Articles by Adam Browning

Star is driving a converted electric car

AC Propulsion announced delivery of their first eBox to Tom Hanks. Its a Scion xB with the engine replaced by a 35 kW lithium ion battery -- delivering an impressive 150 mile range. And for $55k, they'll upgrade your Scion, too.

And I had no idea Tom Hanks was such a regular guy. From the press release:

Just before he drove off, silently, in his new eBox, Hanks observed, "There are three electric cars sitting on the moon, and now another one in my garage. The eBox makes even more sense in Los Angeles than in the Taurus-Littrow Valley of the moon. I can drive all weekend, hauling dogs and helping my friends move, and the only reason I'll need to stop at a gas station is for beef jerky and lottery tickets."

Tom Hanks: Trekkie and a fiend for beef jerky. And apparently the go-to guy in Hollywood when starlets can't find anyone to help them move apartments over the weekend.

New site tracks Calif. energy innovation

California's an incubator of energy policy innovation. Largest solar program in the nation. First to cap carbon. Electricity usage half the national average due to aggressive efficiency regulations. If you want to push the limits on green innovation, here's the place to try it. And people do. So much so, it's damn near a full-time job just to track what's going on.

Enter EPIC: the Energy Policy Initiatives Center at USD. Their website, tracking legislative and regulatory energy proceedings in Calif., is just what the doctor ordered.

Pennies for your thoughts?

I've noticed that readers of this site have ideas. Lots of ideas.

Here's a chance for some dough to stop talking (writing? blogging?) and start doing.

Wildgift is a non-profit that gives grants of $10k to $15k for "self-designed projects that promote wildlands stewardship and the development of sustainable human communities and lifestyles."

How cool is that?

No, it’s not a disease

Gesundheit.

I know biofuels are terrible and will starve us, but check out this Newsweek article on Jatropha. When I was in the Peace Corps in Guinee-Bissau, we used this to grow living fences to keep the goats out of our gardens. It's the growingest plant I've ever seen -- whack off a branch from your neighbor's hedge with a machete, stick it in the ground, and presto, it sprouts like a weed, no irrigation needed.