Big Boys and Pin Wheels

Well actually men and huge windmills.

Wind energy is getting a lot of buzz lately. It is a clean and renewable energy source that is getting the attention of some people with lots of money.

T. Boone Pickens is working on a project in Texas and Phillip Anschutz, a Denver billionaire is proposing a $3 billion, 2,000 megawatt wind-farm in Wyoming. (One megawatt of wind-generated energy can power about 300 homes.)

It is projected that construction of the Wyoming site will take 2 – 4 years to construct after the permitting process is completed.

These wind farms are an amazing site with huge windmills scattered across large areas. The Wyoming farm is projected to be around 100,000 acres.

In addition to the wind farm, the Anschutz Corp. has acquired the rights to a proposed transmission project that will carry the wind-generated energy to Southern California, Las Vegas and Phoenix. The current projected cost of the transmission project is $3 billion with the wind farm costing billions more.

This sounds like a lot of money, but it seems these people usually like to bet on winners so they must think there is a future in this industry. With the need for renewable energy sources, this is a good thing.

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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

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See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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Fuel Efficiency for Over the Road Trucks

A new devise has been invented to help for over the road trucks improve their gas mileage.

The Aerowings are a bifold door that when opened up cover the gap between the cab and the trailer. The company behind Aerowings estimates that using these doors on each side of the truck will improve the aerodynamics enough to reduce fuel consumption by 8 – 10 percent.

The devise is automatically engaged when the truck reaches speeds of 45 mph or more. To allow the truck full turning capabilities, the Aerowings collapse against the cab when the truck’s speed is 40 mph or less.

This seems like a relatively easy way to reduce fuel demand and save money. To learn more you can visit their website at www.wings4trucks.com

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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

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See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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Clean Coal – How can that be?

Are you wondering what people are talking about when they say clean coal?

Many people and companies are claiming that coal can be burned for energy and not produce greenhouse gas emissions at the same time. Well, there is currently no way to burn coal without producing carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas emission so what is clean coal?

What they are talking about is “catching” the CO2 that is produced and burying it in a liquid form so it won’t contribute to global warming.

Unfortunately, the technology may not be as far along as some would like. Many people think it will be decades before “clean coal” is actually viable and just in the US it may take several trillion dollars to make the switch.

In addition, there may be safety issues. During the 60-year lifetime of a large coal burning plant, 3 billion barrels of CO2 are produced. It would take an area the size of a large oil field to contain all that CO2 and the pressure could cause leaks or earthquakes.

While “clean coal” may make for good press and may make some people feel better about building coal fired energy plants, the “clean” part of “clean coal” is still far from a reality.

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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

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See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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Another Role for Cement – Air Cleaner

Italy’s Italcementi developed a new type of cement called TX Active Cement. It adds titanium dioxide into the mix which becomes chemically active in sunlight. Not only is it bright white and self-cleaning, it neutralizes air pollutants like benzene, carbon monoxide and nitrogen.

Imagine a barrier along a highway that actually improves the air before it circulates into the surrounding neighborhoods. To make it even more effective builders of these walls are exposing more of the concrete surface to air and light by creating a Swiss cheese like pattern of holes throughout the entire wall area. Delicate, lacy, artistic cement? Well maybe that does go too far but pollution destroying factor alone, makes the wall attractive.

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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

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See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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Friedman’s New Book

Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and author of “The World is Flat” has a new book out called “Hot, Flat and Crowded.”

We have not yet read it but it is on our list. According to reviewers his style is a combination of “Will Rogers, Jack Welch and Norman Vincent Peal – a plain-spoken citizen outraged at the bull headedness of U.S. politicians, yet optimistic about the power of ingenuity and finely crafted policy to avert disaster.” (Newsweek, September 22, 2008 p. 18)

His proposal is a national attitude, direction and program directed toward green. It should include government subsidies, increased costs, more research and new attitudes from everyone. Friedman believes this can create jobs, save the environment, allow for development of 3rd world countries, and restore greatness to the US.

