One Man's Blog » Environment

Is the Water Powered Car Too Good to be True?

John P. — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:27:52 +0000

Is a Water powered automobile too good to be true? Well, not according to Japanese company Genepax. They claim to have built a car that runs on water and air alone.

The system can generate power just by supplying water and air to the fuel and air electrodes, respectively, the company said at the press conference, which took place June 12, 2008, at the Osaka Assembly Hall.

The basic power generation mechanism of the new system is similar to that of a normal fuel cell, which uses hydrogen as a fuel. According to Genepax, the main feature of the new system is that it uses the company’s membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which contains a material capable of breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen through a chemical reaction.

Though the company did not reveal the details, it “succeeded in adopting a well-known process to produce hydrogen from water to the MEA,” said Hirasawa Kiyoshi, the company’s president. This process is allegedly similar to the mechanism that produces hydrogen by a reaction of metal hydride and water. But compared with the existing method, the new process is expected to produce hydrogen from water for longer time, the company said.

With the new process, the cell needs only water and air, eliminating the need for a hydrogen reformer and high-pressure hydrogen tank. Moreover, the MEA requires no special catalysts, and the required amount of rare metals such as platinum is almost the same as that of existing systems, Genepax said.

But before we all get too excited, Popular Mechanics has described Genepax’s claims as “Rubbish.” The company says it “cannot [reveal] the core part of this invention,” yet, but it has disclosed that the system uses an onboard energy generator (a “membrane electrode assembly”) to extract the hydrogen using a “mechanism which is similar to the method in which hydrogen is produced by a reaction of metal hydride and water”.

The hydrogen is then used to generate energy to run the car. This has led to speculation that the metal hydride is consumed in the process and is the ultimate source of the car’s energy, making the car a hydride-fuelled “hydrogen on demand” vehicle, rather than water-fuelled as claimed.

Still, here is the vehicle driving around. Let’s hope that they know something that the rest of us don’t and pretty soon we’ll put fossil fuels to rest.

Get Rich. Save the Environment. Save the World.

John P. — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:29:00 +0000

Last Tuesday I was in Chicago, and all was going well until a seemingly unlikely event started a chain reaction that would lay me up in bed for nearly three days… It rained.

Yep. It didn’t rain very hard, or very long, but it just so happened that I was walking about a mile or so through the city back to my hotel during the light rain. I could have caught a cab, but instead I ducked into a Walgreen’s and got a baseball hat and kept walking.

I know what you’re thinking. But no, I didn’t catch a cold!

I was taking my time, even stopping to snap photos of skyscrapers in the rain, when about halfway back to the hotel I started having difficulty catching my breath. Now I don’t have asthma, and I can generally out walk anyone I know, so it took me a few minutes to figure out what was going on. I was having an allergic reaction to something.

Pollution Ruins the Day

By the time I got to my hotel room my throat was already starting to burn, my nose was running, and my breathing was constricted. I took a drug cocktail consisting of Zyrtec-D, Flonase and Advair (for the first time in weeks) and went to sleep.

When I awoke on Wednesday after a restless night of sleep, I discovered that my throat was on fire, I was still having trouble breathing, and I’d almost completely lost my voice. Oh, and this was right before I had to deliver my Cloud Computing lecture at HostingCon. So, I dosed up on meds again, and started out my day.

To cut a long story short, I was sick for days and I’m 100% certain that it was caused by the rain stirring up the pollution all over the city. My evidence, in addition to personally being a walking allergic test subject, was the fact that three other people who had been out and about with me at the same time experienced similar symptoms! And none of them even have allergies!

Too Many Coincidences

So, on Thursday I’m on the airplane heading for home and I’m reading the July/August issue of Dwell magazine in which they are explaining that concrete production accounts for 8% of the CO2 emissions on the planet. They also go on to dedicate much of the issue to methods of “green” architecture, and to call for designers to incorporate every manner of technology into projects to be Earth friendly.

On Friday, while I’m laid up in bed, I pull out the May Men’s Health magazine (which I’ve had for months but haven’t had time to read) and I catch an article called “Where the Bugs Are” that points out all the places to expect nasty contaminants in public places which will make you sick.

