Green Options

San Francisco Bike Coalition member Rick Baraff produced this short video documenting how the grassroots advocacy work of thousands of SFBC members led to last Friday’s historic victory at the SFMTA hearing.

The first time that I rode on San Francisco’s Muni it cost me a quarter, complete with a two hour unlimited transfer. Even as a clueless adolescent, I thought that was a pretty good deal. Mass transit ridership is skyrocketing all over the country, as more and more people are utilizing more sustainable methods of transport and

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Most odd stories relating to the environment tend to revolve around researchers and scientists and their slightly off the wall discoveries. But not so today. Today, in news of the weird – or at least slightly surreal – I bring you Daimler, the German automaker, who announced last week their very first hybrid car, the Mercedes Benz S Class. It’s a limousine.

Hundreds of ordinary citizens, as well as scores of environmental and bicycle advocates, packed the fourth floor of San Francisco City Hall today for the SFMTA’s hearing on the city’s long-awaited Bike Plan.

The Board heard hours of impassioned public comment in support of implementing the city’s desperately needed Bike Network; they voted unanimously this afternoon to approve the Bike Plan EIR and finally adopt the complete Bike Plan.

Three more car companies received sizeable loans from the federal government yesterday, but don’t worry; it’s not another bailout. In fact, the$8 billion is just the start of a larger $25 billion project called the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM for short) that was thought up back in 2007 and funded by Congress in late 2008 during the Bush administration. The project, overseen by the Department of Energy, is a federal grant and loan initiative bent on providing [...]

Is 120 miles-per-gallon too much to ask from an American car company? Ford doesn’t think so.

With the addition of the Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) to its development line, Ford Motor Company is showing that it can dance with the best of them.

The Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid uses high voltage lithium-ion batteries, which can be charged using common household currents (120v). Fully charging the battery takes six to eight hours. For the first 30 miles following a full charge, the Ford Escape PHEV can drive on the batteries alone, before switching to operate as a fuel efficient, standard Ford Escape Hybrid. The transition is automatic and unnoticeable.

It was the Ford Escape PHEV that was delivered to Hydro-Québec, Canada’s largest electricity generator, on June 9th. Ford Motor Company and Hydro-Québec announced that Hydro-Québec has joined a North America-wide demonstration and research program on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

Today at Noon, a Shell service station in Ottawa, Ontario will quietly begin selling cellulosic ethanol blended into regular gasoline. The biofuel is made locally from wheat straw, and as far as we know is the first time cellulosic ethanol has been made publicly available.

The new fuel will only be available for one month, starting on June 10th, but it’s a major step forward for the production of advanced biofuels. All gasoline purchased at the Ottawa station will be a blend of 10% cellulosic ethanol and 90% gasoline (CE10).

The Rampart Casino in Summerlin, Nevada, has taken the first steps toward a more Electric Vehicle (EV) friendly community. With the installation of an EV charging station, the Rampart became the first casino property to accommodate EVs, whose charge station was acquired in a business deal with Coulomb Technolgies.

If you build it, they will come…or not.  Since the addition of the EV charge station, the Rampart Casino has seen limited numbers of Electric Vehicles. Very limited.

“We only have one patron with an electric car, that I know of,” said John Shaughnessy, a casino security guard. “Actually, I’ve never seen it.”

David Garth, a valet for the casino since 1999, confirmed Shaughnessy’s statement, saying that he’s never seen an EV pull up. “But,” he said, “we get plenty of hybrids.”

In this 24 second animated short Elizabeth Press, one of the clever folks at Streetfilms, explains the beauty and simplicity of traffic calming by the utilization of chicanes, a series of constructed curves that slow car traffic, and make our streets safer and more livable.

A foul stench rises from the grey-black water as I wait for the riverboat. Kids jump in and climb back out, laughing a screaming. Old tires line the floating dock to protect the boats. I look down into the water toward my reflection, but it isn’t there. The grey water swallows everything. This is Bangkok’s Khlong Saen Saeb.

Khlong, or canals as they’re more popularly called, run throughout the city of Bangkok, giving Bangkok the moniker “The Venice of the East.” These Khlong were built centuries ago for transportation and trade. Khlong Saen Saeb was constructed in 1837 as a means of transporting soldiers during times of conflict.

San Francisco’s new solar-powered bus stops may not make the bus come any faster, but they will at least make the wait a bit more pleasant. The first solar-powered shelter, unveiled last week, contains photovoltaic cells on its roof that power LEDs for night-time vision. Excess power is sent back to the grid.