Category: Energy

Australia the Pied Piper of Incandescent Light Bulbs

In my humble opinion its about time. Of course I am talking about the Australian government’s plan to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs across the country. Legislation will gradually restrict the sale of the old-style bulbs and hopes to convince state and territory governments to introduce energy performance standards that would lead to the replacement of standard light bulbs with more efficient but more expensive alternatives such as compact fluorescent lights.

This is not the first time a ban such as this has occured in a country. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, announced his own program to save energy and gave away millions of fluorescent bulbs in neighbourhoods nationwide. Cuba’s Fidel Castro launched a similar program two years ago, sending youth brigades into homes and switching out regular bulbs for energy-saving ones to help battle electrical blackouts around the island.

** I should note that CFL’s contain small amounts of mercury.

Honda F1 Team Goes Green

Honda F1Honda’s F1 team has announced it’s 2007 driver line-up: Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello & Mother Earth.

The team’s 2007 Formula One race car, named the RA107, will feature no commercial logos at all, replacing the former Tobacco sponsorship with a giant image of the Earth.

By using planet earth as the car’s livery Honda hopes to raise awareness about climate change in the world’s second most viewed sport (150+ million viewers for each race) and welcome the proposed 2009 addition of devices for energy recovery to all F1 cars.

By passing on messages about simple tips for reducing CO2 output and making carbon positive changes to the team’s factory Honda hopes to raise their image a manufacturer of sporty low emissions vehicles.

The Honda F1 Team’s press release has more details.

Fuel Economy Top Priority for European Drivers

Not surprisingly, Europeans are still concerned about fuel consumption in their autos. This evidence comes from the the Harris Interactive AutoTECHCAST Europe poll, and just like this year, Europeans chose fuel economy as their biggest concern last year.

Spanish adults show the highest likelihood of choosing enhanced-fuel economy as the top automotive technology that they are very or extremely likely to purchase for their next new vehicle (63%), followed by Italian and German respondents (45% and 36% respectively).

The New Courteously

I’ve been thinking lately the best way to stop climate change is to change our social norms. One in praticular comes to mind. When entering a premise with double doors wait the extra two to three seconds until the first door closes before opening the second door. This will ensure the hot or cool inside air is not drawn outside. I believe this should be a courteosly to those close to the door to not have to experience such a drastic change in temperature.

I believe we should call this new policy air courteously. To those from the United States Air Security is a better term.

Organization to Help Green PCs

The Green Advisory Service has set out to help PC firms do less environmental damage. In the UK a PC left on overnight can cost upwards of £53 in electricity. The cost of running a PC is not cheap for the pocketbook or for the environment and this is what the Green Advisory Service will help change.

“Organisations are increasingly focused on their environmental profile and are beginning to recognise the reputation and cost advantages of a green approach,” said Heidi-Lynn Mitchell, product services director for Computacenter.

This is partly thanks to a major European Union directive – The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive (WEEE).”