The Environmental Age

BMW Mini E: All Electric Mini

2008-10-22T12:01:52-04:00

(note this is just a sweet Mini - there are no pics of the Electric ones yet)

More Cars, More Cars. It's really good to see auto manufacturers create all electric cars and here's another one.

BMW has planned to release 500 all electric Mini's, dubbed the Mini E - for private use. The Mini E will be revealed at the LA Auto Show in November and will be available to private customers in California, New York, and New Jersey . It will have a range of about 150 miles and a top speed of 95 mph. For this test market BMW is reimbursing all drivers the costs of charging the car. But reportedly this can cost up to $850 per month to drive. Say What?!? $850? How much is electricity where your from dude? No seriouslly the $850 / month is not just for juicing up the car but also covers all the required technical servicing and maintenence. Although not stated this $850 is probably lease + associated "test market" costs + electricity.

(Test market costs being maintnenece and "privledge fee" for driving a car that makes the rest of us seem like polluting wastes of human flesh).

Lotus Eco-Elise

2008-10-21T12:44:46-04:00

Solar panels, water based paint, recycled materials and a revamped manufacturing process make this Lotus Elise one of the coolest new concepts out there.

By the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Lotus has taken great care to reduce the amount of energy that is used in their process and the amount of waste that is created during manufacturing as well as at the end of the vehicles life. At their Hethel England headquarters they recycle 57% of their waste and have been able to reduce electricity consumption by 14%, gas 30% and water 11% from their 2006 levels.

Working in conjunction with Du Pont Lotus has developed a totally water-based paint system. This paint solution includes primer, color coat and lacquer and greatly reduce the amount of solvent emissions. This paint has a very low cure temperature allowing them save energy during the painting process.

In order to help owners develop sound, fuel-efficient driving habits, Lotus added a green indicator light on the dashboard, sending a signal when you should shift gears to save fuel.

Efforts have also been made to reduce the weight of the vehicle. The Eco Elise is 32-kilogram lighter than the Elise S, which only weighs 860 kilos.

Snowboarding the Environmental Way

2008-10-19T12:57:49-04:00

Ok so i just got back from the Toronto Ski and Snowboard show and got all geared up for this winter shredding season. What did I get you asked? Well i got an environmentally friendly ARBOR Snowboard. I actually picked up last years model with some sweet TechNine Bindings for a pretty sweet price.

But this post is about the boards. Arbor makes ecologically minded snowboards and skateboards and builds them using some pretty cool ideas. Their main philosophy is that complex design solutions for apparel, skate, and snowboard manufacturing lies in the natural environment. That woods can be better utilized than carbon fibers, and that sustainable practices in the manufacturing process can have a lasting impact and not just be good for the environment, but be good for the brand and the rider as well.

Besides using sustainable materials in their producs, they also donate their profits and products to groups dedicated to help the environment. They print all their catalogues and promo materials on recycled paper using vegetable based inks, they completely offset their fossil fuel needs by buying wind credits, and they hired a private recycling company to take 100% of their trash and go through every item to ensure that what can be recycled is recycled.

For their products they use woods like Paulowina - which is a fast growing plantation-cultivated species that is grown using sustainable techniques. The wood has many benefits over traditional stringer materials - not just the environmental ones. It is light like poplar and balsa wood but has more integrity. They also use a lot of bamboo in their boards too.

So this season, if your in the market for a new ride, consider the environment and think of getting an Arbor board. You can look good on the hill and impress all your friends with your environmentally friendly choice.

Happy Shredding!

Environmental Insurance Now Required in Argentina

2008-10-17T12:14:57-04:00

Argentine officials said on Thursday theirs is the first government worldwide to require that companies engaged in potentially hazardous activities buy insurance to cover environmental damage.

Government officials said preliminary figures show that about 35,000 companies would have to comply with the new rules.

"Argentina is taking a leadership role in the region on this issue," Sergio Chodos, an undersecretary at the Environment Secretariat, told Reuters.

While there is a lot of environmental insurance sold in Europe right now, none of it is required by law. Argentina will be the first country to require this by law.

The insurance policies will range in value from approx $36,000 / year up to $15 million / year depending on the activities of the company. This is pretty good because besides insuring the environment against any potential accident, it also brings the idea of sustainability into the planning rooms and offices of large companies doing development. It forces them to be accountable during their planning phases.

2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid

2008-10-06T11:58:54-04:00

Buckle up, here is another sweet hybrid car. The 09 Escalade Hybrid is all that and an electric motor. Well a 2 mode electric motor actually. The Escalade boasts the worlds first 2-mode engine which allows for seamless switching between electric and combustion modes depending on power requirments. It is stated that this will allow for an approximately 50% increase over city driving economy from its non hybrid predecessor.

During city driving with lots of stop and go the car will likely use full electric mode, utilizing a 300V battery pack to provide all the forward motion. As speed and power demands increase, the car can run in hybrid mode, which means that both the combustion engine and the electric engine are running at the same time, each providing power for a specific part of the vehicle. It also has regenerative braking - which re-supplies the battery with lost power from the friction of the brakes to the pads.

