This week's EcoGeek Newsletter was delayed because of the Thanksgiving holiday. We should be back on our regular schedule again next week.
The LA Auto Show was held last week, as well, and there are a number of articles with some of the highlights from the show on the EcoGeek site. We'll have more of those featured in next week's newsletter, as well.
From our sister sites, EnviroWonk raises the question about unequal taxation between solar power and other fossil fuel systems; and Envirovore has a number of items in this week's biotech news in review.
And Now...On to that and the rest of the News!
Honda Debuts Eco-Assist Gauge Cluster
Honda debuted their Eco-Assist display system at the recent LA Auto Show. Eco-Assist is more than just a display; it's a full fuel economy enhancement package. Besides the scoring function, which rates how you drive and encourages more economic driving, Eco-Assist offers and ECON mode, which tweaks the drivetrain to be even more fuel efficient. Perhaps the most visible and interesting feature is the speedometer background, which glows a certain color depending on how you're driving. This gives you instant feedback without the trouble of trying to read an extra set of numbers off the dash.
3 Finalists For Crazy Green Idea
In September, the X Prize Foundation announced a contest to come up with the next, green-themed X Prize. The challenge was to make a 2 minute YouTube video which focuses on a specific green goal which, if met, would be rewarded with a $10 million X Prize. The maker of the winning video would receive $25,000 of his/her own, granted by Prize Capital – a company dedicated to supporting green startups and causes.
MIT Proposes Partial CCS - Capture Less CO2 At Lower Cost
Let’s get one thing straight off the bat: carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has a ways to go before it convinces anyone that it is a real long term solution. The reality is that there is an ever-increasing demand for more power that is available all the time. For now, at least, we can’t meet all of that demand without resorting, at least a little bit, to things like coal. That being said, let’s take a look at a proposal being made by the MIT Energy Initiative regarding what they call “partial capture” CCS.
Is Cheap, Efficient Storage for Wind Power Finally Here?
With the rise of wind power, many critics have focused on its unreliability and how there's no efficient storage available. Other companies have worked on making the turbines themselves more efficient, but so far there hasn't been a low cost storage solution. Xcel Energy is hoping that their "Wind-to-Battery" project holds that solution. The company is testing an 80-ton sodium-sulfur battery on a Minnesota wind farm and believes that it can power 500 homes for seven hours when fully charged. The battery consists of 20 50-KW modules that are together the size of two tractor trailers and can store 7.2 MWh.
And, of course, don't forget to check out the news on the other EcoGeek Network blogs, too:
Carectomy - http://www.carectomy.com/
EnviroWonk - http://www.envirowonk.com/
Envirovore - http://www.envirovore.com/
And be sure to check in for more information about all the latest green technologies at EcoGeek.org
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