Published on February 22nd, 2010
Mix steel, oil, and chemical companies together with the Sarah Scaife Foundation, and you have a chunk of the financial backing behind the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which has just filed a petition challenging the U.S. EPA’ recent determination on greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
In challenging the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gasses, the Southeastern Legal Foundation joins the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a number of companies including Massey Energy (which includes mountaintop removal in its coal mining operations). Though these actions are taken against a government agency, they are also yet another indication that an epic battle of titanic proportions is brewing in the private sector, pitching old school fossil fuel industries against climate-conscious companies including Nike, Starbucks, Apple, and Exelon (the nation’s largest utility) – each of which has protested the Chamber’s position on global warming.
Published on February 21st, 2010
A team of students at Columbia University has made it to the next round of Walmart’ s Better Living Business Plan Challenge. They achieved their spot in the sustainability-focused competition by yes, reinventing the wheel. The team has proposed a business venture that would make energy efficient, lightweight composite wheels for buses, trucks and other large vehicles. Advancing in the competition means a chance to pitch the plan to top Walmart execs and earn seed money to get started.
Lightweight composite wheels are familiar to bicyclists and ATV enthusiasts, but their use in wheels for heavier vehicles has been limited so far. That could be about to change. Three of the four members of the team are Boeing employees involved in the distance learning program of the Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, so a likely inspiration for the project is the growing use of durable, lightweight composite materials in aircraft.
Published on January 12th, 2010
If you’ve ever spun a yo-yo, you’ll have no trouble getting the hang of Easy Energy’s new YoGen handheld charger. According to its North American manufacturer Fame LLC, the tiny powerhouse was a big hit at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show last week in Vegas.
YoGen was designed to power portable electronics by pulling on a rip-cord, an activity familiar to yo-yo fans worldwide. The device, which has innards that look like clockworks, basically consists of an alternator that transfers enough sustainable kinetic energy to charge cell phones, iPods, Gameboys, cameras, and the like. It might seem like all fun and games, but a gadget like this might play a big role in future U.S. military logistics.
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Published on November 11th, 2009
On this Veterans Day, set aside to honor the sacrifices and contributions of U.S. military veterans, another contribution can be added to the rolls: veterans are playing a strong part in America’s transition away from fossil fuels into a more sustainable, healthful environment and a more secure energy future.
Veterans groups including Operation Free, VoteVets, and an ad hoc group of retired senior military officials are calling for more sustainable fuels and a lower carbon footprint, a position that reflects the Pentagon’s growing urgency to free its high mobility, high tech 21st century warriors from the burden of using fossil fuels that harken back to the days of kerosene lamps and horse drawn buggies. It also reflects an under-the-radar green metamorphosis in the philosophy of U.S. national defense itself.
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Published on August 20th, 2009
Hundreds of U.S. military installations have become “islands of protection in seas of development.” The Department of Defense has over 25 million acres of land under its jurisdiction, including key endangered species habitats that are preserved from encroaching civilian development. More than 300 listed endangered species make a home on U.S. military installations and hundreds of others are threatened. Here are nine of them.
1. Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is present at a number of U.S. military sites including Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland which is a prime nesting area. Fort Riley in Kansas is one of the largest wintering spots for the bald eagle in the U.S., with up to 388 eagles observed in camp at a time.
Image: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via wikimedia.
Published on July 27th, 2009
The Seattle-based company Hydrovolts, Inc. has discovered an economical way to tap waterways for hydroelectricity. Rather than damming mighty rivers or installing turbines in unpredictable oceans, Hydrovolts has aimed its sights on a much smaller target: placid canals and other managed-flow water courses. Even at low flows, a predictable and reliable current is more than enough to power the company’s unique Flipwing Turbine. Though small in scale, the simple and relatively affordable turbine could go a long way toward meeting the electrical needs of local communities as well as farms, factories, and other facilities.
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Published on July 24th, 2009
DARPA, the U.S. military’s chief high-tech office, is looking for a few good photovoltaics. Not just any garden variety solar panels, mind you. The agency is soliciting proposals for Low-Cost Lightweight Portable Photovoltaics (PoP) that can stand up to battle conditions and environmental extremes while delivering high power conversion efficiency. Think backpacks with built-in solar capacity, with teeth.
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Published on July 21st, 2009
Huntington Beach bills itself as the home of mild and mellow beach culture, but this southern California town is anything but mild and mellow when it comes to promoting solar power. The place otherwise known as Surf City USA has just announced an aggressive, ambitious program to get solar panels on 1,000 residental rooftops by 2010, in partnership with hometown company Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group.
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Published on July 19th, 2009
Rubber sidewalks are all grown up. Once perceived mainly as a safe surface for playgrounds, rubber sidewalks have developed into a means of preserving urban trees, reducing stormwater runoff, recycling tires, and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. A company called Rubbersidewalks (what else?) began installing the modular units in 2002, and its rubber sidewalk products now appear in almost 100 cities across the country. Even the U.S. military is getting into the act. Plans are in the works to install rubber sidewalks at Coast Guard Island in Alameda, California, and they’re being promoted by the Pollution Prevention Program at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.
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Published on July 18th, 2009
U.S. military installations in New Jersey are going solar thanks to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is building carport-style solar arrays the size of football fields over parking lots at two New Jersey National Guard buildings. Once completed, the two solar arrays will generate almost 480 kilowatts. One building will get 40% of its summertime energy needs from its solar parking lot, another will get 80%. Together they will save the Guard about $466,000. Even better, by building two of the first solar parking lots in New Jersey, the Guard has set the stage for transforming the state’s vast sea of open asphalt into a rich natural resource.
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