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The Truth Behind the Study Finding Hybrids More Likely to Hit Pedestrians and Bicycles

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:55:00 -0500

Image: Center for Neighborhood Technology, I-GO Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics Do you want the good news or the bad news first? The good news: Hybrid registrations were up 38% in 2007, over 350,000 hybrids replacing internal combustion motors on the US roadways. The bad news: Headlines are touting a new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finding that hybrids are hitting pedestrians and bicyclists more than traditional cars, e]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ford Adds Wheat Straw to the 2010 Flex

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:32:07 -0500

Even in the early heydays, Henry Ford was fond of using plants like hemp and straw to reinforce plastic components for his cars. Now bioplastics are back and turning up in cell phones, forks, and more. Ford Motors started trying out soy-based seat foam a few years back, and is now expanding its palette of plant plastics. It's a small step, but the 2010 Ford Flex will be the first car to feature a plastic part that contains wheat straw.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Create Your Own Custom Solar Car and Win $1,000 USD from Kia

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:05:00 -0500

Image via: Antenna Magazine Share Don't we wish it were that easy: Just go online, pick all the green attributes you want, and then pick up you own custom solar car the next week or month at a dealership. You could add solar panels, make ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Climate Campaign Turns Down Airport: "Eco-Snobbery" or Drawing the Line?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:26:17 -0500

Image credit: 10:10 Campaign The 10:10 Campaign has been receiving massive attention in the UK, signing up everyone from government ministers to major corporations with pledges to cut their own CO2 emissions 10% by 2010. It almost won a vote in parliament to reduce the entire country's emissions by 10% too. So you'd think think they'd be pleased when they receive an application from the country's third largest airport, an institution that is creating power with biomass grown and bu]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Florida: Fairly Fatal for Peds and Cyclists

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:21:04 -0500

Evel Knievel (here in the 1970s in Fort Lauderdale) wore a special suit and helmet for his Florida biking. According to Transportation for America's (ToA's) new report Dangerous by Design, 43,000 pedestrians have been killed this decade (3,906 children under 16) due in part to roads and streets that are poorly designed, that is, mainly with cars instead of pedestrians in mind. And the deadliest of all metro areas is none other than Orlando, Florida, known as "O Town" and home to th]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Medicos Find Bike Injuries Are Increasing in Severity

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:44:26 -0500

Photo: DeltaMike on Flickr The other day Lloyd highlighted the ways in which cyclists are most often killed in altercations with motor vehicles. But not everyone shakes off this mortal coil after a bike accident. Many folk are injured. Now it seems that he severity of injuries and time spent in hospitalized for bicycle injuries has significantly increased At least that is the findings of the Read the full story on TreeHugger

'Road Train' Autopilot Driving System Cuts Fuel Consumption, Travel Time

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:35:00 -0500

Image via Earth2Tech It's one of those ideas that crosses your mind while you're stuck in never-ending stop and go traffic on some ugly stretch of the highway: what if there were some sort of a sensor that could put all of those cars into lockstep? Some sort of automated driving system that would keep that SOB from cutting you off and wedging himself into your lane--something that would make the whole process more efficient, help control the traffic flow, and even let you ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Woo! Bicycling in New York City is UP 26% in 2009!

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:15:28 -0500

Image: NYC DOT (pdf) "Everybody get out there and ride!" The stats are out and according to the NYC DOT, bicycling in New York has shot up by 26% in 2009, which is a lot by any measure, though it is lower than the 35% increase in 2008. As you can see from the chart above, these increases are unprecedented. For more on these feel good news, make sure to check out the great video below.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Pay-Per-Mile Car Insurance Moves Forward in California

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:51:41 -0500

Photo: Flickr, CC The Greener Kind of Car Insurance Incentives are a great tool to nudge people in the right direction. It will always be harder to clean up the environment when people's personal interests are opposed to the environment, but when both are aligned, the path of least resistance leads to a better world. Pay-per-mile car insurance is a good example of such an incentive. It's not world-changing by itself, but if applied to enough motorists, it can no doubt have a significant impact. The principle is simple: The less you drive,]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Garmin Eco-Route Add-on Turns Your GPS Into a Green-Driving Teacher

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:07:08 -0500

Image: Garmin Knowledge is Power Most of us probably don't realize that over the past few years our cars have turned into computers on wheels. There are tons of sensors everywhere, but most of that information isn't available to the driver. That's a shame, because if it was parsed through a user-intuitive interface, it could provide very useful feedback that could help people drive more efficiently (the Prius LCD effect). Well, this is exactly what Garmin is trying to do with a new add-on cable that can plug into your car's diagnostics communication port and feed that real-time data to your GPS dev]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Newest, Shiniest Metros in the World (A Slideshow)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:57:11 -0500

budget crises to boot), new metro systems continue to spread across the world. As emerging cities seek to answer the needs of booming populations -- or ease the traffic and environmental strains of private cars -- 11 municipalities have opened new underground and light-rail lines in the past two ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Toronto Gets Its Own Cycle Chic

