Electric Vehicle Made from Hemp

Yea, it doesn’t get much greener than this.  Motive Industries, a Canadian based company has announced intention to produce an electric vehicle with a chassis made from hemp fiber.  The chassis is made from “impact-resistant biocomposite derived from Canadian grown and manufactured hemp mats”.

What’s more, the new (hardly) construction material is lighter than typical chassis materials such as steal, thereby making the vehicle even more efficient.

Other alternative materials are being used by competitors.  Aptera, a California based EV startup claims to be using a Silica-based material for chassis that can’t be dented with a sledgehammer.

Unfortunately, despite the potential success of hemp-based vehicle, U.S. laws still outlaw the growing of Hemp, despite it’s incredibly long list of industrial applications and agricultural properties.

Source: Cnet.com

Super Green Rotating Home

The race is on to create the most efficient homes.  We’re now to the point in eco-evolution that homes are becoming mini power plants.  It’s not longer enough to just make a home without a carbon footprint, we’re now able to build homes that produce more clean energy than they consume.

The home, dubbed “Heliotrope” actually rotates to collect the maximum amount of solar energy.  With a giant solar array on the roof and eco-friendly design throughout, the home produces five-times more energy than it uses.

Of course the home also includes energy saving features such as a waste-water filtration system and a rainwater collection system on the roof.

Fit for any eco-geek, this home is just one more step on the path to environmental restoration.

GM To Test Other Electric Cars

Just as I’d hoped and predicted, the spawn of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf is more powerful than the sum of it’s parts.  GM is beginning to explore other electric vehicles, addressing the issue of a noncompetitive market and noncompetitive technologies.

What I fully expect to come from this is increased competition translating to cheaper, better electric vehicles.  As it stands, I can’t afford to pay $35,000 + for an all-electric vehicle.  I hope that soon this barrier will be removed.

Although the Chevy Volt is able to extend it’s range using a gas backup engine, GM has announced plans to roll out test fleets of all electric vehicles.  Is it the competition with the Nissan Leaf (entirely electric vehicle)?  Or is it foresight into the future auto market causing the investment?

Global tests are moving forward using several existing and new models.  A Chinese version is in place already, dubbed the Chevrolet Sail (seen above).

A GM statement indicates we can expect an influx of global sightings.  “These demo fleets will increase GM’s competitiveness in vehicle electrification by providing GM with real-world data on driving patterns, battery charging, market needs and customer acceptance while sharing costs and resources with supplier and government partners.”

So what does this mean for the real consumer?  In addition to the better technology that will surely come from such diligent testing, I hope to see this kick other auto makers in the pants and get truly competitive models on the roads.  Pretty soon the competition will change from storage space and sweet stereo to vehicle range and efficiency.  I, for one, will be waiting for the 4th or 5th generation electric vehicle to put in my garage.

San Francisco Breaks Ground on Transbay Transit Center

The Golden State’s city by the bay has broken ground on the mother of all transportation projects. Yet, looking at the plan for San Francisco’s Transbay Transit Center, it might well seem like the efficient transport of people by train was almost an afterthought. The new commuter complex is planned with three areas of emphasis in mind: transit, community, and sustainability.

The sleek looking transit center will make use of innovative, environmentally conscious designs and impressive cutting edge green technologies. A 5.4 acre garden will cover its roof serving as a city park. A circulatory system will recycle rain and greywater for not only the transit center’s use, but surrounding buildings as well. Many other eco-friendly features will be incorporated into the complex. The architectural specifications will emphasize building techniques aimed at achieving a LEED Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

San Francisco’s Transbay Transit Center will also serve to educate by “exhibiting several local ecologies and sustainability strategies, and presenting interpretive information for each.”
Learn more at Inhabit.com

Image credit: Inhabit.com

EarthTalk: Sustainable Wood Products

EarthTalk® is a weekly environmental column made available to our readers from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Which woods are OK to purchase, and which are not, in the interest of preserving forests and not harming those who depend upon them? – Jon Steiner, Boise, ID

Deforestation continues to be one of the world’s biggest environmental problems, especially in fast developing regions like South America, Southeast Asia and Africa. Cutting down large numbers of trees erodes land and silts waterways, displaces native people and wildlife, and releases tons of carbon dioxide (which is stored in living wood fiber) into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

Of course, wood products are essential to modern life. Without wood we wouldn’t have the buildings, furniture, paper and other essentials we make use of every day. That’s why protecting sources of wood has become a leading concern among not just environmentalists but everyone else as well.

