Hybrid Living

Jets are big, polluting, noisy, right? Not necessarily! EcoGeek recently covered the European Union’s Clean Skies initiative, which mandated carbon emissions cuts. Now, some firms are embracing these cuts, worldwide calls for reduced emissions, and the reality that it can be profitable to simply design better instead of purchasing expensive carbon credits.

These aerospace firms are looking to cut carbon in different ingenious and outlandish ways. Reaction Engines got a lot of attention from ecogeeks when they announced their hypersonic, hydrogen fueled super-jet. Now another enterprising firm – German non-profit Bauhaus Luftfahrt – is making some waves of its own, promising emissions cuts of 35 percent by 2035, with many clever steps.

One basic step they outline is the adoption of geared turbofan technology in conventional engines, resulting in a 15 percent reduction CO2 emissions. Next they recommend equipping these same engines with counter fans, upping the reduction by an another 5 percent. Finally by incorporating waste recuperation, another 15 percent efficiency could be squeezed out. And that’s not all – Bauhaus is also working on an exotic looking box-winged aircraft to further cut into reductions.

The only downside is that the global aircraft fleet is expected to double by 2020, due to increased demand. Still this certainly doesn’t detract from the excitement of work such as Bauhaus’s – it simply shows how much more essential it is.

We find that politicians in general are an oily lot. Indeed the vast majority of national politicians have significant funding from the oil industry. An cool new online application by OilChange International takes this data and forms a pleasant graphical representation to help citizens view exactly how much money their favorite and (most loathed) presidential candidates have received from oil lobbies.

OilChange has been hard at work providing an interface that’s easy to understand on a glance, but also contains links to detailed data. Users can click on each oil company to see how much money they gave to whom, in dollar figures. Candidates can also be clicked on for a detailed list of how much money they received from whom.

So you’re probably itching to know who the oiliest of the 2008 candidates is. The oiliest is (or should we say was) Rudolph Guiliani who received $550,608 from oil companies. Most of this came from Stewart and Stevenson. Close behind is former front-runner Mitt Romney, who received $336,783 in contributions. McCain is fourth among candidates, while Huckabee is last, behind even the Democrats.

Hilary Clinton is top among the democrats, with $223,350. Love Clinton? Well, maybe you can take minor comfort in the fact that despite coming in a healthy sixth with $106,112, current democratic front-runner Barack Obama received Exxon’s top contribution ($15,150).

While the graph is timely and useful, after a while you might get bored. OilChange calculated this and in their eagerness to keep you pleased has thus also provided similar graphs for the 2000 and 2004 elections – just in case you didn’t realize how oily President Bush really was.

Will the graph help to weaken oil lobbyists’ sway over presidential candidates? Perhaps, but it may only serve to show that we have a very oily president now and will have a new — but only slightly less oily — president in 2008.

Cross Posted from EnviroWonk

One of the three key R’s that often goes forgotten is reusability. The word certainly seems lost on the electronics industry, which manufactures 3.2 billion external power supplies yearly.

There are two key problems of the power supply industry. One is form factor. The other is the power profile. Each device needs its own specific voltages, current levels, and additional electrical characteristics.

An enterprising eco-firm, Green Plug, looks to tackle the second issue, creating the basis for a universal charger. Green Plug has developed a communication interface that lets electronics devices communicate their exact power needs to the Green plug power source, an industry first. By doing this, Green Plug has developed a charger that could work for everything from lightweight camera batteries to beefy laptops.

One key advantage of the technology is efficiency. The device can lower power consumption in most devices by allowing the electronics devices to talk with it in order to dynamically control, monitor, and optimize power use.

Green Plug’s demo is so impressive that it won Green Plug CEO Frank Paniagua, Jr. the prestigious DEMOgod award at DEMO 08, an exclusive conference for emerging technology, held January 28-30 in Palm Desert, Calif. His presentation can be viewed here.

Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMO 08, raved about Green Plug’s product, saying,

It’s the plague of the digital age… each and every device comes with its own charger, turning us all into Sherpas of cords and cables. For want of a standard, we’re left in a tangle of electronics that have a short life before they’re tossed to the landfill. Green Plug is changing that with a smart, programmable processor that is the basis of a universal electronics charger. The device will make its way into a variety of implementations, any of which will bring convenience while reducing the overhead of our electronics-driven existence.

Green Plug plans on supporting multiple simultaneous devices of different form factors in a charger that can be retained even when the user’s electronics becomes obsolete. The result will be a supply that saves energy, thus saving the consumer money. It will also save space both in the user’s household and in landfills across the country. With tech trash emerging as an important problem, Green Plug certainly seems to be onto something valuable.

An airplane running on hydrogen or cellulosic ethanol? The idea may seem sound outlandish, but if properly designed, the resulting less polluting, quieter planes seem a very attractive proposition. The European Union agrees, and is partnering with the European aerospace industry to provide a 1.6B euro ($2.4BUSD) research project grant to explore innovative technologies, including alternative fuel aircraft. The project is dubbed the “Clean Sky” project. The EU will provide 800 million euros from its 2007-2013 budget, and the industry is putting up an equivalent figure.

Participating aerospace firms are agreeing to share their research, which should create a valuable exchange of innovative solutions. Among the ideas being explored are engines that use alternative fuels and more efficient engines to conserve fuel. Also being explored are technologies to make aircraft less noisy. This both helps to reduce noise pollution around airports, a frequent urban problem, and provides passengers with a quieter, more relaxing ride.

Marc Vantre, CEO of French conglomerate Safran’s aerospace propulsion division, highlighted the key metrics in an address to reporters, stating, “There are three main objectives: the reduction by 50 percent of carbon dioxide, halving the level of noise and reducing by 80 percent the level of nitrogen oxide emissions.”

A total of 16 of the European Union’s member nations have non-government entities participating in the project, with 54 industries, 15 research centers, and 17 universities from these nations onboard.

Saab’s aircraft division is among the investors. Ake Svensson, CEO of the Swedish company states, “So far we are allocating about 150 million Swedish crowns ($23.67 million) for taking part in two programs, the smart fixed wing initiative and green operations, where it’s not only about what you fly but how you fly.”

A provisional executive committee will determine how patents and technologies developed in the Clean Sky project are shared among companies. The move is fueled in solid economics as many of the technologies discovered are expected to bring large cost savings to the airline industry by improving fuel economy. The EU sees the program as essential to remaining competitive with the U.S., which launched a similar aeronautics research and development policy in 2006.

One great thing about true EcoGeeks is that while their opponents are wasting time trying futilely to disprove the problem, they’re hard at work dreaming up solutions. A perfect example of this is the Chena hot springs resort located to the northeast of Fairbanks in Alaska. Its engineers and entrepreneurs have cooked up not one but a bevy of eco-friendly technologies that make sense from a financial, environmental, and social perspective.

At the core of their efforts is a low-temp hydrothermal reservoir, which contains 165 F water. This is “low temp” as in the past it was thought that only 300 F reservoirs or higher would be effective for producing power. However, lead engineer Gwen Holdmann and her team devised an innovative power generator, which uses vaporization of refrigerant to drive a turbine, instead of water vapor steam. The refrigerant is then condensed using the naturally cold ground water, located away from the hydrothermal source.

The plant cost a mere $2.2 million to build as it uses all off the shelf parts. It produces 200 kw at a cost of 5 cents per kwh, compared to the former costs of 30 cents per kwh when using diesel. The design is projected to pay for itself within four to five years. Hydrothermal power is very promising, as it is estimated that the water beneath the Earth’s surface holds 50,000 times the amount of energy in the remaining gas and coal resources. Additionally, the Chena team has a grant to build a similar design to take advantage of waste water from oil production, which is at a similar temperature. Experts estimate that oil waste water employed this way could produce 6,000 to 11,000 megawatts of electricity. This would both reduce energy costs and prolong the lifespan of dwindling fossil fuel resources.

