tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37209834931491605022012-01-28T18:59:27.107-08:00Combine the neologism diversivist (defined as one who strives to preserve diversity) with the Greek root bio to make yet another neologism and portmanteau, biodiversivist.Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.comBlogger1191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-63631148524813731592012-01-22T19:07:00.000-08:002012-01-23T18:33:00.344-08:00

I took that picture of an oil slick in the street in front of my house left by a car that had parked there for less than an hour. This is another advantage electric cars have. That oil washed down a drain ten feet away and from there into a lake just a few blocks away.The tar shingles on your roof dump a lot of petroleum products into lakes and streams as well. See Reflective Metal Roofing--Cost

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-15606257954075656002012-01-15T18:12:00.001-08:002012-01-16T18:37:29.763-08:00

I took a screen shot off my TV of these carved rhino horns and elephant tusk while watching the PBS Antiques Road Show. Write a letter/email to PBS asking them not to show these items because by doing so they become coveted status symbols. By refusing to show them, they become symbols of shame.The old guy who brought in the rhino horns had invested about $1,500 in them. They are now worth up to

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-47979002512820097782012-01-02T20:38:00.000-08:002012-01-11T17:22:20.648-08:00

This is a screenshot from a televised debate between George Monbiot and Helen Caldicott. I will be linking to parts of that video throughout this article, which I originally started writing to critique an opinion piece by Caldicott that appeared in the New York Times.If you plan to read any further, read Monbiot's article about this debate and the article he wrote about Caldicott that kicked this

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-36804409135269608012011-12-30T11:48:00.000-08:002012-01-01T11:53:20.426-08:00

Chevy Volt Plug-in Hybrid 1926 Model T tractor conversion I took the above photos at the county fair this summer. The Volt and Model T tractor conversion are both the result of ever present engineering compromises that tend to be exacerbated when designing a multipurpose machine. With the Model T kit you could convert your car into a tractor for planting season. Although

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-48855245283676021292011-12-04T13:08:00.000-08:002012-01-01T12:05:02.926-08:00

I recently concluded a comment field debate with a member of Animal Liberation of South Australia over at Brave New Climate. It's a good article and well worth a read. I made a few critiques in the comment field which blew up into a full scale debate. Go have a look if you've nothing better to do. I don't disagree that livestock is doing tremendous damage to the biosphere and I wish more people

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-9760019668934385802011-10-08T15:34:00.000-07:002011-11-05T10:42:26.630-07:00

Right click on the above figure to open it in a new window. Note the modified text on the left.The DOE report of their first Quadrennial Technology Review strongly suggests, at least to me, that we must greatly increase electrification of transport, manufacturing, and even home heating, using the lowest carbon sources available, which would be nuclear and renewables. In other words, we must

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-20196032951704128392011-10-02T08:14:00.001-07:002011-10-02T09:43:13.907-07:00

Photo courtesy of Major Clanger via FlickrDumb headline, I know. I borrowed it from an article discussing a Mill Valley town council decision "not" to put in more electric car charging stations.A local resident stood up to call electric cars something that was being forced on the community by the Federal government, "another Solyndra" that just "plain doesn't work."Whatever. The cost of putting

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-22505666820866500482011-08-24T17:49:00.000-07:002011-08-27T18:50:31.347-07:00

Click here to read about a rally sponsored by the Northwest Electric Bicycle Network last year (read the full blog here). Although the Northwest Electric Bicycle Network is not officially organizing an event this year, electric bike riders will be congregating at 10:00 AM, Saturday, September 24th at the gate entrance to Golden Gardens Park in Seattle in support of the Moving Planet event.

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-6155587110963056052011-08-07T10:00:00.000-07:002011-08-07T11:14:40.686-07:00

The F-150 is the best selling "car" in America.I recently drove my beloved 89 Cherokee to the junkyard. It was time... But instead of getting another Cherokee, I bought a Leaf. Before buying the leaf, I put a tow hitch on my Yaris to see how it would handle my trailer. No problem for short around town trips that don't require freeway driving.This certainly is not a rig you would want if you made

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-67682088931802788672011-07-30T21:52:00.001-07:002011-12-13T19:27:21.226-08:00

Below I Fisk an article titled Monbiot is "Part of the Problem": Jonathan Porritt on the Folly of Nuclear Power written by Sami Grover over on Treehugger. A contender for the title of my article was: Is Sami Grover "Part of the Problem?" The definition of a green, or environmentalist for that matter, is not very precise. If your definition of a green is a hemp-wearing, dreadlocked,

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-46840055057500061082011-07-29T17:18:00.000-07:002011-07-30T07:58:42.493-07:00

A few days ago I designed a device to prevent the detritus that comes through my gutter downspout from clogging the drain pipe it feeds into. I won't bore you with the details. My roof is getting old and the grit from the tar shingles is coming loose.I noticed the water was tar colored. This can't be good for runoff water quality. This got me to thinking about metal roofs.They can be painted a

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-18906607717013464272011-07-25T18:09:00.000-07:002011-07-29T16:59:22.325-07:00

You can read my earlier Leaf posts here, here, here, and here.The Leaf I ordered is not due to arrive for another two months. Another engineer that I work with called me up (while he was on vacation) to tell me that he had just test driven an orphaned (the ordering party decided not to purchase) Leaf. It was fresh off the truck and had a 12 percent charge. He warned me that the dealership wanted

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-43183446443391041052011-06-25T15:03:00.000-07:002011-10-10T20:16:42.196-07:00

