Green Restaurant in Florida, Roll ‘n Bowls
March 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Gainesville, FL – Recently, Rolls ’n Bowls became a Certified Green Restaurant™ in accordance with the Green 
Restaurant Association’s rigorous guidelines. The Japanese bistro is eager to continue their work toward lessening the restaurant’s environmental impact and looks forward to working with the national non-profit to implement even more steps in the coming years.
Rolls’n Bowls now has a full-scale recycling program and compostable corn cups. They have eliminated all Styrofoam from the restaurant, and now use real plates, rather than disposable ones. The restaurant also eliminated paper towels by installing energy efficient hand dryers in the bathrooms, saving 80% more energy than conventional hand dryers, and Executive Director of the Green Restaurant Association. “We commend them for the accomplishments they’ve made and look forward to helping them make more changes each year.”
“We are so proud of our operating staff at Roll ’n Bowls for taking the initiative as well as embracing the opportunity to do the right thing for our community” says Hirofumi Leung of Imagin Asia Restaurant Management Group. “We only asked them to look into this and next thing you know, every single one of our staff is taking this to the next level of commitment.”
Rolls ’n Bowls is a Japanese bistro that believes in the importance of offering fresh healthy food to a growing community” says Hirofumi Leung of Imagin Asia Restaurant Management Group. “We only asked them to look into this and next thing you know, every single one of our staff is taking this to the next level of commitment.”
Rolls ’n Bowls is a Japanese bistro that believes in the importance of offering fresh healthy food to a growincommunity” says Hirofumi Leung of Imagin Asia Restaurant Management Group. “We only asked them to look into this and next thing you know, every single one of our staff is taking this to the next level of commitment.”
Rolls ’n Bowls is a Japanese bistro that believes in the importance of offering fresh healthy food to a growing community. Sushi rolls and bowls are made quickly to order while you watch, ensuring quality food to fit any schedule. Founded upon the principles of the “15 Essentials” of a healthy lifestyle, Rolls ’n Bowls strives to implement cutting edge policies to ensure an optimal experience for employees and customers while enjoying Asian cuisine.
Visit www.rollsnbowls to see how they impact the local, and global community.The Green Restaurant Association (GRA), a national non-profit organization, helps the restaurant industry improve its environmental practices through research, environmental consulting, education, and certification. Founded in 1990, the GRA utilizes a collaborative strategy that involves restaurants, manufacturers, vendors, community organizations, government, media, and restaurant customers. The GRA’s model provides a convenient way for all sectors of the restaurant industry, which represents 10% of the total U.S. economy, to become more environmentally sustainable. The GRA has the world’s largest database of environmental solutions for the restaurant industry and has been featured on CNN, NBC Nightly News, NPR, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and in several other media outlets. For more information visit www.dinegreen.com.
Article was written for the green issue of Today’s Restaurant (www.trnusa.com).
Light Bulbs Poised for a Big Change
March 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Mar 30, 2009 – Tom Zeller, Jr, writing in The New York Times notes that the European Union [EU] adopted regulations on household, commercial and public lighting in March 2009. The directive contains language regarding “nondirectional” and other sorts of lamps, and it makes room for the halogen, a more efficient version of the standard incandescent bulb, which much of the world has used since Thomas Edison perfected it in 1879.
The key points in the new rules are these: The light bulb you’ve known is about to become extinct, and you’d better get used to compact fluorescent lamps [CFLs] , which may become the only viable alternative for many homes.
The European regulations will phase out the standard incandescent bulb by 2012, and are similar to those across the globe, from Australia, New Zealand and Japan to Brazil, Cuba, etc. In the United States, the Energy Act of 2007 established efficiency standards that will render most incandescent bulbs unmarketable by 2014.
Estimates vary, but the U.S. Department of Energy [DOE] puts the efficiency of a typical incandescent bulb at less than 10%.
Still, those data have thus far proved ineffective at getting many consumers to switch over, which at least partly explains the growing raft of legislation worldwide. And while it’s possible that researchers will ramp up development of alternative technologies like LEDs or even next-generation, high-efficiency incandescents, it seems more likely that, at least in the near term, consumers will have to get accustomed to CFLs whether they like it or not.
Levels of mercury, a necessary component in CFLs and one that can affect the nervous system with prolonged exposure, are also being reduced in newer generations of the bulb researchers said. Which is why the European Union, in issuing its new regulations, prepared a pre-emptive list of “frequently asked questions” about compact fluorescents found at its Web site.
