Archive for the ‘Alternative energy sources’ Category
10 Ways to Make a US City Great
1. Socialize healthcare in a city. Show the US it can be done! Start small and grow out… cities with shrinking populations might give this a shot. (eh hem… Pittsburgh!)
2. Be the first city to build a Vertical Garden!
3. Be the first to place oxygen-rich plants in public schools (like Kamal Meattle did in Delhi buildings) and study the affects.
4. Build fountains that serve as sources for drinking water. Serbia did it… we can do it too! It creates an instant social space and sense of security and well being in the community.
5. Legalize street vending or make it easier to get a vending liscense. This easy entry into business will make room for small time entripenuers to get their foot in the door. It can also add free security to city streets, act as quick solution to workers on lunch break looking for a meal or a coffee, and add extra flavor to other wise monotone sections of cityscape.
6. Be the first city to paint all the rooftops white! Save on energy and become a green tourism location!
7. Make more streets walking streets. It’s something that is so rare in the US, as most cities are tripping over themselves to clear the way for cars. Imagine the downtown of any US cities with more open air restaurants and a safe place to walk and relax? Imagine Times Square without cars! Put the walking streets right in there with the public drinking fountains.
8. Include safe bike lanes in city planning. As cities in the US fret over obesity related health issues and pollution from cars, issues with congestion and traffic, “ye olde bicycle” remains a viable solution all around. Bikes put more eyes on the streets (safer streets) takes cars off the road, provide a means of free transport and exercise, and hey-–it’s fun!
9. Add Green roofs to any building!
10. Encourage dynamic educational and artistic programming in communities of all sizes.
Corn Walking
We eat it in almost every processed foodstuff we buy, we feed it to our live stock, we’re starting to put it in our cars- it’s corn. America has leaned on corn for decades as a staple for food and economic well being. Can it solve our fuel issues? The debate is on. One the one hand, bio-fuels offer an economic boost to small towns-
On the other hand, bio-fuels put up to twice as much carbon in the air as petroleum based fuels-
Growing corn for bio-fuels doesn’t eliminate the need for petroleum. Were you surprised that our president,(who’s connected with oil companies) seemingly passed a bill that steered business away from his own business interests? Most corn is grown with petroleum based fertilizers, so the idea that our economy will be breaking a dependence on oil is an illusion.
As much as I don’t care for Bush and his theatrical environmental solutions he actually did mention one useful alternative -
“We’ll also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips and stalks and switchgrass,” the president promised.
That’s right. Switchgrass. Switch grass grows back from the same root stock every year so there’s no need to reseed or fertilize. That’s right- an alternative fuel that could really kick the legs out from under both fuel industry and companies that have genetically engineered and hybridized most corn grown int he Midwest to be a sterile inbred variety which cannot produce fertile seeds, necessitating that farmers repurchase seeds every year.
Go Switch grass!
The Genertator Bike: Good idea?
I need to make a mobile power source and the first thing I thought of was pedal power. I want something I can both set up for daily usefulness in my home and also take out to various locations. In my search for a good how-to guide in setting up a generator from a bike, I’ve fished through several sites- here are my reviews and links:
SCIENCE SHAREWARE
David Butcher’s site offers step by step plans to build a generator that ends up costing you about !!$725!! to make a car battery charger that works from a (stationary or regular) bike. A smaller project to build a DC 150W Pedal Power generator costs $502.
Gees..is that really the start up cost? Obviously, you want to know that when you are doing this you’re going to get this money back in power savings… or independence…or SOMETHING.
I do recommend the FAQs page…and was strangely fascinated by the amount of info about burning calories in exchange for watts. What I really wanted to find was a break down of how much time was put into running various applicances and how much return was yielded- how long did you bike and how long did that power run your laptop, or TV or whatever?
How has the bike generator been integrated into daily/home use and has it been an awkward integration or a helpful one? Did it save on electric bills?
The site seems oreinted towards the novelty of making the costly generator more than anything, which is frustrating. I don’t just want to charge my cell phone guys, I want to artfully abandon the grid!
Maybe the answers are there and I just can’t figure out how to read them…Can you?
MATT SHARVER
This guy clearly lays out some specific limitations, and I appreciate a little trial and error related critisim. He shares information about several models and drew his first model from the Science Share page:
http://www.mattshaver.com/bikegen/index.htm
SOME DUDE
Here’s a link to a guy who made a generator set up for a reclining bike, and you can contact him to ask him specific questions , which is what I’m about to do….
http://www.kbt-dc-supplies.com/bike.php
EARTH TOYS
Perhaps one of the most application driven comments comes from this page on a site called Earth Toys…ironically, it’s our man David Butcher, seemingly dominating everything I find that has to do with pedal power.
He talks alot about ”watt-hours” in this article and I’m not exactly sure what he means… is he creating his own form of measurement for the pedaling to power process? An excerpt where he finally lays it on the line:
“It always feels good to reach 10 Watt-hours. What could 10 Watt-hours do? It could power the little 4 inch LCD Color TV we have for an hour and a half. It could run the monitor on my computer for 12 minutes. My laptop, 20 minutes. The 12 volt radio I listen to while I am pedaling, 10 hours. The LED lights over my head that light the pedal generator while I am working out, 500 hours. Wow. However, it could only run our 27 inch television for 8 minutes. The 120 watt halogen lights over the dining room table, 5 minutes. The toaster, 29 seconds. The whole house, less than 5 seconds.”
Magic eightball sez- out look not so good for the amount of energy that comes from bike work. For someone who is a daily bike commuter, coming home to a bike power workout doesn’t seem to make too much sense, and I REALLY want to run my toaster for more than 29 seconds.
It’s not pessimism folks, it’s realism. I haven’t given up however– and will post a follow up as I continue to try and figure out how to generate power in a viable, mobile way for my upcoming art project.
