2nd Green Revolution

I Don’t Understand Parking Lots

In an op-ed a few months back I alluded to the coming diatribe against parking lots. As a form of land use, parking lots make no sense to me. Conversely, ...

The Angry Pedestrian: An Introduction

Let me say first off that I own a car. I drive. I don't drive a ton, I don't drive everyday, I don't drive to my job, but I understand ...

What Will It Take to Make Mass Transit the Norm?

Will people start consistently riding mass transit when gas prices stay above $5 per gallon? $10? What about when we are paying the true cost of driving (i.e. emissions, disposal)? ...

Designing Cities with People in Mind

I'm not a city planner. I took one class in college, so I don't even pretend to be qualified. However, living in a city and trying to commute without a ...

Earth Day 2012

Celebrating the 42nd Earth Day and 4.5 billion years of earth. Image from NASA Johnson Space Center

From Parking Lots to Parking Garages

by Eric Wilson on May 20th, 2012

Last week I wrote about parking lots and my distaste for them. While parking garages are a much better use of land, they can be quite ugly.

My argument today is not an aesthetic one though. While riding the light rail the other day (where I also composed this op-ed), I passed a large parking garage, four levels high or so. Right before getting on the train I walked passed another one downtown. The downtown garage had shops and restaurants on the ground floor, a good use of space, especially in the urban center. However, it is this other garage that got me thinking.

When explorers landed on Rapa Nui (aka Easter Island), what did they think of the giant moai (see the image accompanying this post), the enormous stone statues that populated the coastline? Those vestiges are pretty much the line remnants of a once powerful civilization. Jared Diamond writes about them in Collapse, as well as an article for Discover magazine several years ago. He likens the stone statues to the massive homes built by Hollywood producers, namely the 50,000+ square foot home of

Where the Sidewalk Never Begins

by The Angry Pedestrian on May 19th, 2012

Dear Shel Silverstein,

My apologies for misusing, but hopefully not abusing the title of your wonderful work of poetry.

Cordially,

The Angry Pedestrian

Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you about the place where the sidewalk never begins; it’s called the suburbs. I don’t live in the suburbs, but I had to go there the other day and “do some business.” As I mentioned in my introductory post, I do own a car. It was the car that dragged me to the suburbs. I took it in for a 2-year, 25,000 mile service; the odometer read 14,134 miles. I was under the impression that it was covered by the 2-year, 25,000 mile service package that came with the vehicle when I bought it. I was wrong.

I dropped off my car at the dealership’s service center and walked approximately one-half mile across the street to eat. That’s right, I walked half a mile to cross the street. Here is an

Five Friday Facts: The New World Trade Center

by Justin Manger on May 18th, 2012

The following facts come from a pamphlet sent to me by a relative who visited the construction site and memorial pool at the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1 World Trade Center (WTC) building is expected to reach it full height soon, whereupon its 408-foot (124 m) radio antenna will be installed on top to complete the structure.

The WTC central chiller plant will circulate 30,000 gallons of Hudson River water every minute – enough to flush about 15,000 toilets.
The electricity generated by the 1 WTC’s fuel-cell plant will be able to continuously light 52,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs.
At least 75% of 1 WTC construction waste is recylced.
Everything from the gypsum boards to ceiling tiles at the WTC contains a minimum of 20% post-industrial recycled content.
At least 50% of the wood for 1 WTC comes from Forest Stewardship Council certified sustainable harvested forests.

Study: Selective Logging Could Help Mitigate Ecological Impact

by Chris DeArmond on May 17th, 2012

Despite pressure from governments and environmental groups, illegal logging and deforestation are facts of life in many developing countries around the world. However, according to a study led by University of Florida professor Jack Putz, selective logging could potentially address these issues.

Selective logging, as the name suggests, is not a perfect solution. In a selective logging operation, only the trees of commercial value are removed. The goal is that the forest will have enough trees left to regenerate so it can be harvested sustainably. (Journal of Applied Ecology). A 2005 article in the Stanford Report cited a study revealing the previously-hidden destruction of selective logging. At the time it was published, satellite images had just begun to detect areas where selective logging had gone undetected. Speaking on the topic of logging, Putz stated, “We aren’t advocates for logging…we’re just acknowledging that it is a reality—and that within that reality, there is a way forward.”

“Learning Journey in Tohoku” Applications Accepted Until May 20th (JST)

by Justin Manger on May 16th, 2012

Japan for Sustainability (JFS), “a non-profit communication platform to disseminate environmental information from Japan to the world,” is trying to make something good come out of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011.

