Improved VOC Analysis Method for Architectural Coatings

Summary (Full report here):

Results of all VOC determinations and the validation study were analyzed and the new methods were found to be superior to available methods in nearly all cases.

Specific VOC method analysis guidelines were developed for each class of coatings. These methods were used successfully to determine the VOC content of all 67 coatings samples. These results were compared with those obtained using EPA Method 24 when possible. Statistical analysis of the results show the new methods to be significantly more accurate the those obtained by Method 24 for nearly all classes of coatings. Although labs participating in the validation generally did not use the specific new methods supplied to them for analysis of the coatings, the results validated the superiority of the new methods in all cases.

Conclusions
New direct methods of VOC analysis using gas chromatography have been developed for all classes of architectural coatings. These new methods will allow the VOC content of all types of architectural coatings to be determined accurately. This remedies the current situation where existing methods are not capable of determining VOC levels of coatings formulated to meet lower VOC limit regulations.

The following new methods were developed as a result of this project:
• Standard Test Method for Direct Analysis of the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Waterborne Air-Dry Coatings by Gas Chromatography (Waterborne
Method). This method is a revision of ASTM Method D 6886, Test Method for Speciation of the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Low VOC Content
Waterborne Air-Dry Coatings by Gas Chromatography.

• Standard Test Method for Direct Analysis of the VOC and HAP Content of Multi- Component Coatings by Gas Chromatography (2K Method)

• Standard Test Method for the Direct Analysis of the Common Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) in Solvent borne Air-Dry Coatings by Gas Chromatography
(HAP Method)

• Standard Test Method for Determination of the VOC Content Remaining in Paint Films After Total Volatile Content Determination by ASTM Method D 2369
(Film Extraction Method)

• Standard Test Method for Solids Determination of 2K Coatings Containing More than 90% Solids (High Solids Method) Specific VOC method analysis guidelines were developed

Full report here

HUGE 'No More Plastics Bags: McDonald's Promotes Simpler Packaging.

As part of its efforts to reduce environmental impact, McDonald's Japan began reducing its packaging for takeout items at about 3,700 outlets across Japan from December 1, 2008. Instead of polyethylene shopping bags, McDonald's introduced unbleached paper bags, and taking this opportunity, it also replaced other bleached paper bags with more environmentally friendly unbleached ones. The company expects such efforts to save about 2,300 tons of plastic resources annually, equivalent to approx. 6,200 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, or to the annual CO2 absorption of approx. 248,700 Japanese cypress trees.

Read full from Japan for Sustainability

 

Chevy VOLT - Forcing dreams into reality is called a delusion...

I am not a pessimist, but I have a hard time with this one... VOLT is innovative?

Big GAV from accross the pond had a great month talking about innovation, but when I read about the Chevy VOLT over the last year. Innovation was NOT in the context.

I have drove, worked on and helped on some amazing vehicles over the last 20 years. 200 mpg fuel sippers, 7 passenger clean 2 cycle CNG's, a garage full of long range electric... I see innovation coming and it is not from volt.

The volts looks just like it the cars it copies (see photos here) .

Is innovation taking other ideas and selling them under different brands?

My 93' GEO (Chevy/Toyota car) gets between 38-44mpg* all the time, regardless of how I treat it.

Before that, I drove a 85 Renault alliance that averaged over 45 mpg*, but sacrificed mpg for the safety and reliability of the GEO due to having a couple kids (they do that to you).

I waited the last decade with dreams, there would be another Chevy that would replace my GEO.  Or just a GEO with a 1.2L turbo clean diesel engine running CNG/Biogas... like Top Gear's $7,000 70mpg VW.

And yes, it is healthy to dream, but when people force their dreams into reality it is called a delusion...

 

The VOLT is the last shred of hope...  Did G.M. watch the Top Gear 70mpg VW or hear about GS and Nissan Motors?

Nissan has a 'ready for primetime full long range electric' - I think will rock the world in 2011.

VW and BMW have a glutton of 45mpg safe + family cars on the table... Even in my budget... there are now full electric and hybrid cars coming to WalMart between $1,000-$5,000 But, a VOLT $40,000+ 'copy car' that shows less innovation than the 1905 Pieper.

 

We also have to equate lifetime environmental and 'true ownership costs'...

The 'Dust to Dust' cost to operate a Prius is still $2.191 per mile.

What will the VOLT be? At least $4 per mile... at $40K (In my lifetime, I have not spent a total of $40,000 on ALL my daily driven cars...)

 

‘Earth to G.M., Time to get in the game!’

Your recent bailout cash could have bought the companies that make better technology and secured a stable future in the global auto market for decades while saving it at the same time !

Seriously, I have purchased great Chevy's in the past, but I am keeping the GEO or buying Foreign until I see affordable, clean innovation in U.S. show rooms.

 

*Yes I did 'tweak' the cars for mpg using EPA rated rim fires, hard rubber skinny tires, light oils and free flow intake/exhaust for 15% better mpg.

