Hybrid Living

Crossposted from Envirowonk

CNN’s ancient venerable host Larry King will interview Chevron Chairman and CEO David O’Reilly during this evening’s edition of Larry King Live. The topic is "How High Will Gas Prices Go?" This strikes us at a fairly heavy topic for a man who knows only one sport when it comes to interviews: softball.

Given that Larry isn’t exactly famous for doing his homework on guests or asking anything resembling a probing question, we couldn’t resist making some predictions about what "questions" are in store for tonight’s guest.

• "Gas prices … they’re really high …. [dead air, O'Reilly waits for a question] … how high will they go?"
• "Are we running out of oil?"
• "Why is gas so expensive" [As Samantha Hulkower notes, Larry has a tendency to just repeat the last word of the person he's interviewing.]
• "So it’s not your fault."
• "What about that ethanol? Good? Bad?"
• "Hybrid cars …. [more dead air, Larry hopes O'Reilly jumps in to save him here.] … Wouldn’t it save us lots of gas if everyone drove them."
• "Global warming … is the jury still out on this thing?"
• "Venezuela. Important. Hugo Chavez. Kind of crazy. How do you address a situation like that?"
• "Offshore drilling … tell us why it’s a good thing."
• "What’s this I hear about Chevron and oil sands up in Canada? Sounds crazy. Tell me about it."
• [Follow up to last question] "Kind of like squeezing juice out of an orange. Amazing!"
• "What do you think about that Windfall Tax?"
• [Follow up question] "Okay."
• "What’s this I hear about Chevron workers in Nigeria going on strike over safety standards and unfair staffing?" [Note: We don't really expect King to ask this, but if he does, if you don't think Larry is accepting O'Reilly's spin with little more than a nod, then ... well, you just don't know Larry.]

We’ll check back in tomorrow morning with a transcript to see how we did.

Japan Airlines (JAL) is going up into the wild blue yonder using (in part) second generation biofuel. They have a demonstration flight scheduled for the end of March 2009 that will feature a blend of jet fuel and cellulosic ethanol to power one of the four engines of a JAL Boeing 747-300 aircraft with Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines. They’re working with both Boeing and Pratt & Whitney on the flight, which will last about an hour, and they expect it will be the first biofuel test flight in Asia.

While they know the equipment they’re using, they aren’t yet decided on what biofuel they’re going with, though they’ve narrowed it down to second generation biofuels. JAL likes second generation biofuel because it doesn’t compete with people for natural food or water resources, and by using it, they may minimize (sort of) their environmental footprint. The company’s goal is a 20% cut on CO2 emissions per available tonne kilometers of its fleet, compared to 1990 levels, with a due date of 2010. So far it has achieved nearly 16% of that 20% goal. Going with a biofuel-jet fuel blend can help knock a percentage point or two off of that as well.If they’re really stretching for that goal, why not use the 787 with the biofuel cocktail, I wonder.

Using cellulosic ethanol, especially that from technology that turns municipal waste into useable fuel, is a pretty attractive notion for commercial airline flights. However, if they really want to make a dent in what they’re spending on increasingly expensive fuel and the massive amount of CO2 that commercial airline flights produce, they’ll have to figure out something more than putting a little biofuel into one engine. Talk about just dipping one’s toes in the pool. Perhaps they’re just waiting for the EU to make some headway in the science…

At any rate, Boeing will be conducting the biofuel screening and says it will pick the best performing fuel by the end of August. We’ll keep our eyes out for any news updates.

Via CleanTech, Jaunted, LetsJapan, BiofuelReview

It does look like many people and companies are making waves in the solar industry by declaring that they have the largest and the best solar systems on their roof. Now, in Arizona, one company is claiming that they are about to create the largest solar power system in the world. The company is saying [...]

Siemens is one of the biggest electronics and industrial engineering firms in the world, and their sales show that environmentally friendly products and services are increasingly important to consumers. They see their sales in this area rising and expect to generate nearly $40 billion in revenues in 2011. Last year, they made almost $27 billion, which comprised about one fourth of their overall revenues for the year.

With revenue numbers like this, the company is going to invest more funds in research and development to further expand their growth, despite the fact that the current target for 2011 is a whopping 10% annual growth for their cleantech portfolio. This kind of big name, big money boost underscores the attention being given to greening up our current way of living. Siemens covers everything from power generation to buildings, from transportation to water purification. To see a boost across their cleantech portfolio can bolster our confidence level that companies are getting the green bug.

And that is good news for us here in the US, especially in Boulder, CO where Siemens has plans to establish the first US wind turbine research and development competence center, adding one more to their list of centers in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and England.