The organization is sponsoring a Learning Journey in Tohoku which aims to offer students from both Tohoku and other parts of the world a learning journey; to observe change in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and today. They will meet and listen to people who experienced the disaster and are working for the recovery of the disaster-affected area. At the end of the journey, there will be an opportunity to report what they have learned in the disaster area, and to present their hopes and dreams for creating a sustainable society in the future.

It sounds like a great opportunity to go abroad, learn firsthand, and think about how the area can comeback from disaster in a sustainable way. Here are the instructions for overseas students.

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KiOR Update: Stock Closes Up 10%

by John Basalla on May 16th, 2012

KiOR, which was profiled on this website two weeks ago, closed up nearly 10% Tuesday. The big move came after KiOR released its 1Q2012 earnings. While revenues were non-existent, which is to be expected from a start-up company, the CEO Fred Cannon stated in the conference call that the demonstration plant was completed ahead of schedule and on budget and will be begin producing fuel in the months to come. This news was responsible for the large jump in the stock price.

Read about how KiOR is turning trees into oil and what other companies are doing in the nacent and highly active alternative energy market through our Green Tech Company Spotlight.

EPA’s Green Power Challenge

by Eric Wilson on May 15th, 2012

Over the course of the past academic year, 30 collegiate athletic conferences comprising more than 70 universities competed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) College and University Green Power Challenge. The competition, which is an offshoot of EPA’s Green Power Partnership, wrapped up last month with the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania taking the top spot.

Winners were determined by the amount of “green power” they purchased. Smaller schools with lower consumption were at a disadvantage, although the percentage of green power purchased was also calculated. The EPA defines green power as “electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources.”

The top conference in terms of total green power purchased was the Pac-12. Although only four schools from the conference participated, they collectively purchased in excess of 228 million kilowatt-hours. Here are the top five conferences and their green power purchases:

Maxwell Technologies: Creating the Replacement for the Battery?

by John Basalla on May 14th, 2012

If you read enough articles about electric or hybrid vehicles, sooner or later you see references to ultra capacitors. Ultra capacitors are currently widely used in many energy saving devices and have a bright future, including potentially replacing the standard battery. Maxwell Technologies (stock symbol: MXWL) is one of several companies at the forefront of ultra capacitor technology.

First, a brief explanation of what an ultra capacitor is. An ultra capacitor is simply a capacitor with significantly enhanced ability to collect and quickly, very quickly, discharge energy. The charge/discharge cycle for an ultra capacitor can take only seconds. Batteries, by comparison, have a low discharge rate of typically one to ten hours. The ultra capacitors’ quick discharge and charge rate is accomplished by a special carbon coating that is applied to the two electrodes in the capacitor and then immersing the electrodes in an electrolyte.

Maxwell Technologies, based in San Diego, California, is a leading manufacturer of ultra capacitors. Maxwell Technologies’ ultra capacitors are used in many green energy products such as providing burst power to control wind turbines, recapturing and storing recuperative breaking energy in hybrid drive vehicles and for quick acceleration. In addition, their ultra capacitors provide

I Don’t Understand Parking Lots

by Eric Wilson on May 13th, 2012

In an op-ed a few months back I alluded to the coming diatribe against parking lots. As a form of land use, parking lots make no sense to me. Conversely, most parking garages are eye-sores. I understand that underground parking is expensive and laborious to construct.

There are some wonderful advances in “parking lot technology,” (in addition to the use of manure and other attempts to make roads more environmentally friendly) but they really mask the greater issue. Vast tracks of land have been paved over and turned into storage for cars. In Natural Capitalism, Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and Hunter Lovins put the car in perspective. The amount of time we sit in cars is minute compared the resources we spend on them. While I can’t find the exact number, the average was somewhere around 4% of our time is spent commuting in cars. Think about the money, energy, and materials that go into cars. Leasing or purchasing a car on an installment plan can cost several hundreds per month. This doesn’t include insurance, upkeep, fuel, parking, or any other associated costs.

This brings me to the parking lot.

The Angry Pedestrian: An Introduction

by The Angry Pedestrian on May 12th, 2012

Let me say first off that I own a car. I drive. I don’t drive a ton, I don’t drive everyday, I don’t drive to my job, but I understand the role of the car in today’s society (in America at least). I can’t walk everywhere and I cover four miles in an hour, not nearly as fast as motorized transit (or a bike for that matter). Having said that, I can’t stand when drivers block the crosswalk. I can remember as a child my stepfather getting in a fight with someone who pulled into the intersection he was trying to cross. (It wasn’t quite this bad, but you get the idea.) He walked with a cane and took longer than I do to walk across the intersection.

Here’s the other thing about me, I’m “frugal”. I don’t like spending money, at least not when there’s a free alternative.

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