Happy 9th Birthday Lithium-ion Battery Price Stagnation

In its May 2000 report "Costs of Lithium-Ion Batteries for Vehicles," the DOE published its estimate of the prices Li-ion battery packs would need to achieve before HEVs, PHEVs and EVs could be cost-competitive. For complete details see Section 6 beginning on page 37.

Battery Type	Baseline	Optimistic	Industry Goal
High-Energy (35 kWh Battery Pack)	$706 per kWh ($24,723)	$250 per kWh ($8,767)	>$150 per kWh (USABC)
High-Power (100 cells, 10 A-h each)	$2,486	$1,095	$300 (PHGV)

These figures were not a forecast of what the Li-ion battery companies were likely to achieve. They were a simple statement of the fundamental economic barriers to entry that had to be overcome before a market could develop.

After nine years of work and incalculable spending on Li-ion battery research and development, the following table shows exactly how far the Li-ion battery industry has come.

Manufacturer	Chemistry	Current Price	Target Price
Ener1 (HEV)	Li-polymer	$660 per kWh	N/A
Valence Technologies (VLNC)	Li-phosphate	$1,000 per kWh	$500 per kWh
Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI)	Li-titanate	$1,000 per kWh	N/A
A123 Systems (power tool packs)	Li-phosphate	$1,228 per kWh	N/A
2008 DOE SEGIS-ES Estimates (PV Solar battery packs)	Various	$1,333 per kWh	$780 per kWh
2009 NEDO Survey Results (Average of Japanese Producers)	Various	$2,018 per kWh	$1,000 per kWh (next year)

Price stagnation is the kindest term I can use for nine years of research that has failed to reduce costs.

 

In the 2008 Annual Progress Report for its Vehicle Technologies Program, the DOE reported that the cost of high-energy Li-ion batteries for PHEV and EV applications "is approximately a factor of three-five too high on a kWh basis." Likewise, with respect to high-power Li-ion batteries for HEV applications, the DOE reported that the cost "is approximately a factor of two too high on a kW basis." Is it any wonder that a recent report on the electric two-wheeled vehicle (E2W) market in China says that roughly 85% of new E2Ws are powered by heavy lead-acid batteries instead of their lighter Li-ion cousins? Could it have something to do with a 400% price differential and a population that knows the value of a dollar?

 

I have seen all the glowing reports about immense progress in the Li-ion battery sector. One of my personal favorites is on Slide 14 from a Summer 2008 presentation by David Anderson of the Rocky Mountain Institute that shows a highly favorable "industry consensus" regarding future Li-ion battery manufacturing costs (Click here for image PDF).

 

In what alternative universe is that kind of industry consensus reasonable? Over the last nine years Li-ion battery companies have had a hard time maintaining Y2K price levels much less reducing them.

 

While their products are safer, I've seen nothing to indicate that the industry consensus is based on anything other than hope and the certain knowledge that unless prices collapse Li-ion batteries will never be cost effective in HEVs, PHEVs and EVs.

 

If you can stomach more Li-ion battery reality, read it from John Petersen at altenergystocks.com

DIY MICRO servers could save billions

Imagine the billions we could save using 'thumb drive size' servers using only five volts or all powered by a 10watt solar panel... 

 

 

FTPmicro is a small embedded web server as big as a package DIP40, based on the PIC18F67J60.

This chip is a 8-bit PICmicro with an integrated 10BaseT Ethernet controller. Despite the small dimensions, the board has some interesting peripherals, like a microSD card slot, a TC1047 temperature sensor, and many analog and digital I/O pins. But even more important is the software that can be performed on this device. Using the Microchip TCP/IP stack, suited for this particular hardware, it is possible to have, in a few minutes, a working HTTP and UDP server with DHCP client. FTPMicro doesn't need any external component: loading the compiled software in the PIC and powering the device at 5V is all you need. It also has a comfortable connector for the ICD2 programmer/debugger by Microchip. Thanks to the SD memory, a large number of files can be saved, and they will be available to the HTTP server. In this way, you can store a complete web-site, with both static (HTML) and dynamic (CGI) pages. By reading data in real-time and sending commands, it is possible to control any hardware.

 

FTPmicro is Open Source and you can DIY www.ftpmicro.com

 

Sponges reprogram anti-resistant bacteria and New Bank goes Sustainable

Sponges Contain a Compound Restoring Bacterial Vulnerability to Antibiotics.

Research chemists from the Hollings Marine Laboratory have fond a chemical from an ocean-dwelling sponge that reprograms anti-resistant bacteria to make them vulnerable to medicines again. Once-ineffective antibiotics proved lethal for bacteria treated with the compound, researchers found. The sponge’s chemical defense points to a compound called ageliferin. Fragments of the ageliferin compound successfully resensitized bacteria that cause whooping cough, ear infections, septicemia and food poisoning. The compound also works on Pseudomonas aeruginosa that causes horrible infections in wounded soldiers and on MSRA, bacteria resistant to multiple drugs.