Then, when I get around to checking my e-mail later in the day there is a message from Cathy Zoi of The We Campaign offering me to take a little environmental quiz to see how much I know about how bad we’re wrecking our planet. Oh, and pointing out that Exxon just broke the all time record for quarterly profits.

After the quiz I stopped to watch Al Gore’s highlights reel from a speech he gave a little while back about his recent “challenge” for America to convert to 100% clean electricity production in 10 years. I hadn’t really bothered watching till now, because I figure we could never pull this off anyway, but I have to admit that every time I watch him speak Gore impresses me.

So, What’s The Point?

Well, the point of all this is that I was thinking… it’s not just that the oil producing countries have the rest of us by the family jewels, the fact that we are digging up every fossil fuel resource we can find and burning it to create energy pumps so much crap into the air that it literally makes us sick! My experience in Chicago last week was a brutal example of the effects of this pollution.

So, my question is, why the hell don’t we actually take this challenge of Gore’s? I just don’t see any serious drawbacks! But I can think of a few potential benefits:

Clean up our air! Frankly, I don’t care about saving money. I’ve got plenty of that. And I don’t have kids to worry about leaving anything to. But I do place a premium on breathing.
Make a boatload of cash! If American’s build clean air technologies, the rest of the world will buy them from us! After WWII we got rich selling technology to the rest of the world that no longer had it. This is the same thing, but without all the mess associated with blood, guts and war.
Simplify our world! Electric powered machinery is far simpler, quieter and cleaner. Even electric cars have 1/4 the parts in them. So we can be more efficient with resources while reaping the benefits of a quieter environment.

If there is one thing I agree with VP Gore about it’s this: we simply lack the political will to do it. It’s not a technological problem, we’ve already got that. It’s a determination problem. And you know what? Until everyone begins to experience breathing problems like me, we’re never going to fix it. There is just not enough pain… yet.

Exxon Profits Nearly $90,000 a Minute!

John P. — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:56:03 +0000

Wow. I speculated about getting ready for $5 per gallon gas here in the US a few weeks ago, but when you read that the oil companies are breaking the record for most profit in a single quarter – ever! For any company! Ever! It kind of makes you pissed off.

The New York Times reported today that Exxon’s Second Quarter Earnings Set a Record:

HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil reported the best quarterly profit ever for a corporation on Thursday, beating its own record, but investors sold off shares as oil and natural gas prices resumed their recent decline.

Record earnings for Exxon, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, have become routine as the surge of oil prices in recent years has filled its coffers. The company’s income for the second quarter rose 14 percent, to $11.68 billion, compared to the same period a year ago. That beat the previous record of $11.66 billion set by Exxon in the last three months of 2007.

Exxon’s profits were nearly $90,000 a minute over the quarter, but it was less than Wall Street had expected. Exxon’s shares fell 4.6 percent, to close at $80.43. (The company calculates that it pays $274,000 a minute in taxes and spends $884,000 a minute to run the business.)

Of course, as the oil companies would point out, their profit margins are actually pretty slim as a percentage of revenue, the absurd profits are merely a result of volume. Still, I’m going to have a really hard time feeling sympathy for them.

Seems to me that they could be spending a more significant portion of profits to develop higher margin, clean energy alternatives to help us actually try and clean up our planet. If they were, perhaps the shareholders wouldn’t be handing them a 5% beating for actually having the highest profit margins of all time.

Independent Comparison of Democratic vs. Republican Platforms

John P. — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:25:11 +0000

Folks, I’m neither a Democrat, nor a Republican. But my mom asked me to give her an unbiased, factual rundown on the political platforms – so what my mother wants, my mother gets! Here you go Mom…

I’m making the presumption that the two candidates who are going to actually be running for President are Barack Obama, and John McCain. So, below I’ve taken the liberty of narrowing down all the data to these two guys. What you need to do is line up as many of your political ideal matches and then you can rationally choose who you are voting for.

