Displaying items by tag: greenFueling Our Future
At its best, technology is a universal connector and translator, helping us come home to ourselves in the deepest sense. Never before have we approached such a leveling of levels, an alliance of adopters across age, social, cultural and religious spectra.
As the world again becomes flat, we're creating ever-expanding arcs of connectivity. And connection equals energy.
We can literally power the planet with the energy of pure love, which enables us to reimagine the obvious. For example: hydrogen, a gas that's plentiful and perennial, can be used to fuel our future with zero pollution, zero cost, and zero depletion of finite resources.
Energy and environmental analyst Harry Braun lucidly explains in this Science for Life interview how the world can make the shift to a highly renewable, fossil fuel-free future of sustainable solar hydrogen power.
Then there's alcohol. David Blume, Executive Director of the International Institute of Ecological Agriculture and a globally recognized expert on Ethanol and biofuels, invites us to drive it rather than drink it: Alcohol Can be A Gas.
When I recently listened to him cavorting with astrologer Caroline Casey on her weekly Visionary Activist radio show, I was galvanized by possibility.
Caroline introduced the show by saying, "We are convening the Ouija Board of Directors," where curiosity and generosity open the path to ingenuity. Caroline and David are masters of non-linear, alchemical thinking; in fact, both spoke to the "alchemy of reversal" that only awaits human receptivity to manifest.
What David shared set my mind whirling. Ethylene (the key ingredient in crude oil) is what Pythia, the Delphic Oracle, would inhale to inspire prophecy! It's the same smell that fermenting fruit gives off. Ethylene is also a precursor to ether (anesthetic).
I immediately understood: We can remain anesthetized (deadened, living as sheep, ruled by the Dominator virus), or alive and undrugged, seeking to collaborate with rather than conquer Nature.
Caroline invoked, "Let us all be Pythias: how do we come into accord with the larger, mythic design of our lives?"
She opined that the "new Pythic car" might be one where we "drive and prophesy." She's not far off: just a week prior, I found the site of a Japanese scientist who has discovered how to turn plastic back into oil. And there's inherent humor: while the word may mean something entirely different in Japanese, his company is "Blest."
David helps create sustainable energy solutions for urban and rural communities worldwide, such as Project Gaia, a global initiative to develop clean cooking fuels. How do we produce non-wood fuel in indigenous cultures? Easy: Ethanol. It's a clean, non-toxic fuel source that saves both trees and people's health (because they're not breathing in the smoke from cooking daily over an open fire.)
He proposed a solution for the Gulf oil spill as well: bioremediation with kelp. Once again, it's about using what Nature has provided. He explained how Gulf fishermen could toss kelp nets over the ocean and use defunct refineries for harvest, yielding re-oxygenated water, fertilizer and fuel. David asserts that this method can easily power the entire U.S.!
What these mentally elastic pioneers are doing might be termed shapeshifting. In his riveting book Shape Shifting: Techniques for Global and Personal Transformation, former management consultant John Perkins, once an expert witness for nuclear power who awakened to become a proponent of clean energy, describes his life-altering encounters with master shamans worldwide.
The indigenous prescription for planetary salvation: "change the dream" of conspicuous, Earth-decimating consumption to an Earth-honoring, balanced vision that serves both ancient and modern cultures. To serve this new dream, Perkins founded DreamChange.org, a global grass roots movement of people from diverse cultures and backgrounds dedicated to shifting consciousness and promoting sustainable lifestyles.
Clearly, the possibilities for fueling our future in every sense are limitless, if each of us is willing to be the change, to affirm, "The buck stops here." This is also the key to wealth creation: claiming responsibility (the ability to respond) in every area of our lives. By stepping fully into our power, by refusing to point the finger or pass the buck, by being willing to leave herd consciousness for conscious co-creation, we accrue true wealth, which means well being and wisdom.
It's a subtle shift: from passivity to passion, collusion to collaboration, independence to interdependence. If we've been accustomed to canon firings to get our attention, now the caress of a feather will suffice. Noise and commotion jar the senses and sensibilities; it's only in repose that we can hear the beckoning wonder, calling us to release our sticky, oil-soaked cravings and glide with grace into our heart's desire.
Remember how Doc Brown stuffed banana peels into his car's gas tank in Back to the Future, when he returned from a brief trip ahead? That 1985 film was prescient. A quarter century hence, we're nearly there.