 

New Bank Makes Sustainability its Core Operating System.

For newly chartered e3Bank, being “green” or “sustainable” is not a suite of product offerings or a vertical market within a company. It is an operating system. “It is part of our DNA,” according to the Bank’s Chairman Sandy Wiggins. The bank’s name, e3bank, reflects its focus on a triple bottom line: sustainable enterprise, the planetary environment, and social equity.  The bank has designed loan approval criteria to reflect all three dimensions of sustainability and that screen for environmental and social risk. Finance rates for a loan will be reduced, says Wiggins, as projects reach higher levels of sustainability. The bank’s employees will all be LEED certified. The Pennsylvania bank has just received its charter from the FDIC.

 

  - Sustainable Practices provided David Schaller, daschaller at yahoo.com

 

Full electric cars starting at $1,000 and coming to a Costco or Wal-Mart

Ouch... another NANO, VOLT and U.S. automaker FAIL. 

Say 'Ta, Ta' to volt and NANO...

 

A Flemish company has announced plans to sell what it claims to be the world’s only true zero emissions vehicle, the HPV

 

“The vehicle is really exciting,” says Dirk Apers, who spearheaded the project. “The components are relatively simple and easy to mass produce. Also, since the vehicles cost less than $1,000, we hope they will be useful for providing cheaper transportation not only in the developed world, but also in developing countries.”

 

The HPV, which stands for Human Powered Vehicle, works with the use of a biological engine that harnesses the driver’s body energy. While this energy would be an inefficient way to power heavy, traditional cars, the new vehicle’s intelligently designed ultra light body makes the power transfer frighteningly efficient. A WorldWatch Institute report on the HPV found that per passenger-mile the vehicle required only 35 calories of energy, compared to 1,860 for a traditional car.

 

Although other zero emissions cars, such as the “water car” and the “air car,” have so far failed to capture widespread consumer investment, experts believe the HPV has serious market potential for several reasons. Among these is the price. With the average American spending an average of $240,704 to $349,968 on motor vehicles in their lifetime, according to Motor Trend, getting a set of wheels for under a grand may have appeal. The vehicle is also more compact than traditional motor vehicles. In a German demonstration of 100 of the vehicles, they took up only a fraction of the space used by the same number of traditional cars.

 

Read full from source: gas2.org

 

 

Also look for 'Chinese Electric Cars Coming To Costco, Wal-Mart'

While seeing Chinese cars on display at the Detroit Auto Show has become somewhat common these past few years, there is one place they were hardly expected: Costco!

 

Yes, the big-box discount store Costco could be selling the Chinese-designed and Mexican-built vehicles says one auto exec. The CEO of GS Motors — Kathleen Ligocki — told the Hybrid Cars website that she thinks the US will follow in Mexico’s footsteps. GS Motors sold 4,000 China-made vehicles in Mexico last year at…Costco and Wal-Mart.

 

Ligocki, who previously served as president of Ford of Mexico, said the next step is for Chinese-designed cars to go into production in Mexico in 2010. She expects them to hit the American market about five years later. Hybrid Cars reported that GS is building an assembly plant in Michoacan, Mexico, with the China-based FAW Group who has formed joint ventures with automobile giants such as Volkswagen, Toyota and Mazda.

 

GS Motors will launch the FAW brand in Mexico this year with the F1 Hatchback, an entry-level car sold for under $5,500. FAW, one of the largest Chinese automakers, is allied in China with Volkswagen.

 

GS Motors is hurrying to get the first Chinese cars to America via Mexico—but they are not alone. BYD (Build Your Dreams) showed plug-in hybrid and electric model in Detroit last month and promised to bring them to the US as early as next year. While Ligocki and other industry executives believe Chinese cars will inevitably enter the US market... read full from source gas2.org

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HAASE Comment - 'Earth to G.M., Get in the game!'

Your recent bailout cash could have bought both these companies and secured a stable future in the global auto market for deacades while saving it at the same time !

 

"McDonald's To Take Steps To Cut Potato Pesticides"

Reuters  McDonald's Corp, the largest purchaser of potatoes in the United States, has agreed to take preliminary steps to reduce pesticide use in its domestic potato supply, shareholder groups said on Tuesday. Following the agreement, the Bard College Endowment, Newground Social Investment and the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund withdrew a shareholder proposal that, if approved, would have required the company to publish a report on options for cutting pesticide use in its supply chain. The investors said McDonald's has agreed to survey its U.S. potato suppliers, compile a list of best practices in pesticide use reduction and recommend those best practices to global suppliers. It also will share its findings with investors and include the findings in its annual corporate social responsibility report." 

 

Read full from Lisa Baertlein Reuters

DOE's Energy Savers Web Site Helps Consumers Stay Cool, Save Money

Warm weather is on its way. That usually means electric bills will increase and Americans will use more energy than at any other time of year to keep their homes or businesses cool and comfortable.

