GM trying to Volt to the finish line

has GM bit of more then it can show with saying they would have the volt out by 2010.

it seems like the car company has made a big goal for it self when it says that it would have a plug in car that can go 40 miles on one charge.


The people are at GM are racing to get the car to the market but have fallen a bit behind as statested in this article in the atlantic.

but the people at GM are hopeful that they can reach their goal.

I think this is an interesting article that goes into GM quest to reach it goal, so far and it's failure with electric cars in the past.

though I think the article is incorrect about one thing with GM's electric car released in the 90's. they say it was a failure in the market but my understanding the car was released in such a limited market and had it's plug pulled shortly after launch that I wouldn't say it's a market failure since it didn't have much chance to be in the market.

there was a movie released a few years ago about it, where a number of the owners of the cars talked about how they liked it but GM only offered them a lease and they couldn't buy the car out right. when the lease was over many of the owners wanted to keep the car but GM refused and took their cars (and sent them to get crushed)

that's not a failure of the market that was a failure on GM's part to see that in the 90's there was a market for an electric car (even if it was a niche at the time)

Hopefully GM will be wiser on how they deal with the Volt.

Atlantic City Convention Center goes solar

the state of New Jersy and Pepco (their local engery company) has worked out a deal that would put 290,000 square feet solar panels on the Atlantic City convention center.

Doing this is expected to save $4.4 million dollars over the next 20years.

it will also mean that 1/4th of the convention center will come from those solar panels.


I hope other cities see this and follow suit.

Toyota hybrids can't be made fast enough

Toyota is facing a problem due to the high demand for their hybrid cars...they can't make enough batteries for their cars to match the demand for them.

because of this, Toyota is looking to expand it's facilities to produce batteries as well as funding more research to make better batteries for their cars.

Shai Agassi breaks down what needs to be done to get everyone into an electric car

Shai Agassi CEO of Project Better Place talks about how easy it will be for a country to buid the infrastructure that will make it possible for everyone to drive electric cars instead of gas powered cars and how any country can do it.



the vidoe is a little over 20 mins long

Honda leaving them in the dust...er.. I mean...water vapors

Honda is planning on release a super limted edition car that only emmits water.

the car will be the first hydrogen powered fuel cell car made for the direct market.

Honda plans on only making 200 cars in the next 3 years and lease them for $600 a month.

Get on the bus

Americans use public transportation and ride bikes less then our European counter parts. We also and opt to use our cars much more then them.



But I wonder why, do they have better transportation systems then us in the U.S or is it because of their higher gas prices.



I haven’t really looked into Europe’s transportation systems but being from Michigan, it’s not to hard to top my local transportation system (we have buses and that’s it) and even place that do have different forms of public transportation there is the issue of how well they are funded.



If we really want to help save the planet, cut back on emissions, save money on gas, it time for us to start stepping to the plate and let someone else do the driving. Not only should we start using public transportation more we should write our local politicians and tell them to fund the systems more.



And I am no exception, I could use the bus more (or period.) and if tell our politicans to better fund public transportation.

get your car to drive on 100 miles per gallon

a company called A123 Systems are selling a conversion kit (for $10,000) that will turn your hybrid Pirus into a plug-in hybrid car.

this upgrade will now allow you to get up to 100 mpg.

Solar engery going mainstream

Rueters has an article up talking about how Solar engery maybe in a spot to go mainstream.

they state a number of facters.

the price of engergy is going up so the cost of going solar energy is going to be on par (or lower) then just staying with are current modes of getting energy.

if Obama wins the election, he say he will get America to get at least 25% of it's energy from solar by the 2025. McCain says he will go green but since there isn't as much info on how he is more of a wildcard on the issue of solar right now.

the price of silicon is expected to go down and if it does the price of making solar panels will go down.

but there is also now solar panels being made without silicon, and that could mean even cheaper solar panals.


if enough of these things line up then we will see a huge tipping toward solar power in the next few years.

How recycle your own paper

All the right the junk you need to make recycled paper is:



A blender or food processor

Fiberglass screen (like window or door screen)

Picture frame (or wooden frame)

Plastic tub or basin (has to be big enough to stick the frame in)

Liquid starch

teaspoon

Staples/tacks

Fabric in a square (felt or flannel)

sponge

Cookie sheets

And of course paper



Now you can use pretty much any type of paper or paper product. Such as magazines, newspaper, computer paper, cards, paper bags, tissue paper (I’m hopping your recycling the kind that you stuck in presents and not the ones you used to blow your knows), cardboard, etc.



If using cardboard you may have to soak in warm water before starting.



Also the quality of your new paper depends on the old paper you are using. Cards make heavier paper, where as using tissue paper will give you finer paper.



1. The first thing you do is rip up your paper into tiny little bits.

2. stick those pieces of paper into the blender until the blender is half way full. Then fill the rest of the blender with warm water.

3. turn blender on at a slow speed and then slowly jack up the speed until the paper is now a smooth and well blended pulp. Should take about half a minute. If you notice any flakes then keep on blending.

4. Now take whatever kind of fiberglass frame you are using and place it on top of the picture (wooden) frame. Then staple them together. Make sure they are tight as hell and you have your mold

5. Fill half the tub with water and then dump the pulp from the blinder. The more pulp you use the thicker the paper. You use more then one blenders worth of pulp.

6. Stir it up

7. Add 2 teaspoons of liquid starch and mix it into the pulp

8. Place the mold into the tub. Keep it straight while it sinks down into the pulp.

9. Gently shake the tube until the pulp is evenly on the screen.

10. slowly lift the mold out of the water. Let the water drip from the pulp in the mold. If there is to much pulp on the mold, get rid of some. If to little add some more.

11. When the mold stops dripping, place the mold onto the fabric.

12. Now stick the fabric over the paper

13. Gently use the sponge to get rid of the rest of the water in the pulp in the mold.

14. Slowly lift the mold away from the fabric. The paper should now be on the fabric. If not you either moved the mold to fast or didn’t get rid of enough water. Fix this and then try it again.

15. If there are any bubbles or loose edges you can press them out.

16. Place the fabric on a cookie sheet

17. If you want to make more then one piece of paper. Repeat steps 8 to 16 (unless your tub is out of pulp then start back at one) and stack the fabric over the last piece of paper you did.

18. Press the stack to get rid of any more water that may be in the paper.

19. lay out the paper to dry.

20. when dry peel the paper form the fabric.


Now ya got paper.



Now this might be a bit ghetto and you might not be able to use this paper for school or business. But for your personal use it should be alright.