Wind Ship “Vindskip” Would Use Its Hull As a Sail

In another approach to improve cargo ship design using wind power, Lade AS has developed plans to construct a hybrid cargo ship. The Vindskip, (“wind ship” in Norwegian) would use its own hull to channel wind as a sail or airplane wing does. Powered partially by a natural-gas fired engine, the external design of the ship would generate lift to assist its forward movement. In order to travel in the most optimal conditions possible, Vindskip's systems would constantly calculate both the direction and speed of the wind. Using the “apparent wind” (the wind as moving objects experience it), Lade AS claims, these systems would allow Vindskip to have a positive pull at a minimum of 45 percent of its time en route, traveling at speeds of +16 knots.

The company estimates this design would reduce emissions by 80 percent and fuel costs by 60 percent. While a small model was tested at Cranfield University's wind tunnel with success, the projected efficiencies have yet to be tested at full scale.

hat tip: @TobiasBuckell

image via Lade AS

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/TuNJKLEI188/3894-wind-ship-vindskip-would-use-its-hull-as-a-sail

KAIST Bus Charges Itself En Route

There are many solutions, proposed or in development, to address the “range anxiety” EVs produce, from implementing fuel cells to self-propelled trailers. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed another solution to tackle the problem. The system, called OLEV (online electric vehicle), lets vehicles charge themselves while on the road or even when stationary.

Last month, two self-charging buses outfitted with OLEV took to the road in Gumi, a city in central South Korea, carrying commuters along a 15-mile roundtrip route. These buses are equipped with lithium-ion batteries, charged by electric cables under the road. These cables create a magnetic field, which a receiving device under the OLEV converts into electricity, wirelessly charging the batteries on board.

While range anxiety is a major challenge for the EV industry at large, unfortunately this solution isn’t one that’s easily transferred to all EVs--unless many, many more roads were equipped with the technology, too--and overhead cables still remain easier to install. Nevertheless, this system application already has plans to expand, with 10 more buses set to hit the road in Gumi by 2015.

via: IEEE Spectrum

image via KAIST

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/ql85WKuk4k8/3890-kaist-bus-charges-itself-en-route

The Solar-Powered Hyperloop

With airplanes ranking among the biggest gas guzzlers in the transportation industry, Elon Musk’s Hyperloop sounds like a potential replacement for such energy inefficient travel--at least between places 1,000 miles apart. Instead of boarding commercial airplanes, people could travel via aluminum pods, whizzing through elevated steel tubes toward cities typically congested on the ground below. If the Hyperloop could be produced as designed, it’d be completely solar-powered and reach past the average speed of an airplane at 800 miles per hour.

Even at this design stage of the Hyperloop there are many valid critiques to consider. For example, at such high speeds, the friction would make figuring out cooling methods that wouldn’t impede the pods themselves essential, and the g-forces, double that of typical roller coasters, could make for an uncomfortable ride. Musk states that disappointment with California’s new “high-speed” rail sparked this idea, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll move beyond the idea stage soon.

As HuffPo reports, since Tesla and SpaceX are so demanding, Musk claims he will likely not make the Hyperloop himself. Although there are advantages to the current lack of Hyperloop production: as it stands, anyone can offer suggestions to improve the system, as the last page of the plans lists two emails where readers can send feedback. Still, with so much remaining to be sussed out--from safety issues to the legal concerns surrounding construction--it seems we’re a long way away from seeing a prototype in action.

via: Huffington Post

image credit: Hyperloop Alpha - Elon Musk

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First Container Ship Crossing the Northern Passage

For the past few years, the Arctic has been sufficiently ice-free in the summertime that some ships have been able to take the short-cut routes across the North Sea Route and the Northwest Passage. Last year, among others, a small sailboat with a crew of 3 made the Northwest Passage. This year, a 19,000 ton Chinese cargo container carrier is traveling to Amsterdam via the Arctic, going north and traveling along the northern coast of Russia, rather than down through the Indian Ocean and through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. This marks the first time that a container ship is traveling through the Arctic.

