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

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

One of the best bands from the 80’s is Dramarama.  I don’t think they ever made it big nationally, but they had a huge radio hit with “Anything, Anything” here on the East Coast.   This song was pure energy and is still one of my favorite songs of all time.

This week I would like to feature another song by Dramarama called “What Are We Gonna Do?”.  Please excuse the mistake in the opening line, we know Earth Day is April 22nd, but I guess they had the date wrong when they recorded it.  Seems kind of funny now to make such an obvious mistake when we have instant access to the internet.  Back then, song writers just wrote lyrics and I guess nobody took the time to actually check the date.

Anyway, I found this video on YouTube that uses the song with some wonderful images of our beautiful planet.  There are also 50 inspirational messages to help encourage all of us to live better and take action.  I hope you find motivation in one or more or the messages while enjoying the music.

It’s April 21st and everybody knows today is Earth Day
Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday to whoever’s being born
And now I’m trying hard to think of something
meaningful and worthy, kind of earthy
to make everybody ask themselves just

What are we doing here?
and what are we doing to her?

I don’t know
What are we gonna do?
What are we gonna do?
What are we gonna do?

Recently I saw this article on Treehugger entitled “Facebook App Saves PC Energy…Maybe”.  This Facebook application makes recommendations for configuring your PC for lower energy usage.  You can then invite friends to join and see who wins a “Green Your PC” challenge.

This is a good way to get others involved through a social networking site.  I am a big fan of Peer Review and Ratings for building reputation.  If you can trust the opinion of many others then we can greatly reduce the fear of strangers.  This is a key point in helping establish an organized paid ride sharing system like Pay4Rides.

How else can we use social networking and twitter to bring people together to make new “friends”?

According to this story from AP, Earth Hour was a big success.  I am very excited about any idea that can gather this much attention and increase awareness of our current energy consumption.

I was at a party Saturday night where the hosts turned off the lights and lit candles.  It was a fun experience to share with friends and all the kids were even more enthusiastic than the parents.  The youth of today wants us to reduce our wasteful habits to leave them a better world.

Here is a video celebrating the first 2 years of Earth Hour while encouring even more participation this year.

This week’s song is a strong recommendation from my 10 ½ year old daughter Jane.  It was not my first choice, but she can be very persuasive.  If you are not familiar with Miley Cyrus, then you do not have a young girl in your house that watches Hannah Montana almost every day.

After listening to this song, I have to agree with her.  It has a great message about the youth of today telling us all to wake up to the everyday challenges that we face.  Unfortunately, many of us are currently looking the other way.

So, maybe this song will inspire you to take action.  If not, you might be harassed like me, by a cute girl singing this song during your next car ride.

Ohh
Can you take care of her
Ohh
Maybe you can spare her
Several moments
Of your consideration
Leading up
To the final destination
Ohh
The Earth is calling out
I wanna learn
What it’s all about

But everything I read
Is global warming
Going green
I don’t know
What all this means
But it seems
To be saying

Wake up America
We’re all
In this together
It’s our home
So let’s take care of it
You know that you want to
You know that you got
To wake up America

In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day this week I would like to feature an Irish group.  There are so many great ones including Van Morrison, U2, The Waterboys and The Pogues.  The band I chose for this week is Snow Patrol doing their song “Chasing Cars”:

We’ll do it all
Everything
On our own

We don’t need
Anything
Or anyone

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I believe the song is about a girl, but when I listen to the lyrics I can also hear a cry for Energy Independence.  Go ahead, look at the lyrics above while listening to the song and let me know what you think.

Last year I wrote about how hypermiling can dramatically cut your gasoline consumption.  Well, I recently learned that the New Oxford Dictionary announced hypermiling as the 2008 word of the year.  They discuss the history of the word, some of the methods and positive results of changing bad driving habits.  If you began keeping a log of your own gas mileage, then you could test hypermiling to see what kind of personal gains can be achieved.

In another story, you can see that web based tools and the internet can help cut vehicle emissions.  A pilot program in Denver configured 400 vehicles with greenhouse gas-tracking systems to provide the driver with feedback on their driving.  They could immediately see the impact of rapid acceleration, sudden braking and excessive idling.  This information resulted in reduced emissions and better fuel economy.

Automakers have also begun informing drivers with real time statistics.  The Toyota Prius already encourages drivers to seek more efficient energy use through a digital interface.  Now Honda is taking it a step further with their upcoming new car, the Insight.  This story on Earth2Tech discusses how the “Eco Assist” dashboard turns fuel efficiency into a video game.  They compare this to a Wii Fit for cars where drivers are rewarded with positive feedback for good driving behavior.

We should all strive to cut our gasoline consumption and reduce vehicle emissions with hypermiling, web based tools and enhanced driver instrument panels.  Good driving habits combined with advancement in technology could go far in improving our fuel efficiency.  Maybe someday all cars will be connected to the internet to help reduce our consumption, track carbon emissions and offer peer review through community.  I would like to add passenger energy as the next advancement in our fight for energy independence.  How ‘bout you?

photo credit: Marcin Wichary

This weekend over 10,000 of our nation’s youth gathered for Power Shift 2009.  The goal of the conference was to allow the attendees to make connections, harness resources and take action to repower and reclaim their futures.

This historic gathering is one of the largest and most well-organized youth movements in years.  On Monday, they are marching on Capital Hill to protest dirty energy and call for a dramatic transition to alternative energy sources.  There is some excellent coverage from this weekend’s activities over at It’s Getting Hot In Here.

While reading about this conference, I found this great hip hop song that I am using for my song of the week.  I have never heard of any of the artists before, but I love the message.  The song is “Green Anthem” by Tem Blessed, First Be & Outspoken:

Everybody shine
Be solar powered
Speak your mind
That’s wind power
Move your H2O
Wavepower
Organize people power
We got the soul power