 

Finding ways to combat these high costs is essential, and that is why the U.S. Department of Energy has launched the Stay Cool, Save Money Web site. This educational tool can help consumers be more energy efficient by implementing simple, cost-effective, energy saving solutions this spring and summer.

 

Find out more at DOE's Stay Cool, Save Money Web site www.energysavers.gov/seasonal

 

 

 

 

Source: EERE

OSHA compliance - minimally effective safety and health program

From Cal-OSHA Reporter, "OSHA admits that compliance with their regulations is considered a minimally effective safety and health program. Compliance will not prevent all potential exposures or potential incidents." - Gary Ganson, American Industrial Hygiene Association member

 

Go to the full story in Industry Week

 

'Alarming' Use Of Energy In Modern Manufacturing Methods

Overall, new manufacturing systems are anywhere from 1,000 to one million times bigger consumers of energy, per pound of output, than more traditional industries. In short, pound for pound, making microchips uses up orders of magnitude more energy than making manhole covers.

 

At first glance, it may seem strange to make comparisons between such widely disparate processes as metal casting and chip making. But Professor Timothy Gutowski of MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering, who led the analysis, explains that such a broad comparison of energy efficiency is an essential first step toward optimizing these newer manufacturing methods as they gear up for ever-larger production.

 

"The seemingly extravagant use of materials and energy resources by many newer manufacturing processes is alarming and needs to be addressed alongside claims of improved sustainability from products manufactured by these means," Gutowksi and his colleagues say in their conclusion to the study, which was recently published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (ES&T).

 

Gutowksi notes that manufacturers have traditionally been more concerned about factors like price, quality, or cycle time, and not as concerned over how much energy their manufacturing processes use. This latter issue will become more important, however, as the new industries scale up -- especially if energy prices rise again or if a carbon tax is adopted, he says. Read more from Environmental News Network

U.S. power use tumbling with recession

NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters) - U.S. electricity demand will continue to shrink in 2009 as the economic meltdown hits industrial power consumption, but a rebound could come in 2010.

Bigger houses, a myriad of electric devices and an expanding economy have kept U.S. power use on a nearly uninterrupted climb for 25 years - until the recession put the brakes on industrial demand in 2008.

 

Electricity sales to industrial customers are expected to shrink 6.4 percent this year, leading to an expected 1.7 percent drop in overall power consumption in 2009, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its most recent outlook.

 

EIA, which provides data and analysis for the U.S. Department of Energy, said in another report industrial consumers bought 11.4 percent less power in January 2009 compared with the same time last year.

 

Steven Chu's Aprils Fools - Biofuels the 4th!

According to Dave Cohen, Steven Chu sees no particular urgency to our current problems.

 

His way of dealing with potential shortfalls is described as follows:

"The answer is let efficiency take care of it, at least in the foreseeable future 5, 10 or 15 years from now. Chu’s reasoning is based on his miscalculation that we have between 10 and 40 years before oil & natural gas production, taken together, will peak and decline. Efficiency is supposed to double the time we have to find replacement fuels, so Chu has recast the problem to give himself the 20 to 80 years he requires to find a way to replace oil.  (Biopact, October 8, 2007)."

 

The problem with Fourth Generation Biofuels is that they are way, way, way off in the future, if they can be done at all.

 

The plan is to somehow improve the whole process through bioengineering to do what nature does not do now. Is this a sensible way to approach a very real current fuel problem? Read more from the Drum

 

EPA to test air around 62 schools in 22 states

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency will soon be adding a different kind of equipment to dozens of school yards around the country — air pollution monitors.

 

The EPA announced Tuesday a list of 62 schools in 22 states where the outdoor air will be tested for toxic air contaminants. The agency will work with state and local officials to begin the monitoring at the selected schools within three months.

 

While the EPA and state and local governments already operate air pollution monitoring networks that collect information on a variety of air pollutants, this will be the first time school-yard air quality will be the focus of their investigations.

The schools were chosen because of their proximity to industrial facilities or other sources of pollution. The list includes elementary, middle school and high school campuses.

 

The list of schools that will be monitored can be found on the EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/schoolair.

 

What contaminants will be tested varies depending on the school. But the focus is toxic chemicals that are known to cause cancer, respiratory and neurological problems — especially in children, who are more susceptible than adults because they are still growing.

 

The monitors will measure the air for gases as well as solid particles such as heavy metals and soot, the EPA said.

 

"EPA, state, and local officials are mobilizing to determine where elevated levels of toxics pose a threat, so that we can take swift action to protect our children at their schools," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. Once in place, the new equipment will collect air samples on 10 days over a month. The EPA will cease monitoring at the school if the results show good air quality. But if high levels of contaminants are detected, the agency will take steps to reduce the pollution.