The shorter trip will mean lower fuel costs (and, ironically, fewer greenhouse gas emissions) for the freighter. Taking this route is expected to save 12 to 15 days of travel and shortens the trip by roughly 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles).

While this is news now, it is all too likely that this will go from a unique occurrence to an ordinary annual event within a few years.

image: CC BY-SA 3.0 by Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons

hat tip: @jr_carpenter via @GreatDismal

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Ecuador Ends Novel Plan to Save Rainforest

After several years of trying to protect one of the most undeveloped parts of the Amazonian rainforest, Ecuador has ended an attempt to get the rest of the world to contribute money to offset that nation's need to exploit the region for its oil wealth. The Yasuni National Park is an incredibly biodiverse, undeveloped region in eastern Ecuador, on the border of Peru. The park comprises an area of 9,820 square kilometers (3,792 sq. miles) in the headwaters of the Amazon. There are also an estimated 800 million barrels of crude oil in the region.

As with conservation land trusts, and carbon offsets, and similar kinds of preservation efforts, the government of Ecuador sought payment equal to half of the oil's commercial value ($3.6 billion in 2007) in exchange for leaving it untouched and remaining in the ground. Not only would that prevent the damage that development of the region for oil production would cause, but it would also help to sequester that volume of oil from eventually adding to the growing amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

To date, there has been little support for this initiative. Only a tiny portion ($6.5 million) of the money that Ecuador sought has been offered, so President Rafael Correa has now announced an end to the program:

President Correa said scrapping the program was one of the hardest decisions of his presidency. "The real dilemma is this," he said in a televised address last week. "Do we protect 100 percent of the Yasuní and have no resources to meet the urgent needs of our people, or do we save 99 percent of it and have $18 billion to fight poverty?"

While the premise seemed to make good sense from a global perspective, its timing couldn't have been worse; the proposal was begun in 2007, just as the financial crises triggering the Great Recession were flaring up. This shouldn't necessarily be read as a failure of the approach in general, but rather a first, grand-scale attempt that didn't work out. Hopefully there will be future attempts like this, and they will have better results.

image: CC BY 3.0 by Jorge.kike.medina/Wikimedia Commons

via: NPR - Planet Money

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Recycling CDs for Wastewater Treatment

Someone has finally come up with an upcycling use for old CD discs. Din Ping Tsai, a physicist at National Taiwan University, has developed a small, low-power method for treating wastewater using UV light and zinc oxide applied to the CDs. Using old CDs as a substrate to coat with zinc oxide provides a low cost layer which can be spun as water is applied, creating a thin film of water which more effectively interacts with the photocatalytic layer of zinc oxide nanorods. In tests, the device was able to break down over 95% of the contaminants after an hour of treatment.

Though this could be a wonderful application for old CDs, it's unlikely to solve the waste accumulation from billions of old CDs. The number used for this treatment system, even if it becomes widely adopted, is going to be a tiny fraction of the total production of CDs (which, at present is about 20 billion CDs per year).

"The spinning disk reactor is small, consumes little power, and processes contaminated water more efficiently than other photocatalytic wastewater treatment methods, Tsai says. The device could be used on a small scale to clean water contaminated with domestic sewage, urban run-off, industrial effluents, and farm waste. Going forward, the team is also working on ways to increase the efficiency of the reactor, and Tsai estimates that the system could soon be improved to work even faster, perhaps by creating layers of stacked disks."

While the system seems best suited to small installations, rather than big, municipal facilities, it is nevertheless an interesting system, and the ability to also deal with an e-waste issue at the same time as creating equipment for effective wastewater treatemt is a positive synergy.

via: Treehugger

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EV-Sharing in Paris - Update

A few years ago, we covered Paris’s plans to initiate an electric car sharing program. Through the Autolib car sharing program, which boasts over 1800 vehicles and 800 charging stations, the French capital now ranks among the world’s leaders in EV presence and charging locations.

