Photo: inhabitat.com
We’ve looked a lot at solar energy, electric vehicles, sustainable transportation at Green Growth but little have we covered on the topic of wind energy. When I saw this headline, I thought it would be the perfect intro to you readers.
It’s a BIG project that GE Energy and Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation are moving forward with the blessing of Ohio Governor Ted Strickland – the construction and implementation of five wind turbines by 2012 to generate 20 MW of electricity, and enough turbines by 2020 to generate at least 1,000 MW. This will be the United State’s first fresh-water wind farm – the first salt-water is to be in Cape Cod.
For more specifics on the technology involved with these specialized turbines, continue on.
[Read More...]
The National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project is looking for volunteers to help with the 2010 National Count/Survey days (during the week of September 13, 2010).
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Tuesday, September 14 through Thursday, September 16, 5-7 PM or 4- 6 or 7PM
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Saturday, September 18 through Sunday, September 19, Noon- 2 PM
This survey and count is an effort to overcome one of the greatest challenges facing the bicycle and pedestrian field; the lack of documentation on usage and demand. This data is needed to increase investment in these fields. This nationwide effort will provide data for use by planners, governments, and bicycle and pedestrian professionals.
For more information about how to volunteer and help with this effort, go to the National Project Website.
Typical volunteer activities will include:
* A brief Volunteer Training
* A 2-3 hour traffic count and half hour of survey distribution
In Portland, you can volunteer by contacting April Bertelsen, Pedestrian Coordinator, 503-823-6177, april.bertelsen@portlandoregon.gov.
Chicago City Hall Roof Garden from Planetizen
While perusing the Washington Post website today, I found an interesting article about using excess heat from manufacturing processes to grow vegetables in rooftop greenhouses. The article mentions a company that forges car parts and hand tools near Detroit that has already planted and harvested its first crop. Rooftop gardening is different than well-known green roofs, but the benefits are very similar: reduced building energy consumption, reduced stormwater runoff, and pollutant filtration. However, the rooftop gardens add another benefit – fresh vegetables and fruits. I like the idea of going and picking my salad for lunch from the roof of my building – healthy and innovative!
PS Image is not to suggest that there is a lot of hot air at the Chicago City Hall…
Thanks to Terra Lingley from CH2M HILL in Portland
SAVE THE DATE
ASCE is hosting the Green Streets and Highways Conference in Denver, Colorado on November 14-17, 2010. As the first conference on this topic it will serve as an interactive conference on the state of the art and how to achieve sustainable outcomes.
From the conference website the conference is for :
…”transportation engineers (road and bridge designers, traffic operations, drainage, materials, and construction), environmental analysts, conservation planners, landscape architects, transportation planners, and transportation policy makers – those professionals on the frontline of improving the performance and sustainability of our streets and highways”
The conference will feature a coordinated session with T & DI and ITE.
Be there for this first of it’s kind conference.
Sound Transit LINK Light Rail in the Downtown Seattle Bus Tunnel
I was able to take a longer lunch one day last week and head into San Francisco to hear Jarrett Walker, author at humantransit.org, discuss his field guide to transit debates. Following the presentation there was also a Q&A session. The presentation should be enough to interest anyone who considers him/herself even a marginal transit junky. Jarrett is able communicate complex issues in a straightforward manner as he does on his blog and the Q&A session was equally as interesting. Jarrett will take his presentation through Cascadia northward in the coming days (dates in Portland, Seattle & Vancouver. Details here) and everyone hates a spoiler, so rather than delve into the finer points of the presentation I would suggest just that if you are in PDX, SEA or VBC make some time and GO for yourself!
Where does energy come from? from In The Can Productions on Vimeo.
Dill Pickle Club Poster
My summer vacation took me to the Jersey Shore. Knee deep in the surf of the Atlantic Ocean reminded me there is powerful energy in waves that tug back and forth. Energy, how we manage and use it as a resource is at the heart of the swiftly expiring Climate Bill. While wave energy is still in its infancy, other clean forms of energy are being studied for reliability, efficiency and sustainability. The Dill Pickle Club from Portland will be looking at this question in their next field trip along the Columbia Gorge “Where does energy come from?” on July 29th. The tour will take you to the Dalles Dam and the Biglow Canyon Wind Farm.
