Hybrid school buses!

I found out a friend works for a company that make hybrid school buses!
Check em out here

they claim 70% improvement!!!

I hesitate to mention this in case people buying hummers think they can be green (or in this case yellow) and have a hybrid SUV (schoolbus utility vehice)

Lower mercury CFL bulbs

Don't count CFLs out you scrappy LED upstart you!
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9916140-54.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

New CFLs have less than 1.5 milligrams of mercury (normal have 5mg). (There's a snide remark about tuna having more in here somewhere -- though I'm refraining since I don't have data for fish bulbs)


Though you have to worry when technology starts to integrate other gadgets (alarm clock/golf bag anyone?) so maybe CFL manufacturers are starting to worry since one is making a CFL that makes your room less smelly (sure to be sold at sharper image if it wasn't bankrupt)

http://gizmodo.com/379136/viatek-cfl-makes-your-rooms-brighter-less-smelly

13W LED bulb

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/04/13w-led-bulb-replaces-100w-incandescent.php
Treehugger reports on a 13W LED bulb as replacement for incancdescents.

It's interesting that it so much more efficient than an incandescent (which wastes most energy as heat) but has a fan inside of it to reduce heat.

They also tout other features of LED long life bulb, less mercury than cfl, etc.
But cost cost cost cost cost?

How many watts hours of solar electricity could you buy for the cost of this bulb?

Motion sensor lighting

This was a cameraphone pic I shot in the hallway of a very very large apartment building in mid town manhattan. Every other light fixture was motion sensitive. Most of the lights near the elevators were constantly on but the ones near the ends would definitely be off most of the time.

Plug in hybrids better for the environment despite being coal powered?

I've often snidely remarked that plugin hybrids are coal powered, but it seems I will have to change that. Here is a link to an article by EcoGeek with some data claiming that they end up being better for the enviroment overall despite the eletrical transmissions losses.
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1569/69/

Per capita CO2 emissions

Check out this map of per capita CO2 emissions.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/new-high-res-ma.html

UPDATE: I showed my texas geography ignorance and slandered houston, my apologies!

how much energy is your city consuming?

http://infosthetics.com/archives/2008/04/nuage_vert_energy_power_plant_visualization.html

Infosthetics notes a idea to project how much energy a city is using on the plume of a coal power plant for all to see.

Electrimetric was created with the idea that if we know how much energy we use, and see feedback based on changes, we will reduce our resource consumption. The question is would this help because it reminds people how much energy they are using? or hurt because they see turning off their light is just a cigarette amongst the coal power plants pollution.

It seems like you could do this via a web page reporting how much energy your city is using, and I'm sure there are things like this out there. Avid readers, send those links in!

Dark Vader

A friend was telling me about her father who would proclaim himself "Dark Vader" with an innovative power saving technique. If she or her family left the lights on, he would unscrew and take the lightbulb. Certainly solves the problem of leaving the lights on from then on out! I guess you'd learn pretty quick or else you would leave the switch on all the time but not use any energy (hope you ate your carrots!)


Apologies to the folks at Buy Star Wars Costumes for the bastardization of their image.
Also the artists at
Star Warped