Autolib’s system was built by a subsidiary of Bolloré, the company that helped create the compact Bluecar. This system focus on being extremely user-friendly, by monitoring the relative location and battery charge of each vehicle. Members of the program can simply swipe their cards at a charging station and use a nearby car with the best charge. Only cars with a 40 percent or higher charge are released to members, and an agent will even contact drivers who’ve ventured past the last charging locations in the suburbs or drive with a battery that has a charge lower than 20 percent.

As IEEE Spectrum reports, more EVs on the road means more familiarity with seeing and driving them--and less local air pollution should they have been fossil fuel powered instead. With ample charging locations and shorter distances, in an urban environment, shared EVs can also shine well within their range. That being said, the convenience of personal vehicle ownership, for those who can afford it and even when space is at a premium, is a challenge all car sharing programs will continue to combat. The Autolib program in particular has its share of critics among EV car sharing supporters, who say the program’s focus on being flexible means its members are more likely to have their own personal cars as well, and that programs that allow the reservation of vehicles have much more success in reducing personal automobile ownership. The Autolib program has also not yet generated profits, although general director Morald Chibout believes the program will become profitable sometime in 2014.

via: IEEE Spectrum

image CC BY 2.0 by Francisco Gonzalez

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/W4GRlUQJYic/3891--ev-sharing-in-paris-update

Bird Groups and Wind Turbines Getting Along

It has been widely assumed for years that two groups that don't get along are wind power advocates and bird protection groups. But, in a move that shows how far things have come, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is looking at installing a wind turbine at its headquarters. The Society has applied to install a 100 meter (328 foot) tower for a wind turbine near its headquarters in Bedfordshire.

This is not a complete reversal on the part of the RSPB, and there have been cases where the RSPB has objected to wind farms. But it shows how wrong the old stereotype is. The Society's perspective is that "renewable energy is an essential tool in the fight against climate change, which poses the largest threat to the long-term survival of birds and wildlife." Furthermore, they believe that, "so long as proper due diligence is conducted and potential wildlife impacts mitigated, ... developing wind power is a smart move."

More advanced understanding of bird migration patterns and habits has helped with the placement of wind farms in places where bird fatalaties can be reduced. Other technologies that monitor bats and birds, and intermittent disabling of wind farms during migration periods also help to further reduce the numbers of animals killed by wind turbines. And, in terms of numbers killed, buildings still remain a far greater threat to birds than wind turbines.

image: CC BY-SA 2.0 by Brian Robert Marshall/Wikimedia Commons

via: NA Windpower

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/oQPXt5_JGl8/3895--bird-groups-and-wind-turbines-getting-along

Wind Ship “Vindskip” Would Use Its Hull As a Sail

In another approach to improve cargo ship design using wind power, Lade AS has developed plans to construct a hybrid cargo ship. The Vindskip, (“wind ship” in Norwegian) would use its own hull to channel wind as a sail or airplane wing does. Powered partially by a natural-gas fired engine, the external design of the ship would generate lift to assist its forward movement. In order to travel in the most optimal conditions possible, Vindskip's systems would constantly calculate both the direction and speed of the wind. Using the “apparent wind” (the wind as moving objects experience it), Lade AS claims, these systems would allow Vindskip to have a positive pull at a minimum of 45 percent of its time en route, traveling at speeds of +16 knots.

The company estimates this design would reduce emissions by 80 percent and fuel costs by 60 percent. While a small model was tested at Cranfield University's wind tunnel with success, the projected efficiencies have yet to be tested at full scale.

hat tip: @TobiasBuckell

image via Lade AS

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/TuNJKLEI188/3894-wind-ship-vindskip-would-use-its-hull-as-a-sail

VW Announces Production of Two Electric Cars

Following up on expectations, Volkswagen announced the production of two new electric vehicles last week. The 2015 e-up! (exclamation mark included) and the 2015 e-Golf were unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. While both hatchback vehicles contain lithium-ion batteries and electric motors, they have different specs. The smaller of the two, the e-up! runs on a 18.7-kWh lithium-ion battery and contains a 60 kW / 82 PS electric motor capable of 210 Nm of torque. The e-up! has a driving range of up to 99 miles (159 km), and uses a mere 11.7 kWh per 61 miles.