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:30:47 -0500

Copenhagen Cycle Chic to "take back the bike culture by showing how the bicycle once again can be an integral, respectable and feasible transport form, free of sports clothes and gear, and how it can play a vital role in increasing the life quality in cities." He has been very effective and influential; If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery than he must be feeling good these days, as yet another city gets a cycle chic site. As Spacing describes it, Toronto's new Read the full story on TreeHugger

Awesome Bike Parking at W Hotel in San Francisco

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:50:38 -0500

Photo: Mikael from Copenhagenize Not Sure How Well that Would Scale, Though Mikeal from Copenhagenize has taken these pictures of a very cool bike parking at the W Hotel in San Francisco. Included in the price of a room is access to one of three Biomega bikes (I think the one on the pics is the "Copenha]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Another Benefit of Smart Grids: Fewer Utility Trucks Spewing CO2

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:48:13 -0500

Photo: Flickr, CC The Difference Between Snail Mail and Email One of the benefits of smart grids that we too often overlook is the fact that they'll greatly reduce the need for power utilities to send trucks (and often big ones) out in the field to gather data and fix problems. The most obvious example of this is the remote reading of meters instead of having to send people to read meters, but it will also help with maintenance and repairs since]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Massive Refrigerated Trains: Is Railex the Future of Produce Freight? (Video)

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:45:40 -0500

Image credit: Railex Last week I wrote about the Stobart Refrigerated Train shipping produce from Spain to the UK via the Channel Tunnel, providing an alternative to hybrid trucks or slowing down freight as a means to saving gas. But while it was impressive, commenter Andrew pointed out that the "first-of-its-kind" headlin]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Take Up Less Space With A Vertical Bed

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:44:06 -0500

Office for the Development of Substitute Materials has developed a vertical bed that lets you sleep almost anywhere in a lot less space. ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Seriously Cool and Inspirational Visual Bike-Art [Slideshow]

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:59:15 -0500

Image: I Love Dust. Biking is beautiful, and bikes are incredibly beautiful objects too. Those of us who love to ride know this, but many are able to translate that feeling into images and art that remind us how amazing this vehicle is. In this gallery we compile poetic, funky, funny, and interesting pieces of visual art made by bike-loving artists all around the world. Autumn in the north hemisphere, Spring in the south, it's a great time to ride: so take a look and get inspired. Read the full story on TreeHugger

Mavizen's 130 MPH TTX02 Electric Motorcycle Runs on Linux

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:56:44 -0500

Why did you stop? Well, I was recompiling my kernel and got a segfault... Mavizen has decided to offer a new electric bike based on the previous winner of the TTXGP so that other teams can have a solid foundation to build on for next year. The TTX02 is based on the KTM RC8 with a Agni powerplant. The twist is that t]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Walking: An Equal-Opportunity Answer to Traffic Congestion, From New York to New Delhi

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:38:00 -0500

Crossing the street in Delhi can be a tricky proposition. Photo by [Satbir] via Flickr. With just 139 cars for every 1,000 residents -- compared to 209 in New York City, and a whopping 765 in the United States as a whole -- many parts of Istanbul are already clogged with traffic. More residents name congestion as a problem than any other concern -- although 80 percent of those without a car say they]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Wash your clothes by pedaling your bike (with video)

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:08:45 -0500

Credit: Dave Askins, homelessdave.com. You don't need electricity to do the laundry. It's as easy as riding a bike. My wife's 90-year-old aunt still washes her laundry by hand, and dries it with a wringer. God bless her. But if you're a little busier, you can keep your clothes clean with pedal power. GreenovationTV has a segment on the low-tech solution.]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Buffett and Burlington Northern: A Bet on the Past or the Future?

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:31:13 -0500

Warren Buffett Makes a $44 Billion (!) Bet on Trains, Buys BNSF; Business Week's Bruce Nussbaum isn't, and calls Warren Buffett's purchase of Burlington Northern a "bet against innovation....Buffett just paid $44 billion for a 19th century technology platform, a railroad, that carries 20th century goods--coal, agriculture, imports from Asia, petroleum. This is a vision of an America mired in the past an]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Yet Another Video of Amazing Japanese Bike Storage System

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:59:04 -0500

Link to video here A while back we showed a Japanese video of How They Store Bikes In Tokyo in crazy multistorey computerized bike parking garage. Now the Guardian picks up the story and shows us a video in English that you can see here. The Guardian d]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Paul Sr. Tells Conan O'Brien About American Chopper's Electric Motorcycle

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:42:25 -0500

Image credit: Siemens/DCI To those following the cutting edge of green transportation, an all-electric motorcycle is not a novel idea. Still, if you want one, you either need to build it yourself, or find a highly-skilled and versatile mechanic willing to do custom work. Siemens wanted an electric bike and, instead of building it themselves, they went to the undeniable experts in custom motorcyc]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

People's Design Award Bestowed on the Trek Lime

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:03:41 -0500

When Trek unveiled the Lime back in 2007, the mission was to bring delightful, non-threatening biking to grown-ups. Some nice validation came last week when the Lime won the 2009 People's Design Award, a subcategory of the prominent National Design Awards. A simple city bike with an upright riding posture, the Lime uses Shimano's Coasting automatic three-speed transmission (a pretty complex system with a very simple user interface) and a back-pedal brake ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Richest Man in China: BYD Boss Wang Chuanfu Tops Rich List Thanks to Batteries & Electric Cars