What does this video have to do with global warming, nuclear energy, or Greg Laden? I'll get to that later and my apologies up front for that title. I adapted it from an old 2007 blog article by Laden titled:"James Watson:Please bend over while I kick your freakin [80-year-old] ass" [words in brackets are my own and ah, were added for clarity]....which, admittedly, I found while doing a Google

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-74424926193297406772011-06-12T10:17:00.000-07:002011-06-12T11:01:17.215-07:00

Just got an email from Nissan:Hi Russ, congratulations! Your vehicle is scheduled to arrive at your Nissan Dealer in the month of September 2011.As your Nissan LEAF™ is being built and shipped, we will continue to update your vehicle's status. So make sure to sign in to "my account" to stay current with your estimated delivery date.Please be aware that it is normal for delivery dates to fluctuate

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-76162579018804034532011-06-11T13:08:00.000-07:002011-06-12T10:15:52.232-07:00

Below, I have compiled a chronological list of my articles (along with a few from two of my most respected sources) that deal with nuclear energy. Most of the articles also contain lots of links to informative sources as well.I created it as a kind of online crib sheet to point to when discussing nuclear issues on the internet and will add to it as time goes on.I don't profess to be an expert on

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-49424686898149113482011-06-11T06:12:00.000-07:002011-12-10T08:19:30.675-08:00

Environmentalists are squaring off over the use of nuclear generated electricity to fight global warming. I recently concluded a "debate" with a guy in the comment field that followed an anti-nuclear article at an environmental website. In the course of the discussion he called me naive, childish, pathetic, petulant, stupid, weak-minded, a shill, a zealot, a fool, an ideologue, and an

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-20497025588135608472011-05-28T19:18:00.000-07:002011-06-11T16:54:48.308-07:00

Below I Fisk an article titled How to get to a fully renewable power system. It's largely an anti-nuclear article in sheep's clothing.Anti-nuclear environmentalists are becoming as much of a stumbling block to low carbon energy as the head-in-the-hole conservatives. They were taught as impressionable adolescents that nuclear energy was evil and they just can't unlearn it. As a father of two, it

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-85034039949036146442011-05-08T11:26:00.000-07:002011-10-08T12:47:29.005-07:00

I spied a couple of Apple computer ad placements last week. One was in the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (on Netflicks) and the other in a 30 Rock rerun. A few days ago I spotted DotEarth blogger, Andy Revkin with a Mac computer in his lap.In the first two cases, the video producers were being paid to prominently, yet subtly, display the Apple logo.Not the case with Andy's display of the

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-4491223761827587022011-04-24T10:04:00.000-07:002011-04-25T20:08:46.710-07:00

According to this website, Nissan is about to start taking reservations again.Beginning May 1, Nissan will reopen reservations to selected US customers who were registered before April 20, 2011 in states currently selling the Nissan LEAF™ (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington).Following this early-reservation period, reservations then will open to the general

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-73400441598515323372011-04-16T12:15:00.000-07:002011-04-24T07:53:04.377-07:00

Photo courtesy of Siovene via FlickrMining the moon for minerals is not likely to be profitable. This explains the dearth of debate on the topic (and the fact that there are no moon mines).If, as the latest anti-nuclear arguments insist, nuclear energy is also not profitable, why are we debating the topic? In reality, nuclear generated electricity has proven to be profitable, otherwise, like moon

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-91670823081242091232011-04-10T20:41:00.000-07:002011-04-10T21:00:04.571-07:00

Click to enlargeI borrowed the above image from another blogger, who borrowed it from another, who ...This chart puts into perspective the magnitude of what we face. Now ask yourself, is wise to exclude a low carbon energy source like nuclear from the mix?Look at those threads that represent wind and solar. To eliminate oil we need to greatly increase the electrification of transport, which means

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-71871713492349952292011-03-28T19:46:00.000-07:002011-04-16T12:35:24.213-07:00

Photo: Wikipedia CommonsOh, wait a minute. I got that wrong. I meant ethanol reactor, not nuclear reactor.From a paper published in the spring 2011 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons--the official journal of the AAPS (Association of American Physicians and Surgeons):Research by the World Bank indicates that the increase in biofuels production over 2004 levels would push more

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-57746875127397089782011-03-06T16:47:00.001-08:002011-04-15T06:30:01.954-07:00

The German government’s plan to follow our lead and force a ten percent blend of ethanol down its citizen’s throats has hit a snag. Unlike here in the States, German consumers can choose to buy gasoline without ethanol in it. So, that’s what they’re doing even though it costs more!I took the above photo with my cell phone while filling up our Prius. Your elected politicians are forcing you to

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-84499889023606563712011-03-02T14:32:00.000-08:002011-03-02T18:20:44.213-08:00

Photo courtesy of therozblog via FlickrImagine what it would feel like to accidentally maim, cripple for life, or kill a bicyclist (daughter, wife, mom, son, husband, dad, teenager or kid) with your car, regardless of who got the traffic ticket.On top of that guilt, imagine the potential for an emotionally and financially devastating lawsuit.Oh, and don't forget the deductible on your car

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-2275601827077984152011-02-20T21:01:00.000-08:002011-02-21T18:35:30.703-08:00

Photo courtesy of Darwin Bell via FlickrThe neighborhood dogs use my daughter's vegetable garden as a communal toilet. You can't blame them really. The garden is right next to the sidewalk and they are just dogs. I suppose you could blame the dog owners holding the leash. But, are my dog-walking neighbors really that obtuse or are they victims of the parasite on the end of that leash? ; )See this

