Transportation

Airships Might Help Connect Northern Canada

- Adam Clare

The Canadian government has released a report that says that airships could be the most efficient way to bring needed goods to remote areas of northern Canada. Plus, the airships can be used for reacting to natural disasters because the airships can carry a lot of tonnage but don’t require complicated infrastructure.

One company, Solar Ships, is looking to bid on transporting goods because their solution of a hybrid airship is more cost efficient than currently used methods.

Solar Ships is seeking to partially power the blimps using the sun, saying in a statement it will use the funds to keep developing the technology.
The firm says it can move cargo to remote areas in Ontario for $1.20 per ton/per kilometre, compared with truck transportation costs of $10 per ton/per kilometre.
Both the committee’s report and the announcement of funding are important steps, Prentice said.
“This isn’t quite on the scale of building the Canadian Pacific Railway, but as far as the North goes it is,” Prentice said.
“Because if we don’t have a transportation solution for the North, we’ll never solve the problems of the North.”
The recommendation to take a closer look at airships is one of several made by the transportation committee in a report released this week studying new ways to get goods and people moved across Canada.

Read more at The Star.
Thanks to Matt!

Asphalt That Fixes Its Own Potholes

- Adam Clare

Asphalt covers a lot of world and is worth billions of dollars and the entire industries rely on this material to make roads to transport goods. The catch is, this material that we use to make our roads is bad for the environment and requires a lot of maintenance. Filling potholes and similar road damage takes time, labour, and of course, even more asphalt.

In Germany some researchers have found a way to make asphalt self-repairing meaning that the road can last a lot longer before patching is required and will require less maintenance!

Companies Reward Cyclists For Choosing Bikes Instead of Cars

- Adam Clare

Despite the fact that Toronto’s politicians want to make the city more dangerous for cyclists (by encouraging more car use and removing bike-focused infrastructure) the people of Toronto are loving bike riding more and more every year. Companies have caught on to this and some are now giving employee some rewards for opting to ride a bicycle instead of using a car.

It helps keep staff healthy and active, and “I actually think it saves money for customers,” he said.
If a consultant has to drive from the suburbs to a client downtown, the client gets charged 50 cents per kilometer, plus $25 for parking. That can add up to a $45 charge for the client.
…
Toronto Environmental Office director Lawson Oates agrees. Cycling rewards increasingly resonate with younger workers and employers, he said.
“It’s the wave of the future. (Companies) want to attract and retain topnotch employees,” and these people don’t necessarily function in “the old 9-5 mould,” he said.

Read more at The Star

Thanks to Kathryn!

A Promising Biofuel

- Adam Clare

UC Berkeley chemical engineers have used an old way to make explosives to make biofuels more efficiently. They are using a technique that can turn sugar-rich plants (like corn and some grasses) into a liquid that acts like gasoline does know by providing a tiny explosive force when ignited. The process was used in mass production for explosives in WWI which means that with UC Berkley’s new advances it’s not impractical to mass produce today.

The resulting substance burns as well as petroleum-based fuel and contains more energy per gallon than ethanol, according to the study. It can be produced using a variety of renewable starches and sugars that can be grown in crops.

“You can take a wide variety of sugar sources – from corn, sugar cane, molasses to woody biomass or plant biomass – and turn it into a diesel product using this fermentation process,” said Blanch, adding that about 90 percent of the raw material remains in the finished product, reducing the loss of carbon. “Grasses are also a possible source. Eucalyptus could also be used. Anything that’s fast-growing.”

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On Solving Traffic Jams

- Adam Clare

Cities around the world have problems with vehicular traffic moving slowly. Slow moving cars negatively impact air quality and the ability for road-based mass transit. So what do we do? Jonas Eliasson, who hails from Stockholm where they’ve implemented congestion charges six years ago, provides some insight how cities can deal with too much car traffic.

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