Keefer Madness » Eco

PowerTrekk Fuel Cell for Cyclists

Keefer — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:18:22 +0000

This is pretty interesting — an eco-friendly power cell. This would be perfect for those endurance rides — both to ensure juice for those emergency call but also to keep your cell phone batteries topped off for GPS applications. I like to use RunKeeper Elite to allow friends and family to check in on my progress out on the road, and this would allow for the GPS to run on all day events with no worry for battery drain.

It could also be used to top off the Garmin 500 as well.

PowerTrekk Fuel Cell for Cyclists

DeLorean DMC-12 EV Announced For 2013 Production

Keefer — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:00:03 +0000

So cool!

Thanks to Bret for tweeting me this link. With it being an electric vehicle, it’ll definitely have more torque than the original. In fact, under the hood, it should beat the original every which way. 260 horsepower with a maximum speed of 125MPH sounds pretty nice.

Sadly, the price tag is going to be out of reach of most Back to the Future fanboys, going somewhere north of $100,000.

I’m not going to make the obvious jokes about Flux Capacitors or Mr. Fusions being options, like Engadget felt the need to do.

DeLorean DMC-12 EV Announced For 2013 Production, Doc Brown’s Whip Gets Real… Electric

A Town Without Cars: Bicycle City

Keefer — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:12:23 +0000

Man, on the surface, I’d love to live in a town like this — it’d be safer and cleaner. But how do you get deliveries from FedEx, furniture, etc. I’d love to at least visit and try a town like this.

I miss being able to bike to work — maybe will be able to revisit that concept (or at least a partial) starting this coming summer when we’re in our new office building.

A Town Without Cars: Bicycle City

UPS Testing Plastic Trucks That Cut Weight By 1,000 Pounds

Keefer — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:01:49 +0000

What can brown do for you? Apparently find new ways to improve their vehicle efficiency. UPS is testing out a few trucks made of primarily composites that cut half a ton off the weight of the vehicles, obviously having a big impact on both fuel efficiency, but also on wear and tear of both the vehicles and the roads. Kudos to UPS for striving for ways to affect their bottom line while simultaneously cutting down on their [rather large] carbon footprint.

UPS Testing Plastic Trucks That Cut Weight By 1,000 Pounds

Trek to Recycle Scrap Carbon Fiber

Keefer — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:55:07 +0000

Saw this Friday, and meant to post it Friday. Regardless, kudos to Trek Bicycle for starting a program to recycle their scrap carbon fiber.

Trek Implements Carbon Recycling Program

Optical Batteries by Magnetic Field – Solar Power Sans Cells

Keefer — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:56:53 +0000

Promising, yet fairly simple technology that could make solar power more viable:

While under normal circumstances, the magnetic field in light is pretty darned weak. However, at just the right intensity and while traveling through a material that doesn’t conduct electricity (such as glass), a light field’s magnetic effects generated can be magnified up to 100 million times stronger than previous calculations have estimated. This results in a charge separation called optical rectification, which can be used for cheaper, more efficient solar power.

Optical Batteries by Magnetic Field – Solar Power Sans Cells

Copenhagen Wheel – Turns Regular Bike Into Smart Electric Hybrid

Keefer — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:07:21 +0000

Check out the 2010 James Dyson Award Competition US Winner — the Copenhagen Wheel, a wheel that turns a regular bike into a smart, electric hybrid. Like a hybrid automobile, it recaptures energy from braking. It also describes it as being controlled via a smart phone. I’d rather it integrated with my cyclocomputer. Regardless, really cool idea and would be great for commuters.

2010 James Dyson Award Competition US Winner

Cree Product Hits Home Depot Shelves

Keefer — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:47:21 +0000

One of a local technology company’s products is hitting the mainstream consumer market. Research Triangle Park’s Cree, who specializes in solid state lighting products, now has one of their components featured on the Home Depot shelves (and web site). I love technology like this — looking to innovate in the spaces of energy efficiency, without compromising on reliability or quality of the light produced.

If the promised long life and low power draw numbers are true, this could be a big energy savings in the long term. Follow the link below to check out the product at HomeDepot.com.

Nissan Leaf Electric Car

Keefer — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:43:46 +0000

I love keeping up on bleeding edge, and just edge cases when it comes to new technologies within existing products — televisions, phones, computers and especially vehicles. This new all-electric vehicle from Nisssan, called The Leaf seems pretty cool. It’s the first mass-produced electric vehicle since General Motors’ EV1. The collection of batteries are beneath the floorboard, meaning passenger space is maximized and they say also helps in giving it a low center of gravity. Makes sense, and seems efficient, except for maybe replacement/servicing.

Your range is obviously limited with an fully electric vehicle, the Leaf needing a recharge at or before 100 miles. For commuting to and from work, this is the next best thing to bike commuting, a home charge estimated to cost a mere $2.75. That’s just a little bit more than a gallon of gas. Now granted, there are some upfront costs — a 220V/40amp dedicated outlet is preferred, which could cost you upwards of $2,500. The battery is estimated to last 5-10 years. The car isn’t exactly cheap either, starting currently at an MSRP of $32,780. Some of these costs though will be lowered slightly by tax credits and obviously you recoup some of it through savings via the elimination of gas, oil changes, etc.

Even that aside, seems pretty cool to me! You can now reserve one (in theory) with a $99 refundable deposit. The interior looks pretty cool. I just wish it was another manufacturer instead of Nissan. I’m just not a big fan of their engineering, etc. But kudos to them for working on getting this out there. Hopefully, it will spur some competition and help drive costs down and quality, variety and technology up.

View the couple videos and specs below. The car is planned to be available for sale and lease in limited supplies starting in December 2010.

Nissan Leaf Electric Car

SAS to Light Up Second Solar Plant at Cary Campus

Keefer — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:56:20 +0000

Kudos to SAS for continuing to push for more green power in the Raleigh-Durham area This second solar farm can produce enough power to light 200 homes. The tech geek in me loves this type of thing, and I’d love to setup our home with solar power. We’ve done easy eco stuff like switching to CFL bulbs wherever possible, and solar power would be the ultimate green for the home. But it’s going to take more companies like SAS and Google, setting stuff up to get the technology prices down. Maybe in our next home, we can at least supplement our grid power with solar.

Sas to Light Up Second Solar Plant at Cary Campus