This car is full of air

Zero Pollution Motors in a deal with Indian car company Tata is planning on bring a car that is ran on air to the American market.

the car is a hybrid that runs on compressed air in two ways. either by a tank of compressed air or a fueled motor that compresses outside air.

on the tank the car can reach top speeds of 35 mph for about 60 miles.

Using the motor gives the car the speed of 106 mph for 800 miles.

The motor can be fueled by multiple sources of fuel such as gas, diesel, biodiesel, vegetable oil, or ethanol.

so on nonhighway driving you can drive without giving off any emissions.

Zero Pollution Motors is hoping to have the car on the road by 2011 and are aiming to have a car plant in most states.

expected price for the car will be $40,000

Greener farms will bring healthier people and economy

The New York Times has an article that talks about if farmers where to go back to the way they used the farm a long time ago (ie farming multiple crops and animals) things will be better for the environment as well as for economy and will also produce healthier people.

the article is a bit long (9 pages) but in short it says.

The current system of farming uses way to much fossil-fuels (in fact 19% of America's fossil fuel usage comes from farm/live stock)

by going back to the traditional farms we would greatly reduce the amount of fossil fuels needed to run them, by both the fact that they don't need to use gas to transport grain to animals but also by the fact that the animals on the farm create fertilizers (so farmers don't have to use chemical fertilizers)

and the rotating of crops will lead to less need for the use of pesticides (many which are made of oil) as well as prevent land from eroding.

and if the food distribution system is more localized we wouldn't use as much gas in transporting our food across the nation (or around the world)

going back to the traditional farm would also mean we would need a lot of new farmers. or in other words this will create a lot of new green jobs.

the article also ask for more healthier foods giving to kids at school as well as having gardens in every school.

and food stamps and WIC should be more geared to people eating healthier (by giving more credit when people eat healthy)

going green with a coca and smile

coca-cola is adding 120 hybrid delivery trucks to it's fleets across American. Which is apart of the 4300 trucks that Coca-Cola is putting out around world.

at speeds lower then 30 miles an hour the trucks use no gas.

these trucks are expected to be over 30% more fuel efficient then the non-hybrid Coca delivery trucks.

Food From the hood

Food from the Hood is a student group turned business that was started by a group of students that attend Crenshaw High School.

the group was formed to turn a weeded area near the school football field into a garden. The group donates some of the food to the need and also sells a number of products such as salad dressing.

half the profits they make go to scholar ships for the kids in the program.

this program helps teach teens business and urban gardening.

so if you are looking for dressing then you might want to buy some form these kids. Not only do you get a good product but you also get to do some good

man made photosynthesis

professor Daniel G. Nocera of MIT and Matthew Kanan have found a way for humans to do something plants do naturally. to create energy from the sun's rays and water.

what the scientist have found is a way to split water apart so you have oxgen and hydrogen.

They dissolved cobalt and phosphate in water and then zapped it with electricity through an electrode. The cobalt and phosphate form a thin-film catalyst around the electrode that then use electrons from the electrode to split the oxygen from water. The oxygen bubbles to the surface, leaving a proton behind.

A few inches away, another catalyst, platinum, helps that bare proton become hydrogen.

this process could be a cheaper way to power fuel cell batteries.

Reef In Peace

Eternal reefs is a company selling man made reefs that they place into the sea.

by man made I think I should also state it's made of man.

the company takes the ashes of people (or animals) and turn them into short of coral reef balls (or half balls) and then drops them to the bottom of the ocean.

the ideal is that these reef balls are not only underwater tombs/urns but well also serve as an environment for sea life.

solar or else

Germany as a country has been a world leader when it comes to using alternative energy.

The German government has many programs in place that make it easy (and to expense) for people to switch over to things like solar energy.

but recently the German town of Marburg may have step the line by not giving people the choice to switch to solar but instead demanding it.

if people don't get solar panels for their homes and business they will face a $1,500 fine.

many people in Marburg are upset about this. The people don't seem to have a problem with going solar but the problem is that they don't like the ideal of being forced to go solar.

giving the cost of solar one may not be able to afford it.

now when a government really wants it citizens to do their part to save the earth, they are bound to have a bad policy here or there. the thing is that before this city (and Germany as a whole) was using a plan that seems to be working by making it cost effective for people to go solar, but not by forcing them.