Showcasing ideas to achieve a sustainable energy future

Outback was a well-equipped almost-luxury wagon
Subaru has surprisingly good off-road capabilities

Read more on The Globe and Mail

China Raises Big Banks’ Reserve Requirements, Reuters Reports
China’s central bank unexpectedly and temporarily raised reserve requirements for six large commercial banks, reining in liquidity as the economy stabilizes, according to a Reuters report.

Read more on BusinessWeek

Uganda: UN Agencies to Aid in the Fight Against Climate Change
United Nations agencies in Uganda have committed $36 million (Shs72 billion) towards supporting government initiatives on climate change.

Read more on AllAfrica.com

Enter a ‘green’ video contest
Parkcitygreen.org launched its inaugural video contest Sunday with the theme, “How do YOU keep Park City Green?

Read more on Park Record

Showcasing ideas to achieve a sustainable energy future
At the campus’s Oct. 1-2 energy symposium, experts discussed new technologies to create a sustainable energy supply or lessen demand, the difficulty of changing consumer behavior and attitudes toward climate change, and the uncertainties associated with government policy.

Read more on UC Berkeley NewsCenter

Tips to Save Gas ? Helpful Ways to Save Gas and Achieve Gas Mileage Improvements

These days, prices of goods are skyrocketing like there’s no tomorrow. And with oil prices leading the pack, you find yourself stuck between your car and a hard place. Luckily, I have some helpful tips to save gas that will spare you from having to give up breakfast cereals for a whole month.

These proven tips to save gas have been accumulated from different places and people. Hopefully, they will be able to help you cut back on your gas use and make the most of the situation.

1. Carpool

Okay, I know what you’re thinking here. Out of all the tips to save gas, this would probably be your last resort. In your mind, you don’t want to carpool because it leads to all sorts of annoying circumstances. Your neighbor or your officemate will probably use this opportunity to pry at your personal life.

Well, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Honestly, carpooling is not that bad. After all, you have the option of choosing the people you want to ride with. And people are not that bad once you get to ride with them.

Think of it as a learning experience. Besides, you don’t have to carpool everyday. You can do this every other day or only during Wednesdays and Thursdays.

2. Make sure your gas cap is closed tight.

This is one of those overlooked tips to save gas that could save you a lot of money. Apparently, gas can still evaporate if you leave your gas cap a little loose. You might think that what evaporates isn’t really a lot, but everything adds up. 

It’s possible that in two weeks, you would have lost a good amount of gas that could perhaps have driven you from the office to your home. Add that up to a whole year of meaningless gas evaporation and you’ll see that it’s indeed a big deal.

3. Learn how to step on the brake properly.

Every driver knows how to brake, but not everyone knows how to do it properly. You’ve seen the movies where cars screech to a halt. You’ve probably experienced riding in a car which gives you a headache every time it stops.

Aside from being signs of poor braking, such practices also lead to an unnecessary use of gas. How so? Well, every time you brake, you also have to accelerate again afterwards. I’m not telling you to stop braking. That would be a dangerous tip to save gas.

What I’m saying is that if you’re an observant driver, you don’t need to brake all the time. If the cars ahead of you are moving at a steady pace, you can just release your foot from the gas pedal, slow down and anticipate the traffic flow.

Hope these useful tips to save gas help you achieve better gas mileage and allow you to have more money left in your pocket.

Green Design Agency? You Can Achieve Sustainable Graphic and Web Design

Green design agency. It does exist. Private businesses and government institutions in the UK (as elsewhere in the world) have a number of requirements. Profit is a key driver, as are its people. The planet is the third. The “triple bottom line: as it is called (People, Profit and the Planet) underlines the need for sustainable design within the drivers of any business.

The remit of a green design agency is creating visual impact with less environmental impact, while encouraging clients to consider the environmental impact of their production.

Malcolm Buttel is director of Oxygen Creative, a graphic design agency based in Tiverton Devon.

“We took control of our environmental impact as a business, applying practical environmental management techniques to what we do. Our environmental policy details how we use less energy at work, how we only use paper from sustainable sources with bio inks in our production, and how simple things like a car sharing scheme have helped us save 1000 litres a year in petrol alone.

“I am now a member of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management, and our business meets the criteria of BS8555 – the British Standard that is an equivalent to ISO14001. If nothing else, our clients know that they’re dealing with someone who takes being green seriously.”