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-4403447921912266472011-02-10T08:26:00.001-08:002011-03-02T18:24:04.899-08:00

There were two interesting cars parked on my street this week. One was a Nissan Leaf (see my test drive video here). The other was a Ford Pinto.The Pinto was one of the forerunners of today's small hatchbacks. It had bucket seats with a hand brake between them, a back seat that folded down, a small four-cylinder engine, and of course a hatch back. I owned four of them through high school and

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-60247061605390889072011-01-28T17:41:00.000-08:002011-03-27T11:08:44.270-07:00

Photo courtesy of s.red via FlickrJust how rational are we? Had the optimists not prevailed would the Titanic have sailed? I've read most of Ridley's books and have recently read my favorite, The Red Queen-Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature for the second time.I was looking forward to this book, which started out good.I stopped counting after he used the word pessimist for the twelfth time (

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-27672557283028225832011-01-06T20:00:00.000-08:002011-01-21T08:22:49.403-08:00

Corncob Bob (left) and Bob Dinneen, CEO of the RFA. In this post I am going to critique an article titled: Disarming the Food to Fuel Conflict...which was written by someone who did not seem to be aware that his main source of information, the Renewable Fuels Association, is the nation's largest and best funded corn ethanol lobbying firm. I used the same title because it is just as applicable to

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-36275649254250420392011-01-03T09:06:00.000-08:002011-01-03T12:08:57.989-08:00

Crossposted from the NORTHWEST ELECTRIC BICYCLE NETWORK blogJustin Lemire-Elmore is a founder of a very small Canadian company that sells electrical supplies for do-it-yourself electric bicycle enthusiasts. His website contains a wealth of information that many thousands of DIY builders have put to great use (myself included) like this hub motor simulator. He also has a degree in engineering

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-33207580105779443922010-12-25T13:52:00.001-08:002010-12-26T19:16:30.148-08:00

While doing a test drive I discovered that the Nissan Leaf has an ordinary 12 volt lead acid battery under the hood. It charges off of the main battery pack, which is several hundred volts. In other words, because you don't need to run an engine to turn an alternator to charge the 12 volt battery, it shouldn't go dead in just a few hours if you use it to run something like your laptop while car

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-44723382546871188772010-12-13T20:28:00.000-08:002010-12-25T17:21:44.968-08:00

Photo from WikipediaBack in September I wrote a rebuttal titled:Securities Lawyer Mocks Electric Vehicle Enthusiasts--Gets Mocked BackHere I rebut that author's latest critique of electric cars which he titled Alice in EVland Part II; The Hall Of Mirrors.Instead of mocking electric car proponents, he questions their integrity:Mark Twain reportedly said that "Figures don't lie, but liars figure."

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-85569858849837822462010-11-14T10:31:00.000-08:002010-11-17T07:54:22.077-08:00

Crossposted to GristNissan is touring the country with a dozen or so electric Leafs to let people test drive them. It was exciting to be sitting in the first viable mass-produced electric car from a major car manufacturer. This car has the backing of Nissan dealerships for maintenance, warranties, and the quality control you can expect from a Japanese company. This is history in the making.See

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-51280295201743588462010-11-13T08:28:00.000-08:002010-11-14T14:26:41.368-08:00

Crossposted to GristFrom the Huff Po:David Roberts And Steve Everley Debate Our Energy FutureI'm posting on this because my comment at Grist blew up into a full-blown diatribe and now I have to do something with it.I didn't watch the video. A podcast would have sufficed. A transcript would have been even better. I listened to it from the Huff Po site while multitasking. Funny thing about debates

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-8432254826482919102010-11-07T14:49:00.000-08:002010-11-07T21:02:15.651-08:00

I spotted an interesting looking electric bicycle in front of my neighborhood grocery store a while back. The picture you see above came from an owner's manual I found on the internet.It has some nice features like:1) A centered kickstand (electric bikes tend to be top heavy)2) Front and rear disc brakes (will never wear a hole in your rim)3) A pivoted rear wheel frame (loose tail to protect

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-71774924887643942282010-10-30T10:32:00.000-07:002010-11-02T21:33:44.507-07:00

Brace yourselves for another thought exercise.Expanding Croplands Chipping Away at World's Carbon Stocks:The conversion of the planet’s ecosystems into cropland — particularly in tropical rainforests — is stretching the Earth’s ability to store carbon, according to a new study. The demand for new agricultural land is growing most rapidly in the tropics, due to growing populations, changing diets,

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-8879709049263033722010-10-26T13:34:00.000-07:002010-10-26T13:40:30.356-07:00

This is a re-post from 2009. I deleted it to break the link to Chinese spammers who were burying the comments.I found the above photo on the Flickr Commons. It was taken at a trail head somewhere in California. A cougar was recently removed from a Seattle park just a few miles from where I live:I poked around looking for cougar sign by some ponds in the park but found only raccoon tracks. The

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-81358159606129470752010-10-25T07:56:00.000-07:002010-10-26T21:22:03.376-07:00

...but it sure could help. From a study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ...reducing peak population to roughly 8 billion, for example, could save 29 percent of expected greenhouse gas emissions.In addition, if people are allowed to retire at a reasonable age (there is a trend to increase retirement ages), some industrialized countries could also see a

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-42728468681506236252010-10-21T06:37:00.000-07:002010-10-26T13:39:59.932-07:00

