Recently in the Sports Category
Aug 06 2010
Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:
California raceways are attracting electric cars and motorcycles, and now the venerable Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania has launched a 25-acre solar energy farm to power the track and 1,000 nearby homes. Track CEO John "Doc" Mattioli claims 40-year-old Pocono Raceway is the world's largest solar-powered sports facility. The $16 million system was developed by enXco, a SanDiego-based renewable energy developer and a subsidiary of France's EDF Energies Nouvelles.
San Francisco may expand its plastic bag ban to all retail establishments. Under current city law, large supermarkets and chain drugstores can't provide plastic bags and paper bags must meet recyclable standards. Merchant groups seem resigned to a wider bag ban proposed by a city supervisor and backed by Mayor Gavin Newsom. "It's not going to be the end of the world. But I do think City Hall can get a little self-righteous and not always for the right reasons," said a merchant association president and cafe owner. A bill in the California Legislature that has the governor's support would ban plastic bags at food and convenience stores and set a minimum 5-cent charge for paper bags.
Geothermal projects underway in Nevada could add 3,000 megawatts to the state grid, according to the Geothermal Energy Association. Nevada doubled installed geothermal capacity to more than 400 MW from 2005 to 2010, and companies large and small are seeking more exploration wells. Companies include NV Energy, Calpine, CalEnergy Generation, a unit of Warren Buffet's MidAmerican Energy, Nevada Geothermal Power, and startups U.S. Geothermal and Ram Power. The industry has got a boost from Nevada's 25 percent renewable energy standard, tax incentives from the federal stimulus package, and federal government support of scientific and technical research at the University of Nevada-Reno.
Jul 16 2010
Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:
Now that the 2010 FIFA World Cup has departed South Africa, so have those vuvuzelas that trumpeted a steady din at every soccer match. Where did they go? To the recycling world, reports PRW.com, which covers plastics news. The vuvuzelas -- 800,000 were sold in South Africa -- are likely to be recycled into plastic park benches and buckets. Many will be kept as souvenirs, of course, but those discarded will be collected for recycling before they enter landfill sites because the material is too valuable to waste, says a consultant for the Plastic Convertors Association. Cup winner Spain, however, may still be celebrating with its vuvuzelas.
Raceways are a new testing ground for the latest electric vehicle technology. Last Sunday, racers, designers and innovators put EVs and motorcycles through their paces before engineers and entrepreneurs, reports Earth2Tech on the REFUEL EV race and time trials at the Laguna Seca track near Monterey. Infineon Raceway north of San Francisco also put on the first zero-emissions motorcycle race in the U.S. in May, the Time Trial Xtreme Grand Prix U.S. Championship. With Tesla Motors' new electric roadster stirring a lot of interest among fans of performance cars, perhaps it won't be too long before the Indianapolis 500 launches an all-electric race at the old brickyard.
The big box IKEA chain is the first U.S. retailer to drop incandescent light bulbs from its U.S. stores, beginning August 1, and says it will be incandescent-free by next January 1 and ahead of federal legislation to phase out incandescent bulbs beginning in 2012. The company said compact fluorescent bulbs are the most popular bulb at IKEA and the chain also offers more expensive LED lamps, which are 70 percent more efficient than incandescent bulbs. The company says that beginning this fall it will also carry a halogen bulb to be used in a standard light socket.
Jun 04 2010
Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:
The California state Assembly narrowly approved a bill that would make the state the first in the nation to ban plastic and paper bags in grocery, convenience and other stores. Shoppers without their own bags would have to buy paper bags with at least 40 percent recycled material for at least 5 cents a bag or buy reusable totes. The bill, endorsed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and approved with a minimum 41 votes, now goes to the Senate. Plastic bags are banned in five California cities, including San Francisco; Oregon has introduced a bag law; and Washington, Florida, New Jersey and North Carolina are looking at the California bill. The California Grocers Association supports the measure, while the American Chemistry Council, a plastics industry group, is opposed.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a bill calling for a review of synthetic turf used in future athletic fields and playgrounds in the city. The review will include parks and health departments and an advisory committee. Environmentalists and park advocates say the artificial surfaces have potential hazards from lead and other toxins and generate extreme heat. Many park officials find replacing grass or asphalt with artificial turf including material from shredded tires allows for year-round use and cheaper maintenance and saves millions of gallons of water. Here in San Francisco, the Recreation and Park Department is installing synthetic athletic fields at a number of neighborhood parks.
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could extend up the Atlantic coast early this summer,according to computer modeling at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. Researchers said their study was not a forecast and had not undergone scientific peer review, the New York Times Green blog reports. But they said a clockwise loop current in the gulf could propel the oil to Florida's Atlantic coast, with the spill spreading to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina.
May 14 2010
Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:
The first zero-emissions motorcycle race in the U.S. debuts on Sunday at the West Co
ast Moto Jam at Infineon Raceway north of San Francisco. The Time Trial Xtreme Grand Prix U.S. Championship is an all-electric 11-lap, 25-mile race with no roar and no emissions but riders say there is plenty of speed. "I felt I was going just as fast as on a gas bike," says Shawn Higbee. Electric motorcycles cost 30-40 percent more than gas bikes but cheaper in the long run, says Raul Inarritu, an executive for electricmotorsport.com. "They need a lot less service. The only moving parts are two bearings and a chain."
