Archive for Eco Friendly
1,300 mile walk to bring awareness to SolarAid’s renewable energy project
Posted by: | CommentsAs you’re all aware Great Britain isn’t a very big place, the island that includes England, Scotland and Wales is smaller than any Canadian Province or many US states - it occupies about the same amount of land as Kansas. While it’s comparatively small it would still make for a long walk from its northeastern tip in Scotland down to the far southwestern point in England, a trip of some 1,300 miles.
An adventurous young man in England is going to undertake the walk to raise funds and bring more attention to SolarAid; SolarAid are striving to combat global climate change and poverty by bringing renewable energy options to some of the poorest people in the world.
Matt Jones to walk the length of Britain for SolarAid
The recent university graduate has combined finishing his studies with as much training as he could fit in recently to build his endurance for the walk. This Spring he trained by hiking 160 miles in 6 days along the South coast of England. He’s also been working to increase his body weight sufficently due the caloric battle he knows will result in significant weight loss on the trip. Each day will result in burning over 4,000 calories due to walking and he knows he won’t consume anywhere near enough calories to avoid losing the expected 20-25lbs during the hike.
While he knows the journey will ask much of him he is dedicated to raising the profile of SolarAid.
“I’m both excited and nervous for the immense challenge ahead. I hope that my expedition inspires people to help support the charitable work of the truly irreplaceable SolarAid.”
SolarAid has the broad goal of bringing solar powered lighting and other equipment to as many homes in Africa as possible to replace lamps that run on Kerosene and the reduce the amount of cooking indoors with raw materials. They hope their approach will improve the lifestyles, health and education of many living in poverty while also reducing the consumption of fossil fuels which so often is part of everyday life in these communities.
Please visit the SolarAid website to find out much more information.
Matt Can be sponsored via his page or follow his entire journey on facebook
Wind Farm reality - from empty desert to online power in 15 months
Posted by: | CommentsI’m from a very crowded part of a very crowded island, the UK has 659 people/sq mile and Greater London where I grew up has 10,600 per sq mile. Even then there is still some open space and countryside is being considered for wind farms as I write. Moving to the the Western US was quite an eye opener, much like Canada the sheer amount of wide open land not really being used in mind boggling. Arizona, where I live has 57 people per sq mile, Canada with its incredible land mass has just under 10 people per sq mile.
Such huge tracts of vacant land are rather imposing when you are not used to it and you wonder why can’t the land become our new energy future? Of course in the case of wind farms or solar farms they can quickly transform dormant land into our renewable energy base. Every time I drive to Los Angeles I always marvel at the huge wind farm that sits in the desert just north of Palm Springs. It rests in a valley between two large mountain ranges and always seems to be windy when I drive through (see there was logic in place!), as I drive and look at the turbines rotating I’m always impressed that we’re simply harnessing the energy of nature and putting it to good and clean use. No oil spills, no peak oil, no refineries and no residue - just a pipeline free series of windmills rotating.
Thus I was excited to read about the award of a brand new wind farm being built in the desert outside of Tehachapi, California. The small town sits in the high desert less than 100 miles North as the crow flies from Los Angeles. I’ve included a photo of the location below to emphasize that this is unused desert being converted to a much greater use. Now this isn’t your average wind farm, in fact it’s a monumental step forward in renewable energy. Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has announced that order for turbines just received will help create one of the largest farms in the world. The Danish company will manufacture 190 V90-3.0 MW turbines for the Terra-Gen Alta Wind Energy Centre. The order marks the largest ever for the company for a single site. Phase one will be delivered later this year and the remainder will be delivered and put into the grid during the first six months of 2011.
Vision of a wind farm in the California desert
Construction will begin in October and completion is estimated by Terra Gen by July 2011. With more than 830 megawatts of generating capacity in operation and 720 megawatts under construction, Terra-Gen Power is one of the the USA’s leading renewable energy providers and is the only American company that offers electricity on a utility scale from all three major renewable energy sources: wind, solar and geothermal power. At present they operate 21 renewable energy projects in operation in six states, and more than 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity under development.