One of our writers test drove a pilot vehicle of the other EV announced for production: an all-electric version of the Golf. The e-Golf has a 24.2 kWh lithium-ion battery, and a 85 kW/ 115 PS electric motor with a max torque of 270 Nm. It also has a driving range of up to 118 miles (190 km), and uses 12.7 kWh of energy per 62 miles. While the e-Golf will appear in the U.S. market, production numbers have not yet been released and it is unknown whether the e-up! will follow. In addition to announcing production of these new cars, Volkswagen claims that, by 2018, it wants to produce the most electric vehicles worldwide.

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/1kGtJQhXrnQ/3893-vw-announces-production-of-two-electric-cars

EV-Sharing in Paris - Update

A few years ago, we covered Paris’s plans to initiate an electric car sharing program. Through the Autolib car sharing program, which boasts over 1800 vehicles and 800 charging stations, the French capital now ranks among the world’s leaders in EV presence and charging locations.

Autolib’s system was built by a subsidiary of Bolloré, the company that helped create the compact Bluecar. This system focus on being extremely user-friendly, by monitoring the relative location and battery charge of each vehicle. Members of the program can simply swipe their cards at a charging station and use a nearby car with the best charge. Only cars with a 40 percent or higher charge are released to members, and an agent will even contact drivers who’ve ventured past the last charging locations in the suburbs or drive with a battery that has a charge lower than 20 percent.

As IEEE Spectrum reports, more EVs on the road means more familiarity with seeing and driving them--and less local air pollution should they have been fossil fuel powered instead. With ample charging locations and shorter distances, in an urban environment, shared EVs can also shine well within their range. That being said, the convenience of personal vehicle ownership, for those who can afford it and even when space is at a premium, is a challenge all car sharing programs will continue to combat. The Autolib program in particular has its share of critics among EV car sharing supporters, who say the program’s focus on being flexible means its members are more likely to have their own personal cars as well, and that programs that allow the reservation of vehicles have much more success in reducing personal automobile ownership. The Autolib program has also not yet generated profits, although general director Morald Chibout believes the program will become profitable sometime in 2014.

via: IEEE Spectrum

image CC BY 2.0 by Francisco Gonzalez

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/W4GRlUQJYic/3891--ev-sharing-in-paris-update

Bird Groups and Wind Turbines Getting Along

It has been widely assumed for years that two groups that don't get along are wind power advocates and bird protection groups. But, in a move that shows how far things have come, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is looking at installing a wind turbine at its headquarters. The Society has applied to install a 100 meter (328 foot) tower for a wind turbine near its headquarters in Bedfordshire.

This is not a complete reversal on the part of the RSPB, and there have been cases where the RSPB has objected to wind farms. But it shows how wrong the old stereotype is. The Society's perspective is that "renewable energy is an essential tool in the fight against climate change, which poses the largest threat to the long-term survival of birds and wildlife." Furthermore, they believe that, "so long as proper due diligence is conducted and potential wildlife impacts mitigated, ... developing wind power is a smart move."

More advanced understanding of bird migration patterns and habits has helped with the placement of wind farms in places where bird fatalaties can be reduced. Other technologies that monitor bats and birds, and intermittent disabling of wind farms during migration periods also help to further reduce the numbers of animals killed by wind turbines. And, in terms of numbers killed, buildings still remain a far greater threat to birds than wind turbines.

image: CC BY-SA 2.0 by Brian Robert Marshall/Wikimedia Commons

via: NA Windpower

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/oQPXt5_JGl8/3895--bird-groups-and-wind-turbines-getting-along

Wind Ship “Vindskip” Would Use Its Hull As a Sail

In another approach to improve cargo ship design using wind power, Lade AS has developed plans to construct a hybrid cargo ship. The Vindskip, (“wind ship” in Norwegian) would use its own hull to channel wind as a sail or airplane wing does. Powered partially by a natural-gas fired engine, the external design of the ship would generate lift to assist its forward movement. In order to travel in the most optimal conditions possible, Vindskip's systems would constantly calculate both the direction and speed of the wind. Using the “apparent wind” (the wind as moving objects experience it), Lade AS claims, these systems would allow Vindskip to have a positive pull at a minimum of 45 percent of its time en route, traveling at speeds of +16 knots.

