Green Daily

More and more people catch on to public transport

Rebecca Onion — 2008-05-11T17:00:00 00:00

According to the New York Times and the president of the American Public Transportation Association (a job which I imagine must be somewhat lonely and frustrating), high gas prices have caused more and more Americans to climb onto busses, trains, and trolleys.

The number of riders has increased somewhat in cities like New York and Boston, where people are used to the concept of taking the T to work or the subway to the bar. But what's more interesting is that bean-counters have also seen an increase in public transport patrons in places like Denver or Dallas, where the car is an intrinsic part of the culture.

Here in Austin, Texas, I haven't noticed any particular increase in fellow bus patrons, but I would definitely be enthused about it. Maybe someday we can even get a light rail built, like they keep threatening. More importantly, maybe "taking the bus" will one day not be seen as a shameful admission that you lack a giant SUV and therefore are not a productive member of society...

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Houston's big pain at the pump

Sea Stachura — 2008-05-10T17:05:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, News, Climate Change

Sometimes everyone wants to talk about the Yankees, and sometimes everyone wants to talk about gas prices. Personally, I'd rather not talk about either. But gas is on everyone's lips, from Hillary Clinton to Chris Matthews, the price of crude is just crude.

But gas prices are only one factor in how much consumers are spending for fuel. Congestion, vehicle size and distance also play major roles. According to Forbes cities like Houston have the cheapest gas, but drivers there are spending the most on gas.

You see, while drivers in Houston are paying a mere $3.44 a gallon for gas, they're also driving huge vehicles. According to a U.S. Department of Transportation study 20-percent of drivers in the south drive trucks and another 16-percent drive SUVs.
That data is about 10 years old. But remember that where gas prices tend to remain inexpensive, habits remain steady. So it's unlikely the numbers have shifted to compacts.

Not only does that mean drivers in Texas get fewer miles to the gallon, they halve that number again with traffic. Congestion and commutes in Houston and Dallas are some of the worst in the nation, according to Forbes. Washington D.C. and San Bernadino are up there as well.

A vehicle gets its best mileage at a steady 55 mph, stop and go traffic at 20 mph is a serious cut to efficiency. It's not just the idling and accelerating, speeds above and below 55 are simply less efficient. An 18 mpg SUV might get 10 mpg in rush hour. Account for an incredibly long commute where every driver is driving by himself and you've got a lot of wallets opening for Mr. Oil.

[via Forbes and me]

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EFuel100: Make your own Ethanol and fill up your car at home

Brad Linder — 2008-05-09T18:33:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Gadgets and Tech, Alternative Energy

The jury may still be out on whether Ethanol and biodiesel are the solution to the world's oil addiction. There's some evidence that diverting food crops to fuel production is raising the prices of food, and it's questionable whether you could grow enough fuel crops to power all the vehicles currently relying on gasoline. But what if you could fill up your car with Ethanol produced in your backyard, not in a field in Iowa?

The EFuel100 Micro Fueler is a contraption that will let you do just that. Basically, you add some water, sugar, and yeast, let it sit for a few days and you've got ethanol that you can use to power your car. The Micro Fueler can also take alcohol, and co-founder Thomas Quinn says he sometimes makes ethanol from discarded alcohol picked up from bars and restaurants.

Between supplies and electricity, it costs about $1 to produce a gallon of ethanol. But the up front costs are a bit higher than that. A Micro Fueler will set you back about $10,000, although with government subsidies, you can probably chop a few thousand dollars off that price.

[via Gizmodo]

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Air travel more polluting than previously thought

Patrick Metzger — 2008-05-09T15:03:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, News, Climate Change

The mile-high club just got dirtier. A report by leading aviation experts says that CO2 emissions from air travel are some 20% higher than previously thought, and could reach 1.5 billion tonnes a year by 2025. That's roughly equivalent to the CO2 emissions for the entire country of Russia, with about 141 million people. The percentage of global greenhouse gases produced by planes is also expected to rise from the current 2% to 5% or higher.

