Sustainable Transportation is Electrifying

If you are anything like me you would love to swap out you gas guzzling car and switch it out for an electric car. However it is hard for me to give up style and the level of convenience that gas cars offer by not needing to charge after extensive use.  Over the past couple of years have started to make more appealing electric cars and it appears as if they are in the process of eliminating the need to plug in to charge as well.  This technology wouldn't only be for cars but it will be used in trucks, light rails and buses as well.

Bombardier is an international transportation company that specializes in manufacturing trains, planes and transportation technology. Bombardier's PRIMOVE technology will use a principle of  inductive power transfer eliminating the need for plugs, wires and overhead cables.  Simply stated its power produced by high frequency currents that create a magnetic field that in turn makes voltage. In fact, If you have owned an electric toothbrush or a cell phone that sits on a charging plate than you have used inductive power transfer technology.  Actually this isn't the first attempt at this type of technology in a vehicle but what makes this ground breaking is the way its is being used and the variety of application is what makes it ground breaking.

The concept is best displayed below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QffOR_iZso0

The way it would work is the prefabricated and tested modules can easily be integrated into any ground surface and the system can be fitted onto any new or existing rail or road.  It has no moving parts and only a small number of components, all of which are buried underground and hidden under the vehicle. With the way the vehicles are retrofitted there is no need for wires or any contact of any type in order for recharging to take place.  This allows recharging to either take place while the car is in motion passing over inductive segments embedded into the road or track or at rest.  For mass transit vehicles high power charging stops are integrated into the route. Thanks to the intelligent vehicle detection capabilities it makes the charging process fully automated, recharging is driver-friendly and hassle-free, requiring no training for use. This makes charging frequent, quick and seamless. 

As of June 2012, Bombardier will cooperate with the city of Braunschweig and the local operator Braunschweiger Verkehrs-AG to turn a sectionof the bus network into an eco-friendly electric route. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development. The programme is scheduled to begin immediately with two buses operating with PRIMOVE technology on a 12 km route.

http://primove.bombardier.com/media/news/show/111/#111-first-primove-bus-project-for-commercial-operation-announced

Water for Life

EnviroTowers is a cooling tower water treatment solution.  It consists of thee main components, Electrostatic Device, Separation Filtration and a microbiological treatment program.  For optimum efficiency a web based water management monitor can be added. 

A cooling tower is a device that extracts and disperses heat waste into the air by cooling a stream of water to a lower temperature.  Hot water passes through tube bundles (heat exchangers)  while cooled treated water passes over the hot tube bundles.  As the water passes over the bundles it begins to evaporate leaving behind concentration of dissolved minerals and other solids.  This same water is then recirculated through the cooling system.

Typical ways a cooling tower is used:  A/C, manufacturing and electic power generation.

                            

A recurring issue with cooling tower is scaling and biofilm.  Scaling occurs when the minerals and solids begin to attach to the insides of the heat exchangers and biofilm is basically algae (slime) and it attaches to the heat exchanger as well which can cause corrosion. . Traditionally a lot of chemicals have been used to combat these issues. Once the waters levels of Calcium carbonate become to high the waste water (blow down) is then dumped. 

                                    



HOW IT WORKS

	Electrostatic Device – Patented Technology that pre-emptively precipitates solids and acts to prevent scale in equipment surfaces and control potential corrosion. 4
	Separation/Filtration – Captures and discharges precipitated solids created by the electrostatic device, keeping the water as clean as possible.4
	Microbiological Treatment Program – Supplementary treatment program to control microbiological activity and corrosion in the system.4

technical breakdown of how it works http://www.evandtec.com/images/stories/pdf/envirotower%20whitepaper%20usa%20rev%20jan2011.pdf


ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

Less toxic chemicals to treat the water - As part of the microbiological treatment Iodine and Bromine is added to the water system at less than 1ppm.  This is also good for when waste water is blown down.

Less Water consumption - Less water should be used due to the reduced need to replace blow down water.

Reduced waste water - Because of the of the large amounts of scale has been filtered the number of cycle should go increase resulting in less blown down.

CASE STUDY

 fresh & easy Neighborhood Market  - On average fresh & easy stores use 30% less energy than a typical supermarket.  However the company's refrigeration systems were using roughly 1,561,000 a year.

Implementation of the EnviroTowers solution resulted in cost savings in four areas: water, energy, chemical and maintenance for a total of $100,000 USD annual operational savings and <2 years payback.

12% water savings was achieved through higher “operating cycles of concentration” (4.9 pre-installation to 9.1 on average).  Less blow down.
10% decrease in energy consumption by keeping heat exchange surfaces free from scale and improving heat transfer efficiency
90% reduction in chemical expenditures
87% Reduction in system cleaning and descaling costs

They fresh & easy liked the results so much that they retrofitted all 131 of there stores resulting in an average usage of less than 741,000 gallons per year per store.  fresh and easy expects to reduce water use by 107,420,00!

