Further to my last post, here are some more looks at transportation issues.
Air Show , This article from the "NY Times" today, The Wild Green Yonder, describes some of the initiatives of the airline industry I touched on the other day: new materials, new engines, new fuels. The article refers to a series of test that Boeing is running with major airlines on biofuels as alternatives to traditional jet fuel. You can go to Boeing's website covering its environmental programs to learn more about its biofuels R & D and even about its fuel cell test flight , in a plane considerably smaller and lighter than a commercial jet, to be sure, but then every journey begins with a first step.
New Book , Here's a timely book, The Limits to Travel – How Far Will You Go?, that looks worth your while. Take it on the next long flight you're on.
Teleconferencing , You can't take a vacation via telecommunications, but you can probably do a lot of your business that way. Save time, money, and GHG emissions. See How Teleconferencing Works from the great website "How Stuff Works" from the Discovery Channel folks.
Trains , Business on the Eurostar service between London and Paris or Brussels has been booming. A lot of that has to do with more convenient connections. See this from the "FT" today. I've been on European trains going (way) back to my college-days tour with the second-class Eurailpass through to TGV travel in the more recent past. European trains are the real deal. They go everywhere, they run regularly, they're quick, they're cost-effective, you don't have to drive, and the scenery's good. What's not to love?
Algae , I'm a little in love with algae. I've written about some of the innovations here a few times. See As planet swelters, are algae unlikely saviour? from AFP via the WBCSD from last week. Algae has enormous potential as a carbon sink. It can eat the carbon dioxide right out of your power plant. It can also be cultivated to produce potentially prodigious amounts of biofuel.
Arizona Public Service is piloting carbon dioxide capture with algae along with GreenFuel Technologies. See this from APS. See also the informative "Oilgae" website. Stay tuned on algae, fershur.
Biofuel Slowdown , This article from the "FT" from earlier this month, Britain to put brakes on biofuels policy, reveals that in the UK, as elsewhere, that growing concerns about pressures on food prices and the increasingly open secret that biofuels produced from seed crops appear to actually exacerbate global warming are producing action to throttle back. (I wrote about the growing awareness of the problems at Are Biofuels A Bummer? in February.) See the UK Transport Secretary's statement to Parliament in which she says " the introduction of biofuels should be slowed until policies are in place to direct biofuel production onto marginal or idle land, and that these are demonstrated to be effective. The detail of these control mechanisms would need to be agreed internationally." The Gallagher Review from the UK government generated this level of concern. See the report and the mandate of the Renewable Fuels Agency here.
