gas production, which today accounts for the majority of global energy consumption, is expected to peak in as little as 10 years from now, followed by a rapid decline.

“These trends have created two unprecedented global challenges,” Kohn says. “One is the threatened global shortage of acceptable energy. The other is the unacceptable, imminent danger of global warming and its consequences.”

He believes these factors will drive science and technology toward more innovation in coming decades until SOL/WIND arrives, a new era in human history in which solar and wind have become the Earth’s dominant energy sources.

Besides innovation, however, the world’s dominant energy users in developed countries will have to find ways to reduce their per-capita energy consumption, Kohn believes.

Do you believe it? Just this month, it was revealed that the U.S. coal industry is in the midst of its largest expansion in 20 years. More than 30 old-style coal plants have been built since 2008 or are under construction.

And plans for a climate bill in the U.S. Senate didn’t go anywhere this year.

— Photo Credit: Takver

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Plastic Turns into Oil When “Blest”

2010-08-24T18:21:14Z

The Japanese company Blest has done something truly astonishing. They have created a machine which converts plastics back into oil. To be more accurate, they have developed several such machines, in varying sizes, from a home table top model to larger industrial scale versions meant for continuous use.

You can watch the Blest CEO, Akinori Ito, explain the machine in this video. According to what is shown in the subtitle clip, any type of plastic, including styrofoam, plastic bags and bottle caps, can be converted back into oil. The oil can then be converted into gasoline and other oil by-products.

I don’t know why we haven’t been hearing about it before now, since the technology has been around for over a year, but the $10,000 price tag does make it less than accessible for most people. Fortunately, it is Blest’s goal to continue to work on the technology and eventually create a machine that will be affordable for everyone.

In the meantime, perhaps it is time for businesses with a large need for oil and gasoline to invest in the continuous use versions. How fast could we clean up the planet if one large shipping company fueled their trucks on recycled plastic? Or how about if one of the major oil companies bought one of these machines?

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Birmingham, AL to Host 2010 Green Building Focus Conference and Expo

2010-08-23T21:22:54Z

Beginning Tuesday, August 24th, the city of Birmingham, Alabama will host the 2010 Green Building Focus conference and expo. This 3-day event, which will be held at the Jefferson Convention Complex, is designed to showcase the latest in sustainable building development. Focused on exploring the popular and growing demand for green building, this year’s conference aims to inform and educate the southeast region’s leading architects, engineers, property owners, and construction professionals, as well as students, faculty, and those interested in learning more about the recent trends, technologies and materials available in the green building movement.

Set to begin at 12:15 pm, the conference will kick off its events and presentations with opening remarks from Michelle Moore, the Obama Administration’s Federal Environmental Executive. Highlights of this year’s conference focus on green building and related topics, presentations led by several world renowned guest speakers, including Chris Brogan, a nationally acclaimed author and social media expert, and Karan Grover, an internationally acclaimed architect and winner of the 2004 USGBC platinum award for greenest building on Earth. Attendees will also have access to an exhibition of more than 200 green building products and services, many of which will feature leading world authorities on sustaining development. Additionally, the conference will address rising issues within the green building movement by discussing many topics including, “The Greening of Corporate America,” “Private and Federal Incentives for Green Projects,” and “International Green Construction Code.”

Birmingham, which boasts more large construction companies than any other city in the Southeast, is quickly becoming the region’s hub for green building activity. The city’s Mayor, William Bell, has pledge the full support for the 2010 Green Building Focus conference. James Smith, President and CEO of Green Building Focus, is also excited to bring the premiere green building event to Birmingham, “After the overwhelming success of the 2009 event here, it was clear that we would be back again this year,” said Smith in regard to the 2010 conference. “Birmingham is quickly becoming synonymous with the green building movement and we are pleased to be able to participate in that progress.”

For further information, as well as a complete schedule of the three-day Green Building Focus conference, a comprehensive list of events, guest speakers, and exhibitions, please visit greenbuildingfocus.com

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2 Cheap & Green Cosmetic Products You May Have Missed

2010-08-16T21:30:36Z

Searching for a mascara without parabens in it is largely a tedious and unrewarding exercise. However, there is good news. There exists a paraben-free mascara that is better for you, the Earth, and your wallet because, right now at least, it costs only $2 for a .27 fl oz wand. It may seem like an unlikely source for “green” products, but wet n wild’s mega-protein mascara™. In addition to being paraben-free, it contains soy and wheat proteins and is enriched with Acai oil.