So internal practices are important, but so is the output. It’s important that an agency considers the use of recycled paper stock with a high Post Consumer Fibre (PCF) recycled content, especially using recycled paper stock that has not been de-inked as well as unbleached or non-chlorine bleached paper stock which releases harmful toxins that could affect marine life. Think about using vegetable based printing inks such as soy inks which are renewable and emit less toxic Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

So, less ink is better – but a good designer can use less ink and still create maximum impact!

Green papers could be: 100% Post-Consumer Waste (PCW)

Processed Chlorine Free (PCF)

Uncoated

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified.

Even a graphic design agency web design agency can contribute. In addition to their own green living they can host websites on greener servers where energy and CO2 is offset.

Considerations for any “marketing product” include:

* reducing the amount of materials required for production

* using paper and materials made with recycled, post-consumer waste

* printing with low-VOC inks

* what production methods require the least amount of transport

* which vendors use renewable energy

* if the product can fulfill more than one purpose

* if the end-product is biodegradable or recyclable

* if the end-product can be replaced by a digital, rather than printed, format

* just-in-time production to reduce number of units produced and warehoused

* which vendors sell products certified by third party NGOs.

Always as a design agency to show you its environmental policy and look for their certification to BS8555 or ISO14001 which shows they have independent accreditation of their dedicated to environmental management; an environmental graphic design agency such as Oxygen Creative in Tiverton, Devon serves as a benchmark.

Nonin GO2 LED Achieve Fingertip Pulse Oximeter – Green

• No prescription required
• +/- 2 digital accuracy with drop tested durability
• Best water ingress protection
• Easy to read LED display
• Widest finger size range- up to 1 inch

Product Description
Nonin Medical, a US company and the inventor of fingertip pulse oximetry, is proud to offer the GO2 line of products. The affordable GO2 line provides reliable oxygen saturation and heart rate values without compromising accuracy. The GO2 Achieve is for anyone who is interested in knowing their oxygen saturation and heart rate. Applications would be for use during exercise or daily activities, during air travel for the passenger or pilot, and for extreme sports such as mountain climbing. GO2 Achieve is not a medical device and does not require a prescription from your medical professional. Comes with 2 year warranty, 1 AAA battery and users guide.

Economical New Cars That Achieve Over Fifty Miles Per Gallon in the UK

Using the words of Bob Dylan, â??Times, they are a changingâ? and this is certainly true when we look at the habits of the new car buyer. Successive governments have failed to curb our excessive fuel demands, indeed, for many years cars just seemed to get bigger and bigger, with fuel consumption figures dropping, sometimes barely hitting double figures. Then came the troubles in the oil producing regions of the world, swiftly followed by the credit crunch and all of a sudden attitudes have changed. Market forces have influenced the new car buyer and as a result, the car manufacturers have moved swiftly to fill the chasm that is opening in the marketplace, the need for comfortable, but fuel efficient new cars. Listed below are ten economical new cars, not in any particular order, or indeed, not even market leaders, what they do have in common though is their ability to travel over fifty miles per gallon on the combined cycle. They may not be the answer to all our problems, buy they are certainly a step in the right direction.

MINI Cooper 1.6 D

The 1.6 diesel MINI Cooper has had the EfficientDynamics treatment by BMW, low rolling resistance tyres, electric power steering, an intelligent alternator control / brake energy regeneration system, an automatic stop-start function and a high precision Direct Injection system are amongst the advances that have been applied to the new diesel Cooper and as a result it achieves a staggering 72.4 miles per gallon on the combined cycle.

Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion

Powered by a 1.4 litre, three cylinder, diesel engine that is fitted with a with a variable-geometry turbocharger that gives maximum assistance at low speeds, the Polo Bluemotion is one of the leaders in its class. Volkswagen have used a few tricks to get the Polo Bluemotion to perform as frugally as it does, the obligatory low-rolling-resistance tyres, lightweight alloy wheels and improved aerodynamics all contribute to the Bluemotion achieving 74.3 miles per gallon on the combined cycle. Exhaust gas recirculation and a particulate filter give the Polo another advantage over most cars in the UK market, Co2 emissions of only 99g/km, resulting in zero road tax. Low cost motoring at its best.

Audi A3 1.9 TDIe

Audi may not be the first manufacturer that comes to mind when it comes to economical cars, but this just goes to show how serious manufacturers are now taking the situation we find ourselves in. The A3 1.9 TDIe is powered by a reworked diesel unit and this combined with aerodynamic tweaks, low-resistance tyres and a â??recommended gearâ?? display mean the Audi will travel 62.8 miles for every gallon on the combined cycle. So, if you youâ??re looking for a car with green credentials, but donâ??t want to compromise on quality, the A3 1.9 TDIe may tick all the boxes you require.