I find in my house that the bulbs are slow to get to full brightness, usually over 1 minute. Also, unless you pay for extremely expensive bulbs, the typical CFLs will not work with dimmers and all the high hats in my house use dimmers. Some new dimmers will work with CFLs, but these and the special bulbs will not provide a reasonable payback on the investment.
Please leave your comments and your experience with these bulbs here.
Photo courtesy & © Sylvania
Coal Gasification in Illinois; Clean Coal
March 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Mar 30, 2009 – Jeff Johnson reports in Chemical & Engineering News on March 16, 2009 that Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy, is reviewing President George W. Bush’s administration to cancel a large-scale, clean-coal gasification project. FutureGen was to have been a carbon capture project that would generate electricity by burning synthetic fuel produced at a coal gasification plant. It would have removed 90% of the carbon dioxide generated and injected it underground near the plant. Although other smaller plants have been built, this was to be the biggest and it would have been built in Illinois, President Barack Obama’s home state. This project was originally budgeted at $950 million and the Bush administration cancelled it because of an estimate of a $900 million overrun, whereas now the General Accounting Office [GAO] expects the overrun to be only [!?] $300 million. I guess a 30% overrun is acceptable, especially to the Congressional group from Illinois. Please leave your comments here.
Photo courtesy & © FutureGen
Faster-Charging Li-Ion Batteries
March 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Mar 30, 2009 – Elizabeth Wilson in Chemical & Engineering News reports that Professor Gerbrand Ceder and graduate student Byoungwoo Kang at MIT synthesized a popular Li-ion battery material, LiFePO4 [Nature, 2009, 458, 190] with slightly different characteristics that recharges in seconds rather than minutes. This could be an advance for these ubiquitous batteries found in cars, cell phones, laptops, etc. that until now have been relatively slow to recharge. Li-ion batteries are used by the Tesla all-electric car and any advance in their technology could help the USA achieve the targets announced by President Barack Obama. Please leave your comments here.
The Fonera 2.0; White on the Outside, Green on the Inside
March 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Mar 29, 2009 – Besides being an exciting gadget the Fonera 2.0 helps you reduce some of the CO2 you generate in your digital life. The Fonera 2.0 is Green because you can save energy moving your long time consuming tasks from the notebook or desktop to your Fonera 2.0, allowing you to shut down your computer while Fonera 2.0 does the uploading and downloading.
When we leave on our computers at night doing long uploads of our videos to YouTube or downloading huge files with BitTorrent, our notebook or desktop cannot go to standby mode and wastes from 10 to 100W of electricity (being 10W what we would consume with a very energy efficient notebook with its screen off and 100W with a not-so-efficient Core Duo desktop PC using a screen saver with the monitor on). And all this during all night for as many nights as we leave it on!
With the new Fonera 2.0 executing all this uploading/downloading tasks and a USB HDD attached to it you will only consume from 2.95W to 3.85W (depending on HDD model).
This means that, in the worst case scenario, you will reduce to 1/3rd the CO2 emissions that our uploading/downloading generates and if you are replacing an average desktop PC, CO2 emissions using the Fonera 2.0 will be reduced up to 30 times.
FON developers have been developing this piece of equipment for quite a while, and are happy that this social router that manages your relationship with the web 2.0 is also greener than any alternative to upload and download.
HGCapital acquires 3 Spanish solar plants from AIG Financial Products
March 31, 2009 | Comments Off
HgCapital’s Renewable Power Partners Fund has invested in three Spanish solar photovoltaic (PV) plants with a total output of 35.5 MW. HgCapital is the largest fund for European renewable power projects. It purchased the stake from AIG Financial Products Corp. and from 360 Corporate, a Spanish investment banking firm, for an undisclosed amount.
The Spanish portfolio includes two fixed-axis projects (17.5 MWp) and one project single-axis tracker project (18MWp). All projects qualified for the Spanish PV tariff between May and July 2008. The first two projects were developed by Proener (10 MW), in Castile-La Mancha, and City SolarAG (7.5 MW), in Murcia. The third plant was developed by SunPower in Extremadura.
These PV projects are HgCapital’s first Spanish and first solar investments, and follows HgCapital’s pan-European and pan-technology renewable energy investment strategy. Spain is one of HgCapital’s current priority markets for renewables investment. Jens Thomassen and Luigi Pettinicchio executed the transaction for HgCapital.
