Perpetual Innovation

Category: renewable

  • Sustainable Universities fall in two

    Sustainable Universities falls into to two schools (note the pun).
    1) Those that have greener campuses in terms of reduced usage of resources and renewable resources.
    2) Those that teach sustainability programs academically.
    Of course, doing both is entirely possible… and even highly synergistic.

    Here’s a few sources of Green campus and green(er) universities:

    Plus there has been some rather interesting reports on the topic in August of 2014. So this list should be updated soon.
    Keywords: Best Universities, Green Education, renewable energy, sustainability, sustainable education, sustainUcation 

    First published on www.SustainUcation.com, here.

  • BioLite BaseCamp Stove | Turn Fire into Electricity by BioLite. Saving lives, one stove at a time. Kickstarter Funded project.

    Repost from IPzine…
    BioLite BaseCamp Stove | Turn Fire into Electricity by BioLite — Kickstarter:

    I love it. But only 62 hours to get in on the KickStarter offer. They are at twice goal with $800k+ and 3,000 backers.

    Yes, it was DARK in Miami, when Hurricane Andrew came through South Miami/Homestead on August 24, 1992. Well, afterwards really. It would be weeks before most of us would get power. So bar-b-q grilling was the norm. That was not quite as much fun after a week or two without baths and without air conditioning. Little or no ice and warm drinks. Muggy and humid.

    You did want to cook, obviously, but all the heat from the grill was the last thing we needed.

    But a really cool cooking stove popped up in New York. A tiny stove the burned wood (or charcoal) and produced focused head for cooking. No need to cook the cook too.


    This technology works wonders in countries where there is little or no electricity, and wood is often scarce, and the smoke from open cooking causes some of the world’s worst health issues (probably only exceeded by water/sanitation).

    You gotta see how far the technology has come. This is a BIG stove, relatively, that generates electricity (USB power) and has battery. It has an internal fan, to fan the fire so it can produce some serious heat possibilities — especially given the ability to focus the flame.

    This version comes with an LED light so you can see what’s cooking at night.

    As they say, this is the first version of the BaseCamp that is crowd designed. When you jump in on the crowd funding at KickStarter (BaseCamp) you will get a free carrying case.

    You also get the warm-fuzzy feeling of knowing that this technology will save millions and millions of lives in energy starved countries.

    All very very cool.

    ‘via Blog this’

  • Off-Grid Electrification

    This is a very impressive video conference hosted by the Climate Group.

  • Next generation of biofuels is still years away | Hattiesburg American | hattiesburgamerican.com

    Next generation of biofuels is still years away | Hattiesburg American | hattiesburgamerican.com:

    Biofuel is a byline in the energy mix.

    So biofuel is mandated. And because it is ordered to be true, it must be.

    And because it is ordered to be true, the mandate must meet the expectations.

    Thus is the problem with government subsidies… Burning food for fuel (corn to ethanol) is still a rather dumb idea, even though it is finally getting efficient enough that there is a small net gain gallon-equivalent per gallon of ethanol.

    What would work perfectly well, from an economics point of view, is to raise taxes on non-renewable sources of fuel and energy. A simple carbon tax would do it. It could be progressive over time.

    Then the more accurate costs of non-renewables would allow for the energy economy to shift and make its on path forward. The types of renewable fuel would decide themselves and the government would be out of the picture setting mandates in less-than-smart — some might say foolish — areas.

    Of course the politicians who set the wheels in process for a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade (tax?) will soon find themselves out to pasture shoveling biowaste.

    ‘via Blog this’

  • Ikea starts generating solar power at Tampa store… If Idea can do it…?

    Ikea starts generating solar power at Tampa store | TBO.com:

    Well, if Ikea can do it, why can the rest of us.

    Solar on the roof-tops of buildings (stores and homes) seems like a great way to start cutting back on traditional electricity (~45% coal).

    It shouldn’t take a Swedish company to tell us (show us, really) what we should be doing to become more sustainable.

    Check out their 2011 Sustainability Report.  They are doing energy efficiency and renewable energy, of course. But they also use huge amounts of fabric and wood. See what they are doing with certified wood and sustainable cotton.!:-)

    Way to go Ikea!.

    ‘via Blog this’