Perhaps cities like San Jose, CA will see additional boosts to their green plans with companies like Siemens pumping so much money into cleantech R&D. And I expect US coal plants fishing for FutureGen money would be interested in the work Siemens did with Sargas on CCS technology. Other projects in the works include a new plant for manufacturing wind turbine gears, and development of advanced desalination technology to cut the current energy consumption of plants by about 50%.

These kinds of moves on the part of Siemens have helped reduce customers’ CO2 emissions by 114 million tons during 2007, and the company expects to see a savings of 275 million tons in 2011 – a jaw-dropping amount – across its cleantech portfolio. Such a dominant stance in cleantech industries will require other companies to step up their own R&D, and perhaps encourage new start-ups, a boon to all of us. We’ll have to keep an eye on the map to see how this growth on Siemens’ part will alter the landscape of cleantech.

Via Cleantech

FutureGen is looking to invest a whole lot of money in clean coal power plants…but only because they couldn’t pull off their own zero-emissions coal plant project.

FutureGen is a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy and 13 energy and mining companies from around the world. Together, their intention was to come up with a commercial-scale near zero-emissions energy plant that would also capture and store CO2 and produce hydrogen; however, the project cost has spiraled out of control. Nevertheless, the organization still plans to hunker down and move ahead with the carbon capture and storage (CCS) aspect of the project, with the DOE announcing an opportunity for coal plants using CCS technology to get a sizeable chunk of funding from FutureGen.

While it is encouraging to see CCS technology getting a leg up in the US, especially considering some of the advancements we’ve seen here and elsewhere in the world, it is still frustrating that the project to clean up the coal industry has to be drastically downsized. Rather than one big project that could illustrate the success of this new technology, the DOE is turning towards multiple 300 MW projects across the country to lead the way, a scattered endeavor that may simply be all talk for the foreseeable future. With this CCS investment opportunity announcement (or, perhaps more accurately, We Can’t Pull It Off, So Maybe You Can plea) the DOE said it wants to invest in other “clean coal power plants” that already have CCS technology…a bit of a rare beast here in the US. This may be good incentive for coal power plants to retrofit or build with new technology, but there are other ways to clean up power plants without the elusive carbon capture technology, and other ways to use CO2 than just “storing” it.

This kind of lackluster approach to CCS technology investment tells me that obtaining realistic programs at coal plants anytime soon, even in the next 20 years, seems optimistic.

Via CleanTech

Profit plays a big part in how urban spaces are used. Luckily, we sometimes see that low profits are good for the environment.

Osaka Japan housed a baseball stadium that few people cared to visit. In 2003, the stadium was shut down, but with its prime location near the Namba Train Station, folks knew it was a waste not to convert the building and utilize it for something that would indeed turn a profit. The Nankai Electric Railway, owner of the site, worked with architecture company Jerde to create a unique, artistic and practical application for the building. Jerde came up with turning the 8.33 acres of urban concrete into a productive office and retail complex that features 2.2 acres of lush gardens that welcome visitors in from the street.

We know that green roofs and urban gardens can significantly help reduce the temperature of concrete- and asphalt-covered cities, by as much as 7° or 8° Fahrenheit, so in Osaka’s harsh urban landscape, this burst of green, dubbed Namba Parks, is a welcome relief.

It’s nice to see an eco-friendly revamp of existing space, rather than a giant demo and concrete re-build. The curves and levels of green are absolutely beautiful, so I’m hoping this project is a bit of inspiration for the ugly gray sprawl of US areas like downtown L.A. Be sure to stop by Jerde’s website to look at some of the spectacular photos of the building.

Via EnvironmentalGraffiti, Jerde; Photo via A Posh Sentinel

With energy prices going through the roof, an alternative lifestyle powered by solar panels and wind turbines has suddenly become more appealing to some. For architect Todd Bogatay, it has been reality for years.

When he bought this breezy patch of scrub-covered mountaintop with views to Mexico more than two decades ago, he was one of only a few Americans with an interest in wind- and solar-powered homes.

The Geobulb is a 8 watt LED light that replaces a 60 watt incandescent bulb. It generates 800 lumens of light to be exact — either warm white light or cool white. This bulb has a sleeker design than some of the LED lights I’ve seen check out that aesthetically pleasing heat sink.

Fantasizing about building a bamboo home, but not sure if you’d like living in it? Here’s a place that you can try before you buy. Take a much needed vaca to a Maui resort (swim to the island if you must), and rent a bamboo jungalow to experience what it would be like to live in a bamboo home.

Bamboo Living Technologies offers building code certified pre-fab homes in the USA, built for any climate. So, you can practically grow your own home.