The Make blog has some neat ways to blend almost anything using pedal power. The idea to make all these pedal powered blenders came from a Starbucks where customers blended their own drinks by pedaling.
Author: Adam Clare
Building Green = $$$
A new study by the Real Property Association of Canada reveals that adding green features to a building equals better sale value!
“Rick Nevin and Gregory Watson found that people pay $10-$20 more for a home for every $1 reduction in annual fuel bills.
The Heschong Mahone Group found that ‘adding skylighting to the average non-skylit retail store would be likely to improve its performance by 40%’.
Pennsylvania Power and Light noted a conversion’s electricity savings amounted to a payback in 4.1 years with a 24% return on investment.However benefits from lower absenteeism and higher productivity meant a simple payback of just 69 days,a 540% return on investment…
Not only are green buildings good for the environment, provide healthier places to live and more productive places to work ,they can command higher rents and prices, attract tenants more quickly, reduce tenant turnover and cost less to operate and maintain.”
And in other building related green new, scientists have figured out how to use people power!
Fun GM Hy-wire Video
The GM Hy-wire is a leap forward for a car manufacture insofar that it is a total rethink of the automobile. The main factor is that the engine is non internal combustion and can power half a block of houses with its hydrogen engine.
Here’s a video of the fun auto show Top Gear describing the neatness of the car (fast forward to the 1 min mark).
U.S. Supreme Court to Decide on Global Warming
I was shocked when I read that the United State’s supreme court is set to hear a case about global warming. Of course this obviously good because it forces some accountability on Bush’s administration, especially since he promised to curb CO2 emissions, but has failed to deliver. The court case basically concerns whether or not the government has the responsibility to ensure clean air, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The decision to hear the case sets up a legal showdown over President George W. Bush’s controversial position on global warming and his apparent reversal on the issue of regulating carbon dioxide.
…
The plaintiffs believe that the environmental and economic threats from climate change merit aggressive action by the federal government.
The Clean Air Act gives the EPA ample authority to regulate any air pollutant that threatens human health, they argue, and carbon dioxide – as the leading greenhouse gas linked to global warming – clearly fits into that category.”
Spain to Donate to MDGs
The Millennium Development Goals are still being strived for and Spain will support this effort by donating 1.2 billion dollars. This is great to see that nations are still interested in promoting the MDGs, and let’s not forget that mayors are all about the MDG.
“Pajin said the agreement represents “a very important advance in quality and quantity, but there is still a long way to go.”
Herfkens said it was the first time in history that human had resources, knowledge and consensus to end poverty, but he added that not all nations were fulfilling their aid promises.
The UN official praised Spain for paying more attention to the developing nations, especially those in Africa, to help them meet the Goals.”