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Biodynamic Farming at DeLoach Vineyards in Northern California

Foodstuffia.org” width=”250″ height=”166″ />DeLoach Vineyards is cultivating an intimate relationship with the land. The small-lot winemaker maintains 17 acres of vineyards in the Russian River Valley and a 1-acre garden. And while both are certified organic, it is their biodynamic certification that makes them exceptional. Indeed, guided by a holistic approach based on biodynamic farming principles, DeLoach vintners make organic farming alone look like a half measure.

The farmers at DeLoach tend to their vineyards and garden as if they were a closed system. They seek at every turn to drastically limit if not altogether eliminate external inputs. Rather than a cycle of dependence based on the importation of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, through biodynamic farming practices they create a self-contained oasis of self-sustaining interconnected biodiversity, an eco-system where the land, plants and animals exist in harmony to create a thriving environment.

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Algae Biofuel Hits a Speedbump

Synthetically grown (all-natural) algae biofuel has recently been pegged as the most promising replacement for traditional fuels.  The potential to grow it in a factory setting and the much lower carbon footprint make it a potential miracle fuel source.

Until researchers found one pretty big snag.  Growing the algae biofuel in the manner most thought to be scalable, (large, clear cylinders) has been found to have a carbon footprint 3.7x that of petro-diesel, the fuel it was intended to replace.

The study also found that when grown in ponds instead of turbo-sized test-tubes, the carbon footprint of algae biofuel drops to 4.5 x lower than petro-diesel.  However, this method consumes more water.  Not an issue in regions with an abundance.

Although the yield using ponds is lower than that of the test-tube method, it’s the carbon foootprint and cost effectiveness we’re worried about.  The algae fuel seems to be the perfect solution as it consumes carbon-dioxide and spits out a combustible fuel.  It could very well be the solution to our addiction to oil, global warming and a suffering economy rolled into one neat little technology.

Other scientists are experimenting with new test tube reactor designs that use a series of baffles to move water and algae around in a manner that achieves the circulation necessary while using much less energy.  This issue being that algae needs constant movement and exposure to sunlight in order to grow quickly.  This method, pioneered by Benjamin Taylor at the University of Cambridge uses 4% of the energy typically consumed by this method of production.

You can read the entire study here.

California Begins Construction on Largest Wind Farm

Ground has been broken on the largest wind farm in the United States.  The farm, capable of 570 MW in the first phase of construction or enough to power about 600,000 homes, is a project of the Terra-Gen Power LLC and will be called the Alta Wind Energy Center.

With a $1.2 Billion price tag, the farm will consist of five separate segments.  Financing was just secured recently, kicking construction into gear.  Just 75 miles north of Los Angeles, the project will be built in the Mojave desert.

The first phase of the project will be complete in 2011.  Upon completion, the project will meet 10% of California’s mandated renewable energy needs.  More impressively, when complete, the farm will prevent 5.8 Billion pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year.

Source

Ultraviolet Light Aids in Gulf Coast Oil Cleanup

Law enforcement officials and crime scene investigators use ultraviolet light to spot tiny droplets of blood that otherwise would be difficult if not impossible to see. Blood glows brightly under UV light making it possible to see even minuscule droplets that have been misted over a surface. In much the same way UV light can be used to help cleanup crews see oil that has washed up on beaches from the BP disaster.

“The first time I took the UV flashlight out on the beach to see if it would work, it was beyond my wildest dreams,” said Rip Kirby, a graduate student at the University of South Florida.

UV lights enable people to easily see areas of the beach and tidal zones where oil has mixed with  sand and mud to an extent that makes it nearly invisible to the naked eye during the day. At night even the tinniest oil particles glow bright orange.

Learn more at National Geographic.

New Concrete Road Surface Helps Purify Air

According to the Federal Highway Administration, Over 2,734,102 miles of paved roadways wind and weave their interconnected way throughout the U.S. from border to border, coast to coast. That is a lot of pavement lying around out there doing nothing but waiting to be driven over. What if all those miles of road were actively doing something rather than just lying there? If only the roads were paved with “air-purifying concrete.”

One of the pollutants spewed into the atmosphere by cars and trucks is nitrogen oxide (NOx), which is responsible for acid rain and smog. Researchers in the Netherlands recently concluded the first outdoor highway test of a specially designed type of concrete that works to remove NOx from the air. The new road surface material “reduces the concentration of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) by 25 to 45 per cent.”

Read more at Science Daily.