Bob Dinneen, head of a very well-funded corn ethanol lobbying organization, has a new press release in the Huff Po green blog which begins by claiming:Other nations, including Brazil, with at least as many older vehicles on their roads, allow higher levels of ethanol blends with no discernible damage to their cars and light trucks.In reality, unlike American cars, cars in Brazil where ethanol

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-74676156350907991212010-09-30T07:51:00.001-07:002010-10-10T08:47:30.096-07:00

Photo courtesy of itdp via FlickrAccording to this article over on the Seattle Post Globe, work crews were busy last night installing the first of two planned bike boxes in Seattle. I drive past those intersections about twice a week while delivering my daughter to school, although I don't usually get up that way on my electric bike. I will get to see it first hand from my car tomorrow.From the

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-20867340055678912042010-09-29T09:40:00.000-07:002010-09-29T11:18:43.061-07:00

The SUC (Sport Utility Cup)Check out the tongue-in-cheek article over on Robert Rapier's R-squared blog written by Paul Nash, inspired by Ron Steenblik. The SUC was designed to fit into a Hummer's drink holder. Ordinary cups were not large enough and tended to tip over.A Hummer parked next to the original SUV, a CherokeeA comment I left on that blog:As I sit here, coffee cup in hand, I realize

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-70957912711325349232010-09-25T08:45:00.000-07:002010-10-04T09:21:20.080-07:00

Photo from Wikipedia[Update 9/29/2010] See this article by Ami Cholia on Alttransport.com.The study says: “The single most effective way to reduce US oil demand and foreign imports would be an aggressive campaign to launch electric vehicles into the automotive fleet.”Surprisingly, researchers also found that a carbon tax would actually end up being more costly in the long run and wouldn’t impact

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-87170890340421540372010-09-22T12:06:00.000-07:002010-09-22T22:21:57.935-07:00

Photo by Worklife SiemensReplace the letter D with the letter G in the word NERD.Following on the heels of this report in the New York Times:California Licenses World’s Biggest Solar Thermal Plant...was this interesting article by an honest solar power enthusiast saying that solar thermal power plants in sunny places need a lot of water. His solution? Get innovative. What those innovations might

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-27505168549939218642010-09-16T16:09:00.000-07:002010-09-21T21:24:49.364-07:00

The $10 million dollar X Prize was split between two electric car designs and a design that runs on biofuel (E85) called the Edison 2.In the above video the Edison 2 is hyped by the guy who bankrolled it. He tells us the main reason the wheels stick out is to enhance crash safety. Actually, they stick out for stability and aerodynamic reasons as they did for the defunct Aptera and the popular

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-86560211891027473762010-09-09T09:58:00.000-07:002011-01-30T17:54:10.239-08:00

Science--One, Chiropractor Assn--ZeroHere is Penn explaining why he used the term "baby twisting motherfucker" in a short clip in defense of Simon Singh back when he was first being sued by the British Chiropractic Association. [Update--the original video was removed, possibly under threat of a lawsuit? I've replaced it with another one. Hang in to the end to see the snails] From Wired:Losing the

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-48791799315892668762010-09-03T21:15:00.001-07:002010-09-21T21:34:02.172-07:00

In the above Animal Planet video, a man tries to defend himself from a rabid fox ...with a loaf of bread.I just spent a week with my family in a cabin on the shore of Brant Lake in the Adirondacks. While walking along a main road we were met by a guy walking up his driveway with a 2 x 4. He said that a pregnant woman had just been bitten by a fox with rabies. She had to hit it with a paddle to

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-22692302777696679692010-08-24T09:09:00.000-07:002010-09-21T21:34:22.425-07:00

Photo courtesy of D.C.Atty via FlickrOne commenter in an article at Grist about the advantages of lapdogs (which capitalizes on the tried-and-true technique of using cute dog pictures) describes how his pet cats and dogs help to create a biodiversity dead zone around his farm, which is what most dogs and cats were originally bred for--to help us obtain food and protect property (usually from

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-44553702034229166522010-08-15T09:08:00.000-07:002010-09-21T21:35:12.391-07:00

[UPDATE 9/12/2010]Picture above from Gas 2.0. Beautiful example of good marketing. But to tell the truth, it would be more accurate to have a whale hug the Leaf owner.As I write, I'm watching the above video of a test drive of the Nissan Leaf (you can right click on the video to watch the full sized version on YouTube). Also see this article about the Leaf by Todd Woody over on Grist, and this

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-52329803716527593832010-08-11T19:35:00.000-07:002010-12-31T20:12:22.116-08:00

Crossposted to GristFrom Wiktionary:VERBto outgreen (third-person singular simple present outgreens, present participle outgreening, simple past and past participle outgreened) 1. (transitive) To surpass in environmental activism or consciousnessI submitted this word to Wictionary after writing a review of Tom Friedman's book Hot, Flat, and Crowded where he gave the credit for it to a friend of

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-69266496901788078312010-08-03T12:34:00.000-07:002010-08-04T10:18:20.706-07:00

The Northwest Electric Bicycle Network in conjunction with Energy Transitions NW organized an electric bicycle rally last Saturday that started in Seattle's Golden Gardens park and ended at Gasworks park, where a beer and bike festival called the New Belgium Tour de Fat was in full progress.The above footage isn't really of the daily Seattle bicycle commute, in case you have not figured that out

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-79497776923466744082010-08-01T09:02:00.000-07:002010-08-06T10:05:27.147-07:00

The above photo is from Rhett Butler's (of Mongabay) latest trip to Bali. It inspired me to do a post. Beetle collecting was all the rage back in Darwin's day. Photos from today's high-quality, affordable, digital cameras, which allow anyone to snap cool pictures and video of wildlife, may be just the thing to end the collection of actual specimens to show off and to aid other conservation