The increase comes in spite of cleaner jet engine technologies and flying tactics designed to reduce fuel use and pollution.

The report, entitled Trends in Global Noise and Emissions From Commercial Aviation, was presented at an FAA organized conference in Barcelona last year, but never published.

Also, the number of people seriously affected by aircraft noise will jump from from 24 million in 2000 to 30.3 million by 2025. Good thing we'll all be deaf from iPod use by then anyway.

via [The Independent]

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Earthrace update: life's rough on high seas

Josh Loposer — 2008-05-09T13:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, News

For anyone who may not have heard, the Earthrace is a carbon neutral speedboat that's currently trying to set the record for the fastest ever circumnavigation of the globe by sea, cruising entirely on the power of biodiesel. Since they left Spain on April 27, the Earthrace crew has had to endure a busted toilet and a faulty fuel pump, but they've already been able to cover 4,200 miles in their journey around the earth.

They should be pulling in to Puerto Rico sometime this weekend, so they can do some repairs and clean out their stinky boat. According to reports, they lost the comfort of their $10,000 toilet somewhere near the Azores and their sleeping quarters have been flooded with 2 inches of biodiesel for weeks. For the crew's sake, let's just hope that they're not using 'biodiesel' as a pseudonym for 'sewage.'

Even with the setbacks, the boat is on pace to break the current record -- even though the failed fuel pump has forced them to slow down to 23mph almost the entire way. The Earthrace boat is no stranger to adversity. Last year, they tried the same run and collided with a fishing boat in Guatemala and were shot at by the Colombian Navy. Track the Earthracers and their progress here.

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Is investing in tar sands a good idea?

Shawn Schuster — 2008-05-09T09:31:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Activism, Climate Change

Last year, the US Congress signed a bill preventing federal agencies from investing money into alternative fuel projects that produce more polluting effects than oil and gas. This was certainly a step in the right direction, but could it possibly be true that Congress is considering a repeal of that bill, in order to explore investments in Canada's tar sands and oil shale projects? Yes, it is true, but environmental groups across North America are fighting to do something about it by petitioning the government through their senators.

In case you're wondering what tar sand is, it's basically a heavy crude oil mixed with sand, clay and rock. The process of extracting and refining it into a usable crude for vehicle and industrial consumption is not only much more expensive to process, but its effect on our environment is much larger than convention oil well drilling. Tar sand extracting does currently occur in North America, and the US does currently invest in it, but with last year's Section 526 bill, we had hoped this practice would have slowed to a halt.

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Ford kicks it into 6th gear

Josh Loposer — 2008-05-08T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, News

When it comes to boosting your car's fuel efficiency, you can find all sorts of miracle products that claim to boost your mileage by as much as 50% -- but don't waste your time, they're pipe dreams. When comes down to it, there are no shortcuts -- but there are plenty of small steps automakers can take. One of those is more efficient transmissions, like the one that Ford is introducing into its fleet in 2009.

Ford's new 6-speed high-efficiency transmissions increases mileage by 4% to 6%. It may not sound like much, but every little bit helps. Most automatic transmissions these days have only 4 gears. Adding 2 gears not only allows your car to accelerate more efficiently -- which saves gas -- but it also keeps your RPMs lower at highway speeds. Basically, it's like having a second overdrive.

In 2009, the new transmissions will make their debut in the Ford Escape and the Mercury Mariner, both of them SUVs. I'm not sure Ford is sending the most environmentally-conscious message in their choice of vehicles here, but any improvement is welcome -- even if it is just 1mpg. According to Ford, the new 6-speed automatic gear boxes will be installed in 98% of its vehicles by 2012.

