CT Green Scene

Social Media at Its Finest

I felt a bit like a little kid before Christmas this week, as I conjured up the idea that a Tesla Roadster would be fun to have at a special event we're having at Windermere on the Lake on November 20th (yes, mark your calendars).

The 100 percent electric sports car goes 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds and over 200 miles on a single charge-which comes from a 220 v plugin.

A two-seater and priced at $100,000, it's well beyond my means, but some people in this area may be able to do the planet a favor and trade in their HUMMMER for one.

Well, I wasn't able to get a Roadster for the event...we're getting TWO...one for display and one to test drive around the Windermere Eco-Village grounds!

So how did I do it? Using social media, networking and groupsites. People from around the U.S. wrote back and gave me connections that I followed until I got an inside connection to Telsa Corporate.

It's amazing how connected we all really are, and what you can turn up if you only ask!

Momentum Builds for Bike-Friendly Union Station

Via Design New Haven

The New Haven Register reports today that the city has received a $10,000 grant to improve bicycle access at Union Station, and also has submitted a federal funding request for $145,000 for on-street dedicated and shared bike lanes connecting Union Station to Downtown New Haven and neighborhoods to the south and north of the city, which themselves have bike routes planned to connect with other sections of New Haven. The funding requests and grants also contain provisions for improved bike storage (with something like the photo at left, from a small Swedish train station, as the eventual goal in terms of encouraging use). More specifics on a proposed route can be found in the article:

"The bike lane, signage and striping would take place along Orange and Humphrey streets, Whitney Avenue, Temple, George, Church and Crown streets and Union, Howard and Columbus avenues with $15,900 for bike racks and covered parking at the rail station."

Improved bicycle routes and parking at Union Station would not only provide improved efficiency for commuters, but would also potentially have a major impact on the city's economic development, public health and traffic safety, as bicycle lanes also tend to calm traffic, promote walkability, raise real estate values, increase bicycling use, help citizens save millions of dollars per year in commuting costs, and promote local retail districts. They could also have an impact on suburban areas, by making the land near train stations on Metro North, Shoreline East and the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line more valuable.

Of course, to be truly effective and enable the majority of city residents to feel comfortable commuting via bicycle, designated bike routes must also be combined with traffic calming treatments that reduce vehicle speeds and create safer intersections. As the number of cyclists in Downtown New Haven continues to grow, transit ridership increases, and the potential citywide economic benefits of improved traffic safety are more widely understood, the political will for implementing these types of strategies -- which have been in use for decades in many other cities and countries -- will hopefully increase.

WTNH-8 also ran a video news segment on this story, with great images of overflowing bike racks at the train station and footage of Elm City Cycling's recent "Bike to Work Day/BTW Breakfast." Also see separate WTNH news coverage here. The $10,000 grant application was made possible based on the city's recent application to LAB for designation as a bicycle-friendly community. Click here for a thread summarizing previous DNH coverage of bicycle access on trains and at Union Station.

Cycling Activity vs. National Gas Prices

Thanks to Design New Haven  and Mark Abraham for this post!

Looks like the number of posts per day on the ElmCityCycling listserv, a forum for making New Haven more accommodating to bicyclists and pedestrians, is highly correlated with the national price of unleaded gasoline (click on chart to enlarge). Who would have thought?

With gasoline predicted to hit $6-10 per gallon as soon as a few months from now, the number of nonmotorized trips to work in New Haven is only likely to continue to increase. As a relatively flat and compact city, Downtown New Haven is already perfect for bicycling and walking, as evidenced by the fact that the city has one of the highest percentages of bicycle commuters in the United States (1.8%, versus 1.2% in Boston, 0.9% in Providence, 0.6% in New York City, 0.4% in Hartford, 0.1% in Bridgeport and 0.0% in Waterbury, according to the Census Bureau's 2006 ACS). During rush hour, there are already occasional bicycle "traffic jams" on the popular Orange Street bicycle lane. New Haven was also recently named one of the 20 most walkable cities in the United States.

