Pedal-Powered Washing Machine Gets Big Company Backing

by Jaymi Heimbuch

from: http://www.treehugger.com/

Photo via Gizmag

Bike-powered washing machines aren't a new idea; however, at least one big appliance company is backing up the idea. Haier, an large electronics company out of China, showed off a human-powered washing machine concept at IFA 2010. It's fairly simple -- an exercise bike collects energy as the person pedals, and the charging battery then powers the washing machine. Supposedly 20 minutes of work is enough to wash one load of clothes on cold cycle. The idea of using human power to get off grid even a little bit is tempting -- and of course gyms are becoming quick to harness the power of people exercising. But could it work at home?

Gizmag writes, "The rationale behind Haier's IFA display is that, like almost every major electronics manufacturer, it's keen to make consumers aware of its environmental commitment...That's not to say that the human-powered washer is a total gimmick. Haier told us that it is gauging consumer response at the show and might consider bringing the idea to market."

Even with a big company looking at pushing it forward, whether or not someone would bring this into their home is up in the air. I can see it being like one of those NordicTrack systems that seem so brilliant around the holidays when we're keen to loose a couple pounds but loses its shine a couple weeks later. After all, the Cyclean hasn't exactly taken off in the last four years.

But I have to say, as someone who likes to cycle for exercise and multitask, I'd definitely consider something like this. It'd not only save me money from the energy bill each month, but I'd be able to quit my gym and save money there too. Not a bad deal. And I'd be forced to exercise since being lazy means no clean clothes.

Even with Haier's backing, it seems very unlikely to be popular if it makes it to market. Plus, the bigger environmental issue with washing machines isn't their energy use but their water use. A bike-powered system would be better suited for the clothes dryer portion of a wash load.

Would you use it? Or better yet, would you convert your existing washing machine to run on pedal power?

One Danish Island Experiments with Clean Power [+Slide Show]

scientificamerican.com — One small island in Denmark is technically 100 percent powered by sustainable sources of energy. Could the experiment succeed anywhere else?

Click here to read this fascinating Green Article:   One Danish Island Experiments with Clean Power [+Slide Show]

Coca-Cola Greens Lights and Power for Iconic SF Billboard

By Leslie Guevarra

From http://www.greenerbuildings.com/

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Coca-Cola's glittering billboard, a fixture in downtown San Francisco for more than 70 years, has been replaced with a state-of-the-art LED display that's 80 percent more energy efficient while retaining the classic look of the world-renown logo.

The company also is offsetting 100 percent of the electricity used by the billboard through purchase of Green-e certified Renewable Energy Certificates for wind energy from Sterling Planet.

Coca-Cola and the YESCO, the Salt Lake City, firm that engineered, manufactured and installed the retrofit, showed off their handiwork today.

Standing 112 feet above Bryant Street atop a three-story building in San Francisco's South of Market area, the billboard has been a landmark for drivers going to and from the Bay Bridge since 1937 -- the year after the bridge that connects San Francisco to Oakland opened.

The Spencerian script of the logo with its glowing background in a shade known as Coca-Cola Red was originally illuminated with neon. It alternately twinkled and shone for the better part of seven decades, but in recent years began showing its age.

Seventy-feet long and 30 feet high, the new sign is about the same size as its predecessor, but the look at night is crisper and the colors seem more vibrant.

That's largely due to advancements in lighting technology, according to the project partners.
The lumen output of the new sign is similar to that of the old one, said Jeff L. Krantz, an account executive at YESCO.
Krantz and Coca-Cola Energy Efficiency Manage Richard Crowther stressed that while the technology is new, the traditional design has been preserved.

That was the directive from the community as well as the company, they said.

"It was very important to everyone involved in the project to replicate that classic look and feel," said Krantz.

The work to remove the original lighting system and reface the billboard with 4,800 CFLs for the white lettering and strip LEDs for the background started November 30, and the new sign was in place and lit by Christmas Eve, said YESCO project manager Danny Hunsaker.

With eight - to 10-man crews working day and night on the installation project, the billboard was dark for only four days, Hunsaker added.

Ninety percent of the metals and wiring from the original sign were recycled, and disposal of neon and other materials that could not be recycled were handled according to regulatory guidelines, Coca-Cola said.

The company greened its giant sign in Times Square last year. The retrofitting of company signs is part of Coca-Cola's ongoing drive to embed its environmental stewardship credo in all its operations.

The global firm had a big presence at the climate conference in Copenhagen, where CEO Muhtar Kent spent time with GreenBiz.com Senior Contributor Marc Gunther to talk about the company's latest efforts.

Those include its development of the PlantBottle, a container made from recyclable PET plastic, 30 percent of which is sourced from Brazilian sugar cane and molasses, and the company's recently announced commitment to replace all its vending machines using hydrofluorocarbons with coolers that employ more environmentally friendly refrigerants by 2015.

There's also a major campaign to reduce energy use at facilities including those of Coke-product bottlers around the world, said Crowther.