The company estimates this design would reduce emissions by 80 percent and fuel costs by 60 percent. While a small model was tested at Cranfield University's wind tunnel with success, the projected efficiencies have yet to be tested at full scale.

hat tip: @TobiasBuckell

image via Lade AS

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/TuNJKLEI188/3894-wind-ship-vindskip-would-use-its-hull-as-a-sail

VW Announces Production of Two Electric Cars

Following up on expectations, Volkswagen announced the production of two new electric vehicles last week. The 2015 e-up! (exclamation mark included) and the 2015 e-Golf were unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. While both hatchback vehicles contain lithium-ion batteries and electric motors, they have different specs. The smaller of the two, the e-up! runs on a 18.7-kWh lithium-ion battery and contains a 60 kW / 82 PS electric motor capable of 210 Nm of torque. The e-up! has a driving range of up to 99 miles (159 km), and uses a mere 11.7 kWh per 61 miles.

One of our writers test drove a pilot vehicle of the other EV announced for production: an all-electric version of the Golf. The e-Golf has a 24.2 kWh lithium-ion battery, and a 85 kW/ 115 PS electric motor with a max torque of 270 Nm. It also has a driving range of up to 118 miles (190 km), and uses 12.7 kWh of energy per 62 miles. While the e-Golf will appear in the U.S. market, production numbers have not yet been released and it is unknown whether the e-up! will follow. In addition to announcing production of these new cars, Volkswagen claims that, by 2018, it wants to produce the most electric vehicles worldwide.

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/1kGtJQhXrnQ/3893-vw-announces-production-of-two-electric-cars

EV-Sharing in Paris - Update

A few years ago, we covered Paris’s plans to initiate an electric car sharing program. Through the Autolib car sharing program, which boasts over 1800 vehicles and 800 charging stations, the French capital now ranks among the world’s leaders in EV presence and charging locations.

Autolib’s system was built by a subsidiary of Bolloré, the company that helped create the compact Bluecar. This system focus on being extremely user-friendly, by monitoring the relative location and battery charge of each vehicle. Members of the program can simply swipe their cards at a charging station and use a nearby car with the best charge. Only cars with a 40 percent or higher charge are released to members, and an agent will even contact drivers who’ve ventured past the last charging locations in the suburbs or drive with a battery that has a charge lower than 20 percent.

As IEEE Spectrum reports, more EVs on the road means more familiarity with seeing and driving them--and less local air pollution should they have been fossil fuel powered instead. With ample charging locations and shorter distances, in an urban environment, shared EVs can also shine well within their range. That being said, the convenience of personal vehicle ownership, for those who can afford it and even when space is at a premium, is a challenge all car sharing programs will continue to combat. The Autolib program in particular has its share of critics among EV car sharing supporters, who say the program’s focus on being flexible means its members are more likely to have their own personal cars as well, and that programs that allow the reservation of vehicles have much more success in reducing personal automobile ownership. The Autolib program has also not yet generated profits, although general director Morald Chibout believes the program will become profitable sometime in 2014.

via: IEEE Spectrum

image CC BY 2.0 by Francisco Gonzalez

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/W4GRlUQJYic/3891--ev-sharing-in-paris-update

KAIST Bus Charges Itself En Route

There are many solutions, proposed or in development, to address the “range anxiety” EVs produce, from implementing fuel cells to self-propelled trailers. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed another solution to tackle the problem. The system, called OLEV (online electric vehicle), lets vehicles charge themselves while on the road or even when stationary.

Last month, two self-charging buses outfitted with OLEV took to the road in Gumi, a city in central South Korea, carrying commuters along a 15-mile roundtrip route. These buses are equipped with lithium-ion batteries, charged by electric cables under the road. These cables create a magnetic field, which a receiving device under the OLEV converts into electricity, wirelessly charging the batteries on board.