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:20:58 -0500

Money to Be Made Replacing Fossil Fuels Wang Chuanfu (in Chinese: 王传福) founded BYD in 1995 at the tender age of 29. Now, 14 years later, BYD is the world's biggest manufacturer of mobile phone batteries and has been working on electric cars for a few years. While it's not yet clear if it will be successful at selling the cars themselves or if they will end up as a battery supplier for other car makers, its potential is undeniable and even Warren Buffett felt he needed a piece of the action (with not Read the full story on TreeHugger

Businessweek Includes Toyota Prius in "Fifty Ugliest Cars of the Past 50 Years"

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:23:53 -0500

What do You Think? Please Vote in Survey Below BusinessWeek has compiled a list of what they consider to be the 50 ugliest cars of the past 50 years. The inclusion of the Hummer H2 on the list might make some TreeHugger readers cheers, but what about the nomination of the Toyota Prius? Yay or nay? We're curious to know what you think. Pl]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

How To Get Killed On A Bicycle

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:29:20 -0500

a rowing buddy that way. Or the "door prize" where a driver opens a car door without looking to see if anyone is coming up beside them. But a new study of accidents in Read the full story on TreeHugger

KLM Schedules First Biofuel Test Flight With Passengers

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:07:00 -0500

photo: abdallahh via flickr. Mark your calendars for November 23rd. That's when the first aviation biofuel test flight with passengers aboard is scheduled to take place, and the first test flight in Europe. Dutch airline KLM has announced that "a select group of passengers" will be ride in a Boeing 747 powere]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Philadelphia Vanquishes New York With Highest Bicycle-Commute Rate

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:10:20 -0500

Phillies fan bicycle helmet. Image credit:MLB Phillies Shop The Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition reports, based on a US Census survey, that Philadelphia is ranked number one among the ten largest US cities for bicycle commuters per-capita. Per the Census data, 1.6% of Philly commutes are estimated to be by bicycle. Poor New York City came in at 6'th place (0.6%). "Philadelphia also tied for 10th among the country's 60 largest cities and the second h]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Cycling Mayor Saves Environmentalist

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:06:25 -0500

Image from Mail online London's cycling mayor, Boris Johnson, is the "knight on a shining bicycle" after he foiled three girls who were attacking a woman late at night. The victim, director of the film The Age of Stupid , was walking home when she was pushed up against a car by 3 young female hoodies with an iron bar. She called out for help to a passing cyclist, and much to her surprise it was the Mayor! He chased after the girls, calling them "oiks", a unique Read the full story on TreeHugger

Exxon-Mobil, Shell, Southern Company, AEP, & Duke Power Take Biggest Hits From Cap & Trade

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:43:41 -0500

Carbon allowances and cash flows in the oil sector Image credit:Point Carbon Research The above diagram is reproduced directly from Monday's report from Point Carbon. They're estimating a rough average of a 5% increase in gasoline price at the pump (around 15 cents per gallon at today's prices) from Cap & Trade. Read on for news about who will be the corporate revenue winners and which facilities will be the operating-cost losers, when and if a Cap & Trade bill, as in it's present configuration, would be enacted. ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Hypermiling Plane Gets 45 MPG at 207 MPH, Capable of 100 MPG (That's Better Than Most Cars!)

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:32:41 -0500

Photo: AOPA With 2 People on Board (Unlike Photo Above) Klaus Savier likes to have his cake and eat it too. Usually with airplanes, speed and efficiency are a tradeoff. You go slower and burn less fuel, or you go faster and burn more fuel (all else being equal). This is why it is]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Beautiful Bike Wedding in Sao Paulo

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:50:42 -0500

Photos: Luddista. It might not be a first, but you have to give this couple credit for marrying on a bike in a city where traffic is so heavy that even pedestrians beat cars. Priscila Teixeira and Willian Cruz were married last week in Sao Paulo and they organized a group biking trip to the city hall. As strong bike activists, they invited everyone who wanted to join with only ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

7 Airlines That Really Need to Green up Their Act

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:08:31 -0500

Eight jet contrails from exhaust vapor mess with radiation balance. Photo by Jasmic via Flickr No, we are not saying air travel is green. But some airlines are a lot greener than others. In fact, in this arena, the difference between 'eco savvy' and 'who cares' is much more drastic than in most industries--you're looking at 418 billion pounds of carbon emitted annually by airplanes, enough aluminum cans from beverage services to build an entire new fleet each year, and contrails causing "climate forcing. The good news i]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Cyclist Hero Earl Blumenauer Rides Around NYC (Video)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:05:13 -0500

"I think this is the decade that it's all going to come together." I don't know if it's going to have the same effect on you, but this video made me hopeful that things are changing. There's still a lot of work to be done, but there's finally a solid movement for walkable and bikeable cities, and it's ]]>... Read the full story on TreeHugger