Sometimes you see an idea that just seems so obvious; you have to wonder why nobody thought of it sooner.  Treehugger has a story on a project called Wind-It.  If you take the time to read this story, I guarantee you will never look at an electrical tower the same way again.

The genius of this idea is their use of these existing structures.  By placing a wind turbine inside the empty space of an electrical tower, they solve 2 of the biggest problems facing wind towers.  One, where to locate wind towers.  Two, transferring the generated power into the grid.

According to the story, there are more than 157,000 miles of high voltage power lines in the U.S.  Incorporating wind power into this infrastructure would make even better use of the land already occupied by the towers and save lots of money by not having to build new structures.

I think this idea appeals to me so much because it capitalizes on a wasted resource.  They fill all that empty space of an electrical tower with a productive wind turbine.  There is a strong similarity here to Passenger Energy since we are trying to fill the empty seats in automobiles with energy saving passengers who can leave their cars at home.

photo credit: the_toe_stubber

Here are seven web sites that are currently offering online registration for ride sharing:

1. http://www.erideshare.com/ - Carpool and ridesharing website

2. http://www.gishigo.com/ - Ride Share Network

3. http://www.goloco.org/ - An easy way to share trips with your friends

4. http://www.nuride.com/ - Save money and earn rewards

5. http://www.pickuppal.com/ - Connect drivers and passengers

6. http://www.ridester.com/ - Life is a Journey. Share it.

7. http://zimride.com/ - Social rideshare and carpool matching

These seem to be the leaders in this emerging market, but I am sure there are many others.  I applaud each of their efforts to increase ride sharing by building online communities.  Take a look at one or more of the sites to see the many benefits of carpooling and how they address our fear of strangers.

So what is missing?  Convenience.

While they each help facilitate ride sharing, there is a lot of planning involved.  Most of the shared trips are either normal daily carpools to work or one time trips to another city.  I think as these communities grow, we can move toward more on-demand ride sharing. 

My dream is that we could harness much of the unused capacity of passenger vehicles on the road today.  If more people continue to get involved in ride sharing, then there will be more available rides and passengers to fill them.  I know it will take time, but online ride sharing communities are a big step in the right direction.

Cell phones with internet access will make shared transportation even easier.

photo credit: believekevin

Is it possible that we are actually changing our driving habits?  In a recent Esquire story, Nate Silver makes a convincing argument for “The End of Car Culture”.  A bad economy and high gas prices are not the only factors fueling this change.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, Americans have driven less for 15 consecutive months.  Now, I can understand the decline in driving when gas prices spiked last summer, but the trend has continued even after the gas prices fell.  This is a dramatic adjustment from our past behavior.

The bad economy and high unemployment can also be credited with a decline in driving, but there seems to be more at work here.  We seem to be trying to wean ourselves from our car dependency.  For further evidence, just look at the decline in auto sales over the last 18 months.

One other trend to follow is housing prices.  In the last 4 years, cities equipped with superior alternate modes of transportation have seen large gains in the price of housing while cities that are highly dependant on cars have seen sharp declines.

I have been reading a book by Chris Balish entitled “How To Live Well Without Owning A Car”.  Click on this link to read the book through Google books.  It is a good read and he raises some excellent points:

Save money, breathe easier, and get more mileage out of life.

You may be surprised at the actual monthly cost of owning a car and how much you could save without one.  Maybe you are a multiple car family and could get by with one less car?

Well, I hope this trend continues.  Reducing the miles driven has so many positive effects on our daily lives.  Are you driving less than a year ago?  Do you have plans to reduce your driving in the coming months?  I hope so, let me know.

photo credit: jtriefen

We’ve had a lot of rain in the Northeast this spring, but now it looks like we are getting some good weather this week.  All this wetness will quickly be followed by the blooming of trees and flowers which brought this Talking Heads song to mind.

The lyrics are very open to interpretation.  I like to think David Byrne is happy to see our modern society disappear and the earth returned to nature.  Although if you listen closely to the song, you could make the argument that he misses all of the “advances” and is disappointed with a simpler scenic world.  Listen to the last line “Don’t leave me stranded here, I can’t get used to this lifestyle”.

Either way it is a fun song.  I choose to focus on the positive message and would welcome some undevelopment of our urban lifestyle. What do you think of when you hear this song?

Here we stand
Like an Adam and an Eve
Waterfalls
The Garden of Eden
Two fools in love
So beautiful and strong
The birds in the trees
Are smiling upon them
From the age of the dinosaurs
Cars have run on gasoline
Where, where have they gone?
Now, it’s nothing but flowers

There was a factory
Now there are mountains and rivers
you got it, you got it

We caught a rattlesnake
Now we got something for dinner
we got it, we got it

There was a shopping mall
Now it’s all covered with flowers
you’ve got it, you’ve got it

If this is paradise
I wish I had a lawnmower
you’ve got it, you’ve got it

Years ago
I was an angry young man
I’d pretend
That I was a billboard
Standing tall
By the side of the road
I fell in love
With a beautiful highway
This used to be real estate
Now it’s only fields and trees
Where, where is the town
Now, it’s nothing but flowers
The highways and cars
Were sacrificed for agriculture
I thought that we’d start over
But I guess I was wrong

Once there were parking lots
Now it’s a peaceful oasis
you got it, you got it

This was a Pizza Hut
Now it’s all covered with daisies
you got it, you got it

I miss the honky tonks,
Dairy Queens, and 7-Elevens
you got it, you got it

And as things fell apart
Nobody paid much attention
you got it, you got it

I dream of cherry pies,
Candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies
you got it, you got it

We used to microwave
Now we just eat nuts and berries
you got it, you got it

This was a discount store,
Now it’s turned into a cornfield
you got it, you got it

Don’t leave me stranded here
I can’t get used to this lifestyle

Instead of junking our gas guzzlers, wouldn’t it be better to convert them into gas sipping dual-mode vehicles?  Here is a story from AltEnergyStocks entitled “The Time is Right for Gas-guzzler to Dual-mode EV Conversions”.  The conversion idea makes more sense to me, but the price is too high right now.  Maybe they could bring down the cost through economies of scale and/or government subsidies.

The concept is simple – add electric power trains and battery packs to America’s least fuel-efficient vehicles and give them 50 miles of plug-in EV range coupled with unlimited internal combustion range. The potential benefits to the economy are enormous because the U.S. could slash gasoline consumption by a billion gallons per year for every 1% of the gas-guzzler fleet that’s converted to dual-mode. It’s also a solution that could be immediately implemented using domestic products and create untold thousands of new cleantech jobs.

The story goes on to detail the current cost at over $10,000 and the breakeven point based on different gas prices.  This does not hold up well with today’s current $2.00 per gallon, but we know this will not last. So this could be a very viable option for our future.

The beauty of this idea is that the electric components would allow you to drive up to 50 miles a charge.  This would cover most daily commutes while the dual-mode could easily switch to gasoline for longer trips.  We get the best of both technologies.

This way many families could continue driving vans, trucks and sport utility vehicles to accommodate children and other needs.  While a Prius is a great vehicle for the single driver, it doesn’t fit in many other situations.  A conversion of our exiting fleet of vehicles would be a huge step towards energy independence.

photo credit: Audin