While range anxiety is a major challenge for the EV industry at large, unfortunately this solution isn’t one that’s easily transferred to all EVs--unless many, many more roads were equipped with the technology, too--and overhead cables still remain easier to install. Nevertheless, this system application already has plans to expand, with 10 more buses set to hit the road in Gumi by 2015.

via: IEEE Spectrum

image via KAIST

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/ql85WKuk4k8/3890-kaist-bus-charges-itself-en-route

Wind Ship “Vindskip” Would Use Its Hull As a Sail

In another approach to improve cargo ship design using wind power, Lade AS has developed plans to construct a hybrid cargo ship. The Vindskip, (“wind ship” in Norwegian) would use its own hull to channel wind as a sail or airplane wing does. Powered partially by a natural-gas fired engine, the external design of the ship would generate lift to assist its forward movement. In order to travel in the most optimal conditions possible, Vindskip's systems would constantly calculate both the direction and speed of the wind. Using the “apparent wind” (the wind as moving objects experience it), Lade AS claims, these systems would allow Vindskip to have a positive pull at a minimum of 45 percent of its time en route, traveling at speeds of +16 knots.

The company estimates this design would reduce emissions by 80 percent and fuel costs by 60 percent. While a small model was tested at Cranfield University's wind tunnel with success, the projected efficiencies have yet to be tested at full scale.

hat tip: @TobiasBuckell

image via Lade AS

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/TuNJKLEI188/3894-wind-ship-vindskip-would-use-its-hull-as-a-sail

VW Announces Production of Two Electric Cars

Following up on expectations, Volkswagen announced the production of two new electric vehicles last week. The 2015 e-up! (exclamation mark included) and the 2015 e-Golf were unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. While both hatchback vehicles contain lithium-ion batteries and electric motors, they have different specs. The smaller of the two, the e-up! runs on a 18.7-kWh lithium-ion battery and contains a 60 kW / 82 PS electric motor capable of 210 Nm of torque. The e-up! has a driving range of up to 99 miles (159 km), and uses a mere 11.7 kWh per 61 miles.

One of our writers test drove a pilot vehicle of the other EV announced for production: an all-electric version of the Golf. The e-Golf has a 24.2 kWh lithium-ion battery, and a 85 kW/ 115 PS electric motor with a max torque of 270 Nm. It also has a driving range of up to 118 miles (190 km), and uses 12.7 kWh of energy per 62 miles. While the e-Golf will appear in the U.S. market, production numbers have not yet been released and it is unknown whether the e-up! will follow. In addition to announcing production of these new cars, Volkswagen claims that, by 2018, it wants to produce the most electric vehicles worldwide.

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/1kGtJQhXrnQ/3893-vw-announces-production-of-two-electric-cars

The Solar-Powered Hyperloop

With airplanes ranking among the biggest gas guzzlers in the transportation industry, Elon Musk’s Hyperloop sounds like a potential replacement for such energy inefficient travel--at least between places 1,000 miles apart. Instead of boarding commercial airplanes, people could travel via aluminum pods, whizzing through elevated steel tubes toward cities typically congested on the ground below. If the Hyperloop could be produced as designed, it’d be completely solar-powered and reach past the average speed of an airplane at 800 miles per hour.

Even at this design stage of the Hyperloop there are many valid critiques to consider. For example, at such high speeds, the friction would make figuring out cooling methods that wouldn’t impede the pods themselves essential, and the g-forces, double that of typical roller coasters, could make for an uncomfortable ride. Musk states that disappointment with California’s new “high-speed” rail sparked this idea, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll move beyond the idea stage soon.

As HuffPo reports, since Tesla and SpaceX are so demanding, Musk claims he will likely not make the Hyperloop himself. Although there are advantages to the current lack of Hyperloop production: as it stands, anyone can offer suggestions to improve the system, as the last page of the plans lists two emails where readers can send feedback. Still, with so much remaining to be sussed out--from safety issues to the legal concerns surrounding construction--it seems we’re a long way away from seeing a prototype in action.

via: Huffington Post

image credit: Hyperloop Alpha - Elon Musk

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/4NvXP-Fpvxo/3889-the-solar-powered-hyperloop-

EV-Sharing in Paris - Update

A few years ago, we covered Paris’s plans to initiate an electric car sharing program. Through the Autolib car sharing program, which boasts over 1800 vehicles and 800 charging stations, the French capital now ranks among the world’s leaders in EV presence and charging locations.