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The $350 electric commuter bicycle

Shawn Schuster — 2008-05-06T14:04:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Alternative Energy, Fitness

You really can't beat $350 for an electric commuter bike. You could hardly even build yourself an electric kit-bike for that cheap. This is certainly a positive step in the right direction for pollution-free commuting. Or is it?

When deciding on a daily commuting vehicle, there are many factors besides its impact on the environment. You want something that will last, have fairly low maintenance and not cost an arm and a leg. Well, this bike lets you keep your limbs, but how reliable is something that inexpensive? More importantly, wouldn't actually riding a pedal-bike be better for your health anyway? And speaking of impact on the environment, this bike's motor uses lead-acid batteries that are said to only last a year. I think I may just stick with my trusty, rusty (literally) Schwinn.

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High gas prices driving small car sales

Patrick Metzger — 2008-05-06T13:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, News

Keeping up with the Joneses may soon mean recycling the Hummer and putting a 4 banger econobox in the driveway. The New York Times reports that soaring gas prices are making compact cars popular again, with1 in 5 vehicles purchased in April falling into the compact or subcompact category. That's an increase from 1 in 8 only a decade ago.

Experts predict that with gas prices unlikely to drop soon - well, ever - the era of the massive SUV may be over. This is bad news for US automakers, who in spite of years of warning from economists, environmentalists, and peak oil conspiracy theorists, have failed to develop a strong line of small cars to match overseas manufacturers like Toyota and Honda.

The trend proves again what we already knew - that people respond to events that hit their wallet, not their conscience. If gas prices hit 10 bucks a gallon, look for strong growth in sales of bicycles, in-line skates, and walking shoes.

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Are hybrid drivers driving more?

Josh Loposer — 2008-05-06T12:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Green by the Numbers, Climate Change

According to an article in Forbes, the record oil prices that we're seeing now are resulting in a lot of weird, counter-intuitive responses from drivers. For the most part, our driving habits have remained astonishingly unchanged in the face of $3.50 a gallon gas -- some of us are even driving more. According to David Littman, an economist from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy:

"There's no doubt that hybrid owners end up spending just as much on gasoline as before because the added efficiency allows them to rationalize driving more miles."

I find the information about hybrid drivers believable, if not a little dubious. No numbers were offered to support the claim that hybrid drivers are driving more miles -- but if you can afford to, you probably will. Not to mention, a lot of the hybrids out there don't get very good fuel economy in the first place. Does this mean people should go around vandalizing hybrids on their lunch hour? No.

It's a common misconception that hybrid drivers are all staunch environmentalists in the first place. Maybe they just bought a hybrid to save on gas, or because they like new technology. Either way, they're still putting out less emission per mile that non-hybrids.

Overall miles driven in the US did decline in 2007, barely. Gas prices are having an effect on drivers, it's just not one that's proportionate to the level of whining that goes on. Seriously, if you're outraged by the price at the pump, don't make empty threats. Give your town's mass transit a try, or get out the old bike.

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Would you live in your car?

Shawn Schuster — 2008-05-05T19:02:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Activism, Climate Change

I admit, I've often thought of just giving it all up and living in my car or a small RV. Just think of all the things you wouldn't have to deal with anymore. You could have a different backyard every day, anywhere in the country you'd like to visit. Your expenses would be minimal and the basic necessities of life are mostly all achievable through public means. You'd have the complete freedom to do whatever you like whenever you want, without being tied down to a crushing mortgage payment or rising utility bills.

This is the occasional life of Jassen Bowman who tells us an incredible story of his voluntary adventures in living the mobile life. While I admire his simplistic outlook on life and the way he distances himself from a dependancy on materialism, he also makes quite a point to relay the positive impact that a downsized life has on the environment. You may think living in a car or RV would be harmful with the gas usage, but consider the comparison to the energy used in an average American home.

I guess the argument could go either way, if you take long-term environmental impact into consideration. What are some of your opinions?