Not to be forgotten is Chena’s unique refrigeration system, which uses a three-pressure system and ammonia-water cycles to chill brine to minus 20 F. Such a system saves Chena $188 a day and limits the use of toxic refrigerants. Lastly, the town of Chena is literally going green; it has used the hydrothermal resource to devise a unique hydrothermal heating for both the buildings of the city, and a special 4,300 square foot greenhouse. The greenhouse allows delicious produce to be grown year round at virtually no cost.

Bernie Karl, Chena’s owner, isn’t done yet. He’s putting Holdmann to work on a project to generate hydrogen using part of the hydrothermal electricity. This hydrogen, mixed with propane, will fuel Chena’s vehicles. The idea of using a hydrogen propane mix is considered very doable from a scientific standpoint according to Holdmann – it simply hasn’t been done yet. So Chena is looking to pioneer the way yet again, this time in a new frontier, the automotive fuel market.

Via Popular Mechanics

Paris is well known for its rich traditions of arts and culture. Now the city is looking to continue this legacy in the coming century by supporting a new project that perfectly blends a refined sense of style with innovative environmentally conscious designs.

The project is the brainchild of renowned architect Vincent Callebaut. It is located over an abandoned historic canal in the 19th Parisian district. Callebaut looks to freshen this elderly setting by building a curvaceous pair of buildings, one an egg like shape, the other a spiraling tower. The buildings will collectively provide truly unique public galleries, meeting rooms, and gathering spaces.

The somewhat egg-shaped ellipse is the first of the pair and is dubbed “Solar Drop." It rests serenely on abandoned railroad tracks. The exterior is a mixture of 250 square meters of solar panels and titanium dioxide. The photo-voltaic solar panels produce all of the building’s electricity, while the titanium dioxide reacts with organics and reduces airborne pollutants and contaminants when exposed to the UV radiation present in sunlight.

Callebaut says his objective with the structure is to “absorb and recycle by photo-catalytic effect the cloud of harmful gases (Smog) from the intense traffic near Paris." The building’s spacious interior provides a public meeting space replete with a central courtyard and natural lagoon. The building also features strips of green plant cover on the rooftop. These strips collect rainwater for use in the lagoon and elsewhere in the building.

The companion of the “Solar Drop” is the elegant “Wind Tower." Rising up out of the water, the tower sport a helical façade, which alternates vegetation and Vertical Axis Wind Turbines. These turbines capture prevailing urban winds sweeping along the canal. The interior features a winding gallery. At the pinnacle visitors are treated to an attractive rooftop garden and views of the Paris city that is sure to take travelers’ breath away.

Via Inhabitat

Auto maker Chrysler is pairing with Purdue University researchers to clean up pollutants at a former oil storage site in Kokomo, Indiana.  They are turning not merely to technology but to nature.  Specially bred transgenic poplar trees are being planted by the researchers, funded by Chrysler.

These trees have proven capable of absorbing trichloroethylene, or TCE, and other pollutants including leukemia-causing benzene.  The pollutants are then metabolized into harmless products.  They remove pollutants 100 times faster than non-genetically modified poplars.

The research is funded by a $1.3 million dollar grant as exploring ways to alter the trees to asorb even more pollution.  Richard Meilan a Purdue associate professor is leading the study.  The duration of the study is relatively short term and is designed to minimalize genetic impact via breeding with natural trees; Meilan explains, "Three years should be enough time for them to grow up, send down roots to suck the pollutants up and break them down, then we’ll cut them down before they have the chance to pass on their genes to the environment."

The burgeoning field of using plants to remove pollution is known as phytoremediation.  If the study succeeds, poplars may become one of the fields biggest tools, as they are relatively hardy and grow over a broad range of climates.

Via Purdue University