Read More From The Associated Press VIA - msnbc

$7,000 builds you a 70 mpg 0-60 in 7 sec...

What seats 5 gets 70mpg has a top speed of 140mph and does 0-60 in 7 sec?

Apparently my first car (tweaked out by top gear ;-)

Top Gear has declared war on oil, poverty and slow cars, all at the same time.

We naively proposed that we could build the car that no car company could manage to build themselves. Specifically, we proposed to marry timeless Italian style with thoroughly adequate performance (0-60 in 7 seconds), shocking fuel economy (70 mpg) and humble frugality (you can duplicate it for $7,000). And we decided to build it in 55 days. In retrospect, both symmetry and our own sanity would have been better served if we gave ourselves 77 days to pull this off, but no matter.

 

Maybe you have to own wrenches to grasp just how ridiculous is the idea of putting a modern (2002) engine in an old (1981) car. Putting a Jetta TDI engine in a Rabbit is an egregious abuse of the word "put." You can put your hat on a rack, and you can put a head of lettuce in your grocery bag, but try putting an elephant in your trunk. Easy to say, far more complicated to do, and odds are good something will go wrong when you try.

 

Each of these problems took hours — sometimes days — to figure out, and by the time we nailed our 0-60 in 7 seconds goal (that's faster than some 1980s Corvettes) and were ready to tackle the 70 mpg part, we had less than a week left and a lot fewer brain cells to work with.

 

There are two sides to improving fuel economy. You make the engine more efficient, so it takes less fuel to make power, and you make the car itself more efficient, so it takes less horsepower to move it in the first place. We've already done everything we can to make our horses more efficient — our new TDI engine is incredibly frugal, with tuning modifications that made it more so — now it's time to tune the car.

 

Our mileage test, then, becomes pass/fail. We'll fill the tank, drive 70 miles and fill it again. If it takes less than one gallon, we've broken the 70 mpg barrier.

 

It's ironic how squeezing the most out of every last drop of fuel — a selfless bit of environmentalism, if there ever was one — means driving like an erratic, self-important douchebag: Accelerating like a grandma, coasting up hills, etc. Our apologies to anyone within a mile of the Sipster who actually has somewhere to be. This said, we're complete novices at this hypermiling thing, so we're sure an actual hypermiler nerd could have infuriated drivers with better results.

 

Exactly 70 miles after we started, we clatter back to the same diesel pump, swipe the card and, with held breath, start pumping. The pump shuts off almost immediately. 0.14 gallons! No, that's not right. That would be 500 mpg.

 

Sometime next week we'll explain the financial realities of building a clattery, unreliable, silly-looking, fast, nimble and incredibly fuel-efficient Sipster of your own for only $7,000. And after that? You decide. Aside from replacing the fuel tank, what should the Sipster do next? Should we try to set a land speed record? Do the 12 Hours of Sebring without refueling?

Read full from On Feb. 20, TopGear.com

30 year old secret life of a CFL 'barely a shade away from crazy.'

FACT: CFL's never would have made it outside of the General Electric IP vault had the design not been leaked and then copied.

Because GE, once they examined the invention -- engineered by GE designer Ed Hammer in 1976 in response to the 1973 oil crisis

Consumers with an eye to conserving energy may be snatching those swirly compact fluorescent bulbs off store shelves now, but 30 years ago they were barely a shade away from crazy.

"I was given a number of reasons why it wouldn't work," said Ed Hammer, a retired General Electric engineer who invented compact fluorescent while working at the company in the 1970s. "I was told it could be a little better than an incandescent bulb, but that was about it."

Hammer invented the bulb in 1976, he said, and primarily worked alone.

Although executives at GE liked the idea, they decided not to market it at the time. CFLs would require entirely new manufacturing facilities, which would cost $25 million. "So they decided to shelve it," Hammer said.

The electronics giant contemplated licensing the design. Unfortunately, the design leaked out. Others copied it before GE started a licensing program. Read full from CBS (CNET)

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Haase - After 30 years of non innovation... I think it is safe to say we can move forward on technology and start using LED's

FORD done right - brings Largest Battery-Powered Truck to U.S.

World's Largest Battery-Powered Truck Comes to U.S.

Company officials at Smith Electric Vehicles announced on Friday that they will begin manufacturing "The world's largest battery-electric-powered truck" at a new plant in in Kansas City, Missouri.

The battery-powered Smith Newton will be built in collaboration with Ford Motor Co.

 

The Newton cruises at a top speed of 50mph, carries payloads up to eight tons and can last up to 150 miles on a single charge. The Newton also has a turning radius of 14.15 meters, which is a relatively tight turn for a larger truck, making it ideal for urban applications. Read more of this story »

 

HatTip Timothy B. Hurst

After 30 years 'change' would be nice....