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Landfill gas powers garbage trucks

Shawn Schuster — 2008-05-05T18:01:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Climate Change

It all comes full-circle eventually. The true definition of self-sustainability is supporting yourself with what you have available. The ideal situation for this has recently been announced: garbage trucks fueled by the trash they gather and dump. How perfect is that?

North America's largest waste management company, Waste Management is joining together with Linde, a leading gases and engineering company to produce a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility neat Livermore, California next year. This facility could produce up to 13,000 gallons of LNG a day!

So why stop there? If this project works effectively, the potential application for this type of natural gas project could not only halt the release of methane gas into the air (which is much more harmful to the air than CO2), but also help curb the ongoing gas crisis.

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Tesla opens up a store, with no inventory

Josh Loposer — 2008-05-05T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, News, GreenTech

Tesla Motors celebrated the opening of its first retail outlet last week in Santa Monica. The high-profile happening -- attended by stars like Jenny McCarthy, Quincy Jones, and the director of Who Killed the Electric Car, Chris Paine -- marked a new milestone for the electric car startup, but it begs one serious question: where are the cars? It's hard to have a dealership without them.

As always, I'm excited to hear that Tesla is making headway in its quest to start selling its all-electric Roadster. Still, opening a store doesn't seem very necessary when the company is only just rolling its 4th production car off the line. Maybe I'm being impatient, but doesn't it seem like Tesla has the cart before the horse a little here? Based on their own projections, it's going to take them almost a year of production just to catch up with the 1,000 pre-orders they have on the books. Yet, they plan to open up 5 stores across the US over the next year. Seems pretty aggressive.

[via AutoBlogGreen]

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GM talks smack about electric car startups

Josh Loposer — 2008-05-02T13:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, News, GreenTech

Although we've been hearing electric car news from GM for over a decade now, they've already missed the opportunity to get out in front of the pack. A rash of electric car startups are bringing their eco-friendly vehicles to the market these days. Myers Motors and Aptera are already selling roadworthy electric 3-wheelers, while Tesla's already staked out the all-electric performance car market.

You'd think with all the competition, GM might be concerned about finding their place in the alternative vehicles market. If they are concerned, they're not showing it. General Motors' CEO Rick Wagoner insists that today's startups are just blips on the larger electric car time line -- a time line that GM will dominate. Is he talking smack, or is he just telling it like it is?

According to Wagoner, none of these manufacturers have the ability "depth of technology," or the manufacturing capacity to compete with what GM is doing. Considering that they actually release the Volt in 2010 as planned, I kinda have to agree. Tesla for example is probably the most high profile startup, and it's working overtime to turn out 100 cars a month. Compared to what we will see from a company like GM -- that is a mere drop in the bucket. In Wagoner's own words:

"We plan to win. We welcome the competition, but I expect in ten years were going to be leading the parade."

Wagoneer did hint at GM's willingness to partner up with some of these startups in the future -- anything to try to take market share away from Toyota. While the smaller manufacturers may have impressive designs, they don't have the capacity to deal with regulations and consumer demands.

[via Earth2Tech]

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Schwarzenegger's jet-setting could be grounded

Josh Loposer — 2008-05-01T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Celebrities, Local, News, Polit-eco

In recent months, many of California's vigilant environmentalists have been pointing out that -- when it comes to the environment -- the Govenator talks the talk, but he doesn't necessarily walk the walk. In fact, he doesn't walk much at all, he prefers to take his private jet. Not exactly the most carbon-conscious decision.

Here's the controversy: the Schwarzeneggers live in posh neighborhood in Brentwood, and Arnold works each day in Sacramento -- 380 miles away. Usually flies his Gulfstream IV from his mansion to work, but a new ban might close the town's small airport to all jets. The 300 runway was designed for propeller-driven planes and many are concerned about the potential for a disastrous overrun by a jet into the nearby houses. A federal judge will rule on whether to ban the jets. So far, Arnold doesn't seem moved by the criticism of his carbon spewing commute.

