Green-News: Thursday 2.5.09
- A waste management company in the U.K. has invented a garbage truck that runs on fuel made out of trash collected from 25 bins installed around Northern England. The rubbish charges the truck’s battery and provides 10 megawatts of excess electricity to the grid. But, the trash is burned; DiscoBlog reports.
- Beer maker Sierra Nevada has hooked up with biofuel maker Efuel100 to produce ethanol from yeast waste. Currently, Sierra Nevada provides its dregs to cattle farms to be used as feedstock for ethanol, but Efuel100 can convert the stuff into biofuel for the brewery’s vehicles and workers; from GreenTech.
- But some say biofuel is worse than gasoline. Making ethanol is very energy-intensive. It takes a lot of fertilizer to grow all the corn required to make ethanol and new research claims gas costs only $0.71 in health and environmental costs, but ethanol ranges between $0.72 and $1.45; via Red Green and Blue.
- Wal-Mart has announced plans to put hybrid commercial trucks on the road. The mega-retailer said it’s already achieved over 25% increased efficiency within its existing private fleet of trucks between 2005 and 2008 and looks forward to further reducing its carbon footprint; from SustainableBusiness News.
- Gas prices have gone down, but more and more people are still looking to carpool. Massachusetts has implemented a state-wide system to promote car-pooling and the number of applicants doubled last year and in Germany, over 700,000 citizens use an online ride-share program; TreeHugger explains.
- The U.S. House of Representative has passed a stimulus package that will provide provisions and tax credits for biomass energy, including biofuels, and opening up $18.5 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy, accelerating the development of green technologies; Biomass Magazine reports.
Image credit: juicyrai
I like the idea of getting some use from what would otherwise be garbase.