Posts from — May 2009

Rerev boss in his low-carbon shirt AP reports that the campus gym at the University of Oregon has installed dynamos on each of its running machines, to generate electric power. But the twittish academics freely admit the idea is not cost-effective. Its a classic example of Greenwash – pointless eco-activity where the embodied energy in the dynamos is probably double the carbon that will ever be saved.
The deal with ReRev of Florida is the latest in a growing number of college campuses and exercise clubs across the country where workouts produce watts. (more…)

You’ve seen the advertisements, “Build your own solar panels”, you’ve seen the kits, now you wonder, just how hard is it to do?  Well, that depends, mostly on your skills and patience. It would seem that the solar cells that are sold for this purpose is very delicate, they break very easily. I always see on eBay, lots of listings for broken solar cells, they still work, but they obviously do not put out as much juice as it did when it was unbroken. It is possible to piece together broken cells and get a perfectly good working solar panel, again, it takes skills and patience. (more…)

Air-powered car – Its for real What would you think if someone tried to sell you a car that runs on fresh air?

With road transport accounting for a fifth of global carbon emissions, you could leap at the chance to acquire potentially planet-saving technology. But you know what car salesmen are like?  Surely, if such a car existed, you would have heard of it. Likely you would guess he is a conman or a fantasist.
Yet this month at Schipol airport, Amsterdam, Holland, the world’s first cars powered only by compressed air, go on active duty. They are being tested as replacements for the huge fleet of electric service vehicles operated by the airline Air France KLM. (more…)

Rocket stoves, have you heard about them? If you have then I’m preaching to the choir, if you haven’t, then it’s high time you learned about how great these little (and sometimes big) stoves can be.

Basically a rocket stove is a very efficient heater that can be used to cook/heat food, heat water, heat spaces… It typically uses much less fuel (wood) to create heat, and it’s often made from recycled materials. (more…)

Beautiful place Residents of Victoria Island, Vancouver  who choose to install a solar hot water system are eligible for $2,375 in grants, discounts and rebates toward upgrades from various levels of government.  We’d like to hear from anyone in ‘Couver, with their experiences of what it is like to apply for and get these grants. (contact us) both for off-grid and grid-connected projects. (more…)