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-2560148364625273082010-07-16T21:08:00.001-07:002010-07-18T14:46:17.349-07:00

(Photo credit: Ollie Crafoord's photo stream Flickr)There have been four recent articles in Grist (mine makes the fifth and I would not blame anyone for not bothering to read it) on the topic of population. I put it together mostly as a matter of record. Good luck keeping track of it all. I list them below in chronological order:1) On World Population Day, take note: population isn’t the problem

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-78376466322404001872010-07-09T10:39:00.000-07:002010-07-09T11:32:25.402-07:00

Last week a bunch of crows (called a murder for reasons unknown) were making so much noise I stepped out of my house to see what was up. Most of my neighbors did as well. We discovered a pair of red-tailed hawks in a nearby tree, one of which was eating a crow.Today I heard another murder of crows raising hell and figured that the hawks had returned. Instead, I found two bald eagles in my

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-2147998194907551292010-06-19T16:31:00.000-07:002010-06-19T22:49:39.019-07:00

Photo courtesy of, er, Hidinhumiliation via FlickrA short, relatively innocuous post on an obscure farming blog created a small stir last week when it caught the attention of some less obscure bloggers, Robert Rapier in particular, who was was on the corn ethanol enemy list presented in this article.I didn't want to open a can of worms in that blogger's comment field, but the can got opened

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-69571375122340858802010-06-16T08:07:00.000-07:002010-06-16T14:03:53.069-07:00

The original Metro (not being sold at Best Buy) is actually more of a moped than a bicycle. It has a twist throttle, smallish wheels like a scooter (which enhances acceleration from a stop), along with front and rear suspension--pedaling optional:Maximum road speed under power – 20 mphUp to 20 miles* unassisted range (extendable to 40 miles**)Battery chemistry: lithium ionNominal voltage: 36

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-67674301874037332892010-05-20T22:44:00.000-07:002010-05-30T13:33:54.590-07:00

Photo courtesy of Chuckumentary via Flickr"Could it be the unholy alliance between oil interests and environmentalists?"--Bob Dinneen, CEO of the RFA*Bob Dinneen (the Bob on the right) is the CEO of the RFA, a corn ethanol propaganda mill lobbying organization that never prints the word "corn" next to the word "ethanol." Note also that he has dropped the whole "energy independence" canard for a

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-46937971783089404102010-05-15T10:07:00.000-07:002010-05-18T08:47:12.545-07:00

Photo WikipediaWhen it comes to energy produced per area of food cropland usurped, corn ethanol and soy biodiesel are the worst options available. If you want to obtain energy from the sun, your best option is to grow a crop of solar panels.The solar farm above covers 150 acres. It nets sixty times more BTUs of energy per year than a corn crop used for ethanol and about 120 times more than a soy

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-40898085776176738642010-05-04T21:27:00.000-07:002010-05-18T08:47:28.912-07:00

Photo courtesy of roel1943 via FlickrAh, did I get that backwards? Brace yourself. Here comes another of my thought exercises, again inspired by my latest reading of The Red Queen-Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt Ridley. Another word of warning--random bursts of dripping sarcasm can be found in places you may not always expect it.Ever wonder why we feel compelled to comb our hair and

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-36522412990958222462010-04-19T06:56:00.000-07:002010-06-13T08:36:02.667-07:00

For the full effect, turn your speakers on and click on the box with four arrows in the lower right-hand corner of the video before playing it.I see it has already drawn a video response from a company that retrofits cars to run on E-85. I cringe at the thought of the hateful comments this video will elicit. Human nature can be an ugly thing to behold.I put the above video together as an example

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-611595770139857662010-04-15T07:30:00.000-07:002010-05-18T08:48:06.145-07:00

Pile of bison skulls collected from prairies to be used for dye and fertilizer...to go with your Handy Dandy Evolution Refuter.An article over on Mongabay titled, Turning to the matrix: a more accurate way to predict extinction, discusses a new computer model to help biologists predict extinction rates based on how badly a bipedal carnivorous predatory ape species has devastated a given area of

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-72386427710073860372010-04-01T11:35:00.000-07:002010-04-13T23:23:44.800-07:00

Foil hat image from Wikipedia Commons.Climate Gate was inevitable. For a while there the lay press and television news was rife with headlines about various and sundry climate science "hoaxes." I dutifully chased down one claim after the other, which all turned out to be hoax hoaxes. Luckily there are a few blogs out there that serve as liaisons to climate scientists, conveying explanations to

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-57158051903335482452010-03-29T16:56:00.000-07:002010-05-18T08:49:03.287-07:00

Photo courtesy of silkegb via FlickrSelf-described as an organization of "citizens and scientists for environmental solutions," their chosen name almost demands respect--a union of scientists who are concerned. But they don't hide the fact that they are not all scientists, so, in theory only two of them have to be scientists to keep the name legitimate, and in any case nobody knows exactly what a

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-83700601243762677072010-03-15T14:12:00.000-07:002010-11-22T07:07:58.418-08:00

Photo courtesy of Dog Tag Art via FlickrThis thought exercise was motivated in part by my second reading of The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature (by Matt Ridley) while on a trip to Argentina. The book covers parasitism's role in evolution. While in Argentina I noticed the stark difference between the urban mostly purebred lapdogs in Buenos Aries and the often malnourished mutts