Here are the candidates views on a variety of issues:

Issue	Barack Obama	John McCain
Abortion is a woman’s right	Strongly Favors	Opposes
Require hiring more women & minorities	Strongly Favors	Favors
Same-sex domestic partnership benefits	Strongly Favors	Favors
Teacher-led prayer in public schools	Opposes	Favors
Death Penalty	Opposes	Strongly Favors
Mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws	Opposes	Strongly Favors
Absolute right to gun ownership	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
More federal funding for health coverage	Favors	Favors
Privatize Social Security	Strongly Opposes	Strongly Favors
Parents choose schools via vouchers	No opinion	Strongly Favors
Replace coal & oil with alternatives	Strongly Favors	Favors
Drug use is immoral: enforce laws against it	Opposes	Strongly Favors
Allow churches to provide welfare services	Favors	Strongly Favors
Repeal tax cuts on wealthy	Strongly Favors	Opposes
Illegal immigrants earn citizenship	Strongly Favors	Favors
Support & expand free trade	Opposes	Strongly Favors
Expand the armed forces	Favors	Favors
Stricter limits on political campaign funds	Strongly Favors	Strongly Favors
The Patriot Act harms civil liberties	Strongly Favors	Strongly Opposes
US out of Iraq	Favors	Strongly Opposes

There are independent organizations that rate the candidates based upon their voting records. The candidates have to have enough votes in a particular area to actually get rated, but here are the ones I’m aware of:

Ratings	Barack Obama	John McCain
HRC rating (Gay Rights)	89%	33%
ACLU rating (Civil Rights)		0%
NAACP Rating (Affirmative Action)	100%	7%
NCJA rating (Criminal Justice)	75%	85%
NEA rating (Public Education)		45%
CAF rating (Energy Independence)	100%	17%
LCV rating (Environment)		53%
Christian Coalition rating (Pro-family)		83%
APHA rating (Health Care)		25%
USBC rating (Close Borders)	8%	18%
AU record (Church-State Separation)	100%	33%
CTJ rating (Progressive Taxation)	100%	50%

Barack Obama is a Hard-Core Liberal.

John McCain is a Populist-Leaning Conservative.

All of the data here has come from a direct comparison of records as reported by OnTheIssues.org. Here is John McCain’s page, and Barack Obama’s.

They also have a VoteMatch quiz you can take which tells you which candidate you most closely match up with philosophically. Interestingly, I had a 48% match with Obama and a 30% match with McCain.

The Vectrix Electric Scooter

John P. — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 07:44:21 +0000

The Vectrix is a brand new battery powered maxi-scooter capable of carrying two adults around town all day in silence without burning a single drop of gasoline.

Here are a few stats:

This sucker weighs a whopping 462 lbs (Holy bloat Batman)! That is as much as my old 160 MPH Sprint ST!
The electric motor produces 48 lb ft. of torque (65 nm) and 27 horsepower (20.2 kw)
Accelerating the big scooter to 50 mph takes 6.8 seconds.
Top speed is 62 MPH, with a max range of 68 miles at 25 MPH. (Range decreases with higher speeds.)
The battery pack has a rated battery capacity of 3.7Kwh and is designed for up to 1,700 full charging cycles.
The 1.5 kW on-board charger plugs into a standard outlet and provides an 80% charge in just over 2 hours.
Effective cost of operation should be 10% of the equivalent cost of gasoline.

Here is a short 30 second promo clip designed to whet your appetite:

Here’s the company spin using plenty of “Green” fear, uncertainty and doubt:

Here is a longer promo clip:

Here is a really cool time-lapse video of the complete construction of a Vectrix in their plant in Poland.

If you live in California they’ll bring the vehicle to you and give you a brief introduction to how it works:

This last one is a little hard to hear, but it’s a short interview about the Vectrix at a trade show:

I think this is a really cool concept, and I applaud the effort, but I just can’t believe the weight of this machine. Seriously, it needs to lose 150-200 pounds! If it did, it would likely double the range and probably hit closer to 80-90 mph on the top end I imagine. Then it would be really ready for prime time.

The good news is that you know the next generations are going to make huge leaps and within a few years we’ll be seeing 5 times the performance. Until then, I guess I’d try one of these machines out if they wanted me to review it, but I don’t imagine I’d fork over the money to own one yet. Plus, I have no idea what they actually cost.

The Crying Indian Commercial

John P. — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:04:28 +0000

This classic 1971 public service announcement featuring the fictional Chief Iron Eyes Cody is one of the most famous commercials from the 1970’s. Also known as the “Crying Indian” commercial, this Keep America Beautiful public service announcement features the chief shedding a tear after some trash is thrown from a speeding car and lands at his feet while the announcer states “People start pollution; people can stop it.”