In California, for example, Coca-Cola Enterprises -- the production, distribution and marketing firm that serves as the leading bottler of Coca-Cola products -- is slashing its electricity consumption by 5.6 million kilowatt-hours a year as a result of an energy efficiency overhaul of lighting systems at 24 facilities in the state.

The various initiatives all stem from Coca-Cola's ultimate goal of growing its business without increasing its carbon footprint, Crowther said.

More information on Coca-Cola's sustainability work is available at www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship.

Images courtesy of the Coca-Cola Company.

Hybrid Electric Scooter Runs On Anything That Burns

Written by Jerry James Stone

Segway inventor Dean Kamen is developing a hybrid electric scooter that can run on almost anything that burns.

According to the patent, the bike has a small two-piston Stirling engine right under the seat. Though with an engine of that size, it really isn’t going to provide much juice - not much more than 5bhp.

A Stirling engine is based on tech which predates internal combustion engines by almost 100 years. It’s kinda like a steam engine in the sense that it uses external combustion. They use pistons for the crankshaft, but unlike the alternatives they have no valves for no gas ever enters or leaves the cylinders.

Since there is no need for a fuel to be injected, it can run on almost anything that burns - everything from wood chips to old Barbies. This really opens the door for renewable fuel technologies and the standards they would have to meet.

With the engine’s low output, it won’t provide much of the bike’s performance on its own. But it can keep the rechargeable battery packs, which are located in the floor of the bike, topped off. Those reserves can be used for an extra kick in the pants!

Multimillionaire Kamen has already sunk more than $50 million into developing the Stirling engine technology.

A prototype of the bike has yet to be seen unlike Kamen’s Stirling-engined car. Though, rumor has it that Kamen rides one around his own estate.

A version of the Th!ink City also uses a Stirling Engine

But Kamen isn’t the only one looking at the Stirling as a viable solution. Honda has patented concepts using the Stirling to extract more power from a conventional internal combustion engine. Yah, say that three times fast. Other applications include autonomous robots for the US military that can “feed” themselves to remain active for years.

Um, anyone else thinking…SkyNet?

Source: Gizmag

Spain Leads the World in New Solar Energy Development

Written by Bryan Nelson

According to a newly released draft of a report by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), Spain now leads the world in added photovoltaic capacity.

Although Germany is still the leading nation in total grid-connected solar photovoltaic capacity, this news now means Spain has surged into second place there. The report comes as an embarrassment for a floundering Japan, who used to lead the world, but now has fallen to third place in total capacity and forth place in added capacity.

Spain added 1.7 million kilowatts of capacity in 2008, followed by Germany at 1.5 million kilowatts. The United States lagged behind in a distant third place at 300,000 kilowatts, followed by Japan with only 240,000 kilowatts. The news is disappointing for Japan, but it should be equally as distressing for the United States, which continues to show only slow improvements year to year.

The big difference between the top two countries and the U.S. and Japan appears to be public policy. In Germany and Spain, power companies are required to make long term purchases of renewable energy at uniform prices. Although similar requirements exist in the U.S. and Japan, they are so small that they lead to policy failure, which in turn prompts legislators to be apprehensive when it comes to strengthening those policies.

Nevertheless, Spain has become a shining example of how more ambitious policies can lead to real improvements.

Image Credit: Schwarzerkater on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

Biofuel from Canal Algae to Power Venice by 2011

Written by Eva Pratesi

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It’s plentiful, it’s homegrown, and it could help clean up the environment while powering our cities. The idea of transforming algae into a fuel is a reality. Nowadays there are numerous implementations of algae into the renewable energy market.

“Sargassum muticum” and “Undaria pinnatifida” are the names of two kinds of algae brought by the ships coming from Japan and the Sargassi sea. The algea grows over the seaport of Venice, causing problems for gondolas and ferry boats. But today it could be turned into a resource.

Italy recently announced a 200 million euro eco-friendly project to harvest the prolific seaweed that lines Venice’s canals and transform it into emissions-free energy. The idea is to set up a power plant fuelled by algae, the first facility of its kind in Italy. The plant, to be built in collaboration with renewable energy services company Enalg, will be operative in two years and will produce 40 megawatts of electricity, equivalent to half of the energy required by the entire city centre of Venice.

The algae will be cultivated in laboratories and put in plastic cylinders where water, carbon dioxide, and sunshine can trigger photosynthesis. The resulting biomass will be treated further to produce a fuel to turn turbines. The carbon dioxide produced in the process will be fed back to the algae, resulting in zero emissions from the plant. “Venice could represent the beginning of a global revolution of energy and renewable resources. Our goals are to achieve the energetic self-sufficiency for the seaport and to reduce CO2 emissions, including those one produced by the docked ships”, says the president of the seaport of Venice Authority, Paolo Costa.

The idea sounds good and seems to open great possibilities for zero emission energy production; Venice could represent the first step of a real innovative evolution even if there are still some doubts about the huge amount of money required for this project and the authorization needed to built the plant.

For more information about biomass energy, see also Solena Group.

Image credit: Kevin via Flickr under a Creative Commons license.