UPS has purchased 130 diesel hybrid electric vehicles to add to their fleet.

They will be completed and put into service in 2011, with 30 going to NY/NJ, and 100 going to California. UPS estimates a savings of 66,085 gallons of fuel and 671 metric tons of CO2 annually… a 35% improvement in fuel economy – the equivalent of removing 128 passenger cars from the road.

UPS currently has 2,022 alternative fuel vehicles in operation such as: Hybrid Electric, Compressed Natural Gas, Liquefied Natural Gas, Propane and ‘All Electric’.

I have an interesting guest posting from Jane Mcguire today:

Are you aware that a North Carolina State University team has demonstrated that water gel-based solar devices (known as: “artificial leaves”) can work like solar cells to create electricity?

The analysis has been published on-line in the Journal of Materials Chemistry by Doctor Orlin Velev, an Invista Professor of Chemical and Bio-molecular Engineering.

The studies prove the concept for making solar cells that more closely simulate nature. They also have the potential to be cheaper and more eco-friendly than the present standard silicon based solar cells.

The bendable devices are composed of water-based gel infused together with light-sensitive molecules (like plant chlorophyll) coupled with electrodes coated by carbon elements, such as carbon nanotubes or graphite.

Graphene is the simple structural element of some carbon allotropes including graphite, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. Graphene is a 1-atom thick planar sheet of carbon atoms that are largely packed in a honeycomb crystal lattice. The title comes from graphite ene; graphite itself consists of numerous graphene sheets stacked together.

The light-sensitive molecules get “excited” by the sun’s rays to create electricity, similar to plant molecules that get excited to synthesize sugars in order to grow.

Dr. Velev states that the research team hopes to be able to “learn how to mimic the materials through which nature harnesses solar energy.” Although man made light-sensitive molecules can be used, Velev says naturally derived products, like chlorophyll, are also effortlessly integrated in these units because of their particular water-gel matrix.

Velev even imagines a future in which roofs could be covered with soft sheets of similar electrical power-generating man-made-leaf solar cells. The concept of biochemically inspired ’soft’ devices for generating electricity may in the future offer an alternative for the present-day solid-state technologies.

About the Author: Colleen Jane Mcguire is currently writing for the http://www.solarwaterfountains.org blog, her personal hobby web log is focused on guidelines to help homeowners spend a smaller amount of energy with solar energy.

Reference: Aqueous soft matter based photovoltaic or pv devices. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2011; DOI: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2011/JM/c0jm01820a

Fastmac.com has come up with a great idea! They’ve combined a standard 110V three prong dual wall socket with 2 USB ports for charging gadgets without an adaptor. It’s called the U-socket.

They are supposed to begin shipping in October ’10. They’re waiting on final safety approval.

These are available for pre order for only $19.95, and can be installed on any existing wall outlet.

The USB ports only draw power when something is physically connected to the port, so that no vampire draining occurs.

Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre at Ecovative Design have started producing an amazing product called Mycobond. This is a product they have developed using conventional waste products such as seed husks, and bind them together using mycelium (mushroom roots). “We don’t manufacture materials, we grow them” stated McIntyre to the media recently. The result is a white material that looks and feels a lot like Styrofoam. Since the materials are all natural and fully compostable (they can be tossed into the garden to begin composting), high performance and low cost is the result.

Mycobond uses 1/8^th the energy and 1/10^th the carbon dioxide that standard foam materials require.

They have gotten a lot of support from various sources such as the EPA, the NCIIA (National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance) gave them a $20,000 grant and they recently won $250,000 from the Post Code Lottery Green Challenge.

Their goal is to completely eliminate all petroleum based foams and packing materials. Foam waste takes up the highest mass in our landfills- but it doesn’t break down, and we’re running out of landfill space.

GO GUYS!

EcovativeDesign.com

Ecovativedesign- greensulate insulation

Porsche unveiled the new 918 hybrid spyder earlier this year. It boasts 0-62 mph in 3.2 seconds with its mid engine 500 horsepower V8 (with 2 electric motors) and claims 78 mpg.

Top speed is suggested to be 198 mph, although I’ve also read that it will do over 200 mph.

As far as anyone knows, the specs are from Porsche and there is no indication of independent testing yet. Based on the Porsche RS Spyder, the estimated cost to own one of these will exceed $600,000 USD, and production could begin in about 2 years.

Richmond California has recently opened a community swimming pool that may be one of the most energy efficient in the country. They call it “The Plunge”. It is heated by solar collectors, it’s totally chlorine free and the building is heated by solar panels on the roof. The Plunge is an historic pool- it was first opened in 1926. Now after 10 years of renovations it has recently re opened August 14, 2010.

It’s a huge pool holding 324,000 gallons of water, and measures 60’ x 160’. The water is heated by circulating through eighty Heliodyne Gobi solar collectors on the roof.

Since the pool contains no chlorine, they use instead a saline solution combined with an ultraviolet disinfectant system. The use of natural ventilation and the reduction of chloramines in the water will make swimming in the Plunge a healthy experience.

The pool also has an array of solar electric panels that produce approximately 30 kilowatts for the building.

Heliodyne Gobi solar collectors

Richmond Plunge link

Kinfolk (frame design) and Coat (paint job), with a bag by Nivaldo de Lima, have come up with a bike that breaks down to fit inside a custom bag that can be simply carried or put on a plane as luggage. The leather saddles are made by Brooks. There are 2 models- one has 54 cm wheels, the other has 58cm wheels.

The prices appear to range from $1579 to $1973 USD plus shipping.

See Wallpaper* Magazine for more information

Park Gate is quite an architectural masterpiece. It has 6 curving towers covered with canopies of solar panels to keep the heat out, let in light and cool the building. It takes advantage of the cool breezes from the ocean. It has hanging gardens that have drought tolerant plants (watered with a gray water mist system); as well as plants that are salt water tolerant. The gardens are in abundance. There are thermal salt water reflecting pools that act as a heat sink during the day, and release the heat at night. All of these measures are thought to reduce temperatures by 10-15 degrees.

Petermann Glacier in Greenland has apparently lost a huge chunk of its glacier- about 100 square miles worth. It is about 620 miles south of the North Pole. If it moves further south towards Canadian waters, it could be quite hazardous for the shipping industry.

China has come up with an innovative way to reduce carbon emissions and relieve congested metropolitan areas. They have developed what is being called a “straddling bus” that allows vehicles less than 2 meters tall to pass under the busses. This was first exhibited at the 13^th Beijing International High-Tech Expo in May of this year, with hopes of putting a model into pilot use in Beijing’s Mentougou district in the near future.

These large sized busses have a ground clearance of 4 to 4.5 meters and 6 meters wide, and are comprised of two levels- the upper levels will be designated as passenger space, and the lower level will be for the passage of normal sized vehicles.

The “straddling Bus” will be powered by solar energy and electricity with a top speed of 60 km/h (37 mph) carrying a maximum passenger load of 1200 to 1400 in one trip (about 300 per cart). It also has an emergency exit ladder built in, in case evacuation is necessary. It is also estimated that this bus will save approximately 860 tons of fuel each year.