But really what makes this special is the name. Its a Caddy, and while there are loads of hybrids out there now the majority of them look like they would be more suited as clown cars rather than status symbols. Not this one, again this is a CADDY. CADDY = ACCESSORIES. CADDY = STATUS. Lets take a look at some of the features you can find in this "not typical" hybrid.

Chrome Chrome Chrome - Tube Rollers, Towing Hooks, Fuel Filler Doors. These are just a few of the things you can get chromed in your sweet, sweet ride.

Forged, Polished rims. Sweet - 22's spinnin, - Grinding!

Luxury Carpeting inside, Exhaust upgrades, Stereo Upgrades. Comon, does this LOOK like a hybrid?!

I think thats the point, hopefully others will catch on to this idea.

CityCenter - Greening Up Sin City

2008-10-04T15:08:37-04:00

Viva Las Vegas!

MGM is well underway on construction for the Las Vegas City Center. The worlds largest privately funded construction project to date. It will be right in the middle of the strip and boast several condo residences, hotels, casinos, conference center, retail mall and its own power plant and fire station. The area that CityCenter will cover is over 76 acres and phase 1 is scheduled to open In 2009 i believe.

But, we are not writing this to sell condos in Vegas (although, like the Tesla Roadster, i am taking donations to purchase one for research purposes). We are writing this because this project is attempting to get LEED Certification for sustainability, and if it does it will be the largest LEED certified project in history and hopefully will spark architects, designers, and builders to make advancements with sustainable building.

Here are some of the green things planned for CityCenter.

Consturction materials such as Wood Accents and Brick re-used from old farms in the United States and europe.
Energy Efficient Glass in Hotel Rooms
Highly efficient water management system and low flow fixtures in all bathrooms. MGM was actually not very impressed with current low flow fixtures so they used their buying power to design custom low flow fixtures with high design impact. This alone will save an anticipated 76 million gallons of water a day.
State of the art air purification system integrated into the air conditioning systems
All the carpeting will be made from recycled materials
Green Roofs
All the tradespeople working have been trained in green buildings and many of the resources and raw materials that are being used in the construction process are environmentally friendly.
Old fixtures and lights from the demolished hotel that used to occupy this spot were donated to other countries and shipped in old blankets and curtains to eliminate the need for shipping materials to be produced.

Currently under construction between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts, the center’s first building, Aria, is scheduled to open at the end of 2009. An $8 billion venture between MGM MIRAGE and Dubai World, CityCenter is bringing sustainability to the forefront, rightfully earning the tag of one of the world’s largest environmentally sustainable urban communities.

2009 Jetta TDI - Clean(er) Diesel Car

2008-10-03T11:59:58-04:00

Check - a - Check it out! 2009 is a good year for the auto-market it seems (lets hope its better than 08 for Ford and GM anyways). But our German peoples car has come out with a very sweet Jetta that is really quite clean for a typical diesel car.

But really nothing about this diesel car is typical. Heres a quick rundown of it's specs:

The Jetta TDI has a 2.0-liter engine with a common rail fuel injection system, instead of VW’s traditional mechanical system, that uses piezoelectric fuel injectors. This helps atomize gas better and reduces emissions.

It also has a NOx-storage catalyst, which is a reservoir that holds the noxious emissions, like a filter, until they can be burned off during one of the engine cycles.

It gets 38 mpg in the city, and 44 mgh on the highway - many drivers say they get over 50mpg which is quite good but not amazing for VW diesel standards.

It's going to cost around $21,000 USD to buy - there is also a tax credit worth about $1300 for buying this car.

Old Growth Forests Keep On Keepin' On

2008-09-26T13:12:08-04:00

Old growth forests (like our boreal forest here in Canada) have recently been a topic of discussion in environmental news and politics as new research has led to the discovery that they are not carbon neutral (as earlier thought) but in fact still contribute to the scrubbing of carbon from the atmosphere.

A report published by Scientific American in September shows that there is some new research that contridicts what we have thought about old growth (100 yr old or more) forests. For the past couple decades we have been under the impression that these old forests are carbon neutral, meaning they do not release or collect any more carbon. With that in mind when you log (or destroy as i like to call it) old growth forests you release all the trapped carbon in the trees and foliage. So essentially the only "enviro" issue with destroying the forest was that it would release all this built up carbon from the "young" carbon collectin' days. Essentially we all thought these forests were retired. And enjoying their golden years complaining about the price of gas and hitting the 4pm buffet at iHop.

Well now that is not so true. Scientists have come to realize that these "old timers" of forests are still doing their part and even in their advanced geriatric stages they are still scrubbing the air of the dirty dirty emissions. So both initial estimates of the amount of carbon stored in these old forests, and the capacity of the forest to collect carbon were inaccurate. So now, instead of a Social Security collecting bum - these forests are like that grandpa you had who went to work in the mines up to the day he died. (Minus the whiskey breath and temper - of course)

With this new research many people are already asking "Why can't old growth forests be used as carbon credits for not being logged?" (See this article for more). And it's a good point. An idea is being tested already with Tropical forests to give developing countries carbon credits for not foresting (destroying) their lush tropical forests, why leave the old timers out? Someone call AARP.