All it takes is leadership and focus. We can only hope – and read the book.

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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

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See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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Physicists Speak Out on Energy

On Sept. 16, 2008 the American Physical Society, a national association of physicists with 46,000 members, released an energy study.

In addition to making specific recommendations for change, it noted that human causes of climate change like heat trapping pollution from the use of fossil fuels, is “well understood and beyond dispute.” They also felt that, without sacrificing comfort and convenience and at a reasonable cost, the US can still reduce its energy use.

Some of their suggestions included:
· Using technology to reduce use of energy in buildings
· Using roofing material that reflects the sun in hot climates
· Developing better batteries for electric cars

The specifics here may not be as important as the fact the respected scientists are getting behind the environmental effort and believe it can happen. The chairman of the study panel was Burton Richter a Nobel Prize winner in physics.


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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

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See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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Bicycle Power at the National Conventions

The Democratic and Republican National Conventions this year had a new spin – free bicycles. Well, not free to take home just free to ride around during the convention.

1,000 upright standard bikes were made available at various stations around the downtowns of the communities hosting the national conventions (Denver, CO and St. Paul, MN). The stations had attendants to help with any repairs were they needed and to just provide good-will. A free helmet was also provided and each bike had a carrying bag or basket and a small devise to keep track of the mileage.

This effort was put together by Bikes Belong, a bicycle industry organization, and Humana, a health insurance company. The purpose was to help people including delegates, officials and members of the media understand and appreciate the role of bicycles in a big city.

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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

***************
See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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Green Your Dorm Room

Today’s college students are bright, thoughtful and often very committed to environmental causes. Good for them!

What enviro-friendly efforts can be done on a student’s budget? Some eco sensitive efforts cost more (bamboo towls, etc.) but many cost less. It just takes a little thinking.

1. Use second hand furnishings. This keeps things out of the landfill and can save lots of money. Just think of it as “shabby chic.”
2. Walk and ride your bike instead of driving. It saves gas money, parking lot fees and even parking tickets.
3. Recycle as much as possible. Make sure those pop cans don’t just go into the trash.
4. Don’t buy bottled water. The energy used to produce the bottle and ship it can easily be saved by continually reusing one bottle and filling it up at the sink.
5. When printing your papers, if possible use both sides of the paper and reuse the scrap paper for note pads or less important printing.

These are just a few ideas to get you going. If your friends see you doing it, it could be the start of a revolution.

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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

***************
See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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Buying Carbon Offsets

One way to reduce your carbon footprint is to buy carbon offsets. The money from a carbon offset purchase is normally used to pay for clean-energy, planting trees or some other effort that actually enhances the environment and removes green house gasses.

These offsets are good ideas and generally accomplish the goal to at least some degree. Just to be sure, however, you might to see if the offset is certified and/or audited by an outside organization. Some of the groups that do this are: the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance and Environmental Resources Trust.

If you are interested in doing this, there are several buyer’s guides that can help. These include: Clean Air Cool Planet at www.cleanair-coolplanet.org and the Environmental Defense Fund at www.edf.org

Carbon offsets are a relatively easy way to help the climate without changing your lifestyle.


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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

***************
See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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Check Your Carpet

These days many people are recognizing the dangers of many of the things used in building construction and interior design. Many of these items seem to emit volatile organic compounds that can be hazardous to health.

Carpet, especially the padding and adhesives us during installation have sometimes been a concern. Now you can check to see if your carpet is OK for you. The Carpet and Rug Institute has a testing program. If the carpet along with its cushioning and adhesives gets a “Green Label/Green Label Plus rating you know it is one of best carpets for indoor air quality.

You can learn more about this at www.carpet-rug.org

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Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. www.notyak.com

***************
See green articles our President, Dixie Schmatz, has written for businesses at www.EvanCarmichael.com/Going-Green/

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Add this blog to your Google Home Page or Google Reader.