From The Economist (photo cred Getty Images)

Light-emitting diodes (LED's) will transform the business of illumination, especially with new production breakthroughs

 

“INCANDESCENT” might well describe the rage of those who prefer traditional light bulbs to their low-energy alternatives. This week, the European Commission formally adopted new regulations that will phase such bulbs out in Europe by 2012. America will do so by 2014. Some countries, such as Australia, Brazil and Switzerland, have got rid of them already. When a voluntary agreement came into force in Britain, at the start of the year, people rushed out to buy the last 100-watt light bulbs. Next to go are lower-wattage bulbs.

 

But what will replace the light bulb? Although obtaining illumination by incandescence (ie, heating something up) goes back to prehistory, it was not until 1879 that Thomas Edison demonstrated a practical example that used a wire filament encased in glass. Modern bulbs, the descendants of that demonstration, are cheap (around 50 cents) but inefficient, because only about 5% of the energy they use is turned into light and the rest is wasted as heat.

 

Without changing light fittings, the cheapest direct replacement for an incandescent bulb at the moment is a compact fluorescent light (CFL). These use up to 75% less power and last ten times longer, but they cost around $3 each. That price puts some people off, which explains part of the hoarding of incandescent bulbs. But others object not to the price but to the quality of the light, which has a different spectrum from the one they are used to. CFL bulbs can also be slow to reach maximum illumination. And some people worry that they may be bad for the health. Fluorescent lights use electricity to excite mercury vapour. This produces ultraviolet light that causes a phosphor coating inside the bulb to glow. The lights can flicker, which could set off epileptic fits, and badly made ones might leak ultraviolet radiation, and may thus pose a cancer risk. There are also concerns about the disposal of the toxic mercury.

 

The most promising alternatives are light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

An LED is made from two layers of semiconductor, an “n-type” with an excess of negatively charged electrons, and a positive “p-type” which has an abundance of “holes” where electrons should be but aren’t. When a current is applied across the sandwich, the electrons and holes team up at the junction of the two materials and release energy in the form of light...can be tuned to produce light that is similar to natural daylight but with virtually no ultraviolet or heat.

 

Light-emitting diodes have progressed from simple red indicators on electronic products to become torches, streetlights and car headlights. Now the first mains-voltage LEDs designed as direct replacements for incandescent bulbs are arriving on the market. Some, such as the Philips Master LED range, promise energy savings of up to 80% and a working life of 45,000 hours. 

 

Developments like the use of cheap silicon make the case for switching to LED lighting even more compelling. About 20% of the world’s electricity is used for lighting. America’s Department of Energy thinks that, with LEDs, this could be cut in half by 2025, saving more than 130 new power stations in America alone.

 

Please read full from The Economist

Forget the lights - shut down the friggin' computer

As people turn off the lights for Earth Hour this evening and ponder their electricity use, one of the world's most rapidly growing power guzzlers -- for which nearly everyone carries responsibility -- is largely hidden from view. It's the invisible backbone of the Internet. The popularity of all the twittering, blogging, music downloading, and Facebooking has had a little-known environmental downside, by boosting the demand for ... It's a growth in demand that has come out of nowhere, and equals the amount of power produced by 17 large, coal-fired generating stations.

The total cost of electricity needed to run the world's growing twittering, blogging, music downloading, and Facebooking fleet has been projected to rise by a compounded rate of about 11 per cent a year from 2005 to 2010 (or add 15 more large, coal-fired generating stations.) Read more via Globe and Mail

Still think turning off your lights will make a big dent?

Lets make a real difference this year. How about the gadgets when your done... turn off your by having a main powerstrip or your work computer...

Example...

PlayStation 3 uses 500% more energy than a refrigerator (source)

According to a recent study, the Sony PlayStation 3 consumes 33.34 kWh (weekly consumption) when on and playing a game. That is more than a Plasma TV who uses 29.68 kWh when on and playing a DVD.

When the same game console is off (back switch on) it still consumes 0.30 kWh. Microsoft Xbox 360 consumes 0.40 kWh when off and 26.00 kWh when on and playing.

Tests also found that leaving a PlayStation 3 on while not in use would cost almost $250 a year in electricity bills (charged at 15c per kWh). This alone is around five times more than it would take to run a refrigerator for the same yearly period.

The only way to be sure these energy hungry gadgets don't consume energy (and your money) is to make sure they are switched off and unplugged when you are not using them.

Lights out really? What about Simple Office PCs at Night

These Vampires represent between 5 and 8 percent of a single family home's total electricity use per year, according to the Department of Energy.

The study found nearly half of US workers who use a PC at their job do not typically shut down at night.

The 2009 PC Energy Report, which examines workplace PC power consumption in the US, UK and Germany, estimated that US organizations waste $2.8 billion a year to power 108 million unused machines. In 2009, these unused PCs are expected to emit approximately 20 million tons of carbon dioxide, roughly the equivalent impact of 4 million cars.

Every year the information and telecom technology industry generates 2% of the world’s carbon emissions — the same as a year’s worth of air traffic. Moreover, PCs and monitors account for 39% of these emissions, equivalent to the emissions of approximately 46 million cars.