Autolib’s system was built by a subsidiary of Bolloré, the company that helped create the compact Bluecar. This system focus on being extremely user-friendly, by monitoring the relative location and battery charge of each vehicle. Members of the program can simply swipe their cards at a charging station and use a nearby car with the best charge. Only cars with a 40 percent or higher charge are released to members, and an agent will even contact drivers who’ve ventured past the last charging locations in the suburbs or drive with a battery that has a charge lower than 20 percent.

As IEEE Spectrum reports, more EVs on the road means more familiarity with seeing and driving them--and less local air pollution should they have been fossil fuel powered instead. With ample charging locations and shorter distances, in an urban environment, shared EVs can also shine well within their range. That being said, the convenience of personal vehicle ownership, for those who can afford it and even when space is at a premium, is a challenge all car sharing programs will continue to combat. The Autolib program in particular has its share of critics among EV car sharing supporters, who say the program’s focus on being flexible means its members are more likely to have their own personal cars as well, and that programs that allow the reservation of vehicles have much more success in reducing personal automobile ownership. The Autolib program has also not yet generated profits, although general director Morald Chibout believes the program will become profitable sometime in 2014.

via: IEEE Spectrum

image CC BY 2.0 by Francisco Gonzalez

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/W4GRlUQJYic/3891--ev-sharing-in-paris-update

KAIST Bus Charges Itself En Route

There are many solutions, proposed or in development, to address the “range anxiety” EVs produce, from implementing fuel cells to self-propelled trailers. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed another solution to tackle the problem. The system, called OLEV (online electric vehicle), lets vehicles charge themselves while on the road or even when stationary.

Last month, two self-charging buses outfitted with OLEV took to the road in Gumi, a city in central South Korea, carrying commuters along a 15-mile roundtrip route. These buses are equipped with lithium-ion batteries, charged by electric cables under the road. These cables create a magnetic field, which a receiving device under the OLEV converts into electricity, wirelessly charging the batteries on board.

While range anxiety is a major challenge for the EV industry at large, unfortunately this solution isn’t one that’s easily transferred to all EVs--unless many, many more roads were equipped with the technology, too--and overhead cables still remain easier to install. Nevertheless, this system application already has plans to expand, with 10 more buses set to hit the road in Gumi by 2015.

via: IEEE Spectrum

image via KAIST

via Green Living - Building, Home, Auto & Lifestyles copy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EcoGeek/~3/ql85WKuk4k8/3890-kaist-bus-charges-itself-en-route

VW Announces Production of Two Electric Cars

Following up on expectations, Volkswagen announced the production of two new electric vehicles last week. The 2015 e-up! (exclamation mark included) and the 2015 e-Golf were unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show. While both hatchback vehicles contain lithium-ion batteries and electric motors, they have different specs. The smaller of the two, the e-up! runs on a 18.7-kWh lithium-ion battery and contains a 60 kW / 82 PS electric motor capable of 210 Nm of torque. The e-up! has a driving range of up to 99 miles (159 km), and uses a mere 11.7 kWh per 61 miles.

One of our writers test drove a pilot vehicle of the other EV announced for production: an all-electric version of the Golf. The e-Golf has a 24.2 kWh lithium-ion battery, and a 85 kW/ 115 PS electric motor with a max torque of 270 Nm. It also has a driving range of up to 118 miles (190 km), and uses 12.7 kWh of energy per 62 miles. While the e-Golf will appear in the U.S. market, production numbers have not yet been released and it is unknown whether the e-up! will follow. In addition to announcing production of these new cars, Volkswagen claims that, by 2018, it wants to produce the most electric vehicles worldwide.