Citroen C1 1.0i Vibe 3 door

The Citroen C1 could just as easily be substituted with the Peugeot 107 or the Toyota Aygo as they all share the same platforms and the same engines, that said the C1 was chosen for one thing and one thing alone, price. Designed in collaboration between the three manufacturers, all are extremely capable city cars with low road fund bandings and good mpg figures, slight cosmetic differences are really the only things that set the models apart, that and the fact that Citroen run slightly better offers making them the lowest priced model. Powered by a one litre petrol engine the C1 will return 61.8 miles per gallon on the combined cycle and has Co2 emissions of 108 g/km.

New BMW 1 Series 118d EfficientDynamics

Voted World green car of the year in 2008 by 47 journalists from 24 different countries, the BMW 118d EfficientDynamics makes use of energy capture systems, brake energy regeneration, auto stop-start, optimum gear-shift change indicators, electric power steering and lightweight body panels to achieve a quite remarkable 62.8 miles per gallon on the combined cycle. With BMW expecting sales of 700,000 cars a year in Europe that have EfficientDynamics incorporated, the fuel savings are estimated to be in the region of 33 million gallons, quite a substantial saving by anyoneâ??s book

Ford Fiesta ECOnetic

When it comes to economical new cars the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic has to be up there with the best of them. Powered by a specially tuned 1.6 litre diesel engine the Fiesta ECOnetic is the most economical Ford and possibly the most economical car around at the moment. Longer gear ratioâ??s, a gear change indicator, aerodynamic wheel trims, low rolling resistance tyres, lowered suspension and the fact that it weighs about 40 kgs less than the outgoing Fiesta mean that the ECOnetic will let you drive 76.3 miles on the combined cycle for every gallon of diesel you put in. Ford may be struggling in the US, but with figures like these the Fiesta ECOnetic it sure to prove a big hit in Europe.

Volkswagen Touran 1.9 TDI DPF BlueMotion S 105 5dr

Unfortunately not everybody can utilise a small city car or hatchback, after all some people do have families and this obviously restricts their choice when it comes to buying a new car. For those in that position, Volkswagen has come to the rescue in the form of the Touran Bluemotion. The Extremely popular MPV sports a new front grille and air intake, optimised aerodynamics, lower suspension and higher gearing along with low rolling resistance tyres, combined, these improvements mean that the Touran Bluemotion will return 52.3 miles per gallon on the combined cycle. Proving you donâ??t necessarily have to downsize to do your little bit.

New Toyota Prius 1.5 VVT-i

When launched, the Toyota Prius was seen by many as just a gimmick, as a result both Lexus and its parent company, Toyota, have stolen a bit of a march over their competitors. Exemption from the London congestion charge has certainly helped to raise the profile of the Prius and as a result it has become a common sight on the roads throughout the UK. Powered by a 1.5 litre petrol engine and a high output electric motor the Prius switches between the two, the electric motor takes charge at low speeds (up to 28 mph), with the petrol engine taking the strain at higher speeds. The result, a combined cycle of 65.7 miles per gallon, making the Toyota Prius an ideal car not only for the city, but also for those who choose to commute.

Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDI PD 80 GreenLine

Another offering from the Volkswagen stable to take a trip down to the wind tunnel is the Skoda Fabia Greenline, it may not quite match up to the Polo Bluemotion or the Seat Ibiza Ecomotive, it is however, quite a bit more frugal than the rest of the Fabia range. Achieving 68.9 miles per gallon on the combined cycle, the Greenline should theoretically drive 689 miles on a full tank, put into perspective, thatâ??s seventy miles more than a standard Fabia 1.4 TDI. The Greenline may cost a little more than its siblings, but with petrol and diesel prices as they are, it wonâ??t take very long before youâ??ve recouped the cash.

New Mazda 2 1.3 TS

Generally, as we get older, we add weight, something that also seems to happen to cars. Redesigns and facelifts always seem to add a few pounds here and there and as a result larger, more powerful engines are required just to achieve the same performance. Not so with the new Mazda 2. When Mazda launched the new 2 model it weighed in an incredible 100 kgs lighter than the model it replaced. Itâ??s safer (five stars from EuroNCAP for adult occupants), has more equipment as standard, yet still manages 52.3 miles per gallon on the combined cycle, quite an achievement really.