Sustainable Community

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”1

As advances in medicine continue life expectancy rates increase as well giving to a new way of thinking when it comes to the environment and how we as humans coincide with our the only planet we are given and our capacity not only to survive but thrive.  Over the past three decades a shifting to a new frame of thinking has come about.  The early efforts of pro-environment movement which involved using environmentally friendly products as well as eco conscious manufacturing and agricultural methods driven by environmental policies to protect some of Earth’s precious and for the most part non-replenishable resources.  Unfortunately the movement was one dimensional and didn't address protecting Earth’s most precious commodity, the human being.  At the root of societies successes and failures is the human element and without addressing our basic needs for food, water, good shelter, sanitation, education and healthcare the pro-environment movement reached a point of reduced momentum.  Recognizing the need for a more holistic approach to further support environmental consciousness the idea of sustainability came about. Over the years sustainability has been define and redefine however in the most recent few years sustainable development has hit new plateaus.  I think this is due to the amount of information that can be accessed by the internet and increased local and federal support and participation.  When applied correctly sustainability encompasses it all and seeks to improve environmental, economical and social issues all at one time.  As sustainability relates to the community this has been said “sustainability … cannot be simply a ‘green’, or ‘environmental’ concern, important though ‘environmental’ aspects of sustainability are.  A truly sustainable society is one where wider questions of social needs and welfare, and economic opportunity are integrally related to environmental limits…”2

Green Impact Zone of Missouri is the perfect example how using sustainability can transform a doomed community.   The initiative includes housing rehab and weatherization programs, community policing and services, job training and placement, and health and wellness programs, all built around a comprehensive neighborhood outreach program and using sustainability as a catalyst for this transformation.

Community awareness and involvement is at the center of this endeavor.  Easily displayed on every page of the website is a resident tab that opens a page that houses every key contact that can includes a contact name, number, website and email address for every Green Impact Zone initiative.  Each neighborhood’s meeting date, time, location and key contact can also be found on this page.  The fact that the residents have access to the people and services that affect their lives is key to the programs impact and success.  The only major problem is that there is a strong possibility that the residents might not have access to the internet to readily obtain this information.

Neighborhood meeting

Projects of the GIZ are very modest and basic in nature to the point that they are often disregarded by decision makers who often have never or no longer live in the areas they represent.  This is not the case in K.C., Mo. The areas focused on by GIZ are important community builders and stabilization factors of a neighborhood and are long over do for reform and repair.  Here is a list of the some the current projects and programs that are change this community and ultimately improving the quality of for all Kansas City residents.

                                                                          Transportation Infrastructure                                                    

 

Energy Conservation

Job Training

Leadership Development

Youth

Housing

Urban Agriculture

1.  Joel Mills “The Civics of Sustainability An Overview”   2.  Agyeman, J, Bullard R and Evans, B (2002) ‘Exploring the nexus: bringing together sustainability, environmental justice and equity.’ Space and Polity Vol. 6 No. 1 pp 70-90. 3. www.edf.org 4.http://www.evandtec.com/solutions/envirotower-how-it-works.html

Sustainable Electricity

There are always innovation with how we can protect our environment and still produce power which is essential in today’s world to sustain our way of life.  Over the past decade there has been a push to find a better way, a smarter way, for us to consume and tract our energy consumption.  Thus the idea for a "smart grid" has been introduced within the past ten years.

So you might be asking, what is a smart grid?  Truth is you probably have been using smart grid devises such as smart meters (digital meters) and smart thermostats for years and haven't known it.  The idea of the smart grid is that it will reduce the amount of greenhouse gas produced from traditional methods or energy production and save the consumers money. A smart grid is a digitalized energy delivery network that transmits a two-way flow of electricity and information. Monitoring everything from the power source to specific measurements of consumer usage, including individual appliances.3 With this continuous feedback and extensive control provided by the smart grid the home should be much more efficient and ultimately use less electricity.  In fact, for the savvy power user whose home produces some of its on power the grid would buy back any extra energy not being used.  This would apply to homes that use solar panels or any other renewable source the homeowner produces. 

                                                          

source:http://www.edf.org/energy/infographic-smart-grid-basics

Right now Austin is setting a standard on how smart grid technology can be integrated into our communities by building its own smart grid neighborhood.  It's a bold step in making this a living incubator for ideas and technology that will change the industry.  A goal of the collaboration between Pecan Street, Environmental Defense Fund, Austin Energy and the University of Texas is to reduce carbon emissions by 64% compared to an average Austin neighborhood.

  

Oppositions

Some unofficial studies have been done which shows that the smart meters emit toxic levels of microwave radiation due to the meters WiFi components. These components allow it to be in constant connection with the home's devices and the mesh network.  Supporters say the opposite and suggest cell phones expose us to more radio frequencies than the smart meters do.  

Another opposition is that some markets never gave the public the option of whether or not they wanted this data collecting technology in their homes.  They feel that this is an invasion of their privacy. 

So there are some items that still need to be addressed but this could very well be a good thing for the world.