Tag: Wind kissing

I told you ethanol wasnt the answer

Appetite for destruction – August 21, 2006

The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol, for instance, could feed one person for a year. If today’s entire U.S. grain harvest were converted into fuel for cars, it would still satisfy less than one-sixth of U.S. demand.

While it’s nice to see GM trying to save the world, they are heading in the WRONG DIRECTION with corn-based ethanol.  It is not sustainable.  It may mean that we’re less dependant on the Middle East, but it means were more dependant on somewhere else.  Not a solution to the problem, just pusing the problem off into the future.

Kudos to GM

Being Greenish: Silverado, Sierra to be GM’s First Hybrid Trucks; Fall 2007 Launch – Jalopnik

I’m always quick to bash GM (Because they make shitty cars and embrace dead-end means for saving the planet like corn-based ethanol), but I will give credit where credit is due – GM will probably beat Toyota to market with the first hybrid pickup.  This is exactly what the American auto industry needs – to fire back against the attacks that Toyota and Nissan (And, to a lesser extend with the ridiculous Ridgeline, Honda) have been mounting against American dominance in the large truck market.

Americans like to buy big trucks.  For some, it’s a necessity.  And the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan have finally given consumers a real alternative to Ford, GM, and Dodge.  So it’s nice to see GM fighting back, and in exactly the direction I like to see.  Sure, a V8 hybrid isn’t going to get 30 MPG.  But if it gets improved mileage, doesn’t lose a significant amount of power, and runs a lot cleaner, then I’m willing to pat GM on the back for this one.  Assuming this isn’t just a rumor.

And why doesnt the Prius get 72 MPG?

Go Blue! Volkswagen’s Diesel-Sipping Polo Gets 72 mpg – Jalopnik

I don’t know.  But I know I want my next car to run on biodiesel and need refueling once ever 4-6 weeks.  It’s too bad the Polo has gotten away from the 1989 GTI “17 year old guys think this is cool” look and moved towards the “17 year old girls think this is cute” look.  Maybe if I get one in black and put flames on the side . . .

Never, ever go out in the sun

CNN.com – Sun kills 60,000 a year, WHO says – Jul 26, 2006

“The application of sunscreens should not be used to prolong sun exposure but rather to protect the skin when exposure is unavoidable,” the report advises.

When the World Health Organization tells me to only go outside when absolutely necessary, I stop paying attention.  Sure, we should do more to protect the ozone layer.  But staying inside with the A/C blasting isn’t really the way to go.

I’m too lazy to look up numbers, but I imagine that 60,000 people a year makes the sun about as dangerous as a pair of toenail clippers.  How many people are there in the world?  Four billion?  What percentage of four billion is 60,000?  Well, I’ll tell you.  It’s 0.0015%.  You’re more likely to be struck by lightning while being mauled by a bear and holding a winning lottery ticket.  Actually, I made that up.  But seriously.  More people die from heart disease because they stayed inside worrying about skin cancer than die from actually getting skin cancer.  I made that up, too, but I guarantee it’s true or your money back.

Does this void my warranty?

Treehugger: Convert Your Car To Run On Ethanol With New Kit

I love the idea of this.  $500-700 and, with a flip of a switch, I can choose to fill my car with gasonline or ethanol.  I’m not sure I’d risk this on my car (It’s not even a year old) without doing some research, but it’s a great step forward.  Why be forced to buy a poor quality GM product just to use ethanol?  Now, I’m still waiting for the Back to the Future banana peel and stale beer fuel, but I guess I can wait a few more years.  Now all we need is an alternative to ethanol that’s a little more sustainable than growing corn.

It looks like Ten isnt Pearl Jams only worthwhile gift to society

Treehugger: Pearl Jam Announces Carbon Portfolio Strategy

Pearl Jam has announced that they are giving “$100,000 to nine different non-profits ‘doing innovative work around climate change, renewable energy, and the environment'”, and hope to get to 0% net emissions for their tours and business.