This commercial made such an impact in it’s day that it almost single handedly eliminated what, at the time, was a major ecological problem. Younger people today can’t really imagine it, but decades ago people would drive down the street and just throw their trash out the windows. Trash was everywhere, and it was disgusting.

Thankfully we now have a different attitude towards pollution and littering in general, but I think it’s worth looking back and remembering where we started so we never find ourselves repeating past mistakes.

A Video Collection of Reasons to Quit Smoking

John P. — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 07:25:06 +0000

I’ve written about smoking several times in the past because “…a billion people will die this century from tobacco-related illnesses….” And everyone knows that smoking is bad for you, so why is it that smokers just don’t give a crap?

Sorry, but as a sidebar… I know this person who is a smoker and also a die-hard environmentalist. Can someone please tell me how you can complain about me driving a gas guzzling vehicle when the production of cigarettes is causing massive deforestation along with the production of waste from consumption (including paper and plastic packaging and cigarette butts)? I mean seriously, if you smoke you don’t give a damn.

Quotes from a report by Environmental Health Perspectives.

Globally, tobacco curing requires 11.4 million tons of solid wood annually, according to Geist’s study. Adding insult to injury, tobacco plants may replace the trees cut down and leach large quantities of vital nutrients from the soil.

Worldwide, an estimated 5.5 trillion commercially produced cigarettes were consumed in 1995 (the last year for which statistics are available) and 83% of cigarettes were filter-tipped. Filters and plastic wrap from packages remain in the environment for long periods. Cigarette filters contain cellulose acetate, which persists under normal environmental conditions for 18 months or longer. Moreover, cigarette butts pose a health hazard to children and animals if they eat them.

Anyway, back to the point at hand. I’ve assembled a nice little collection of videos from around the Web that focus on the effects of cigarettes. If you’re a smoker, feel free to go ahead and ignore these. It’s always better not to know whats coming…

This first one uses a couple of water jugs to capture the smoke from just one cigarette. Yummy!

These sound like a collection of British or possibly Australian public service ads. Quite interesting the way they show the effects of smoking.

This is a very good video that someone did as a school project:

Smoking causes actual pain throughout the body due to hardening of the arteries.

Here is something completely disgusting. When you get cancer from smoking this is what they are going to do to try to keep you alive:

Finally, a little comedy to “lighten” things up.

And always remember folks…

Having a smoking area in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool.

Pollution Kills 750,000 Chinese Each Year

John P. — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:19:07 +0000

Sixteen of the worldâ€™s 20 most polluted cities are in China, according to World Bank research. Yet a report sponsored by the Chinese Government which uncovered potentially scary information was edited to “prevent social unrest”.

Missing from this report are the research projectâ€™s findings that high air-pollution levels in Chinese cities is leading to the premature deaths of 350,000-400,000 people each year. A further 300,000 people die prematurely each year from exposure to poor air indoors, according to advisers, but little discussion of this issue survived in the report because it was outside the ambit of the Chinese ministries which sponsored the research.

Another 60,000-odd premature deaths were attributable to poor-quality water, largely in the countryside, from severe diarrhea, and stomach, liver and bladder cancers.

The mortality information was â€œreluctantlyâ€ excised by the World Bank from the published report, according to advisers to the research project.

Sepa and the health ministry declined to comment. The World Bank said that the findings of the report were still being discussed with the government.

Of course, if anyone were to leak this information within China they’d be jailed like the guy who got 10 years just for blogging or like Chen Guang-cheng the blind dissident who sued for women’s rights.

Read the original article here.
Read the actual 128 page report here (PDF).

It’s Official – Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

John P. — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:51:04 +0000

Folks, I’ve been saying that if you haven’t already, you NEED to see An Inconvenient Truth. If it doesn’t change the way you look at the world, then you probably have no heart. (Grin!)

I also previously reported that Gore had been Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize. This is not just because he made a movie and won an Oscar, it’s because he has devoted his private life to the cause of climate change – and like it or not many, many, many people happen to agree with him and are happy he is carrying out this work.