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Beat bike-butt with Greenknickers

Josh Loposer — 2008-05-01T10:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Fashion, Fitness

As far as I'm concerned bicycle commuting is the healthiest and most eco-friendly way to cut down on short car trips -- plus it's a load of fun. The number of people clamoring for a car free lifestyle makes this an exciting time for the future of commuting on two wheels. There's just one problem: the more you ride the better your chances of developing 'bike-butt,' aka a severely sore backside.

Well, ladies -- and men who wear ladies underwear -- now you can beat BB with a pair of convertible undies from GreenKnickers. Instead of just expressing your love for eating organic with your unmentionables, the folks at GreenKnickers have developed panties and boxers that include a removable butt protector. These undergarments are made from a blend of 70% sustainable bamboo and 30% organic cotton and they come with a pad that I'm assuming velcros on for your ride -- then you can take it right back off for a comfortable workday. By the way, they actually do offer some bike boxers for men.

[via Treehugger]

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Fill up for free: Using old vegetable oil to run your diesel car

Bruce Watson — 2008-05-01T08:09:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation

Years ago, I owned a 1980 Mercedes 300D sedan. It was a diesel-powered car, which meant that it shook like a dog coming out of a bath, smelled like an oil spill, and had a funny metallic-bubbling sound. On the other hand, it cost very little to fill up, sipped fuel, was exceedingly comfortable, and was built like a tank. Admittedly, the car accelerated very slowly; my friend Mike Germana once described it as having the pickup of a dying mule. Still, I was able to drive from southwest Virginia to northeast Pennsylvania on a single tank of gas, so I can't really complain. By the time I got rid of Helga the Benz, she had over a quarter of a million miles on her and the engine was still humming (or at least gurgling metallically).

Recently, looking through the newspaper, I saw a picture of Helga, or at least one of her sisters. The article in question dealt with diesel cars that have been reworked to run on vegetable oil from fast food restaurants. Apparently, old Mercedes diesels are particularly well-suited to this kind of modification; I've since discovered that two of the major refitting companies both work with that particular car.

It's not surprising that people are refitting diesels. Supposedly, Rudolf Diesel's original intention was to create a car that could run on plant-derived fuels, although the emergence of plentiful, cheap petroleum made that goal unnecessary. Regardless, diesel cars are fully capable of running on vegetable oil, as long as it is possible to reduce the viscosity (thickness) of the oil. Some solutions to this problem include combining vegetable oil and other fuels or heating the oil to make it thinner.

Lovecraft Biofuels has developed an inexpensive, easily installed system for retrofitting diesel cars to use vegetable oil. They charge between $870 and $1245 for a full conversion, which they do in one of their garages, either in Los Angeles or Portland, Oregon. However, if you can't make it to one of Lovecraft's facilities, they will send the conversion kit to you for a mere $595. You can then install it yourself or have it done by someone at your local garage. The best part of Lovecraft's system is that, by heating the vegetable oil, they make it unnecessary to add other fuels.

One critique of biofuels has been the fact that they drive up the price of foodstuffs. The reasoning is this: by using agricultural produce to make fuel, companies reduce the stock of available food, leading to price increases, food shortages, mass starvation, and the end of the world as we know it. While this might be a reasonable concern, Lovecraft designed their system to use leftover vegetable oil from fast food restaurants. This resource usually ends up in landfills or in wastewater, where it pollutes the water supply and clogs up water treatment facilities. By offering a system that uses unwanted vegetable oil, Lovecraft is, essentially, creating value from garbage.

I recently discussed the Lovecraft system with Austin Chu, who had his 1982 Mercedes station wagon retrofitted to run on vegetable oil. He gets most of his fuel from neighborhood restaurants, which throw it away. When he finds himself in a pinch, he can fill up with regular diesel or biodiesel, but he rarely does so. In terms of performance, Austin noted that the car runs more smoothly and makes a lot less noise on vegetable oil, although it has a slight decrease in acceleration. It currently gets about 25 miles per gallon. He also told me that, instead of reeking of diesel, his car now sports the delicious scent of french fries.

