New EPA MPG Stickers - May Be Simple as A, B, C
EPA Fuel Economy stickers are on all new cars and light trucks and ahve been for decades. They list the city and highway mpg as well expected annual feul costs and some information about emissions.
The EPA is now looking to modify (again) the labels ... to allow meaningful comparisons between newer type vehicles ... such as hybrids where MPG does not really apply. They might group cars by letters like A, B, and C.
" .. provide ... simple, straightforward energy and environmental comparisons across all vehicles types, including electric vehicles (EV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and conventional gasoline/diesel vehicles. ... information, such as ratings on fuel economy, greenhouse gas emissions, and other air pollutants ..."
Check out the labels and GIVE YOUR comments ... View / Comment on Proposed LABELS.Via: EPA LINK
EcoMotors International has developed the OPOC engine - opposed-piston opposed-cylinder engine. This engine can run on a number of fuels and is lighter in weight and produces more power than a conventional engine.
" ... ground-breaking internal combustion engine ... eliminates the cylinder-head and valve-train components ... lighter, more efficient and economical, with lower exhaust emissions compared with conventional designs...."
GREENandSAVE has a Website and Blog with lots of good "green" information. In addition to tips to increase your "individual green-ness" there are links to many green items in the news including green job training.
In June of 2009 Dell announced that they source over 1/4 of their global energy needs from renewable sources. 
"Minesto contributes a solution to the worldwide energy demand by offering a unique technology that explores the vast, renewable and abundant ocean power resource."
My brother and his girlfriend sent photo's of her new Ford Fusion Hybrid. They and the car live in the Research Triangle Park area in NC ... 
Green Touch is a program at Alcatel-Lucent that focuses on green aspects of technology. " ... looking at how the world of telecommunications is responding to the urgency of preserving our natural environment. ... Green Touch ... a consortium of telecoms operators, manufacturers, universities and non-profit organisations with a mission to conceive and demonstrate the effectiveness of this revolutionary low-energy network - all within the next five years… "
Folks in Sonoma, California are working to design and refine a Passive House ... but what exactly is a passive home?
Ghost power users are devised that are "turned" off but still draw power. Included in this category are batter charges used for cell phones and the like.
Syracuse University's new green data center follows LEED guidelines and is both green and energy efficient. 
Darden Restaurants - owner of Red Lobster and other restaurant brands - is embracing the USGBC LEED Standards.
r year ... "
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"AT&T ... deployed its 1,000th alternative fuel vehicle in its fleet ... latest deployment is part of a $565 million 10-year investment to replace 15,000 vehicles with fuel efficient models through 2018."
Scientists from CalTech have developed technology that might lead efficient solar cells from silicon nanowires. This could lead to all sorts of configurations for solar cells including fabrics.
gawatt hours per year ... if they were classed as a separate industry, they would be the sixth-largest user of electricity ... "
FedEx is adding 51 hybrid trucks to its Bronx, NY faciltiy - making it FedEx's first 100% all-hybrid site. 
Data centers use lots of energy ... from electricity to power the servers to electricity to power the AC units to keep things cool ... 
White roofs are the "hot" thing in roofing ... allowing for a lowed burden on a/c systems.
tant as solar and wind start to power the grid.
It is amazing that there are so many energy using devices in our homes. What many fail to realize is that some devices, like TVs, and PCs may still be drawing power when "turned off".
Energy Ball is a wind turbine that generate electricity at very low speeds. Read on for more about this Netherlands based company.
" ... SolarChill ... aims to create a stand-alone solar powered refrigerator that not only preserves food, but also meets the World Health Organization's standards for vaccine storage ... One SolarChill unit can serve a population of 50,000 people for preserving vaccines. ... for use in emergency relief where electrical supply has been disrupted by war or natural disaster." 
Philadelphia is a city of row houses ... unfortunately many are in blighted condition and when they are town down the newly created "end units" are poorly insulated. Cleaning up the blighted homes causes the other homeowners to have basically little or no insulation on a large surface of their home.
Not long ago data centers were concerned with maximum density and processing power. But as electricity cost have risen and supply becoming a gating factor - the data center is changing .. 
nd, perhaps to a lesser degree, are built in a more environmentally responsible manner. Hardware makers are stepping up to meet the challenge, "
hts on.
The former Strawbridge and Clothier flagship department store in Philadelphia is being remodeled in a green way. PA. REIT has posted window signs and made green dioramas in the store's street side display cases (most of the building has been closed for some time).
eBay has many green aspects to its business model ... including the basic eBay design - helping people sell unneeded / unused stuff ... 
Comcast's HQ in Philadelphia is now LEED Gold certified ... and the tallest such building in the US.
I was in Washington DC this past weekend and saw some small buses with the Smithsonian log on the side - promoting them as green hybrids. This prompted me to see what else our nations museum is up too in the green space. 
Check out this BBC video of a prefab house ... some neat ideas that make for green living ... 
Go Green Expo for NYC (April 17 - 19) and Atlanta (June 26 - 28) are on the way. Go Green Expo has already been to LA and Philadelphia ...
"Greenbuild365 expands USGBC's Greenbuild Conference to a year-round interactive green building learning portal. Educational opportunities ... are now available to anyone, anywher
e. It is through green building education, outreach, and the sharing of best practices that USGBC's mission of a sustainable built environment within a generation will be achieved."
rk ... can dynamically adjust power consumption to reduce the energy used overall. ... uses an advanced power management system ... allows Mac mini to use ... up to 45 percent less power at idle than its predecessor. And it makes Mac mini the most energy-efficient desktop computer."
" ... Putting idle servers to sleep when they're not in use is part of University of Michigan researchers' plan to save up to 75 percent of the energy that power-hungry computer data centers consume.... Thomas Wenisch, ... and students David Meisner and Brian Gold will present ... on March 10 at the International Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems in Washington, D.C."
" ...20 percent – of building materials were from recycled content and over 75 percent of construction waste was recycled. ... drought tolerant landscape and a portion of the power used for operations will be green power supplied by wind energy."
So what is a "smart grid" and how does it differ from the current grid.??? >>> The current grid has little "smarts" or feedback to either power generators, distributors or end consumers. The "smarts" in the form of meters or controls allow monitoring of many points in between the generation plant and the end user to allow for more efficient distribution and control. Ultimately this can lead to reduced demand for new generation as you can better balance supply and demand. "Silver Spring Networks builds networks that enable a utility to ... improve efficiency, reliability and customer service while reducing costs. Built for real-time networking, open standards ... allows for continued seamless integration of new networking technologies while continuing to provide proven redundancy, integrity and reliability ... Network interface cards (NICs) from Silver Spring Networks are here today and empower endpoints that meter gas, water and electricity, and automate load-control devices ..." "Silver Spring Networks ... Smart Grid, known as a Smart Energy Network ... . addresses the challenges of running multiple applications and devices on a common networking infrastructure using multiple transport technologies, dramatically improving efficiency, lowering costs and ensuring the reliable delivery of services. ... more efficient grid could cut the growth rate of worldwide energy consumption by more than half over the next 15 years and drastically reduce carbon emissions."