Green, Green, and Green

There is a neat iPhone app that can help you find Green stuff at the store, I need to take a look at it. Sounds interesting. Frustration is getting past the green wash.

Green Inc.: Making Efficiency Affordable

Green Inc.: Making Efficiency Affordable - NY Times.

What's interesting is the green improvements basically raise the price of a house by 10%. What was not mentioned was the payback time.

Japanese hurdles with LED lighting

ANALYSIS-Japanese firms face hurdles in bet on LED lighting - Alibaba News.

My thoughts:

1. Price, price, and price are what matters for most light bulbs for consumer.
   
2. For industrial components Japanese firms have the channels.
3. I agree, it's hard to figure out quality difference of light bulbs such as CFL's, not to mention LED's, and there are some significant ones. I find it very frustrating as a consumer since the quality of light, actual reliability, and noise all vary.
   

Thomas Friedman - Green President

Friedman: First Green President - NY Times.

My 2 cents - Carbon Tax, no matter how much it makes sense, is political suicide in this economy.

Ocean's PH

I find it amazing that in the huge Ocean's of the world, that the PH has risen by .1 since the industrial revolution. Was 8.2 for 600,000 years, now it's 8.1, and by 2100 may be 7.8.

A Look Into Future Oceans for Shellfish Reasons - WSJ.

Green Manufacters will be?

The Green Economy is mentioned as the way to help the US economy rebuild. For example, this is why lots of projects should be done to help get solar past the early development stages and lower the cost.

But, what happens when other nations are going after the same goal? Such as China in alternative energy and electric cards (China Outlines Plans for Making Electric Cars). If China is being used today for manufacturing due to supposedly lower costs, why would this not also happen in so called green manufacturing?

Just a thought!

Oil Prices

It actually helps environmentally that Oil Prices have stayed around $50 per barrel. If they had collapsed to $20, there would be even more of a rush for SUV's and exit from investment in alternate fuels. Oil Prices Resist the World’s Recession Trend - NY Times

Trains - The improvement headache

Trains are a hobby of mine and my Father used to take me on lots of them growing up. On the passenger side they have become a bit pricey. And on the freight side there are a lot of headaches for improving them, such as who pays the bill, the noise of trains, etc. Los Angeles has been funding the Alameda corridor as a way to reduce truck traffic from the Los Angeles harbors through more underpasses and such, to improve the speed of trains. As a resident who has spent to much time waiting for trains in the Rowland Heights area, the underpasses are great.

Now if they could only get the trolly lines interconnected, but unfortunately there are 3 different systems...

Food Safety in US - 3000 Departments?

Ill From Food? Ability to Investigate Outbreaks Varies by State - NY Times.

I would like a separate department of food.

LED Power Supply

They got rid of the capacitor, which increases the reliability of the LED Power Supply. And potted it so you can't tell what's inside. A capacitor is a storage device that is one of the challenging areas of power supply design for reliability. Basically two metal plates with an insulator between them with a liquid. And they can pop!

Bury C02 under the Ocean

A Plan for U.S. Emissions to Be Buried Under Sea - NY Times.

Hope it gets approval, sounds more cost effective than many other proposals... And good to try out and see if it works or not.

500th Post

So how much change since I started this blog over a year ago. New US President! Solar is falling in prices and the economy is pretty bad. Credit crunch is having an impact on solar, but may also be helping businesses be more efficient which as WalMart has shown, helps the bottom line. LED's are now in Costco, which still surprises me. Dimmable CFL's are now widely available. The price of gas surged, and now has fallen that has made hybrids stack up at dealers.

And I am a bit more educated about the environment and the various technologies that are advancing.

Coral Fossils Suggest That Sea Level Can Rise Rapidly?

Coral Fossils Suggest That Sea Level Can Rise Rapidly New York Times

A bit scary...

I am glad I don't live next to the Ocean!

LED Usage

The first major usage of LED's outside of electronic panels was in street lights for Red. When the cost dropped enough came the green and yellow. Now there is starting to be some street light LED's, LED's for lights in Cars, and LED's for household usage. The question is how fast will the price drop making them more competitive with the less costly products that have the dominant market share. It seems to be going faster on the drop in prices than I expected, since I saw LED lights for sale in Costco.

Oil Industry Braces for Drop in Gas Demand

Oil Industry Braces for Drop in Gas Demand - WSJ.

Many oil companies believe due to higher efficiency cars as well as alternate fuels that gas demand in the US has peaked.

I hope so! Any way to make this happpen faster without a negative economic impact?

Costa Rica - Sustainable Development

Thomas L. Friedman: Costa Rica sets a standard for sustainable growth - NY Times.

Per Mr. Friedman Costa Rica has set up a sustainable growth economy that deals with the hidden charges of pollution and usage that are usually ignored. Very interesting.

Algae to Oil Update

Good news, even with lower oil prices, is research into Algae into oil is continuing:

Pond Scum Gets Limelight Moment

Jerry Brand has been tending the world's largest pond scum collection for 10 years. The quest for renewable energy has made him and his algae hot commodities.

From the WSJ.

Cheaper White LED's

New, cheaper white light LEDs are created - United Press International.

The new White LED has twice the light of current LED's and has a simpler structure (less cost). Done by Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry within the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

More Efficient CFL

I am curious on what the new circuit for a dimmable CFL looks like that has less components. Article is not clear about overall is the ability to dim what is making them more efficient, or is there more... Most houses don't have dimmers installed.

Solar & Applied Materials

Per the WSJ on Applied Materials, the larger players are still able to get deals, but the smaller ones who buy their fab from Applied Materials are hurting. Interesting prospective.

Green Energy True Cost - Economist

The grass is always greener -Saving the planet and creating jobs may be incompatibleApr 2nd 2009 from the Economist.

The article questions if money spent on green projects is the most productive use of capital. Good read, it would be nice to read a longer version that went into more detail including the balance of trade issue and how the spending helps innovation that will reduce the future cost of green technology (theoretically).

Applied Materials Solar Bet II

Applied Materials says value of solar order slashed - Reuters. Looks like they are waiting for credit to unfreeze, estimates are another year.

The Greening of Pittsburgh

The Greening of Pittsburgh - NY Times. Translation is Pittsburgh has a lot of LEED certified buildings.