However, improvements to the city's bicycle-friendliness are needed before the average area resident will choose to ride to work, or even use his or her bicycle for short trips (e.g., a 4-block run to the corner store). Considering that bicycles are already widely-owned (and very inexpensive), the most frequently given reasons why Connecticut residents don't bicycle more often - infrastructure and safety - are fairly easy to solve. According to numerous studies, infrastructure such as bicycle parking, bike-friendly street design, multi-use greenways like the Farmington Canal Trail and accessibility at train stations raise land values by an amount much greater than the investment put into them (in part because they tend to calm traffic). Reckless and high-speed driving and driver education can be addressed through community-wide efforts and traffic enforcement, and through measures such as anti-dooring ordinances like those found in Chicago.

WAHOO! New Train Line Coming to Fairfield County!

But will it work? Will people give up their cars? What do you think?

Via Danbury NewsTimes

THUMBS UP to the progress being made in establishing a commuter bus route between New Fairfield and the Southeast, N.Y., train station. The Connecticut Department of Transportation and the New York Department of Transportation have agreed to share the $300,000 annual subsidy needed to operate the service. It will be operated by Housatonic Area Regional Transit. The goal is to get the buses on the road in October, but first a parking lot for commuters must be developed in New Fairfield. The commuters who buy tickets to use this service will save parking and fuel costs. By funding it, both states will ease traffic congestion on their roads.

Lighting the Path with Solar and LED Technology

EARTH TALK
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I notice occasional solar panels on roadsides, powering individual streetlamps or signs. Is any research being done to expand on this idea and implant solar collectors in roads, parking lots or sidewalks to generate power in a similar but bigger way? -- Emily Eidenier, via e-mail

The concept of using road surfaces to generate clean solar power is actually already moving beyond the idea stage. Roads absorb heat from the sun every day and are usually free of sightline obstructions that could otherwise block the transmission of light rays. And if the roads built for cars and driving are partly to blame for global warming, why not make them part of the solution too?

Idaho-based company Solar Roadways is one of the trailblazers. Electrical engineer Scott Brusaw was inspired to start the company when he heard Caltech solar energy expert Nate Lewis suggest that covering just 1.7 percent of continental U.S. land surface with photovoltaic solar collectors could produce enough power to meet the nation’s total energy demand.

Brusaw put two and two together when he realized that the interstate highway system already covers about that much of the nation’s land surface, so he got to work designing a system that combines a durable and translucent glass road surface with photovoltaic solar collectors that could be wired directly into the electricity grid. Brusaw’s innovative design would also heat the roads in winter, thus providing a important safety benefit.

Electric Cars? Cooler than You Think!

Imagine turning the key in the ignition and not hearing a sound? Or zipping around town on errands and not emitting ANY carbon! That's what it's like when driving an electric vehicle (EV). GEM (Global Electric Motorcars) are available for sale here in Connecticut for around $8,000 and they plug right into an outlet. If you're signed up for Clean Energy Options, you'll feel great about using this to run around doing errands.

The feel of the interior is similar to a VW beetle, with large windows, a sun roof and lots of light. The gas and break pedals are the same as any other car, but the noise--or lack of--is what I found most amazing.

The GEM I drove tops out at 25 mph, but is a perfect alternative to my other cars when doing errands or traveling short distances. The only hang up...while GEMS are street legal in all 50 states, you can't register them in Connecticut. Go figure. The one I drove was owned by EV proponent, John Papa. His property in New York state allows him to register his vehicle there. "It's great as a second vehicle to use instead of a SUV. The guys at the gas station love it when I drive by," Papa says.

Let's hope the guys who own the automobile industry feel the same way.

Come test drive one for yourself at the March 12th Fairfield County GreenDrinks event at iPark in Norwalk!

Coffee to Go?

