Getting Hybrid Technology into Conventional Cars
Engine idling is a significant factor in gasoline engine inefficiency, making up as much as 17% of the fuel consumed in urban driving.
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Getting Hybrid Technology into Conventional Cars
Health Care Goes Solar
The largest non-profit health maintenance organization (HMO) in the country is getting into the solar game. Kaiser Permanente has announced plans to install 15 MW of solar PV arrays on their buildings throughout California, saying “what’s good for the environment is good for our health.” Hospitals, offices and other buildings will be outfitted with the arrays by next summer by solar company Recurrent Energy . Recurrent will own and operate the systems with Kaiser agreeing to purchase the power over 20 years. The solar energy generated by the installations will equal 10 percent of Kaiser’s energy usage at those facilities, getting them closer to their goal of having 25 percent of their energy come from renewable sources by 2020. Over the course of the 20-year agreement, Kaiser will pay about the same amount for the solar energy as they would for power from the grid, but if energy prices go up, the company could save quite a bit of money during that time, while cutting emissions in the process.
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Health Care Goes Solar
New York Fashion Week: John Patrick Organic, Fall/Winter 2010
John Patrick Organic Fall/Winter 2010. Image courtesy of Ecouterre The fashion week storm has hit New York City — along with a blizzard — and while Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Bryant Park is carbon neutral , we are looking outside the tents for the latest in green fashion.
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New York Fashion Week: John Patrick Organic, Fall/Winter 2010
Brompton Folding Bike Championships Come to the USA
Image credit: The Cycling Gentleman If this video of the 3rd annual Brompton World Championships got US folding bike enthusiasts excited, then they’ll be delighted that for the first time ever, a national US Brompton championship is to be held in March in Philadelphia. And what’s not to like about a bike race where the competitors first have to unfold their steed, and where all participants are required to wear business attire, no sports attire may be v… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Brompton Folding Bike Championships Come to the USA
Mercedes and Renault Working on New Small Car Platform
November 25, 2009 by
Filed under Green
According to a report from Autocar UK, Renault and Mercedes are teaming up to design a new, modular small car platform that will form the basis for a new Smart Car, a new Renault City car and the upcoming Renault Twizy EV . In addition, the two companies are jointly developing new engine platforms to power these vehicles—well, the gas versions anyway
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Mercedes and Renault Working on New Small Car Platform
Happy Thanksgiving: Turkey Facts as a Tribute to Those who Gave their Lives for our Stomachs
November 25, 2009 by
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Whether you are eating turkey or tofurkey this Thanksgiving, you cannot deny the great sacrifice that turkeys are making to fill dinner plates across the nation.
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Happy Thanksgiving: Turkey Facts as a Tribute to Those who Gave their Lives for our Stomachs
Ford Not Sold on Battery-Swapping for Electric Cars
October 30, 2009 by
Filed under Green
A Good Idea that Faces Many Big Challenges I couldn’t resist using that old photo from an experiment that Mercedes did in the 1970s with battery swapping. The modern version of that technology is a lot more automated than this (see our post about Better Place’s robotized swapping station ), but the general idea is the same and not all the auto makers that are working on electric cars are enthused about it.
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Ford Not Sold on Battery-Swapping for Electric Cars
Chicago’s Bloomingdale Rail Could Become Giant, Hydrogen-Producing Greenhouse
October 30, 2009 by
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Image: Bustler When I was in college, a graffiti-writing friend took me to one of his favorite secret spots, a neglected section of elevated train track in Manhattan’s meat packing district.
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Chicago’s Bloomingdale Rail Could Become Giant, Hydrogen-Producing Greenhouse