Read full from ENN

Proof most people are smarter that the media hype

It appears people are actually worried about the real problems and not the hype.

Nearly follows the REAL problems...

 

Clearly proves you can fool some of the people some of the time but never all the people.

 

Read full from gallup.com

FAIL fuel standard of 27.3 mpg in 2011.

Three U.S. and a half a dozen other makers offer 40mpg + to non-U.S. countries...
NOT allowing those vehicles in the U.S. by 2011 is a definition of FAILURE.
 
"The New administration is to announce a combined car and light-truck fuel economy standard for the 2011 model year of 27.3 mpg, and has ordered officials to rework proposed standards for model years 2012 to 2016 to comport with plans for economy-wide restrictions on global warming gases.  Source: The Society of Environmental Journalists 

List current vehicles that get over 40mpg...

44 MPG overall minivan by G.M. 

5 Passenger 62mpg Ford Fiesta - Not yours!

110 mpg safe family car in 1984

 EPA verified 25 mpg SUV & 48 mpg non-hybrids

YEP... Another GM 60 MPG Vehicle We Don't Have...Yet

VW - 60 MPG, 90% Emissions Reduction 60 mpg anyone can do for $400

The 204hp - 45mpg Engine we all can have (BMW)

VW' s 7-seater mini-van 38 mpg

Yep VW Caravan, diesel with about 40mpg since 2002

40 MPG BioDiesel MiniVan you can not buy in USA!

VW Polo 73 mpg will not come to U.S.

60 MPG Passat is one of the

61 MPG Urban Lite Peugeot

 General Motors (GM) 200 mpg lean machine

115 mpg Biodiesel Harley

Cry over a few more that get over 40mpg

Model	U.S. mpg
Peugeot 407 Coupé	40 mpg
Mercedes CLC 200 CDI	40 mpg
Volkswagen Passat CC 2.0 TDI	40 mpg
BMW Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo Coupé	44 mpg
Volkswagen Scirocco TDI	44 mpg
Audi TT Coupé  TDI Quattro	44 mpg
BMW 320d Coupé	49 mpg
BMW 120d Coupé	49 mpg
Citroën C4 Coupé	52 mpg

Progress - I would like to see a little...

Over 100 years and this is Progress?

Hope that good choices will change others and address Humanity's Global Crises.

"Choice is an illusion, created by those with power, for those without."

 

Vandana Shiva  -And where did this start? All this feels so timeless, but it started with humanity getting at the fossil fuel, which was never supposed to be touched… But that model carries on. And globalization now is industrializing every activity of every human being's life across the planet. For me, globalization is really expanding the use of fossil fuel.

And so while on the one hand, when we talk climate change, we're talking about reducing emissions, the entire economic model is based on increasing emissions. It is based on increasing emissions by destroying small-scale peasant farming and introducing large-scale industrial agriculture. It's increasing emissions by making every one of us dependent on our everyday needs to come from China.

Everything today is being made where it can be made most cheaply, which means where sources can be exploited the fastest and workers can be exploited the highest. And at one level, that's what's being reflected in China's double-digit growth and India's nine percent growth. It's basically converting our resources into commodities, to be sold around the world.

But that conversion requires the wastage of human beings on a scale we've never seen. Read more via alternet.org

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A free Democracy with regulations and laws written 'by the people for the people' has proven that we can help ourselves while helping others and achieve near limitless potential.
 
When we start to lose those freedoms as democracy dissolves... the regulations and laws designed to protect ourselves and others also dissolves.
 
And we can hope and dream as much as we want that our singular choices will make others change. But in reality, change - is an unstoppable, inevitable succession, we 'the people' decide if this change will be positive.
 

We can only bring positive change to others by setting the best example for them to follow... freedom and democracy.
 
~ Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness.~

Jobs... Energy, Environemtal, Health and Safety...

I have been inundated with both job seekers and providers scrambling to secure EHS jobs in the worst market in U.S. history.

In the next month I will develop a AI network to defuse this influx of job seekers and employers securing our nations energy, environmental, health and safety workforce.

Until then I will 'post on request' VALID openings and candidates.

Big movers this month:
Large U.K. based corporation seeking dynamic EHS professional leader
Contact - Helen Gotts, HSQE Lead Consultant U.K


Great Lakes based (my back yard):
Major Wisconsin and Midwest Based EHS consultant seeking EHS professional with Alternative energy experience to assist client base.
Contact me as position and organization are requesting confidential status

Large Health Orientated Milwaukee, WI Based organization seeking EHS professional to grow into dynamic corporate role.
Contact me as position and organization are requesting confidential status


Philip Gimson Executive Recruiter Greater Philadelphia Area
Has an excellent candidate with tenure EHS experience residing in Kentucky but willing to relocate due to pending company layoffs.