How else will you get to see a wind farm? Jonesing for that elementary field trip experience, contact Dill Pickle Club Thanks for sending Marc Mosato.
Absolute Astronomy fireescape image
Cool, Daddio! My vacation took me to Times Square and my kids first venture into Broadway magic with the reproduction of the Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein work-of-brilliance West Side Story. While timeless (and not a dry eye in the house), the play reminded me that the rival street gangs of New York’s west side were fighting over “scraps of land” and that tragic, yet MFEO, love birds Tony and Maria dreamed of “a place for us“ with “peace and quiet and open air.”
I’m not saying Tony and Maria were sprawl fanatics, but I bet (had they stayed together) they (like millions of their contemporaries) would have headed for Secaucus or other ’burbs. Not saying I blame them but the dream of space, peace and quiet, security and privacy are the challenges in providing the quality of life we feel entitled to within a dense urban framework. The hum of freeways and clang of light rail screeching wheels and warning bells, the glare of streetlights and headlights, the conflicts created when finding ourselves in close proximity to others – these are the by-products of living in tight urban environments.
From Seattle Heritage Bike Tours
I love the new 2010 version of the Seattle Bike map published by SDOT, which can be found at all of the neighborhood service centers. You can also receive a printed copy of the map from Bike Alliance of Washington at (206) 224-9252, or use the online form.
Other neighboring jurisdiciton bike maps can also be found there on-line. In addition to providing tactile folds of best biking routes, there are handy helpful tips on safe biking and of course cool new bike terms du jour. Debatable whether Google Maps and other GPS -like “hand held” bike routing devices can replace the krinkle and visual impact of the paper kind. Serving as a hat to block the sun, your picnic tablecloth and dare I say napkin, the Seattle Bike Map will be a veteran of your journeys complete with windblown tears and coffee stains! Plus how else would you know how to impress your pals when you know the correct definition and use of “Bike Dots” and “Sharrows“. Make sure you take the Bike Smart Seattle quiz too.
Sharrows in Richmond BC
Not only do bikers need to worry about being hit by cars while riding, but now research shows they have to worry about the tens of millions of toxic particles that fill their lungs on each breath. Researchers in Belgian used devices to count the particles that bicyclists encountered and the rate at which they breathed to determine that in a whole journey of biking, billions of toxic nanochemicals, emitted mostly by car tailpipes, will enter the bicyclists body.
And bikers beware, before you start thinking about wearing a mask to mitigate the damage these toxins do to your body, think again because nanoparticles are too small to be filtered out by such a basic device. Instead, Jonathan Hiskes suggests that planners be more aware of the dangers floating in the air to and create some better buffers with trees, parked cars, or something else that will keep a bulk of the nasty air away from their mouths.
This suggestion comes a little counter-point to the ideas of sharrows that are spreading quickly around the Northwest. Me, I’m not sure how to solve this issue – to separate vehicles and bikes or to integrate them into denser areas…that is the question.
[Via: Grist]
[Source: The U.K. Times]
Photo: inhabitat.com
California will soon become the hot bed for Tesla’s and Volt’s as they make a big step to creating fluid and efficient infrastructure for electric vehicles.
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has given Coulomb Technologies a $3.4 million grant to set up up 1,600 ChargePoint charging stations in the Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco south to San Jose areas. These stations will be primarily meant for research into Californians’ EV charging habits so that more effort can be made later in a more precise manner to set up final EV infrastructure. This is all part of a $37 million ChargePoint program (partly funded by the Feds) to provide almost 5,000 ChargePoint stations to the entire nation.
So if you’ve already coughed up the cash for an EV, think about using that money you’ll save from using no gas to cough up more cash for a sunny house in California where you and your EV can live happily ever after.
[Via: Engadget, AutoBlog, Green Car Advisor]
[Source: Business Wire]
Full Press Release from Coulomb Technologies after the break… [Read More...]