Green Business News - Week Ending August 6th
Builder pitches net-zero energy homes
A new company is seeking to build the nation’s largest net-zero energy subdivision, comprised of homes that produce as much energy as they consume.
The homes will start in the high $400,000s, and will face challenges as they compete with traditional homes priced under $300,000. Jim Regan, Energy Smart's president, embraces the challenges that come with his groundbreaking project. "This is the way the world should build," he said. "We can build a home that renews itself.''
Homes will use a combination of alternative energy sources, from solar to wind to geothermal, and homeowners will be credited for the energy they produce.
Read more »
California Businesses Get 0% Financing for Efficiency Improvements
PG&E, one of the country’s largest natural gas and electric utilities, has allocated $20 million for California business owners seeking to finance energy efficiency improvements. The money will be loaned interest-free -- that’s an unheard-of 0% financing -- and loan payments will be included in utility bills. The energy savings will be used to offset the loan, which adds up to an extremely low-cost way to greenify commercial properties.
And don’t worry if you’re not a California business person -- Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts have this program already in place, with New York, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin and Oregon under serious consideration.
Read more »
Oregon on track to get utility-scale wave farm
New Jersey-based Ocean Power Technologies is one step closer to building a wave energy plant off the coast of Oregon that could generate enough electricity to power 1000 homes each year.
On Wednesday, the company signed a settlement agreement that included 11 government agencies and several private companies. Ocean Power is still waiting to be granted a license from the Federal Energy Regulation Commission that would allow it to connect to the grid.
To prepare for the project, the company worked with local government agencies to evaluate the effect on marine life or the Oregon seafood industries. They have also committed to continue evaluation once the project is completed.
EV charging station recharges without wires
Evatran has introduced a new wireless vehicle charging station that uses electromagnetic induction to transmit power to an electric vehicle’s battery.
The charging station is mounted to the floor near where the car is parked, and a vehicle adapter is mounted to the car. Going wireless is about 10% less efficient than using cords, but the time it takes to charge the battery is the same.
Evatran plans to begin producing the device in early 2011.
Read more »
Green tech investment surges even as economy lags
A new report from Ernst & Young shows venture capital investment in energy-related green technology surged 64% to $1.5 billion in the second quarter of 2010. This jump puts current investment in green technology at the same record-breaking levels reached in the third quarter of 2008, just before the economy collapsed.
The money is largely going to electric cars and supporting infrastructure, and solar projects. 59% of the investment went to later-stage startups that are more likely to produce high returns, rather than early-stage experimental enterprises.
Read more »
New BP boss says there will be ‘pullback’ in cleanup, but no abandonment
New BP CEO Bob Dudley made his first trip to the Gulf region this week to outline next steps for the energy giant’s oil spill recovery. He reiterated BP’s pledge to help oil workers who lost their jobs by setting up a $100 million fund that will start issuing grants on September 1st.
Meanwhile, after completing a new round of seafood testing, commercial fishing is reopening in portions of Louisiana state waters east of the Mississippi river. 7539 square miles of federal fishing waters remain off-limits.
Results of Xcel Energy's Wind-to-Battery Project
Xcel Energy has published results of a two-year direct wind energy storage experiment. The company installed a 1-megawatt (MW) capacity battery (20 50-kW NGK Insulator batteries) near an 11-MW wind farm. The battery’s purpose was to store wind energy and release it to the grid when needed. Early test results show the battery was effective in shifting wind energy from off-peak to on-peak availability, and that the new technology could be applicable to Solar as well.
Read more »
General Motors Invests in Lightweight Hybrid Maker
GM has taken an equity stake in Bright Automotive, a developer of lightweight plug-in hybrid vehicles. The new relationship will accelerate the release of Bright’s first car, which had been slated for production in 2013. Bright is considering factors like weight, wind resistance and construction materials to design its car platform, which will weigh 1500 pounds less than its competitors.
Sustainable Green Education
Green School in Bali, Indonesia has broken the mold of traditional education, offering a holistic, whole-child approach to learning while fostering in students a deep sense of appreciation and respect for the Earth. Its founders, John and Cynthia Hardy, have created a school that seeks to leave a minimal carbon footprint by combining the latest in green technology and the use of sustainable natural resources.