Jens Thomassen said: “This is an important strategic investment for HgCapital in creating our first renewables portfolio. It extends our diversification to solar and into Spain in general, where we expect to make further strategic investments. Tightening credit conditions and falling power prices mean there will be a decline in new renewables installations in Europe so we are pleased to have invested in three plants which are operating and generating income”.
Tom Murley, head of HgCapital’s renewable energy practice said: “This is a continuation of our long-held, consistently applied strategy of investing in high quality projects across Europe. The PV projects in this investment use the best equipment and benefit from excellent solar radiation. I am also pleased at our arrangement with 360 Corporate, which adds local content and presence.”
10 Green Ways to Cut Your Utility Bills, Trim Your Energy, Water and Garbage Bills by Going Green
March 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Many people in the business world have the misconception that going green means higher costs or lower quality, but most “green” practices are just good business. Restaurants are the most energy intensive commercial businesses in the United States, so naturally it makes sense that owners would want to cut their energy costs. Environmentally friendly practices do not need to be expensive and more often are simple, low or no-cost solutions that not only save money but benefit the environment as well.
Here are ten ways to be more sustainable and trim your bills:
1. Install low-flow pre-wash sprayers: Low-flow sprayers can save as much as $1000 a year in water and water heating costs. They can pay for themselves in a matter of weeks.
2. Preventative Maintenance: Restaurants are notorious for abusing equipment and only providing maintenance when something goes wrong. A regular, documented cleaning and maintenance schedule will help keep equipment running longer and more efficiently. Create a schedule of weekly, monthly and annual dates to calibrate, clean and inspect all the equipment in the house.
3. Energy Efficient Equipment: Three organizations qualify energy and water efficient commercial kitchen equipment. The Energy Star program qualifies seven types of equipment. The units are eligible for incentives and tax rebates in many states, and often cost little to no more than standard equipment. The Consortium for Energy Efficiency divides Energy Star rated equipment into three tiers with higher efficiency equipment labeled as tier 2 or 3. Some tier 3 equipment is 50% more efficient than Energy Star requirements. Finally, the Food Service Technology Center maintains several lists of equipment not qualified by Energy Star or the CEE. In addition, consider variable speed exhaust hoods that may use 40% less energy than standard units.
4. Energy Checklists:
Create start-up and shutdown checklists so equipment isturned on only when needed, turned down during slow periods and turned off when not needed. Simple, conscientious practices like this help reduce energy consumption and can be very beneficial to a business’ bottom-line.
5. Waste Management: Practice the habits of reduce, reuse and recycle with the emphasis on reduce. The best way to reduce waste is to not produce it in the first place. Discontinue the use of unnecessary items like frilly toothpicks and drink umbrellas, buy products in bulk, use reusable goods wherever possible and recycle, donate and compost everything possible.
6. Install WaterSense plumbing fixtures: WaterSense is the water equivalent of the Energy Star program. They rate faucets, aerators, toilets, urinals and landscape watering systems that use at least 20% less water than standard equipment. A few $2 aerators can save a business serving 500 meals a day over $500 a year.
7. Get audits from utilities and municipalities: Many local organizations provide free energy, water and waste audits that offer advice, technical and sometimes financial assistance for upgrades and program development. Take advance of these free professional services.
8. Upgrade lighting: Some lighting upgrades are as simple as installing CFL bulbs in storage areas and exhaust hoods. Other upgrades like high-efficiency linear fluorescents, LEDs and
ceramic metal halides are costeffective improvements that requirerequire a professional electrician.
9. Office: Conservation does not stop in the kitchen or dining room. Thoughtful energy and paper use in the office can cut costs significantly. Always print double-sided, reuse old menus for notes or memos, program POS systems to use less paper and energy management settings on computers.
10. Integrate sustainability practices into employee training: Properly trained employees will ensure a successful resource conservation program. Involve staff in program development and encourage an open dialogue to improve conservation efforts.
Sustainable practices are a wise choice for all food service businesses. Reducing energy use, water use and cutting waste are good for both yourbottom-line and the environment. Implementing new programs can take time and may be a bumpy road, but a well-trained staff with a committed management team will overcome any obstacles and enthusiastically expand sustainability efforts. Be flexible with new programs and ready to adjust current business practices.
Article was written for Today’s Restaurant (www.trnusa.com) by Paul Kuck, a foodservice consultant specializing in sustainability. He is the founder of www.sustainablefoodservice.com. Email him at paul@sustainablefoodservice.com .