Please feel free to contact me if you are a EHS professional with tenure or a employer seeking the same.

The is never a charge and is always confidential.

Thanks for helping out the few whose professions are dedicated to helping others,

Christopher Haase

And Now For Some Good News . . . from George Washington

Here's some good news:

• 60% of new U.S. power capacity in 2008 was renewable energy

• New supercapacitor could revolutionize electric vehicles

• Congress OKs protection for wilderness in 9 states

• Papaua New Guinea forests reveal 56 new species

Hat tip to georgewashington

CA rule to check tire pressure

CA - Automotive service industry must check tire pressure on all vehicles.

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Today, the Air Resources Board adopted a regulation that will require California’s automotive maintenance industry to check the tire pressure of every vehicle they service.

 

Effective July 1, 2010, this rule, one of 44 early action measures required by AB 32, will annually:
• Eliminate 700,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions;
• Reduce the state’s fuel consumption by 75 million gallons; and,
• Extend the average tire’s useful life by 4,700 miles.

 

“Checking tire pressure is one of the many simple things that we can all do to reduce our impact on the environment,” said ARB board member Barbara Riordan. “While we should do this monthly, this measure makes it convenient and regular.”

Tire pressure check will save money, gas and lives

"Under-inflated tires waste fuel, cause tires to wear out prematurely and increase drivers' safety risk," said Dan Zielinski, senior vice president with the Rubber Manufacturers Association, which represents tire manufacturers.  "This regulation will help protect California's environment, help consumers save money in fuel and tire costs, and help Californians optimize vehicle safety." Read full at www.arb.ca.gov

 

 

 

A Real Rescue U.S. Investment Plan... Conserve & Efficiency Improvements

Obama Administration Announces $3.2 Billion in Funding for Local Energy Efficiency Improvements
Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced plans to invest $3.2 billion in energy efficiency and conservation projects in U.S. cities, counties, states, territories, and Native American tribes. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, funded by President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will provide formula grants for projects that reduce total energy use and fossil fuel emissions, and improve energy efficiency nationwide.

 

The funding will support energy audits and energy efficiency retrofits in residential and commercial buildings, the development and implementation of advanced building codes and inspections, and the creation of financial incentive programs for energy efficiency improvements. Other activities eligible for use of grant funds include transportation programs that conserve energy, projects to reduce and capture greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy installations on government buildings, energy efficient traffic signals and street lights, deployment of Combined Heat and Power and district heating and cooling systems, and others.

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Haase  - The utilization of the 4 R's is to reduce our energy demands and secure a prosperous, safe and healthy future is what we have been begging for - for decades. This Act is a monumental pivoting point that may have the greatest impact on saving our jobs, economy and make a REAL tangible difference on securing our nations energy needs.

 

The point of saving a bank may be, pointless

Unless you invest in the act of people making, doing or gather things for themselves and others there is NO return on that investment.

 

The point of a bank is to take money and make a profit exploiting the monetary value system during a exchange of goods or services.

 

Ultimately the bank itself is a 'value added service' not a value in and of itself.

 

And while investments in stabilizing a monetary value exchange system may help in the trade of things... its helpfulness is not a cure.

 

The fabric of 'why' we are a society:

People make, do or gather things for themselves and others. What things you can't make, do or gather you need to exchange something another person can't make, do or gather... it is that simple. 

 

Why do I make the obvious and somewhat hurtful bank point... 

Less than 5% of the bailout goes towards energy, security and prosperity with over 60% going into fix a problem that returns no value other than 'avoidance of a threat that may never go away'. 

 

Please read full announcement at EEERE Website with full DOE recovery Act Funning of $32.7 Billion at  www.energy.gov/recovery

 

Economic distress index - USA is 5.3 for moderate alert on national safety and security

U.S. Political Instability Index - 5.3

We define social and political unrest or upheaval as those events or developments that pose a serious extra-parliamentary or extra-institutional threat to governments or the existing political order. The events will almost invariably be accompanied by some violence as well as public disorder. These need not necessarily succeed in toppling a government or regime. Even unsuccessful episodes result in turmoil and serious disruption.

The overall index on a scale of 0 (no vulnerability) to 10 (highest vulnerability) has two component indexes an index of underlying vulnerability and an economic distress index. The overall index is a simple average (on a 1-10 scale) of the two component indexes.

There are 15 indicators in all12 for the underlying and 3 for the economic distress index:

inequality; state history; corruption; ethnic fragmentation; trust in institutions; status of minorities; history of political instability; proclivity to labour unrest; level of social provision; a country’s neighbourhood; regime type (full democracy, flaweddemocracy, hybrid or authoritarian); and the interaction of regime type with political factionalism.

Who's at risk as deepening economic distress foments social unrest?

Read report at www.eiu.com/special by The Economist

Haase - Safety and our nations security need to be address 'proactively' not after events... I wonder if my years planning RMP's and Community and Business Contingency Plans would be of value around here ;-)