Over the recent years governments and environment conserving agencies have tried to emphasize the need to recycle used material. The automobile industry has not been left behind as recycle of vehicles and vehicle parts has far reaching environmental benefits. Recycled material if in good condition is of good quality and comes at a lower cost. (more…)
Even the humble act of recycling has become a global business. According to a report by the London based newspaper The Guardian, when a Chinese made television is imported into the United Kingdom, a UK company then sells the empty box and packaging materials back to China, where they’re recycled and made into new boxes and packaging materials. (more…)
Emma Websdale, a talented young writer from the UK, publishes a blog post almost every day on EmpowerTheOcean.com. Here’s her recent piece on climate change that I deem to be her single best post yet. As I pointed out, figuring out how to inspire people to care about this subject is not a piece of cake; in fact, I wrote a short post on this myself just the other day.
What makes this an especially thorny challenge is that an estimated $1 billion is spent annually in an effort to convince us that climate change isn’t real and/or that no action should be taken to avert it. It’s perversions of democracy like this that hold us back from progress in this all-important arena.
Like most people, there are a number of things I do with ridiculous consistency throughout the holiday season. For me, it starts Thanksgiving Day, when I wake up and make a few calls to thank the people who made great personal sacrifices to ensure that I turned out to be a half-decent human being. And then, in mid-December, I write three checks to causes I believe to be supremely worth-while. (more…)
Here’s an article that speaks to the vast improvements in fuel-economy standards for our cars and trucks that we’re in the process of achieving. I’m sure a great more could be said about this graph that maps all this out over the last few decades, but two facts stand out to me:
An obvious one: That our cars in 1987 got better gas mileage than they did in 2007 is absolutely deplorable.
A slightly more subtle one: The rapid improvement in gas mileage occurring today, while something to celebrate, puts a damper on the migration away from fossil fuels – something that we most certainly need to accomplish. For example, today’s car-buyer who may be considering an alternate fuel vehicle, perhaps an EV, needs to consider the modest savings in fuel given gas consumed at the rate of 50 MPG, vs. the far more onerous cost of gas consumed at 25 MPG — the prevailing average just a few years ago.
Can you handle a little good news? This article just in from frequent commenter Colin Brown: It appears that nuclear reactors based on thorium (vs. uranium) may be closer than we think. There is very little not to like about thorium: it’s far safer operationally, and it’s not capable of being turned into weapons – thus any progress is good.
And check this out: the U.S. Oak Ridge National Lab is teaming up with the Chinese government to make this happen. That’s really good. As I always say, any energy solution that doesn’t get China out of the coal-fired power plant business isn’t really a solution at all. And it sure is good to see international cooperation from two parties that are potential adversaries.
Tonight, I urge you to find someone you like, and offer a toast to a saner, cleaner, safer world.
Here’s a brilliant article that examines the challenges that environmentalists face in our discussions on climate change. Why exactly is this subject so difficult to broach with the “common man?” On a radio show I did last week with a lady in Atlanta, she told me, “Oh, I never, ever bring it up. If I want to talk about clean energy, I talk about lung disease, or national security, but I pretend I’ve never heard of global warming.” (more…)
A fellow from India writes: “We are going to start a solar energy project of 16 MW and are desperately looking for investment. Can we get assistance from your people with respect of funding?”
I thought I’d publish what I wrote him (along with notes in italics I added later) as I think it’s of general interest. (more…)
It was 133 years ago today that the first electric street lights were switched on, illuminating New York City’s Broadway (shown in this illustration six years later, in 1886). The lamps of the day delivered just a few lumens per watt, and now we’re measuring our LEDs in hundreds of lumens per watt, making this a fitting reminder of the rapidity with which technology is changing, improving our lives, and perhaps even more important, reducing the footprint of our energy consumption through efficiency and the development of renewable energy.
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been working hard to promote my new client PlexiSun, based in New Zealand, whose products I regard as a breakthrough in solar thermal hot water heating. Without my help, they’ve taken care of business relationships that will make this product available in Europe and Asia, but they hired me to find them a few good, solid business partners to service the Americas. (more…)