Solar Power for High Priced Vehicle
March 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Mar 25, 2009 – Astronauts Steven Swanson and Richard Arnold II hooked up solar wings on the international space station this week. The new $300 million, 115 foot long wings were delivered earlier by space ship Discovery. The space station now has 8 solar wings attached and the extra power will be used for additional experiments. The space station has always had solar power as one can only use solar power or nuclear power in space. No fuel deliveries possible.
Photo courtesy & © NASA
Environmentalists in a Clash of Goals & Strategies
March 25, 2009 | Comments Off
Mar 24, 2009 – You knew it was coming. Green power versus green. What is the controversy? You’ve seen wind farms and large solar collectors. What was there first? Beautiful natural vistas. When do the lawyers get involved? Put in 40 story wind turbines and there goes the neighborhood. Felicity Barringer writes about “Environmentalists in a Clash of Goals“ in The New York Times March 24, 2009.
That specter is of an army of mirrors, generators and transmission towers transforming Mojave Desert vistas. David Myers, head of the Wildlands Conservancy, has fought to preserve the beautiful vistas.
Some of Myers’s fellow environmentalists are helping power companies pinpoint the best sites for solar-power technology. Their goal is to combat climate change by harnessing the desert’s solar-rich terrain, reducing the region’s reliance on carbon-emitting fuels. Myers is indignant, “How can you say you’re going to blade off hundreds of thousands of acres of earth to preserve the Earth?” he said.
As the Obama administration puts development of geothermal, wind and solar power on a fast track, the environmental movement finds itself torn between fighting climate change and a passion for saving special places.
Terry Frewin, a local Sierra Club representative, said he had tough questions for state regulators. ”Deserts don’t need to be sacrificed so that people in L.A. can keep heating their swimming pools,” Mr. Frewin said.
At a national level, strategy is meshing with support for new policies intended to change how electricity is generated, how cars are made and how people live. “It’s not enough to say no to things anymore,” said Carl Zichella, a Sierra Club expert on renewable power. “We have to say yes to the right thing.”
So environmentalists like Zichella and Johanna Wald, a lawyer and longtime ecowarrior at the Natural Resources Defense Council, have joined an industry-dominated advisory group that makes recommendations to California regulators on where renewable-energy zones should be created. ”We have to accept our responsibility that something that we have been advocating for decades is about to happen,” Wald said. ”My job is to make sure that it happens in an environmentally responsible way.”
The nation’s new interior secretary, Ken Salazar, called this month for a task force to map potential energy sites. To counter those efforts, Myers has proposed that Congress put hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land in the Mojave Desert off limits as a national monument. The monument would stretch from Joshua Tree National Park to the National Park Service’s Mojave Preserve and would include the Sleeping Beauty Mountains.
Last week, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, also proposed a national monument to protect much of the same land. ”I’m a strong supporter of renewable energy and clean technology, but it is critical that these projects are built on suitable lands,” said Feinstein, who heads a subcommittee that oversees the Interior Department budget.
“We’re environmentalists,” said Jim Harvey, whose Association for a Responsible Energy Policy represents a coalition of activists in the Mojave area. “These people, who are supposed to be sitting next to us, are sitting across from us.” Harvey’s group says that rooftop solar panels could be vastly expanded in heavily populated areas around Los Angeles. With energy conservation that would make desert clusters of solar plants unnecessary, it says. Zichella and others counter that a wide embrace of expensive rooftop panels will be slow in coming. “The most prudent course is not to put all our renewable eggs in one basket,” Zichella wrote recently.
A reconciliation between the two environmental camps seems likely. As national and state targets mandate more and more renewable-energy projects, many say, environmentalists will have an incentive to work jointly to broker solutions with politicians and the energy industry.
In the Mojave, the biggest fight centers on high-voltage lines that are needed to reach areas where energy will be produced. The likely spots are separated from customers by 2 large national park properties, several wilderness areas and military bases like the Twenty Nine Palms Marine Corps reservation. Finding a route for a project called Green Path North, which traverses those installations, fragile ecosystems and angry communities, has been difficult. One path “goes right between my house and the mountains,” Harvey said.
Aware that internal debate is unavoidable, Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club, suggests a greater effort to balance competing priorities. “What you have to do,” Pope said, “is show that you’ve done the best job you can.”
New Honda Insight Debuts in USA Today
March 25, 2009 | Comments Off
Mar 24, 2009 – A previous post has Toyota’s press release concerning the third generation Prius hybrid. Today Honda is introducing their newly redesigned Insight hybrid.
