Hybrid Living

Not to go against Elvis Costello, but it turns out that digital music, not radio, is a sound salvation, at least when it comes to fighting climate change.

A new study conducted by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Stanford University confirms what we already assumed:  downloading music cuts energy consumption and CO2 emissions compared to shopping at your local record store.  Digitizing wins again.

The study found that buying digital music results in a 40 to 80 percent reduction in energy use and carbon emissions compared to distributing CDs, and that factors in the energy used to download the files over the Internet.  The study compared four different ways of obtaining and listening to music, listed from most energy intensive to the least:  buying a CD in-person at a record store, buying a CD online, downloading an album and then burning it to a CD (both with and without a jewel case) and downloading an album and listening to it digitally.

There were some situations that blurred the lines.  If you walked to the music store instead of driving, that would equal the energy and emissions of downloading and then burning an album to disc, meaning the driving to the store is the worst part of buying music in person.  Also, if the album size is 260 MB (compared to the standard 60 to 100 MB) or more, then that would equal the energy and emissions of buying a CD online because of the extra energy needed to download it.

So, the moral of the story is:  download your music and keep it on your computer or iPod.  Luckily, that’s what most of us are already doing.

via Earth2Tech

Tesla is busy celebrating its first month of profitability, and it’s clear that something about their model is working. The simple idea of making electric vehicles a luxury, instead of a 20 mph city car, has been a boon to the entire idea of EVs. The question is, can Tesla bring down the price while increasing the practicality of these cars?

That’s the goal of the Model S. It isn’t going to be for everyone, with a base price of nearly $60,000. But it’s a good step down from the roadster’s $100,000+ pricetag. Tesla recently announced that the Model S would be taking on the practicality angle too, with a model that got a 300 mile range, roughly the same as a gasoline engine. Of course, there would still be no quick fill-up at the end of those 300 miles, but it’s better than the 100 mile range that most EVs are promising.

However, in a New York Times blog post today, Jim Motavalli said that Tesla’s financial officer, J.B. Straubel, admitted that to do that they would need a 85 to 95 kW/h pack, and that he wasn’t concerned at all about creating such a battery. Tesla is building its own batteries now, and while they started off just fusing together laptop batteries, their technology is getting pretty advanced.

But, still, the Chevy Volt’s battery pack is one of the most advanced in the world, and it is 16 kW/h and costs around $8,000. Motavalli at the New York Times asked around and officials at both Ford and Aptera told him that such a battery would weigh almost 2,000 lbs and cost as much as $40,000.

Of course, Tesla isn’t planning on building the car with existing technology, but they do seem much more optimistic about how quickly battery technology will progress. Though, one thing is clear, the version of the Model S that has a 300 mile range is going to cost a hell of a lot more than the version that gets a 165 mile range.

A team of researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia have set a new record for solar cell efficiency.  A new multi-cell combination can convert 43 percent of sunlight to electricity, beating the previous record of 42.7 percent.  While it’s not a huge leap ahead, it does get us closer to that pivotal 50 percent mark.

The team increased the efficiency by combining the silicon cell with others made from gallium, indium, phosphorus and arsenic.  This combination allowed the capture of light at the red and near-infrared end of the spectrum, boosting the electricity output.

Don’t expect to see this combination in use anytime soon though.  The semiconductors used are very expensive, but at least researchers are forging ahead and maybe a new record will be hit any day now using cheaper materials.

via Discovery News

With school starting up soon (or in some cases it’s already started) it’s important to consider the impact paper use in school has.

According to Conservatree, you can estimate that…

1 ton of uncoated virgin (non-recycled) printing and office paper uses 24 trees
1 ton of 100% virgin (non-recycled) newsprint uses 12 trees
A “pallet” of copier paper (20-lb. sheet weight, or 20#) contains 40 cartons and weighs 1 ton. Therefore,
1 carton (10 reams) [...]

Post from: Blisstree

Reduce paper waste in the schools

Keeping things cool requires a decent amount of carbon emissions.  Most of the time when you hear about solutions to this issue they’re in the form of new types of refrigeration or cooling systems.  In an interesting twist, Unilever, the world’s largest maker of ice cream (they own Ben & Jerry’s, Breyer’s, Good Humor, Popsicle and other brands), has decided that the best solution isn’t changing how things are refrigerated, but making those things no longer require refrigeration.

