Guest post by LED Mavens

Businesses of all sizes are facing a new imperative to reduce their eco footprints. On the one hand is a growing market of environmentally conscious consumers. Purchases, which once revolved around simply getting the best product or service for the lowest price, are increasingly being made based on the new calculus of sustainability. Consumers have shown a willingness to spend a little more for products and services that include carbon offsets, organic and chemical-free labeling, and affiliation with trusted alliances like the FAIR trade movement.

On the other hand, businesses have their own calculus to consider. Energy prices continue increasing, and the economy has yet to recover anything approximating a steady rate of growth to match inflation. The good news is that most businesses have plenty of room to make affordable changes that will increase efficiency and save money, providing a buffer against the possibility of hard times ahead.

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EarthTalk® is a weekly environmental column made available to our readers from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine
Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that only a handful of outdated coal-burning power plants generate a sizable amount of the mercury pollution generated in the United States? If so, is anything being done to clean these sites up or shut them down? - Frank Pearson, Wichita, KS

Our nation’s coal-fired power plants are increasingly being retrofitted with technologies to mitigate the output of various forms of pollution. But a number of bad apples do continue to cause more than their fair share of mercury emissions. This past March the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a leading non-profit, released a report showing that the top 25 emitters of mercury, a potent neurotoxin and a nasty by-product of coal-fired electricity generation, contribute only eight percent of the U.S. electric supply. At the same time, these power plants, which have failed to install readily available pollution controls already widely in use by other plants, account for nearly a third of all mercury emissions by the American electricity sector overall.

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Here at Hippie Magazine, we like to cover cool gadgets designed and built by new, visionary companies steeped in the concept of sustainability and environmental awareness. It’s the way of the future, if we hope for a bright one.

But realizing a sustainable future depends just as much, if not more, by old, stodgy big-footed industries like, say, car rental companies.

This is all by way of saying that Enterprise Rent-A-Car has recently announced availability of the Chevy Volt EV for rent. People wouldn’t expect a car rental company to be particularly focused on offering alternative-type vehicles. But Enterprise has consistently shown a commitment to sustainability and alternative vehicle market leadership.

Not the kind of corporate-speak you’d expect from a Hippie, but I’ve had the opportunity to chat on several occasions with members of a team devoted to – dare I say it – corporate responsibility. In particular Lee Broughton, director of corporate sustainability for Enterprise.

From the largest fleet of hybrid and alternative fuel cars to a well-received voluntary carbon offset program, corporate fleet management and ride sharing services,  now to the Chevy Volt EV. Enterprise continues its market leadership.

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I never even knew this technology existed until now, but apparently you can transmit internet signals via visual signals.  A city in Minnesota has installed light fixtures that both save energy and reduce wifi over-burdening.

The LED lights flicker at a rate undetectable by the human eye, transmitting signals back and forth.  (Think binary: off=0, on=1)  This saves 70-80% on electricity consumption, which more than covers the costs of the internet service.  The flickering light is picked up by a special modem on the computer while requests to the network are transmitted in the same way upward.  My question is, does the speed and reliability decrease when it’s sunny out?

This is a great solution for businesses and office parks to both save money and distribute internet service around the complex.  The technology was installed by a company called LVX.  The current limitations of the technology suggest it could be used in smaller scales, not as a total replacement for wifi as the top transer limit is around 3 Mbps, or the equivalent of a residential DSL line.

I would gladly take 3 Mbps since I found out the peak of Mt. Everest has high speed internet while I am still without reliable internet in a developed country.

Source

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.

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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Max Read over at Gawker noticed a very interesting issue with a recently released PB photo.  The image shows three men, diligently watching a ten-screen monitor bank with varying footage of the spill.  BP labeled this photo on their website “Houston Command Center”.  Sounds very official!

The problem is, the image was photoshopped to add three images to blank screens.  The image meta data indicates the photo was taken in March of 2001 as well.  As Gawker puts it, their photographer either doesn’t know how to work their camera, or BP is downright lying.

In addition to lying to the American public for the, ummm, bazillionth time this summer, it seems the lie was completely unnecessary.  Despite what some conference room shmuck might have thought, nobody would have reacted negatively to seen a couple blank screens.  We’re talking about a pipe sticking out of the ground, 5,000 feet below the ocean surface folks, there’s only so much to look at.  To have 10 screens with 10 different images would have simply been overkill and obviously dramatization.

BP is blaming the incident on their photographer.  Yea, because their photographer wanted to spend a couple hours after his/her shift touching up a photo of a dark room.  As Gawker points out, the photographer probably caused the spill too!

The Huffington Post article points out a concerning and valid theme of deception: “…It matters because of the pattern. A seemingly superfluous image on a website, the dispatching of a team of fake reporters, the deliberate — potentially dangerous — obfuscation of oil spill flow… these actions all spring from the same desire, the desire to deceive.”

Source

Think back to the ’90s when Electric Vehicles first became a reality for the average consumer. (Yes, I mean the 90′s that happened 20 years ago, EV’s were alive and well then).

One of the chief concerns for both consumers and change-makers was that of range.  EV manufacturers are now toying with different solutions to the same problem: people don’t want to be limited by battery life or lack of charging stations.

A small startup is hoping to be one component of the answer.  They are testing a battery swapping station that will allow, in this stage of development, three taxi cabs to drive in and roll along a conveyor belt as if in a car wash.  In less than 60 seconds, this station will swap out a car’s battery.  That’s less time than it takes to fill your gas tank!

Via Inhabitat

I’m no economist, and I don’t have an MBA.  But I can tell you this about the recent speculation that BP could go bankrupt over the Gulf Oil Spill.  Not a chance.  Here’s why:

1. BP’s daily profit (not sales… profit) still exceeds what they’re spending on the spill cleanup efforts.  Last year alone they made $17 Billion.  As my wife puts it: “That’s not even a real number”.
2. Although BP’s stock may be tumbling, two sad truths exist: a) This whole oil spill will be out of the public consciousness in a matter of weeks after the cleanup is finished. b) Stock prices tumbling may anger investors, but BP still has vast amounts of assets they could sell to cover the cost of paying those affected by the spill and the cleanup efforts. (more…)

I stumbled upon an article in the New York Times describing how North Dakota has an incredibly unusual problem.  They have more jobs than housing.  How could that be?

North Dakota has a lot of one thing: oil fields.  And those oil fields needs lots of people and they pay them a lot.  This is probably due to the high risk of the job and the very high profits of the industry.

So what’s the problem?  There isn’t any housing! People walk around the town with a pocket full of money and nowhere to live.  From motels to trailer parks to campgrounds to apartments.  Everything is full and/or has a wait list.

Why is this being discussed on an environmental blog? Because we have to make economics part of the environmental discussion every day.  The truth of our society is this: corporations, governments and communities won’t truly accept a change in lifestyle until it is economically beneficial to do so.

As evidence, look at the evolution of environmentally friendly vehicles.  Green vehicles didn’t hit the market until the business model started to erode and the consumers demanded clean vehicles.  A pathetic but true fact.