Green Power: Solar Ships May Carry Passengers in San Francisco as Early as 2009

solar ship
Green Power: Solar Ships May Carry Passengers in San Francisco as Early as 2009
As cars are going green, solar ships are coming our way as well.

The concept of solar ships is nothing new, but it appears that Austraila’s Solarsailor may be on the brink of bringing the technology to the mainstream. Hornblower Yachts in San Francisco is in the midst of negotiations with the Coast Guard to install a Solarsailor sail on one of their commercial ferryboats. If all goes well, the boat will be operational in 2009. Solarsailor has also won contracts in Shanghai and Hong Kong for similar vessels.

In its current form, solar sails are an ideal solution for boats designed for short trips. Tests in Sidney have illustrated that ships equipped with the sail can go around 6 knots on wind power alone or 6 knots on solar power. When combined, speeds of 10 knots are achievable.

Tyson Foods to turn animal fat into fuel

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Tyson Foods Inc., the world’s largest meat producer, announced Monday its second joint venture to make synthetic fuel out of leftover fat from beef, pork and chicken.

In a time where fuel is key for our everyday lives, Tyson Foods Inc. is working to help with our ever growing fuel shortage by recycling something that would have otherwise just been thrown away.

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Raises $200 Million to Recharge Electric Cars

Tesla Roadster

Silicon Valley entrepreneur Shai Agassi believes electric cars are the future of transportation, and he’s raised $200 million to build the infrastructure needed to get them on the road

His firm, Project Better Place, hopes to revolutionize electric vehicles like the Tesla Motors Roadster and Chevrolet Volt by making them cheaper and easier for consumers to own and operate. The idea is to sell electricity through subscriptions much like cell phone plans and subsidize vehicle costs through leases.

“We’re basically saying this is just like the cellular phone model,” Agassi told the New York Times. “If you think of Tesla as the iPhone, we’re AT&T.”

Read more at Wired.com

Facilities Management News: Whole Foods tops retail green power purchasers; Kohl’s moves into 2nd

solar panels on top of Berkley's Whole Foods
Facilities Management News talks about a list created by the US Environmental Protection Agency of the top ten retail purchasers of green power. Whole Foods tops retail green power purchasers; Kohl’s moves into 2nd.

September 3, 2007—The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently updated its list of the top 10 retail purchasers of green power (as of July 2007) in the US. This list represents the largest completed annual green power purchases of all retail partners within the Green Power Partnership.

EPA says these green power purchases help drive the development of new green power resources nationwide. The combined green power purchases of these organizations amounts to an estimated 1.4 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, which is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power more than 140,000 average American homes each year, adds EPA.

The Top 10 Retail Partners are listed below, along with their respective green power usage (in kWh), and the percent of green power out of the company’s total electricity.

1. Whole Foods Market (509,104,786; 100%)
2. Kohl’s Department Stores (201,396,000; 20%)
3. Starbucks (185,000,000; 20%)
4. Staples (121,800,000; 20%)
5. Safeway, Inc. (87,000,000; 2%)
6. Lowe’s (86,000,000; 2%)
7. FedEx Kinko’s (76,312,000; 29%)
8. Office Depot (76,000,000; 12%)
9. REI (63,080,000; 100%)
10. Coldwater Creek, Inc. (60,000,000; 100%)

Want to go green? Try these simple steps

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We all want to do our part to help the environment. Authors Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen have made it simple in “The Green Book.” With tips from celebrities like Cameron Diaz and Will Ferrell, and TODAY’s own Tiki Barber.

This site offers great tips on simple things that can save energy in and out of the house whether its the microwave, refrigerator, or at the movies!
Watch the video to learn more!