Committed to reducing their carbon footprint, bicyclists meet at JoJo’s Coffee Shop at 22 Pratt St. in Hartford on the last Friday between January and March before pedaling to work. And with the bike racks on the front of Hartford buses, they can hop a bus if the chill gets to be too much.

Commissioner Gina McCarthy says, “What could be crazier than a New Englander riding their bike to work in the cold, winter months? Not much. For an exhilarating, healthy adventure, join other bicyclists who share your enthusiasm, and have a great time meeting for coffee after your ride. I’ll meet up with you again in the spring.” 

The Capitol Region Ice-Bike to Work program is sponsored by Hartford-based law firm Murtha Cullina LLP, and encourages commuters to leave their cars at home and cycle to work to help to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion. Commuters save money on fuel and enjoy health benefits.

I say HAT'S OFF to those committed, just like this guy I saw pedaling around my neighborhood last summer.

Contact:
The Central Connecticut Bicycle Alliance

Well, Why Not?

How does a Connecticut goat farmer go from tending his herd to a lobbyist, new legislation creator, and biodiesel producer? One Connecticut man began by asking why not?

Christos Glynos and his partner, George Linardos, Sr. began the planning phase to build a biodiesel production facility on Mr. Glynos farm nearly four years ago. After the arduous task of locating a company willing and able to design and build such a unique project, they applied for a permit only to have Bethlehem, Connecticut, building officials turn them down.

"Anytime you want to start something new or foreign to people, road blocks pop up all over the place and people all around you say, You can't do that! I just looked at them and kept asking, "Why not?" Most of the time the people in government agencies admitted they didn't know why, so I set up round table discussions to make them tell me exactly what they needed me to do to make it happen," Glynos said.

That laundry list--changing legislation, rewritting building codes, creating tax incentives for schools who use biodiesel in their buses, and finding the funding for research and development and educational programs about alternative energy options--would chase many people off and back into a cushy job in corporate America.

But they had a dream and believed in an opportunity. "When we started thinking about BioPur, gasoline was $1.25 a gallon. People looked at me and said, Why would you bother, gas is only 1.25? I told them I didn't think it would stay that way and besides, we were too dependent on foreign oil."

So he and his partner set off to overcome every obstacle that appeared in their path and today, they're producing 400,000 gallons of locally manufactured biofuel with plans to double that amount in the next year.

An Act Concerning Clean Cars?

Starting in 2009, every new car sold in Connecticut will feature a sticker on the window that lets consumers know how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a particular car releases into the atmosphere.

According to the article in The Town Times, "Under the new law, a label must be affixed to vehicles detailing the vehicle's greenhouse gas score, its score as compared to others of the same make and year, and the average score for vehicles within the same class. This will begin October 1, 2007.

The Environmental Protection Agency rates cars on a scale of zero to 10, where a score of 10 represents the lowest amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted. The score is determined by the vehicle's estimated fuel economy and its fuel type." By 2009, no cars will be able to be sold without the sticker.

To fund the program, Connecticut is adding $5 to the price of every new car registration. While it's a step in the right direction to educate the masses that may not make a connection between the car they drive and the air we breathe (admittedly, I was among them not long ago), I would rather see the five bucks put into bringing the electric car back.

Kids Campaign: If You're Stopped for More Than 10 Seconds...

Alex Scaperotta and Jordan Reichgut noticed that many people in the school pick up lines idle their cars.  They learned through research that unnecessary idling wastes gasoline and releases CO² into the atmosphere, which accelerates global warming.  They thought that a good place to start would be to get parents of Cider Mill School students to commit to not idling their car in the pick up line or anywhere else. Their message is simple:  IF YOU IDLE YOUR CAR FOR TEN SECONDS OR MORE, YOU ARE USING MORE GAS THAN TURNING YOUR CAR OFF AND ON.  In addition, they learned that idling is unnecessary to “warm up” your car (the best way to warm it up is to drive it) and idling is in fact harmful to engines – causing more gasoline residue to build up in the engines, exhaust system rusting, and more.