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-30046512278731242952010-02-28T20:31:00.000-08:002011-11-16T18:02:46.999-08:00

Photo courtesy of, ah, Bitchcakes via FlickrAlec Baldwin weighs in, but which is better, coal or nuclear?The official response to that question by most environmental organizations is to say "neither."Neither? Are they privy to a secret consensus finding backed up by multiple, detailed, peer-reviewed, scientific studies which have demonstrated that when all negative and positive aspects of both

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-34539093407112658752010-02-23T08:55:00.000-08:002010-05-18T08:50:00.027-07:00

To get to this wildlife preserve from Seattle, fly for about 15 hours to Buenos Aires. Rent a car, load it with your family and drive North toward Brazil for a day or so to a small town called Collinia Carlos Pellegrini where you will find a dirt road. Drive down that dirt road for three hours. Cross a rickety one-lane wooden bridge. Go here for some very amateur video footage of some of the

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-62152974043856331222010-02-20T11:14:00.000-08:002010-02-20T12:07:56.265-08:00

I won't be back in the States for another day. My video and photos of this trip are on another computer at the moment. The above photo was borrowed from the Kingsnake reptile forum. I saw one of these that was about the same size as seen in this picture walking along the road ...very exciting.I'm presently in a city with a population of 13 million people.

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-37513146891104183172010-02-12T08:55:00.000-08:002010-05-18T09:13:13.894-07:00

The picture above (taken by my eldest daughter from a car ) is your first hint--more to follow. I had no idea what these were. They look like a cross between a capybara and a jack rabbit, which makes perfect sense from an evolutionary perspective once you find out what these are and where they live.Click here--to see a list of articles and to subscribe to future posts or subscribe by email by

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-84422102807631483672010-02-03T10:39:00.000-08:002011-10-08T08:57:09.373-07:00

Take a look at those two music systems. The MP3 player is about an order of magnitude smaller than the remote control and several orders smaller than the 5-CD changer itself.This is an example of how improved technology can greatly reduce resource and energy use. Keep in mind that the MP3 player also eliminates the need for a few hundred compact discs as well. I use MP3 primarily for audio books,

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-27421507597069105422010-01-23T12:09:00.000-08:002010-01-24T21:27:45.317-08:00

Corporatocracy.Efforts to save the planet will resume after this commercial break.Ever wonder why you can step across the Mexican border and instantly move from one of the richest countries on Earth to one of the poorest? It's all about governance. Mexico's government is hobbled by the corrupting influence of wealthy individuals. Politicians trapped in that system have no choice but to

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-28571781609442567422010-01-19T08:03:00.000-08:002011-08-27T11:35:11.873-07:00

Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator [D-WA] [UPDATE 12/21/2010] The tax credit of $1.00 per gallon has been officially reinstated. From Biofuels Digest: John Plaza, CEO, Imperium Renewables: Today marks a tremendous event for the biodiesel industry. With both the Senate and House including the biodiesel tax credit in the President’s Tax Package, we can get back to the job of supplying our Nation with

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-17867728962400764422010-01-18T12:47:00.000-08:002010-05-18T09:14:35.014-07:00

(Photo credit VA5LF via the Flickr Creative Commons license).[Update 5/04/2010] We had a record warm winter this year so I could not tell what the impact of the new furnace was. However, I just got a gas bill for a month where the average temperature was just one degree warmer than last year and my gas bill was considerably higher. Not cool. It is possible to use more gas with a 95% efficient

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-32193392507031032642010-01-08T23:14:00.000-08:002010-09-13T22:41:44.420-07:00

This is the battery pack that I built for my electric bike. It fits into a standard trunk bag behind the seat.I get a lot of emails from people who want to do the same thing (hook Dewalt 36 volt batteries up in a parallel-series configuration for 72 volts). I put together (but never finished) a website to let people know what they're getting into and to talk them out of it if they're not

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-63012222424417664732010-01-06T12:54:00.000-08:002010-05-18T09:15:46.339-07:00

(Photo credit cindy47452 via the Flickr Creative Commons license).Books extolling the wonders of the coming hydrogen economy turned out to be works of fiction, as have several books about food-based biofuels. In fact, entire books have been written specifically to critique what is found in such books.Are we about to jump on a new bandwagon now that the wheels have come off the first one?I was

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-74153970878954107002009-12-30T11:09:00.000-08:002009-12-30T13:59:21.748-08:00

This is huge.According to Physorg, Panasonic will market a battery for home use beginning next year. They claim it will power a house for a week, which does not tell us much. Your average American house consumes far more energy than your average Japanese house. At some point they will publish actual ratings for us to ponder as they did in an earlier press release announcing the production of a

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-80328677423602814722009-12-14T17:43:00.000-08:002010-05-18T09:16:22.464-07:00

(Photo credit catchesthelight via the Flickr Creative Commons license).Why does Bob Dinneen, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (an organization that just spent almost a quarter of a million dollars last quarter lobbying for corn ethanol) have a blog in the Huffington Post's environmental forum? Why not give a spot to the ACCCE so they can use it to tell us how clean coal is?The RFA has been

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-15745063179974526212009-12-05T11:19:00.000-08:002010-01-01T12:23:31.843-08:00

This review follows on the heels of what the media has dubbed climtategate--a textbook example of how to make a mountain out of a mole hill. A few weeks prior to that brouhaha, the media was awash with reports that the world is actually cooling, which upon closer inspection also amounted to nothing. Sticking with mole analogies, correcting the disinformation perpetuated by those who seek to

