4,638 organic farmers participated in the survey. It gives an overview of the most common organic management strategies and examines constraints and challenges to organic production. Organic Farming Research Foundation: research@afrf.org
Corning Inc.’s new 900/2 catalytic converter enables car manufacturers to reduce emissions by as much as 70 percent over current national standards, allowing them to meet the U.S. Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (Super ULEV) standards, which begin in 2004. Automobile manufacturers may begin using it as early as this fall to reduce fleet-average emissions of automobiles, trucks and sport-utility vehicles. A substrate coated with a precious-metal catalyst is positioned at the core of the catalytic converter. Untreated exhaust gas passes through the substrate, where it reacts with the catalyst and is converted to harmless gases and water vapor.
This 6-page paper from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory notes the U.S. has an annual resource base of about 200 million dry tons of various waste feedstocks available. Using a fraction of this would supply the equivalent of 3.6 percent of the projected light-duty vehicle energy demand in 2010. [sorry this link is no longer available]
Natural Resources Canada’s EnerGuide label, in use for appliances and vehicles, is now available for houses. Experts audit houses and advise homeowners on ways to improve energy efficiency and the rating of their houses while maintaining or improving indoor air quality. As more homes are rated across the country, Minister Goodale predicts energy efficiency will become an increasingly important factor in Canadians’ building, buying and renovating decisions. The Sun Ridge Group received $105,000 from the Climate Change Action Fund to educate homeowners, renovators, real estate agents, community based groups and First Nations about how they can play a role in meeting Canada’s climate change commitments through the EnerGuide for Houses Program. The EnerGuide awards for vehicles recognize the most fuel-efficient vehicles in all categories and challenge car and truck makers to improve fuel efficiency. Every new vehicle in Canada carries an EnerGuide label which identifies its fuel efficiency rating. EnerGuide for Houses: Office of Energy Efficiency
The “Consumers Guide to Buying a Solar Electric System” can be downloaded free. Anyone want to do a similar country or state-specific guide? To find out about state incentives for renewables, check out DoE’s site. All 50 states list their financial and regulatory incentives to promote renewable energies. Natural Resources Canada offers a free software tool, RETScreen, to evaluate renewable energy projects. The software identifies whether the following technologies are cost-effective in a given situation: wind, small hydro, photovoltaic, solar ventilation air heating and biomass heating. Solar water heaters, passive solar heating and ground source heat pumps will be added to the tool in August. Natural Resources Canada: rets@nrcan.gc.ca Download it: [sorry this link is no longer available] Consumer’s Guide: [sorry this link is no longer available] DoE: [sorry this link is no longer available]
The “Consumers Guide to Buying a Solar Electric System” can be downloaded free. Anyone want to do a similar country or state-specific guide? To find out about state incentives for renewables, check out DoE’s site. All 50 states list their financial and regulatory incentives to promote renewable energies. Natural Resources Canada offers a free software tool, RETScreen, to evaluate renewable energy projects. The software identifies whether the following technologies are cost-effective in a given situation: wind, small hydro, photovoltaic, solar ventilation air heating and biomass heating. Solar water heaters, passive solar heating and ground source heat pumps will be added to the tool in August. Natural Resources Canada: rets@nrcan.gc.ca Download it: [sorry this link is no longer available] [sorry this link is no longer available] DoE: [sorry this link is no longer available]
The “Consumers Guide to Buying a Solar Electric System” can be downloaded free. Anyone want to do a similar country or state-specific guide? To find out about state incentives for renewables, check out DoE’s site. All 50 states list their financial and regulatory incentives to promote renewable energies. Natural Resources Canada offers a free software tool, RETScreen, to evaluate renewable energy projects. The software identifies whether the following technologies are cost-effective in a given situation: wind, small hydro, photovoltaic, solar ventilation air heating and biomass heating. Solar water heaters, passive solar heating and ground source heat pumps will be added to the tool in August. Natural Resources Canada: rets@nrcan.gc.ca Download it: [sorry this link is no longer available] [sorry this link is no longer available] DoE: [sorry this link is no longer available]
From May 22-28, you can be among the 40,000 people cheering on more than three dozen electric cars as they travel 225 miles from Waterbury, Connecticut to Lake George, New York. Vehicles get points for fuel efficiency and low emissions, as well as for acceleration, handling, reliability, and driving range. There are many stops along the way, including a drag race and an autocross event. Spectators will be able to preview many of the electric, hybrid-electric and fuel cell cars from major automakers which will soon be available for purchase. There will also be entrants for more than a dozen student teams from major universities as well as engineers working on a variety of clean technologies. http://www.nesea.org
How much money would you save by installing insulation in your attic? Where can you find the best products and a good contractor to do the job? Homeowners now have access to a wonderful web tool on the Home Energy Saver Internet site which quickly identifies what to do save the most energy and money. Developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the “HES” tool allows homeowners to answer questions previously only available through advanced building simulation software. Until now, DOE-2, considered the most accurate and powerful among professional engineers and architects for building energy simulation, required extensive training and fast computers. Just put in your zipcode and up pops the “Energy Adviser” which shows you the energy use, bills, and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions for your areas’ typical house, and a comparable energy-efficient house. You are prompted to answer a set of basic questions about your house: its floor area, number of occupants, type of heating and air conditioning equipment, and fuel prices, to get a custom-tailored energy bill breakdown. Then, Energy Adviser provides a custom set of energy-saving improvements for your house covering all major energy-using systems: space heating and cooling, water […]
How much money would you save by installing insulation in your attic? Where can you find the best products and a good contractor to do the job? Homeowners now have access to a wonderful web tool on the Home Energy Saver Internet site which quickly identifies what to do save the most energy and money. Developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the “HES” tool allows homeowners to answer questions previously only available through advanced building simulation software. Until now, DOE-2, considered the most accurate and powerful among professional engineers and architects for building energy simulation, required extensive training and fast computers. Just put in your zipcode and up pops the “Energy Adviser” which shows you the energy use, bills, and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions for your areas’ typical house, and a comparable energy-efficient house. You are prompted to answer a set of basic questions about your house: its floor area, number of occupants, type of heating and air conditioning equipment, and fuel prices, to get a custom-tailored energy bill breakdown. Then, Energy Adviser provides a custom set of energy-saving improvements for your house covering all major energy-using systems: space heating and cooling, water […]