Another greener product currently on sale for under $5 is the paraben- and phthalate-free Hydrating Vitamin E Advanced Body Moisturizer from St. Ives®. It contains 100% natural moisturizers, is not tested on animals, the bottle is made of 20% post-consumer recycled materials, and the label instructs you to check the website for instructions on how to recycle their packaging. A browse around the website shows a large percentage of products that are likewise free of parabens and phthalates. St Ives is an old standard on our shelves. It’s so nice on those rare occasions when being green doesn’t require a product change! For more information on their green policies, see their Natural Philosophy.

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Bixby Energy Systems Introduces Revolutionary Process for Converting Coal into Energy with Minimal Carbon Emissions

2010-08-11T16:56:30Z

Bixby Process Produces Synthetic Natural Gas without Need to
“Capture and Bury” Global Warming-Producing Carbon Dioxide Gas

MINNEAPOLIS - A revolutionary process that efficiently converts coal into clean burning energy has been developed and is commercially available from Bixby Energy Systems, Inc., a Minneapolis-based new-energy technology development company.

The patent-pending Bixby Process^TM superheats coal in a closed-loop environment to produce high-quality synthetic natural gas. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, utilities that run on synthetic natural gas produce up to 65 percent fewer carbon emissions compared to those that burn coal. Unlike competitive “clean-coal” solutions, the need for an elaborate, expensive and unproven carbon capture and sequestration infrastructure is eliminated with the Bixby Process.

Founded in 2001 by lifelong visionary and entrepreneur Robert Walker, best known as the innovator of the “Sleep Number” bed made by Select Comfort Corporation, a company he founded more than 23 years ago, Bixby Energy Systems has been researching and testing clean energy technologies for nine years. The company believes that its technologies offer the potential to provide clean, inexpensive natural gas derived from one of the world’s most plentiful resources - without the additional environmental damage generally associated with coal-based energy production.

“The Bixby Process offers an environmentally and fiscally responsible method to extract energy from one of our planet’s most plentiful natural resources,” said Mr. Walker, chairman, CEO and president of Bixby Energy Systems. “Our pilot system, which was built and has run for more than two years, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, has proven the viability and efficiency of the Bixby Process. Energy producers and governments from around the world have already visited our facilities and discussions are underway with many to provide our devolitization facilities.”

The Bixby Process currently features a system called devolitization that superheats coal without burning it in a sealed environment which prevents carbon emissions from being emitted into the air. This separates the coal into clean synthetic natural gas (syngas) and semi-activated carbon without the heavy carbon emissions normally associated with current coal burning or other gasification technologies. The technology does not consume water (although it does use it), and creates no effluent or waste byproducts as a result of the process other than natural gas and semi-activated carbon.
Initial payments on three orders representing millions of dollars in revenue for Bixby’s devolitization system have already been received from customers in China. The company is in the process of producing these units, the first of which is currently being readied for shipment.

Coal represents an overwhelming majority of America’s major fossil fuel reserves. In fact, the U.S. has the largest coal reserves in the world with 27 percent of the world’s supply according to the Institute for the 21st Century Energy, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Based on current U.S. coal consumption habits, it is estimated by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) that this supply could last another 250 years or more. Coal provides more energy density per pound than other forms of carbon-based feedstock. There are coal reserves in at least 70 other countries of the world. This means that regardless of other power sources available, coal will continue to play a vital role in supplying our electrical energy needs.

More than 50 percent of the electric energy in the U.S. alone comes from coal-fired power plants, which spew billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air each year. It is estimated that emissions from these plants contribute 41 percent of the man-made pollution in the atmosphere. The best coal-fired power plants today capture only about 38 percent of the potential energy in coal, whereas the Bixby Process can capture up to 80 percent.

Since Bixby Energy’s technology produces clean energy from coal - and ultimately any carbon-based material - it can use all coal types for its feedstock. This means that coal which cannot be used by coal-fired technologies today because of their high sulfur content, for example, are readily usable with this technology.

“The United States has centuries’ worth of coal underground. Coal is thought to be a ‘dirty’ source of energy. But, in reality, coal is not the culprit. The carbon-emissions problem actually stems from the process of burning coal to produce energy which was developed more than 80 years ago,” said Mr. Walker.

“We are the only company to have developed a technology to tap into this energy source without creating significant carbon emissions and have proven it to be reproducible. We believe that the Bixby Process is the beginning of significant change to the way we retrieve, consume and price our energy needs.”

For more information about the Bixby Process, visit the company’s website at or send an email to info@bixbyenergy.com.

The Bixby Process is a trademark of Bixby Energy Systems, Inc. All other trade names are the property of their respective owners.

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