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-12586582545702382282009-11-27T22:40:00.000-08:002010-09-14T07:42:08.689-07:00

[UPDATE 9/14/2010] This post was moving up the Digg ratings and then suddenly stopped. Digged was being rigged by a gang of climate skeptics that call themselves the Digg Patriots who reflexively vote down any climate change articles.You know who I'm talking about, that stereotype who inevitably appears in the comment field armed with irrefutable evidence that climate change is a giant conspiracy

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-26910040771661100842009-11-16T07:25:00.000-08:002009-11-27T18:20:50.763-08:00

(Photo credit stev.ie via the Flickr Creative Commons license).My wife brought home tuna for dinner the other night. My fifteen-year-old daughter, member of her school's environment club, 4-H, and a consummate organic gardener, whipped out her Monterey Bay Aquarium seafood card to see how tuna ranked. Yay! There it was on the Best Choices card. In fact, the card had six variations of tuna and one

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-5990656311340302792009-11-14T20:26:00.000-08:002009-11-14T23:27:07.654-08:00

Just found this press release over on Green Car Congress:SANYO to Mass ProduceNew Large-capacity High-voltage Lithium-ion Battery SystemsThis is big. I've been waiting for this announcement. The pack for "light" electric vehicles (the one with the disembodied hand) has twice the amp hours of my electric bike (but about 25% lower voltage). They sell about a million electric bikes a year in

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-92123294937630440042009-10-31T17:00:00.000-07:002009-11-09T11:56:03.619-08:00

I put together a Microsoft Excel interactive pie chart that can be opened or downloaded (file downloaded from this link is guaranteed not to have a virus) that may help people to put into perspective various efforts (like doubling the efficiency of the US car fleet, or the elimination of coal for electricity generation) to reduce greenhouse gases.I read the WWF study last night. At first I was a

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-48538606362346509152009-10-29T10:40:00.000-07:002011-01-09T22:29:47.256-08:00

Image is everything. Whatever image you may have in your head of an American farmer, the too-numerous-to-count agriculture promotional groups most likely planted it there. Thanks to my teenage daughter who is very active with 4H, I have a bumper sticker on my car that says, "I love my farmer," and in her case that is quite true.Here are some results of a recent poll conducted for the National

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-7073387162368671842009-10-23T14:40:00.000-07:002010-05-23T10:02:54.217-07:00

[Update May 23, 2010] Spotted another guy riding an A2B on the bike trail the other day so I thought I'd follow him to see how he used it. He was listening to an MP3 player and didn't have any rear view mirrors.I clocked him at 20 mph the whole time except when he slowed down in traffic. He used his pedals once, briefly, as he climbed a short, fairly steep hill.A few days later I spotted him

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-91524959742998774272009-10-17T15:04:00.000-07:002009-10-21T08:51:40.868-07:00

(Photo credit coffeego via the Flickr Creative Commons license).Two recent articles have motivated me to do another biking post. First up is this one, from Science DailyDespite the wide-spread attention paid to the importance of wearing helmets, helmet use did not change during the time period of the study, and more than 33 percent of 329 bicycle injury victims had a significant head injury. Even

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-62790219392791216132009-10-15T14:43:00.000-07:002009-10-16T07:28:04.998-07:00

I've been meaning to build a solar hot water system for some time now. I will post on my progress periodically, including details for anyone wanting to learn from my mistakes. Although I've read everything I could find on the Internet about solar hot water, I'm sure there is a lot I don't know but will soon find out.By doing it myself I'll be able to pass on what I learn. One critique of solar is

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-19716547968250820882009-10-07T17:19:00.001-07:002010-10-10T08:34:36.370-07:00

[Update 10/9/2010: A study was just published in Science (click here for full text--$ub reqd) that parallels a study published in Nature earlier]Apparently, we've punched through three of those boundaries already, two of them big time. See here. You can read the entire paper in the journal Nature here.Now, largely because of a rapidly growing reliance on fossil fuels and industrialized forms of

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-90781910403195624922009-09-26T21:16:00.000-07:002009-09-26T21:23:47.600-07:00

This is the type of battery I have been using in my hybrid electric bike since 2006. Each battery is good for 0.23 amp hours. I string forty together in a series/parallel configuration for a total of 4.6 amp hours.Above is a picture of their new automotive class 20 amp hour battery.I know first hand how well these batteries perform and it is nothing short of amazing. I'm still using the same ones

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-30336747524548381822009-09-26T18:14:00.000-07:002010-05-13T11:00:49.717-07:00

(Updates have been added at the end of this post)According to Green Inc., lab tests have confirmed that a high ethanol blend was to blame for taking about 70 police cars out of service in Baltimore.At first it was suspected that diesel had contaminated the fuel. Here is a video of the mechanics flushing out the fuel injectors.According to the maintenance supervisor in that video the cars were

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-36271203876684584592009-09-15T13:29:00.000-07:002009-09-19T19:11:34.371-07:00

According to the Edmunds Green Car Advisor blog, Mitsubishi has already sold out the first production run of it's electric car, the i-MiEV. And you are right. That isn't a picture of the i-MiEV above. It's a near-clone called the Blue Car that incorporates a capacitor along with the batteries. Here's the real deal.The i-MiEV is based on the Mitsubishi i. It's expensive and will therefore have

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-10894924803310495172009-08-30T07:35:00.000-07:002009-08-31T06:25:41.981-07:00