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First Container Ship Crossing the Northern Passage

For the past few years, the Arctic has been sufficiently ice-free in the summertime that some ships have been able to take the short-cut routes across the North Sea Route and the Northwest Passage. Last year, among others, a small sailboat with a crew of 3 made the Northwest Passage. This year, a 19,000 ton Chinese cargo container carrier is traveling to Amsterdam via the Arctic, going north and traveling along the northern coast of Russia, rather than down through the Indian Ocean and through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. This marks the first time that a container ship is traveling through the Arctic.

The shorter trip will mean lower fuel costs (and, ironically, fewer greenhouse gas emissions) for the freighter. Taking this route is expected to save 12 to 15 days of travel and shortens the trip by roughly 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles).

While this is news now, it is all too likely that this will go from a unique occurrence to an ordinary annual event within a few years.

image: CC BY-SA 3.0 by Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons

hat tip: @jr_carpenter via @GreatDismal

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Ecuador Ends Novel Plan to Save Rainforest

After several years of trying to protect one of the most undeveloped parts of the Amazonian rainforest, Ecuador has ended an attempt to get the rest of the world to contribute money to offset that nation's need to exploit the region for its oil wealth. The Yasuni National Park is an incredibly biodiverse, undeveloped region in eastern Ecuador, on the border of Peru. The park comprises an area of 9,820 square kilometers (3,792 sq. miles) in the headwaters of the Amazon. There are also an estimated 800 million barrels of crude oil in the region.

As with conservation land trusts, and carbon offsets, and similar kinds of preservation efforts, the government of Ecuador sought payment equal to half of the oil's commercial value ($3.6 billion in 2007) in exchange for leaving it untouched and remaining in the ground. Not only would that prevent the damage that development of the region for oil production would cause, but it would also help to sequester that volume of oil from eventually adding to the growing amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

To date, there has been little support for this initiative. Only a tiny portion ($6.5 million) of the money that Ecuador sought has been offered, so President Rafael Correa has now announced an end to the program:

President Correa said scrapping the program was one of the hardest decisions of his presidency. "The real dilemma is this," he said in a televised address last week. "Do we protect 100 percent of the Yasuní and have no resources to meet the urgent needs of our people, or do we save 99 percent of it and have $18 billion to fight poverty?"

While the premise seemed to make good sense from a global perspective, its timing couldn't have been worse; the proposal was begun in 2007, just as the financial crises triggering the Great Recession were flaring up. This shouldn't necessarily be read as a failure of the approach in general, but rather a first, grand-scale attempt that didn't work out. Hopefully there will be future attempts like this, and they will have better results.

image: CC BY 3.0 by Jorge.kike.medina/Wikimedia Commons

via: NPR - Planet Money

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The Solar-Powered Hyperloop

With airplanes ranking among the biggest gas guzzlers in the transportation industry, Elon Musk’s Hyperloop sounds like a potential replacement for such energy inefficient travel--at least between places 1,000 miles apart. Instead of boarding commercial airplanes, people could travel via aluminum pods, whizzing through elevated steel tubes toward cities typically congested on the ground below. If the Hyperloop could be produced as designed, it’d be completely solar-powered and reach past the average speed of an airplane at 800 miles per hour.

Even at this design stage of the Hyperloop there are many valid critiques to consider. For example, at such high speeds, the friction would make figuring out cooling methods that wouldn’t impede the pods themselves essential, and the g-forces, double that of typical roller coasters, could make for an uncomfortable ride. Musk states that disappointment with California’s new “high-speed” rail sparked this idea, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll move beyond the idea stage soon.

As HuffPo reports, since Tesla and SpaceX are so demanding, Musk claims he will likely not make the Hyperloop himself. Although there are advantages to the current lack of Hyperloop production: as it stands, anyone can offer suggestions to improve the system, as the last page of the plans lists two emails where readers can send feedback. Still, with so much remaining to be sussed out--from safety issues to the legal concerns surrounding construction--it seems we’re a long way away from seeing a prototype in action.

via: Huffington Post

image credit: Hyperloop Alpha - Elon Musk

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