From a wide open space to a clean energy farm in a short period of time….this can be done over and over again and in North America unlike Europe the space exists to make it possible, we can’t lag behind Europe who are building the turbines out at sea due to the lack of land. The possibilities are like the space to build, almost endless.
Fenway Park Citgo sign is switched off (and will be coming back greener)
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When you think of Boston landmarks you might come up with the Cheers bar, Paul Revere’s house or perhaps Fenway Park. If the home of the Boston Red Sox is somewhere you’ve visited (or even watched games on TV) you can’t help but notice the famous circa 1965 Citgo sign that stands beyond the left field wall, the famous green monster. As much as part the Fenway Park scenery as the ivy in Wrigley Field or the palm trees at Dodger stadium. Even people who don’t like baseball in beantown can’t help but be aware of the bright Citgo sign that towers above everything in the outfield except the floodlights.
The original Citgo sign has been there for 70 years and revised with bulbs 45 years ago now and has been lit for Red Sox from the Vietnam Era all the way through to a revival in the last decade which saw them win their first championship in over 85 years, Fenway Park itself has now stood for 98 years and the gasoline sign has illuminated left field for just under half of that time. The Citgo sign was last switched off in the 1970’s for three years due to the energy crisis (were we that aware back then!?) and will now be switched off for over a month for an eco-friendly upgrade. I was surprised to see this happen during the season but considering the first snows can often arrive during the playoffs in this part of New England they chose to do it this summer. They shouldn’t have worried as the Red Sox won’t be in the playoffs this season!
The giant sign measures 60 feet in height and width and currently contains over 210,000 LED lights and can be seen throughout the neighbourhood surrounding the ballpark. The signs goes dark to allow upgrades that will significantly improve the energy efficiency of the sign. Even though the lighting was replaced just 5 years ago the manufacturer no longer makes the lights required, hence the extreme makeover. The goal is for renovations to be complete in time for Citgo’s 100th anniversary in September, which might be the biggest event of the late season at Fenway Park. Congratulations though go to Citgo who are putting the new improved and green sign behind the green monster.
For more Citgo goodbyes (for now) please enjoy the video beneath.
Paul McCartney takes on McDonalds as he continues to support Meatless Monday
Posted by: | CommentsFew people are as well recognised around the world as Beatles legend Paul McCartney who as an avowed vegetarian is a de facto high profile spokesman for a meatless diet. Unlike 35 years ago the idea of reducing or eliminating meat from your diet now carries an environmental benefit in addition to the ethical presumptions given to vegetarians when I was growing up. Being as well known as McCartney is his comments are typically broadcast via the world’s media and create quite a stir. In the last week two stories about Sir Paul have caused a stir in the UK.
When learning that a McDonalds in McCartney’s hometown of Liverpool had walls adorned with photos of The Beatles he insisted the photographs were removed from the burger giant’s walls. A very public protest followed after which McCartney claimed victory when the fast food restaurant relented and removed the pictures of the singer/songwriter from the wall. McCartney and daughter Stella are both active with PETA and support the UN sponsored mission for a reduction in meat consumption and of course Meatless Mondays. In fact designer Stella has created a new t-shirt and tank-top especially to promote the Meat Free Monday campaign. The clothing features a print by Linda McCartney and is made from organic cotton. The limited edition shirts will be available via her own shop in London or alternately via her own website.
Paul McCartney and both of his daughters, Stella and Mary, helped to launch Meat Free Monday in 2009 with the goal of raising awareness of the environmental impact associated with meat production and consumption. They advocate that a significant difference can be made if everyone were to switch to at least one day per week that their diet is meat free. The McCartney’s believe that everyone can make a difference particularly if awareness is increased.
Meanwhile a growing debate is brewing in the UK where directors within the meat industry are stating that current claims McCartney makes are not accurate, specifically that the livestock industry is a greater contributor to greenhouse gases than global transportation. That’s a topic I can look at in more detail on a future post as it seems that different figures being published by various groups contrast who is actually causing more overall harm. The fact is that it depends on how the numbers are analysed and interpreted. What you can be certain of is livestock and transport both rank very high and much more can be done to reduce the impact in both cases.
Learn more about Meatless Monday via their official website.