New York City is developing a "solar map" to determine its solar energy potential. An airplane equipped with a laser system called Lidar for light detection and ranging takes pictures of the surface terrain and structures. The images help planners figure how much solar power can be produced on each roof, says the New York Times' Green blog. Solar arrays could generate an estimated one-fifth of the electricity consumed by the city's 8 million residents. San Francisco and Boston also have online tools to measure buildings' potentials for solar energy.
Hospitals are energy hogs, consuming 2 1/2 times the energy in a similar-sized commercial building, but they're taking steps to go green. Rush University Medical Center in Chicago is one of only four U.S. hospitals that are Gold LEED certified and fewer than 100 hospitals have LEED certification. The Rush hospital says it has launched a number of green initiatives including a strong recycling program -- for paper, glass, plastic and cans -- and it also converts kitchen grease to biodiesel fuel, vehicle and machine oil back to fuel products, and buys electronics from a supplier that includes recycling services. Last year, the hospital diverted 898 tons of materials from landfills, Reuters reports.
Feb 12 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
Recent polls show public support for global warming is declining but British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is denouncing warming deniers calling them “anti-science, flat-earth climate skeptics.” Brown will co-chair the United Nations High Level Advisory group on Climate Change Financing. The group aims to raise cash to halt deforestation, encourage low-carbon development and adapt to rising sea levels, extreme weather events and higher temperatures.
President Obama wants to develop a new government agency that would focus specifically on Climate Change. During his campaign, he promised the American people he would devote a good portion of his administration’s time to fighting global warming. Obama announced that in an effort to live up to that promise, he was ordering the creation of a new organization. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Service will actually be a branch of the existing NOAA but will have its own director and specific agenda.
For the next couple weeks, Olympic hopefuls will adorn their colors and put their boots into bindings in the mountains overlooking Vancouver. And they’ll be racing and jumping towards medals in mostly man-made snow. January of 2010 was the warmest January on record in Vancouver, with temperatures averaging 44.8 degrees. This is in stark contrast to recent snow storms on the east coast of the United States, which have fueled the fire for global warming skeptics. Scholars of climate science argue that neither example is proof of anything. Instead they would point to longer term trends showing a gradual warming of the whole earth over the last thirty years.
Feb 12 2010
Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:
Major league baseball spring training begins next week and the greening of the sport continues to show no letup. The Minnesota Twins are installing a giant underground storage tank the size of a freight car to harvest and recycle rainwater at their new ball park, Target Field. The Twins may save more than two million gallons of water a year. The Rain Water Recycle System will purify rainwater for human consumption as well as maintenance and irrigating the field. It was designed by Pentair, a company specializing in water systems and storage. The Twins also are seeking a LEED (Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design) certification for the new park.
Eco-minded residents of Berkeley are recycling and composting so much that the city's refuse revenues are down by $4 million, the biggest factor in a $10 million city budget deficit. Residents are switching to smaller trash bins which carry a lower collection rate. People are buying less stuff so there's less packaging and cardboard waste, and a failed business means there's no trash to collect. "Not only does the amount of garbage change with the economy, but the very nature of garbage changes," says Robert Reed, spokesman for Recology Sunset Scavenger, San Francisco's garbage company.
Car sharing memberships in North America soared by 117 percent between 2007 and 2009, according to the Frost & Sullivan research firm, and total membership is projected at 4.4 million in North America and 5.5 million in Europe by 2016. The firm estimates that each vehicle in a car sharing fleet replaced 15 personally owned vehicles in 2009 and car sharing members drove 31 percent less than when they owned a personal vehicle. This means fewer cars on the road and a reduction of more than 482,000 tons of CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, car sharing firm Zipcar Inc. has pulled the 2010 Toyota Prius hybrids from its fleet (less than 1 percent) due to the recall for a potential brake problem. Zipcar also has removed 2009 and 2010 Toyota Matrix models in a previous safety recall.
Feb 05 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
A white roof may look like a painted masterpiece to those who want to reduce urban heat. The National Center for Atmospheric Research recently completed a study demonstrating that white roofs can be an effective method for cooling. The study’s simulations provide an idealized view of different types of cities around the world and indicate that, if every roof were entirely painted white, the urban heat island effect could be reduced by 33 percent.
According to a new report released by a leading Canadian environmental group, the city of Vancouver, which will host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, would earn a bronze medal if fighting climate change were an Olympic sport. The report claims the event’s organizers have done a good job building energy efficient venues, but have fallen a tad short when it comes to offsetting carbon emissions surrounding the Winter Games. Environment is one of the three “official pillars” of the Olympic movement.