I haven’t listened to much Pearl Jam lately, mostly because I haven’t liked much they’ve done since “Ten”, but “Ten” was one of the top five or so albums released in the last 20 years, and ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE IS STUPID. Just kidding. Anyone who says otherwise isn’t necessarily stupid. They’re wrong, but not necessarily stupid.

This does make me want to go out and buy the latest Pearl Jam cd. Do you think they’re selling a DRM-free copy?

When two things I love come together

Sales of organic beers start to hop – Yahoo! News

And those two things are Yahoo! News and dumb headline puns.

Actually, the two things I love are organic and beer.  I was in Giant yesterday because I was out running another errand (recycling cardboard, actually – I’m so environmentally friendly) and I was right next to Giant.  I never used to think there was much difference between one supermarket and another.  But now that we have a new super Safeway nearby, plus the Harris Teeter and Whole Foods, where I can get all kinds of cool organic food, the fact that Giant seems to have watched the organic bandwagon go flying by without so much as a wave is a big deal.

Now, I don’t buy everything organic.  I’ll buy “conventional” if no organic is available.  But it’s always nice to be able to get the organic.

So now organic beer is starting to pick up.  That’s great.  I do love beer.

Organic beer sales increased 40 percent in 2005, tying it with organic coffee as the fastest-growing organic beverage, the Organic Trade Association says. By comparison, overall U.S. beer sales fell slightly last year.

Awesome.

Its the governments fault

Treehugger: So Why is Ford Backing Away from Hybrid Commitment?

Some short-sighted laws intended to encourage automakers to go green is too restrictive.

According to the US Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, these laws create an incentive for auto makers to build cars capable of using alternative fuels by “[giving] a credit of up to 1.2 mpg toward an automobile manufacturer’s average fuel economy which helps it avoid penalties of the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards.

So, it makes sense that Ford would go towards alternative fuels instead of hybrids that use regular gas, but less of it.  It’s certainly possible that, when they wrote the law, they had the best of intentions.  I doubt they did, but it’s possible.  But now that it’s obvious that the law is having unintended consequences, such as pushing Ford away from hybrids, then we should change the law.  It’s already more difficult to make a hybrid than to change an existing car over to flex-fuel, so we don’t need to add artificial barriers on top of the ones that are present already.

Compact Flourescent bulbs save a ton of energy

Treehugger: Change a Light Bulb: It Really Can Make a Difference

Treehugger points to a report from the International Energy Agency that claims that switching to efficient bulbs like CFL‘s would cut the world’s electricity use by 10%.  Considering that these bulbs are not much more expensive than regular bulbs anymore, and they pay for themselves by using less energy and lasting longer, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t switch.  Most of them don’t work with dimmers, but I think you can get dimmable ones, and if you can’t now, you will be able to soon.  I’ve been switching over at home as bulbs burn out, and my only complaint is that the bulb they say replaces a 60 watt regular bulb is not as bright as a regular 60 watt bulb.

Ford sucks.

The Spokes-Frog Is Dead, Long Live The Spokes-Frog! – Jalopnik

Jalopnik has a nice summary of an article detailing how, once again, Ford is backing down on a promise to go greener. Ford is spinning it to say that the original promise was “too narrow”, and that they underestimated the changes in alternative fuels, so that their pledge to build more hybrids is no longer reasonable, but it’s hard to believe that’s anything but spin.

I’m continually embarrassed by the state of American automobiles. I would love to buy an American car. In fact, I sort of did, as I’m pretty sure my Mazda 3 has some Ford technology in it. But Japanese automakers are light years ahead of the American automakers in terms of fuel efficiency, reliability, quality . . .

And I don’t understand why GM and Ford are latching on to ethanol so much. We have yet to show that we can produce sufficient quantities of ethanol at a feasible price. And they make most of it from corn, which is a tough, expensive crop to grow.

I know some argue that we need to buy American to support ourselves, rather than sending our money overseas. But I refuse to purchase an inferior product in the name of patriotism. It doesn’t help my country if I reward Ford and GM for failing, and for breaking their promises to get greener. When an American car company makes a car that I can be proud to drive, I’ll buy it. Until then, I’ll stick with Japanese cars.