Here is the Honda press release: We’ve been calling the Insight affordable since we launched this blog back in October. Now we can finally let you in on just how affordable the Insight really is. (Hint: Does under twenty-thousand dollars work for you?)
Let’s end the suspense: The all-new 2010 Honda Insight goes on-sale March 24 with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $19,800 for the Insight LX. That’s right, I said on sale March 24-a little ahead of schedule. And yes, you can now own a fun and efficient hybrid for less than $20K.
Dick Colliver, our executive vice president, said, “The all-new Honda Insight brings the cost-of-entry for hybrid technology into reach for an entirely new car-shopping audience. In addition to making good environmental sense, hybrid technology is now entering a new era where it can also make financial sense for a broader range of customers.”
If you want to add features like alloy wheels, cruise control, steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, an upgraded audio system with six speakers, a USB audio interface, and much more, you can upgrade to the Insight EX with an MSRP of $21,300.
The New York Times article by Hiroko Tabuchi is excerpted here: Costing just shy of $20,000, the Honda Insight promises to let drivers respond to both of the leading crises of our day: the environment and the recession.
If the Insight’s introduction in Japan is any indication, Toyota should be worried. The car went on sale here on Feb. 6, and orders have soared, reaching 18,000 in just the first three weeks – topping Prius’s current sales. In fact, the Insight pushed Prius out of the top-10-selling cars for February.
“I have people asking about hybrids that I never had before,” said Tsuguhito Tokita, a Honda dealer in Tokyo. “With this price, it’s easy to recommend to anyone.”
If Honda makes inroads in the United States, the world’s largest market for hybrids, it could force the market leader, the Toyota Motor Corporation, to bring down its prices. Japanese news media have reported that Toyota, which controls 70 percent of the American hybrid market, will introduce a cheaper hybrid model with a smaller engine in 2011 – in part, reportedly, because of the Insight’s success.
Sales of hybrids have been hit hard by the global economic crisis. After several years of strong growth in Prius sales, Toyota had virtually no increase in 2008 from the previous year, as the overall auto market struggled.
But so far the Insight has been a bright spot for Honda in an otherwise dismal year of plunging sales. Toyota plans to lower the sticker price of the Prius, according to Japan’s largest business daily, Nikkei. The automaker has refused to confirm the report.
The market for hybrids could be headed for a huge expansion. The development of cheaper technology, economies of scale and more government subsidies for environmentally friendly vehicles could take what was a niche technology into the mainstream.
The Insight could bring about a big turnaround for Honda, which tried selling hybrids for a decade without much success. In fact, it discontinued a previous Insight model in 2006, believing consumers found hybrids too expensive. But when sales of Toyota’s Prius rose as oil prices spiked, Honda quickly changed course.
Instead of the more complicated hybrid system used in the Prius, the Insight’s main source of power is a lightweight gasoline engine that is assisted by smaller batteries. That greatly reduces manufacturing costs, but gives the Insight lower fuel efficiency than the Prius – 43 miles per gallon on the highway compared with 45 miles per gallon for the Prius. The Insight also shares parts with other Honda models, which helps the carmaker keep costs to a minimum.
Honda has also struck a chord with an overhaul of the car’s shape. One reason its previous hybrids failed to take off, analysts say, was that they did not come in distinctive shapes.
But Honda’s new Insight looks remarkably like – well, Toyota’s triangular Prius, which has become synonymous with hybrid technology. Analysts say that should help sales. The global economic slowdown could be an advantage for the Insight, at least over the Prius.
Whatever the outcome of the new hybrid race, it is certain to reinforce the dominance of Japanese automakers in eco-friendly cars. Unlike their American counterparts, Japanese automakers have long made energy efficiency a priority, teaming up with Japan’s electronics conglomerates to develop high-powered batteries.
Honda, which gets its batteries from Panasonic and Sanyo, has also invested heavily in battery production, setting up a company with a battery maker, GS Yuasa, to produce lithium-ion batteries. That move came partly because Honda was nervous about obtaining batteries from the same company as its archrival, Toyota. The greater capacity would allow Honda to introduce hybrid versions of its other models.
A string of auto companies worldwide, from Ford to start-ups like Tesla Motors, have announced or introduced hybrids, plug-ins or electric cars. Others are hurrying research into fuel cells and other alternatives. A technological breakthrough could still turn the market on its head, analysts say.