So, today Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr. was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2007 along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):

“for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change”

It’s too early to see the announcement on video, but Nobel has a YouTube channel which will no doubt post the video of this announcement shortly. View it here.

Now I will admit, I am a convert. I am a wealthy capitalist pig. I own a big truck that gets 13 MPG, and I use way too much electricity in my house. I also make lots of garbage. But when I saw Gore’s movie with my family – it completely changed the way I look at the world. There have maybe been a total of 5 pieces of literature in my life that have done that.

It has been my experience that the people who don’t give Gore the credit he now deserves have not taken the time to hear what he has to say, or do some independent research to verify whether he is a nut-job, or a visionary.

In addition to An Inconvenient Truth, I also recommend studying the IPCC Report: Global Warming Consequences. These two sources of information may seem one sided, so after you’ve seen them both I encourage you to seek opposing views and then evaluate which one seems to have greater merit. I’ve made my choice.

Death Valley’s Sailing Stones Mystery – SOLVED!

John P. — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 06:36:41 +0000

Deep in the heart of the California desert lies one of the natural world’s most puzzling mysteries: the moving rocks of Death Valley.

These are not ordinary moving rocks that tumble down mountainsides in avalanches, are carried along riverbeds by flowing water, or are tossed aside by animals.

These rocks, some as heavy as 700 pounds, are inexplicably transported across a virtually flat desert plain, leaving erratic trails in the hard mud behind them, some hundreds of yards long.

They move by some mysterious force, and in the nine decades since we have known about them, no one has ever seen them move.

Until now that is!

Racetrack Playa is the seasonally dry lake (a playa) located in the northern part of the Panamint Mountains in Death Valley National Park, California, U.S.A. that is famous for ‘sailing stones‘.

One cold winter morning, when the snowmelt covered the playa, the solution to the puzzle was finally caught on film.

That kick ass photo above is by MeLastMohican. I have no idea what his real name is, but he The Wrightspeed X1 Electric Supercar is completely awesome, even if it’s only a prototype and has no chance of ever moving into production.

The good news however is that they are working on plans for a real production car of which they say:

The X1 production car will be betterâ€¦ much better.

To build it as a prototype, we looked for the best of the best, in todayâ€™s technology. We chose the AC Propulsion (www.acpropulsion.com) 3-phase AC induction motor and inverter â€“ the highest power/weight ratio system available; brilliantly engineered, and with about a decade of durability testing to date.

For the chassis, we turned to Ariel, in Somerset. (www.arielmotor.co.uk). Simon Saunders, the designer of the Atom and the founder and CEO of Ariel, has created in our view one of the worldâ€™s most beautiful cars, as well as the quickest, lightest chassis on the road. To drive it is a revelation.

Here is the Wrightspeed kicking a Ferrari and a Porsche’s ass!

And here it is crushing a Lamborghini Gallardo and then a NASCAR car on a half mile oval:

Here is a guy filming what it’s like to take a ride in it:

Specifications:

3-phase AC induction motor, 236hp at the motor shaft
182 ft lbs torque at the motor shaft, from 0 rpm to 6,000 rpm
13,300 rpm rev limit
Weight 1,536 lbs
No clutch, single gear ratio 8.25:1
Quaife limited slip differential
Alcon front calipers, 4 piston
Dymag Magnesium Alloy wheels
Inboard Bilstein race dampers, Eibach 2-stage springs
Steering: rack and pinion, 1.5 turns lock-lock
25 kWhr Lithium Ion battery pack

Real-World Performance:

0-30 mph: 1.35 sec
0-60 mph: 3.07 sec in 117 ft
0-100 mph: 6.87 sec
0-100-0 mph 11.2 sec
Lateral g: 1.3
Braking g: 1.2

Video of Hail Storm in Dallas Texas

John P. — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:00:48 +0000

Down here in Dallas we get hail. I’m not talking about little flecks of ice like sleet… I’m talking about golf ball to baseball sized hunks of ice falling from the sky at 80 miles per hour. These things rip through roofs, destroy cars, and kill people.

Wikipedia explains hail formation like this:

Hail forms on condensation nuclei such as dust, insects, or ice crystals, when supercooled water freezes on contact. Hailstones are usually from the size of a pea to the size of a golfball.