Food scientists at Unilever are hoping to cut carbon emisissions by creating a low-carbon ice cream:  one that can be shipped and sold at room temperature and then frozen at home.  They’re calling it “ambient” ice cream and it won’t require energy-demanding refrigerated trucks or freezer cases, reducing the product’s carbon footprint and saving Unilever some cash on energy costs.

There are some changes people aren’t likely to take to, so I’m thinking the biggest hurdle for the company isn’t going to be creating this product, but making sure it still meets consumers’ expectations for ice cream.  People most likely won’t care that they have to freeze it themselves, but if my Half Baked tastes half as good, I won’t be buying it.

Assuming they produce an equally tasty treat, a good question is when this ambient, energy-saving ice cream hits the shelves, will it be cheaper?  A low-cost, low-carbon ice cream that still tastes good – now that would be a winning combination.

via Times of London

Soy candles are greener than traditional wax candles but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re 100% better for your health. Here’s the 411…

Soy candles ARE greener than wax because:

Soy candles are made from a rapidly renewable resource, although you will want to look for organic soy candles vs. none organic. Wax paraffin candles are in no way made from a renewable resource – they’re derived from petroleum.
Soy candles are biodegradable.
Soy candles clean out of their containers easily (if they came in one), unlike wax which is hard to clean. Thus, after burning a soy candle, you can reuse the container for [...]

Post from: Blisstree

Are Soy Candles Better for Your Health?

It’s always been the party line for European car companies that diesel engines save you more gas for less money than hybrid systems. Which is why Peugeot is so late to the hybrid game. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they’re abandoning diesel. In fact, they’ll likely be the first to combine clean diesel engines with a hybrid drive train.

The 3008 crossover will likely be the first vehicle to get the hybrid system. The system always has the front wheels powered by the diesel engine, while the back wheels are powered by the electric system. This allows for on-demand 4WD, as well as regenerative braking and added power through they hybrid system when needed. The electric engine is more powerful than those we’ve seen in other hybrids as well. The car will be able to travel up to 30 mph on electricity alone. All of that combines to give this beefy crossover the fuel efficiency of a tiny car.

Of course, if you add the cost of a diesel system to the cost of a hybrid system, we’ll be talking about a pretty dang expensive car here, plus it won’t even be available until 2011. But for a 50 MPG SUV, it might be worth the wait and the cost.

This somewhat innovative hybrid system (which Peugeot is calling HYBrid4) will probably be making it’s way to other cars soon, including the RCV sports coupe, which will be unveiled at the Frankurt show as well.

The ReDirect Guide Green Sprouts Festival is coming to Portland, Oregon soon and it should be an action packed eco-event for the whole darn family. If you live in Oregon or Washington, you’ll want to consider attending. I’m going for sure because I love hearing about new green gear and services. Plus it should be some super cool fun for my son Cedar.

The Green Sprouts Festival should be a fun, eco-friendly, and educational one-day event for the whole family that celebrates and promotes the nurturing of life through nature. Topics are all earth-friendly in nature and range from pregnancy to [...]

Post from: Blisstree

Pacific NW Organic Baby Festival Coming

As fall and back-to-school time gets ever closer you’re probably looking for some healthy additions to your child’s waste-free-lunch. The best way to make sure healthy goodies make it into your child’s lunch, and his tummy, is to make homemade lunch box treats. Then you control the preservatives, colors, and nutritional value. PLUS with homemade goodies there’s no excess packaging.
Driscoll’s Berries sent me one perfect solution, a recipe for some healthy homemade whole grain organic raspberry bars. You can buy Drscoll’s organic berries at many stores around the country so it should be easy to find organic raspberries. Although you [...]

Post from: Blisstree

Homemade Whole Grain Organic Raspberry Bars

In a previous post, Giving up on SIGG: which bottle to choose, we looked at the various types of water bottles available. Plastic was one type, but as noted many plastic reusable bottles have many downsides. Many are made of polycarbonate, which while durable, also is known to leech bisphenol A (BPA). Plastic is also made with non-renewable oil, doesn’t keep drinks too cold, and research shows that people don’t recycle as much plastics as they can (the U.S. standard plastic recycling rate is just 24%). BUT some people really don’t want an aluminum bottle, stainless steel bottle, or glass [...]

Post from: Blisstree

CamelBak Better Bottles