Sunday, at least in my part of the country, was a gloomy day of bitter cold, rain, and gray skies. As a result, I stayed indoors and read a fair share of blogs. Here are a few gems I uncovered:
The Japanese space agency, in partnership with Mitsubishi, launched a ridiculously cool satellite. This is an amazing step forward in terms of connectivity, and I’m excited to see how this seemingly cheap (given the scale?) project pans out:
“[The satelite] will bring high-speed internet access to Japan and neighboring countries. The $342 million project [...] is expected to culminate in a terrestrially accessible internet connection reaching speeds of 1.2Gbps, dwarfing current [DSL] connections that typically allow data transfer to occur at [or] below 8 Mbps.”
In about three months, domestic airlines will use 100% electronic tickets. That doesn’t mean a complete end to paper during the course of your travels, but it does complete the seemingly obvious transition to computer-based records in place of paper tickets. Oh, by the way: it will save the airlines over $3 billion a year.
A Spanish firm will soon begin construction on the largest solar power plant in the world near Phoenix, Arizona. Initial estimates price the power (enough to serve 70,000 homes) at 20 cents per kWh, or twice the price of coal-fired plants. But, as the article points out, that cost disadvantage could disappear if the US moved toward a cap-and-trade or carbon tax system.
Recent major events in my life (ahem#getting engaged#ahem), made me think about this piece dissecting colleges and universities’ outdated means of connecting with young alumni for contributions:
[Alumni magazines are increasingly irrelevant to recent grads]. “Why wait four months for ‘class notes’ when you could simply check Facebook to see what a friend is up to?” Further, while many colleges have online giving programs, many also still communicate with alumni as if writing a check is the normal way to give. “It likely shocks most development officers as to the percentage of young alumni who don’t write checks, or own stamps.”
Mental Floss investigates 10 Creative Methods of Advertising. I’m a fan of the escalator trick, though the Google billboard puzzler is also neat.
I watched an embarrassing number of episodes of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel today. They ran an all day marathon, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. You see, I used to look down my nose at Dirty Jobs as sort of a one-trick-pony: “I get it…he gets dirty doing disgusting things.” But the combination of host Mike Rowe’s quick wit and this Fast Company profile describing his motivations for the show and evolving view of work turned me into a fan. The profile is a great read.
That should get your week started. Hope it’s a good one.
I spent the beginning of last week at a great conference on North Carolina’s Energy Future. While in future posts I want to offer specific reflections based on individual speakers, let me first quickly highlight a few clean tech and energy policy ideas from various sources that I found particularly compelling:
“Feebates” — the idea is simple: tax owners of high-emissions/low-mileage vehicles and transfer money from those fees (in the form of a tax rebate) to owners of low-emissions/high-mileage vehicles. An easy, straightforward incentive that pays for itself.
Composite Cars –many Americans have a tremendously dangerous misconception that heavier cars are safer. In reality, heavier cars yield deadlier accidents. An alternative to bulky steel frames are carbon composite shells that can be manufactured 10-100 times stronger than steel. The great part? They weigh just a fraction of a similar sized steel frame. This is crucially important considering the energy wasted by conventional (heavy) cars, SUVs, and trucks. As a Rocky Mountain Institute Report points out:
“The contemporary automobile, after a century of engineering, is embarrassingly inefficient: Of the energy in the fuel it consumes, at least 80 percent is lost, mainly in the engine’s heat and exhaust, so that at most only 20 percent is actually used to turn the wheels. Of the resulting [20%] force, 95 percent moves the car, while only 5 percent moves the driver, in proportion to their respective weights.”
Smart Power Grids –power distribution systems with at least three key features: (1) a two-way flow of electricity, allowing micro-level power generation systems (solar panels on houses, to use an obvious example) to feed excess energy back into the grid; (2) energy storage capacity that’s dispersed over a given area to optimize power flow (minimize the distance electricity travels) and (3) a decentralized power-generation system that makes micro power plants like wind turbines and solar cells more cost effective by drawing all energy produced by those sources into a common pool and sharing the power-generating burden across a variety of sources. I’ll be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn about Smart Grids, but these types of major infrastructure overhauls will eventually be necessary as we transition to new energy technologies. I’ve heard of at least one company working on this technology, though I know there are many more.
Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user EdTarwinski.
Welcome to February, and another week here at Tropophilia. Be sure to check out new posts (including a great guest post by Bruce) from the weekend; here are your morning links:
Fast Company gives us The Top 10 Websites You Never Heard Of. My personal favorite? Newsmap, “an amazing graphical representation of the constantly-changing headlines on Google News.”
Following up on last week’s link about green jobs, Sustainablog describes various “green employment benefits” eco-conscious companies are offering to employees both to lure new employees and to reflect their sustainability values throughout their corporate operations. Some examples include public transportation commuting subsidies, natural light buildings, local/organic food in company cafeterias, and company outings to national parks. Where do I sign up?
If you’ve read Tropophilia for a while, you know that I’m all aflutter about algae as fuelstock. Well, treehugger highlights exciting news of an agreement between Chevron and Solazyme (an alternative energy start-up) to ramp up testing of the green goo. What makes this particularly exciting are the particulars of Solazyme’s process (emphasis mine):
“Algae usually rely on photosynthesis for energy to consume CO2 and produce oils. Biodiesel can be harvested from the algae, which can be composed of up to 50% oily matter. But getting sunlight to the algae in industrial-scale processes is difficult. So how does Solazyme solve the problem? By growing a special strain of algae in the dark.”
Following up on my post a few weeks ago about Kiva.org: Sean at Tactical Philanthropy explores the challenges Kiva faces with an overwhelming supply of willing donors and a limited supply of projects. He makes a number of excellent suggestions, including some creative solutions the site could use to ensure willing donors are able to direct their funds to good causes–even if not through Kiva itself.
And finally, in celebration of everyone’s favorite resource, Mental Floss points out 4 Great Wikipedia Variations. Try using Wookiepedia (exactly what it sounds like….arrrrrrrrgggggggggg) on your next assignment.
That’s all for now. I’ll be traveling for work until next week, but I have faith my co-conspirators contributors will keep the wheels churning with new material. Have a great week!
The good folks at EcoGeek stumbled upon a pretty great interview at the Consumer Electronics Show. They spoke with a representative from Aquatic Energy on the Gulf coast of Louisiana, a company that caught the algae bug and quickly realized how much of a win-win algae is as a feedstock for biodiesel. Check out the interview, and this graphic from the Aquatic Energy site that breaks down the process in simple terms. I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is more algae for fuel.
“Data from a new IBM survey reveals we as consumers would be willing to pay more for environmentally friendly energy options if more information could be made available to educate themselves.”
But can we count on–or wait on–consumers to drive the widespread adoption of alternative energy against their immediate, pocketbook interests?
Disclaimer:All content found on Tropophilia represents the thoughts and positions of its authors alone, and does not seek to represent those of their employers.