Just before athletes from around the world will have a chance to earn their gold, silver and bronze medals, athletes from Indianapolis and New Orleans will go after the Vince Lombardi trophy. And it is estimated that this year’s Super Bowl – which the NFL says is more environmentally responsible than in the past – will produce 310,000 pounds of carbon emissions. In addition, researchers claim the stadium in Miami will use 187,000 KW of electricity and the television sets of home viewers will consume roughly 10,004,603 KW of energy. And speaking of green, it is estimated that close to 54 million pounds of avocados will be consumed by guacamole loving fans.
Aug 21 2009
Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:
I was scanning the pre-season college football polls when some new rankings came in for a different kind of game -- the "greenest" universities. The Princeton Review test-preparation company recently issued it second "Green Rating Honor Roll" of 15 schools, including UC-Berkeley, Arizona State, Harvard, Yale, and my favorite just because of its name -- Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. Ratings cover energy use, recycling, food, buildings and so on. Other groups also grade colleges, including the Sierra Club, which rated the University of Colorado at Boulder No. 1 among "eco-enlightened" schools. Oh yes, the University of Florida Gators are No. 1 in the USA Today football poll.
Seattle voters have rejected a proposed 20-cent charge for disposable paper and plastic shopping bags, with supporters blaming economic conditions and a $1.4 million anti-fee campaign by the plastics industry. The City Council adopted a bag charge ordinance last year but opponents got enough signatures to put it on the ballot. Despite the opposition in Seattle, bag bans are expected to grow. Here in San Francisco, City Hall briefly considered a bag fee before banning non-biodegradable plastic bags in 2007 without much fuss. Stores now offer reusable paper bags, and many businesses and groceries are slapping their names and logos on cloth bags and selling them for a dollar or giving them away.
San Francisco is pedaling a little closer to a citywide bicycle sharing program. With only two bike rental locations in a city with a population of more than 800,000, the Recreation and Park Department hopes to add more rental kiosks for residents and tourists as early as January. Officials from Montreal's new Bixi (bike+taxi) share system recently visited Golden Gate Park to show off their bikes and a portable pay station powered by solar panels. Montreal launched Bixi a few months ago with 3,000 bikes and 300 stations in the city's downtown core.
Aug 07 2009
Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy caught our attention this week:
A NASCAR track in Pennsylvania - Pocono Raceway - is joining the ranks of sports venues by adding solar panels to generate three megawatts of electricity for the track. The power plant reportedly would be the world's largest for a sports facility. Renewable energy and other green features are becoming standard in new stadium construction in the U.S. and other countries.
Here in San Francisco, PG&E helped the baseball Giants install one of the first solar panel systems at a sporting site. Wind power could be next, with London erecting a wind turbine to help power the summer Olympic Games in 2012.
Old factory towns and industries are getting a new lease on business through clean energy. Pulp mills in Maine and Wisconsin are retooling to make biobutanol and biodiesel from wood waste, and a steel company in San Angelo, Texas, has taken a joint venture stake in a wind tower plant. Pueblo, Colo., an old steel town, is developing a wind turbine factory. Stirling Energy Systems plans to use automotive suppliers to make components for its solar electric machines called SunCatchers, the New York Times reports.
South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. plans to build a battery cell manufacturing plant in Michigan to support 250,000 electric vehicles, helped by $151 million in "green" economy grants from the Obama administration. Most battery manufacturing for advanced vehicles is based in Asia. LG Chem's Compact Power subsidiary is supplying lithium-ion battery cells from South Korea for GM's plug-in Chevy Volt. The company also has a battery contract for GM's planned plug-in Buick SUV. The Michigan plant is to open in 2012.
Aug 06 2009
He hops off his bike and smiles. He is no longer a victim of angry mornings spent in bumper to bumper California traffic. When Grant Cameron arrives at work these days, exercise has his blood pumping but he is feeling both relaxed and refreshed. It wasn't always this way.
In Grant's life, pedals and an electric motor have replaced talk radio and the steering wheel. He now commutes to work on a recumbent electric bike that he invented - one he calls the "EV0." The name is a nod to GM's no longer in production electric car, the EV1, produced from 1996 to 1999.
Looking to help his mindset as well as his fitness and the environment, about a year ago Grant decided he would start cycling to work. Recognizing that the greenest commute is one powered by his own body, he initially tried to tackle the 30 mile daily commute over the hilly terrain in San Diego on a mountain bike.
"That was just too tough," he told me. "I love my bike, but I'm no Lance Armstrong. I can't sustain that ride five days a week, and to be honest, I don't have the time."
So Grant spent the time he had wearing his thinking cap. He bought a comfortable recumbent bike, an electric kit, a motor, throttle, controller and a lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO4). The result is his EV0; an electric bike that helps with the hills and still allows him the option to pedal when he wants some exercise or more power. For the technical specs and to see the bike in action, check out this video produced by Grant's filmmaker son, Hollis.
In a car, the commute from Grant's home in San Diego County to his job at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) is traffic dependent and driving one way can take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes. On his electric bike, the commute is consistently 50 minutes, but Grant has the option of reducing that time should he decide to push the pedals with more vigor.
When he's not inventing electric bikes, Grant studies wave patterns at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UCSD. He hopes his work will some day contribute to a smarter energy grid - one that is more reliant on things like wave power, and less reliant on carbon emitting energy sources.
