Latest Articles
-
-
Nice to forget about the day job for a while
You know you’re in Seattle when you get a “severe weather advisory” warning you that the temperature might get up into … the mid-80s. Maybe even above 90! Anyway, summer has finally come to Seattle. I’ve been out working in the yard all day, shoveling and spreading mulch, getting a head start on my flip-flop […]
-
An absorbing news story
A nice bit of engineering problem solving! Anything that discourages people from switching from incandescents (5 percent useful light, 95 percent wasted energy) to compact fluorescent bulbs while we wait for the prices on good LED bulbs to come down is a bad thing.
One thing you hear from the nutjobs is how terrible the mercury in CFL bulbs is, and what an EPA nightmare you will have on your hands if you break one of these in your house.
A clever solution is pending: Providing a small bit of mercury absorbing treated cloth with the bulbs so that, in event of a break (rare -- I have many of these bulbs, and have moved them several times without breakage), you simply put the cloth over the break and it sucks up the mercury, and you recycle the cloth so the mercury is recaptured. Neat!
-
Moyers talks to Boxer
Wow, you kinda forget what good TV journalism looks like until you watch Bill Moyers. He makes the cable babblers look like children. Don’t miss Moyers interviewing Barbara Boxer on the flame-out of the Climate Security Act. She’s really quite good on this, but in the end, as much as I kind of regret saying […]
-
Republican Congressional candidate says main priority is energy reform
While Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith (R.) tries to fuzz his ties to the GOP and his unswerving devotion to the Bush agenda (in between lurches to the center around election time), at least Oregon voters in the First District have a choice that's actually interesting: either Democrat David Wu, considered a huge disappointment and one of the least effective members of Congress (he's so lame that even the Oregonian, who typically only stops endorsing incumbents after they've been six feet under for months, endorsed his primary opponent) or this guy.
I don't know if that guy's got any of the right answers, but he's sure got the right questions.
-
Manufactured Landscapes is as good as they say
Obviously I need to watch movies faster. Almost a year ago today I posted about wanting to watch Manufactured Landscapes, featuring the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky, mainly shot in China. I finally got around to it.Not only is the movie visually arresting, but it is very, very disturbing.
-
Friday music blogging: Sigur Ros
I have a soft spot in my heart for Icelandic band Sigur Rós (pronounced see-gur rose). I was listening to their second album Ágætis Byrjun frequently when my wife was pregnant with our first child. We used to watch ultrasound videos with it playing along as a soundtrack (highly recommended). It was playing in the […]
-
Mercedes to offer a petroleum-free lineup by 2015
In the next seven years, Mercedes-Benz wants to eliminate petroleum-powered vehicles from its lineup. According to AutoblogGreen, "The German giant is working on a variety of technologies that will help provide crude oil free transport such as battery electrics, fuel cells and highly efficient internal combustion engines that can operate on biofuels."
The automaker already has two new powertrains in either the concept or trial stages of development. The concept F700, which debuted in Frankfurt in fall 2007, is powered by a DiesOtto engine that combines Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition with spark ignition to get nearly the same efficiency as a diesel engine. According to the EcoGeek post, "The engine can run on biofuels, and we may have a purchasable vehicle by 2010."
Last week, Phil Lanning of the Sun (U.K.) gleefully reviewed the F700 on the track in Seville, Spain.
Of more interest to auto consumers on the left side of the pond: Mercedes also intends to offer an electric Smart ForTwo. Currently, one hundred of these adorable multi-colored vehicles scampering around London are already electric (and getting free parking -- but not for long!). Yet the official market release will not occur until 2010. Mercedes intends to offer an electric version of another model but has been tight-lipped about which one. Rumors, however, abound.
-
A weekly roundup of greenish news from the Capitol
Some political news debris from this week: • The League of Conservation Voters announced today that they’ve created the first green bundling site. This allows folks to donate en masse to green candidates around the country. LCV will direct the funds to the candidates it will support this year in Senate and House races. • […]
-
Snippets from the news
• Feds recommend 4,400 new natural gas wells in Wyoming. • New Jersey utilities get MTBE settlement. • States shorten work week to save gas. • Delegates choose not to ban toxic waste exports. • Oil hits record high.