In clouds containing large numbers of supercooled water droplets, these ice nuclei grow quickly at the expense of the liquid droplets because the saturation vapor pressure over ice is slightly less than the saturation vapor pressure over water.

If the hailstones grow large enough, latent heat released by further freezing may melt the outer shell of the hailstone. The growth that follows, usually called wet growth, is more efficient because the liquid outer shell allows the stone to accrete other smaller hailstones in addition to supercooled droplets. These winds hold the rain and freeze it.

As the process repeats, the hail grows increasingly larger. Once a hailstone becomes too heavy to be supported by the storm’s updraft it falls out of the cloud. When a hailstone is cut in half, a series of concentric rings, like that of an onion, is revealed. These rings reveal the total number of times the hailstone had traveled to the top of the storm before falling to the ground.

And when they hit in Texas they do a LOT of damage. For example, in 2006 a hailstorm caused $100 Million in damage in the San Marcos area, in 2005 a hailstorm caused $100 Million in damage near Austin, and in 1995 Dallas got hit with $1 Billion in damage!

So, a couple of weeks ago we got a little hail that isn’t really even worth mentioning, but it reminded me that in August of 2005 I had captured a few minutes of a hailstorm on video and never shared it. So, here it is now… This hail was up to about 1/2 inch in size, but believe me if it hits you it stings! It can easily break your glasses or put out an eye, and it leaves welts if you are exposed too long.

Bottled Water 1,000 Times as Expensive as Tap Water

John P. — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 06:07:51 +0000

Back in June Ben Popken over at The Consumerist pointed out that while reading the New York City 2006 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Report he spotted the following item from the FAQ:

Should I buy bottled water?
You do not need to buy bottled water for health reasons in New York City since our water meets all federal and State health-based drinking water standards. Also, bottled water costs up to 1,000 times more than the City’s drinking water.

A couple of weeks later, Ben pointed out that PepsiCo announced:

Aquafina labels will soon say “Public Water Source”.

So, I guess the moral to the story is that if you just get a few extra bottles and fill them with your refrigerators filtered water, or run them through a Brita or some other tap water filter you can save a LOT of money over the course of a year while also keeping a boat load of plastic out of the landfill.

Frankly I can afford to waste as many bottles of water as I damn well please, and I don’t have any kids to worry about inheriting the planet… but I’m not sure everyone shares that indifferent capitalist pig attitude.
:-)

Australian Comedy – The Front Fell Off

John P. — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 06:27:06 +0000

This is a little skit which was apparently first featured on the Taproot Blog. I have no idea who produced it or why, but it’s quite a funny parody of a politician explaining an oil spill.

I’m guessing it is from an Australian comedy TV show, so if one of you knows a little more detail about where this came from it would be great.

Short Film – The End of the World

John P. — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 06:51:12 +0000

In line with the environmental topics of earlier in the week, I came across this interesting little cartoon that addresses the issue of “action and reaction” when it comes to our personal habits.

The film does a good job of demonstrating how everything is interrelated while also delivering hope for the future. Enjoy…

2 Billion People Tune In To Live Earth Concert

John P. — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 07:22:10 +0000

It’s official, Live Earth was the largest media event in human history with over 2 BILLION people watching across every continent on the planet. In case you are feeling caught up in the global warming debate I’d suggest that the argument is over. The only thing left to do now is help decide on what is going to be done, not if something is going to be done.

This little video sums up the spirit of the event nicely if you ask me… every little thing contributes – so each of us can make a global difference.

If you are interested in seeing how your personal habits impact the environment try the Lifestyle Calculator. I hate to admit it but I seem to have a horrible score. The range is from 105-900 with the average in the US being 325.

Personally I’m at a despicable 608 – I’m guessing it has to do with all of my air travel. I guess I need to pay closer attention to the list of things you can do to fight global warming. (Here is another big list.)

Anyway, here is a five minute overview given by Al Gore towards the beginning of the event:

There were actually some great performances, I’ve included a few of them below just to give you an idea of the breadth of global participation.

Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood sang “We Shall Be Free” from Washington, DC:

Snoop Dogg kicks it with “What’s My Name” in Hamburg:

Sarah Brightman with a full orchestra in Shangai:

Crowded House does “Don’t Dream It’s Over” in Sydney:

Spinal Tap invited “every bass player in the known universe” to join them on stage:

Xzibit rocked the house in Tokyo:

Duran Duran does “Ordinary World” in London:

A Beginner’s Guide to Giving a Damn About Climate Change

John P. — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 04:47:53 +0000

I came across this great little video called “A Beginner’s Guide to Giving a Damn About Climate Change”. I think it was somehow associated with the Live Earth event.

Anyway, the premise of the video is things you can do without actually changing the way you live your life. Despite the use of the word “damn” in the title, this video is actually appropriate for humans of all ages.

Best Argument I’ve Heard to Take Global Warming Seriously

John P. — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 06:53:13 +0000

I think by now everyone knows what side of the environmental debate I’m on. And I’m aware that I have friends and relatives that still have differing opinions on the matter. When we discuss it I normally argue that the consequences of being wrong about global warming are potentially far, far worse than the cost of taking some unnecessary action.

Well, along comes this video that some guy made (I don’t even know who, so if anyone finds out please let me know) which demonstrates the best rational argument I’ve seen to date. I honestly defy you to watch this and then come up with a VALID response.

Now, here is the deal. If anyone can refute this line of reasoning with a similarly strong, yet opposing, argument then I will personally make a video response of that argument and post it myself. But be warned… if you post a weak argument in response I will break it down personally! :-)

So, that’s the challenge. Watch this video, try to be a skeptic, and if you can come up with the counter argument let’s hear it. Otherwise, admit this is a valid argument and let’s move on! ;-)

Chart: Presidential Candidate Positions on Global Warming

John P. — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 07:54:15 +0000

In case you happen to care about Global Warming as an issue in the next Presidential election (in like 20 years…) there is a complete chart of every candidates positions over at The League of Conservation Voters. There is also a PDF version you can download.

Machine Literally Burns Saltwater AND Cures Cancer!

John P. — Thu, 31 May 2007 06:10:40 +0000

I was so amazed at what I’m about to share here that I struggled for some time to come up with the right title. Other titles I considered:

Florida Man Saves the World
Man Cures Cancer and Solves Energy Crisis With One Invention
Accidental Discovery Eliminates Need for Oil
Saltwater Combustion – The Incredible Energy Solution

In the end, no title seems worthy of this discovery. And I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it changed the world.

A retired TV station owner and engineer in Florida by the name of John Kanzius who was suffering from cancer treatment related insomnia woke up one night at 3AM with an idea he believed could ease the suffering of cancer patients. The concept was to inject nano sized bits of metal into the human body which would embed themselves only in cancer cells, then zap them with radio waves which would kill them – leaving only the healthy tissue.

RedOrbit reported:

Smalley, one of the world’s top minds in the field of nanotechnology, has already started work on trying to determine whether Kanzius’ theory –which uses directed radio waves — can be partnered with the use of carbon nanotubes to target and destroy cancer cells.

His Rice University-based team plans to work with researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to marry the two disciplines.

Results from the early rounds of research could be completed within six to 12 months, said Paul Cherukuri, a Rice University researcher and a member of Smalley’s team.

“Until we do the experiments, we won’t know. But it holds so much excitement,”Cherukuri said. “This is such an exciting possibility that so many people are just slapping their heads saying, ‘Why didn’t I think of it already.’”

According to TMCnet:

…a new round of tests at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston appears to be putting Kanzius’ theory on the medical fast track –and is prompting talk that the treatment might work on a wide range of cancers.

As if curing cancer isn’t enough, someone heard about his experiments and decided to ask if the machine might work for desalinizing salt water. When John tried it he discovered something much more significant. The process caused a reaction which freed up hydrogen molecules, allowing the water to burn.

Considering that Salt Water is the most abundant resource on the planet, John may have just accidentally discovered the holy grail of energy production. A practically free replacement for oil, gas, coal and any other harmful fuel. This reminds me of the plot for one of my favorite movies, The Saint, where a scientist invents cold fusion and gives it away to the world.

Here is a good intro video:

What is also quite amazing is the fact that John is so laid back about it all.

As far as I’m concerned, this is the most amazing discovery I think I’ve ever seen, and John Kanzius’ name may end up in the history books along side Ben Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell, DaVinci, and the rest of the great inventors.