Recently, we covered how the FAA wants to go green and here’s a video not from the FAA but from the EU about how airliners can become environmentally friendly. Of course, by becoming green they are also saving money.
Transportation
One Less Car (Video)
This is a neat video that emphasizes how awesome riding a bike is for you, the world, and your fellow commuters.
Via Bike Lane Diary
Edit: I just found out about this cool helmet
No Fare! Free Transit Feasibility in Vancouver
Over at The Tyee they have a five part series on making transit in British Columbia free. So far they have asked if free transit is crazy and looked at a city that provides free transit a bus ride from Vancouver.
The most recent addition to this series looks at the town of Hasslet in Belgium, which has a similar population to Nanimo (on Vancouver Island). The Tyee speculate that free transit is not yet feasible in BC, but given the right factors there’s no reason Nanimo can’t be like Hasslet.
“To be successful, I think that the public transport system must not be crowded at the start. Our project was originally organized to attract more passengers and to have less cars in the city centre. The buses also need separate lanes, because travelling by bus has to be faster than by car, so the infrastructure of intersections and streets has to be adapted. The buses have to be modern, clean … you need to have more bus stops. And the shelters must be attractive.”
Green Docking at the Seattle Port
Seattle’s port is looking to save money and improve its reputation by becoming more environmentally friendly. Part of this plan is to encourage the use of real estate that is not primarily used for transport.
The Port of Seattle’s new goal is to be the cleanest, greenest and most energy-efficient port in the U.S., said its chief executive, Tay Yoshitani, who believes the move will help the port market itself to its customers and keep in good stead with the community.
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
No this is not a post about that Daft Punk song, this is about car batteries. Wired is reporting that the next generation of car batteries that are currently in development are going to be better, work harder, allow for faster cars, and hold a stronger cars. Essentially car battery technology is improving thus opening up more possibilities for electric cars.
Firefly has replaced the lead plates found inside conventional batteries with a lead-impregnated foam made from carbon graphite –- one of the few materials that can withstand the highly corrosive sulfuric acid inside batteries. The foam increases the surface area of lead inside the battery, delivering more power and slashing the recharge time, says Firefly CEO Ed Williams.
Equally important, Firefly’s approach eliminates the crystals that can build up inside lead-acid batteries. Over time, those crystals reduce the amount of electricity a battery can hold, one of the major reasons electric and hybrid automakers have favored lithium-ion or nickel batteries, even though lead acid is less expensive.