When I asked him about the community's response to his "VeggieRide," Austin was effusive: "People love it, chicks dig it, and it's fun. A cop in Irvine pulled me over to ask about it. He was totally excited and talked to me for fifteen minutes. I was late to work."

If you're wondering what to spend your tax rebate on, it's worth noting that many 1980's vintage diesel Mercedes automobiles are currently available on eBay for $2000 or less. Add in the cost of a Lovecraft retrofitting, and you're looking at spending a couple of thousand dollars on a car that costs nothing to fuel, is extremely comfortable, and will probably last forever.

Smells like a good deal!

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Brits love their trains

Josh Loposer — 2008-04-30T18:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Local, News

With the growing concern over greenhouse emissions and rising fuel costs, conditions are right for a golden age in mass transit. That's certainly the case in Britain, where the number of people riding trains is smashing all previous peacetime records. After concluding the latest study on train travel in the UK, researchers were blown away by the sudden growth in ridership. Only during WWII -- when massive troop movements were taking place over the railways -- have levels been so high.

Since 1994, the number of Brits taking the train has shot up 67%, and researchers are predicting that rail capacity is going to have to double by 2030. That's a lot of cars off the road. It's no secret that the British people are some of the most environmentally aware, but it also doesn't hurt that they have an adequate railway system -- something we lack here in the States. Guess we'll have to settle for bikes.

[via Treehugger]

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NYC rolls out big plans for bikers

Josh Loposer — 2008-04-30T10:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Health, Local, News, Fitness

Only a few weeks after the congestion charge put forward by Mayor Bloomberg got denied by state legislators, NYC is back on the attack with a plan to ease traffic congestion on Manhattan's crowded streets.

What's the crux of the new plan? A bike-friendly makeover to help encourage New Yorkers to make their daily commute two wheels. Details after the jump.

Over the last decade, the number of cyclists hitting the pavement in New York City has grown by 10%. That puts it up to about 112,000 riding every day. Percentage-wise, it may not be all that impressive, but by sheer volume alone it's a pretty healthy cycling population. So, it's about time that the city's infrastructure started to reflect the biking habits of it citizens. Here are a few highlights of the NY Department of Transportation's strategic plan:

Double the number of bikers in the city by 2015.
Add 15 miles of protected bike lanes by 2010, and another 30 miles by 2015. (We really like this one.)
Create 200 miles of new bike lanes by 2009.
Build 37 bike parking shelters and 5,000 more city bike racks. Bike shelters? Sounds cool, yet not all that necessary.

[via Treehugger]

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Would you get an A+ in bike locking?

Ellen Slattery — 2008-04-30T09:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Tips

When you lock up your bicycle in public, do you use a U-Lock? A chain? A plain ol' cable lock?

In this new StreetFilms video, hosts Hal Ruzal (a mechanic at a bike shop) and Kerri Martin (an employee at a bike church) walk around a city street and "grade" anonymous bike owners based on their lock-up jobs. For instance, a bike with the frame, both wheels, and the seat locked gets an "A," while a bike on which the quick-release front wheel is easily accessible receives a lowly "D."

The hosts are light-hearted and seem to know their stuff, and the advice Ruzal gives is helpful (and his kooky, free spirited attitude is refreshing, though his voice can get a little grating by the end of the film). He even points out the price of certain mistakes - literally. ($50 bucks to buy a new bicycle seat, 100 for a nice new wheel). And, uh, if you happen to be looking for a career in bicycle theft, you'll certainly know the right tools to use after watching this video (all the more reason to lock up tight!)

The film is a follow-up from a similar one produced five years ago. While Hal admits that bicyclists have gotten smarter at locking up, there are still simple mistakes being made.

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