Hardi BaktiantoroDoes it matter? What do biofuels have to do with oil sands? This is called a logical fallacy. Specifically it is a false dilemma in which only two alternatives are assumed (biofuels or oil sands), when in reality the options are not mutually exclusive, related, or even dependent on one another.I borrowed this title from a post by John Guerrerio over on Examiner.com.When several

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-57145898077413536642009-08-29T09:51:00.000-07:002009-08-30T09:35:15.028-07:00

I gave Jo Borras over on Gas2.0 a rough time in my last post, but he really made up for it with his latest article. Go read it here.In a nutshell, MPG ratings are inadequate to measure electric and plug-in electric car energy consumption. The guys at X Prize put together a free spreadsheet to calculate a better metric called MPGe, which measures how much energy your vehicle consumes, regardless

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-3466846907962697772009-08-22T14:37:00.001-07:002009-08-29T12:37:44.897-07:00

Jo Borras posted what is essentially an infomercial in sheep's clothing over on gas2.0 biofuels, oil, a revolution, about a company that soups up cars to get more horsepower. It's just another pro-corn ethanol blog article but it's also an example of what is becoming more and more obvious. People can be amazingly impervious to evidence, not that Obama was actually born in the United States or

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-81576899470616970602009-08-10T09:46:00.000-07:002009-08-11T08:00:42.986-07:00

Kate Galbraith put up a post in the NYT Green Inc. blog about the carbon footprint of child bearing. According to a study done at Oregon State University:"…a hypothetical American woman who switches to a more fuel-efficient car, drives less, recycles, installs more efficient light bulbs, and replaces her refrigerator and windows with energy-saving models. If she had two children, the researchers

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-18708152326016532102009-08-09T21:17:00.000-07:002009-08-29T12:37:12.513-07:00

While on a hike in the Adirondacks last week, my wife and youngest daughter took this picture of what should be a green frog. I have never seen this blue pigmentation before. I think it's unlikely to be a mutation that will impart any kind of advantage unless it finds itself living on a blue carpet, and come to think of it, being blue in that case might not be an advantage.Frog populations are in

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-90581475129841128282009-07-19T11:19:00.000-07:002009-08-29T12:36:51.078-07:00

If you have children, you are probably familiar with The Giving Tree. Our version is a Stella cherry tree. My neighbor, Farmer Breakfield, allowed me to plant it on his property in the side yard between our houses way back when my first born was not yet a year old. It was just a stick, barely eight feet high. He was a good neighbor and ate many a cherry from that tree before passing on.My wife

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-3533835495707799952009-06-28T16:30:00.000-07:002009-06-28T17:00:29.086-07:00

Photo credit Marv BreeceA few days ago I walked right into a swirling ball of birds too engrossed in their mating rituals to pay any attention to me. They would swoop to within a foot of the sidewalk and looked like some kind of barn swallow with green feathers on their backs. Some were carrying what appeared to be white chicken feathers. We happen to keep chickens and I was just a few hundred

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-65606501227653438582009-06-27T09:41:00.001-07:002009-08-22T09:32:23.686-07:00

Did you know that the carbon intensity (the ratio of carbon dioxide to energy) of natural gas is lower than the average intensity of Brazilian and American soy biodiesel? And that is without counting land displacement impacts (carbon put into the atmosphere by burning a forest to plant soy).A common argument I hear from biodiesel enthusiasts is that heavy machinery must use diesel engines because

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-37290442312685410022009-06-19T19:36:00.000-07:002009-06-21T08:18:21.862-07:00

Here's a King 5 News video clip and here is a short article from the online Seattle PI. The PI article suggests that Seattle quit because of this EPA study, which came out in May (Figure 2 shows soy biodiesel worse than regular diesel). It also suggests that this is a temporary situation when it isn't. Quite a change from a year ago when permission was given to invest ten million dollars of the

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-2944261222377530762009-06-17T11:12:00.000-07:002009-06-19T16:05:56.694-07:00

Eco tourism is great but doesn't scale well. There just are not enough tourists around to save the whole planet. I'm hoping effective carbon trading schemes will be worked out that will make it profitable to protect ecosystems. Time will tell.My family took a trip to Costa Rica a few years ago. I was like a kid in a candy store and shot a lot of (poor) footage. Don't expect National Geographic

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-16581788517493480242009-06-16T17:00:00.000-07:002009-06-19T16:06:54.152-07:00

Got some more riding tips to share. I've learned that nothing catches people's attention like a hand wave. It has been hypothesized that our brains have literally evolved the ability to detect hand waves against a cluttered background. I always wave at drivers before crossing in front of them. Try it. They can't seem to ignore you no matter how much they would like to.I have also discovered an

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-3323863773798000332009-06-09T10:51:00.001-07:002009-06-09T10:54:17.548-07:00

Michael Kanellos said the following in his Greentech Innovations Report last week:"A tour of its portfolio shows it has made some pretty good bets, and also nabbed some major clunkers....On the other hand, it also put money into Imperium Renewables, the dead-as-Latin biofuel maker." …Down in the comment field, the CEO of Imperium lambasted him for telling the truth and then gave us his version of

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720983493149160502.post-54873494809436184402009-06-05T08:09:00.000-07:002009-06-08T17:18:06.176-07:00

Hardi BaktiantoroYou really must read this Mongabay interview with the leader of a group of "orangutan guerrillas" who use satellite imagery, GPS, and video cameras to document destruction of rainforests for palm oil plantations. Assuming carbon credits are eventually used to buy up rainforests, the need to physically protect them will still exist.For every article on rainforest destruction, you

Russ Finleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00509704979878559600noreply@blogger.com0