Transportation

Peak Moment 221: Human-powered machines – Can pedals power the world?

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Jump on that bike and power up the blender for your morning smoothie! Matthew Corson-Finnerty shows several machines he has developed while at Aprovecho Center in Oregon. Watch us pedal power an electricity generator, a grain mill, a blender, and a straw-chopper. Matthew notes there’s “considerable difference between the power that one person can generate, and [what’s] generated by a fossil fuel engine or a coal-fired plant to provide electricity.”

Transport – Oct 5

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-There IS a Bicycle Economy, Two Cities Find
-Are electric cars bad for the environment?
-Amsterdam’s New Electric Scooter Program Aims To Improve Transportation Options
-Paralympics show how cycling fits almost any impairment

Transport – Oct 5

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-There IS a Bicycle Economy, Two Cities Find
-Are electric cars bad for the environment?
-Amsterdam’s New Electric Scooter Program Aims To Improve Transportation Options
-Paralympics show how cycling fits almost any impairment

Montreal: City of Bikes

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Last year I visited Montreal to attend the Ecocity World Summit, a biannual gathering of visionaries from around the globe committed to creating cities where people live in mutually enriching relationship with each other and with the Earth. Looking at cities as living breathing organisms, with all their residents human and non-human forming an intricate web of interdependence, the very idea of an ecocity is rooted in a sharing principle, where citizens understand not only the physical value of making the most of our natural resources, but the cultural, spiritual, ecological, and ultimately, economic value inherent in building networks and communities.

Transport – Sept 21

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-What would British roadsl look like if we treated them the same way we do our cycle lanes?
-Check Out This Great Bike-Sharing ‘How To’ Guide for U.S. Cities!
-Building walkable cities cuts emissions more than fuel taxes, study says
-World’s Coolest Bus Commercial

Transport – Sept 21

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-What would British roadsl look like if we treated them the same way we do our cycle lanes?
-Check Out This Great Bike-Sharing ‘How To’ Guide for U.S. Cities!
-Building walkable cities cuts emissions more than fuel taxes, study says
-World’s Coolest Bus Commercial

Sail Transport Movement Enters U.S. Mainstream

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The last month has seen exciting U.S. sail-transport developments. Three encouraging events indicate that the nation may no longer be falling behind Europe in nurturing a critical form of renewable energy. In northern Europe at least four well-established players are operating on a significant scale, and preparing to build more ships…Due in part to the constant promotion of sail power by the Sail Transport Network and participating sailors since 1999, the U.S. is finally rising to the occasion. The occasion is none other than the recent historic global peaking of easy-to-extract-and-refine conventional crude oil, and the accelerating destabilization of the Earth’s benign climate.

Regenerative Adelaide

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An urbanizing world requires major policy initiatives to make urban resource use compatible with the world’s ecosystems. Metropolitan Adelaide has adopted this agenda and is well on its way to becoming a pioneering regenerative city region. New policies by the government of South Australia on energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable transport, zero waste, organic waste composting, water efficiency, wastewater irrigation of crops, peri-urban agriculture, and reforestation have taken Adelaide to the forefront of eco-friendly urban development. Working as a thinker in residence in Adelaide in 2003, I proposed linking policies to reduce urban eco-footprints and resource use with the challenge of building a green economy.