Posted July 30th, 2007 by Biopact team
Toyota plug-in hybrid hits the road
From the article:The Plug-in HV displayed yesterday runs on the same nickel metal hydride battery as the Prius and has a cruising range of 8 miles on electricity. The maximum speed of Plug-in HV as an electric vehicle is 62 miles an hour. The batteries require about 1.5 hours to recharge at 200 volts and three or four hours at 100 volts. The more common
Posted July 17th, 2007 by Biopact team
A few weeks ago, the bi-partisan "Baucus Amendment" containing important energy tax provisions - including a long-term extension of the solar and fuel cell investment tax credit (ITC) - fell just three votes shy of passage.
Your involvement could make a key difference in changing that vote. Currently, Senate leadership is working to revive the tax package, and the support of a few more Senators can help push this measure through.
Please write to your Senator asking them to vote in favor of this progressive legislation that will create tens of thousands of quality jobs and help spur the use of solar power throughout the US.
Email your U.S. Senator now and urge them to vote in favor of Senate Amendment 1704, the Baucus-Grassley energy tax package. Click here to take action, or copy and paste the following link into your browser:
http://capwiz.com/re-action/go/taxcreditsIf you have any questions about the current outlook, please visit the ITC Resource Page at
www.seia.org/itc or contact
nkaye@seia.org.
Posted July 17th, 2007 by Biopact team
Hi friends!
It's been ever so long since I posted here. I've been busy painting the concrete floor in our new little cottage, and that's turned into a huge job. I despise carpet, and have dust allergies to boot, so almost the first thing we did was remove it and I filled in all the nail holes with patching stuff...over 750 of them! A few more days of scraping and cleaning and it was ready for paint. Yesterday I finished up the last top-coat of paint/stain, and now I need to put on the finish coat. Luckily it is a *small* cottage. LOL.
The garden! Well, it's going slowly. I have a good reason...it's been over 90-degrees here for the last few weeks, and that's not good for new plants. Still, I couldn't resist putting in a few herbs in the existing flower bed alongside the house. Some boob planted crotons there and covered their roots with BLACK mulch. Good grief. I like crotons, sort of, but they are not bedding plants; they are houseplants. And black mulch just isn't good for anything in this climate.
Not to mention that it's black because it's been dyed. As I said, good grief!
So in their place are new rosemary, lavender, Mexican bush sage and salvia plants. I know all of those will appreciate the heat bouncing back off the light colored house and the concrete driveway beside it. I'm going to love getting out of the car and brushing up against them when they're larger, causing them to release their scents.
And I also planted a wee little fig tree there in the back garden area. It's about 8" tall now, and came from a cutting I took from the fig tree here at the Big House.
I'm sure you'll understand how happy I was to find earthworms in the soil there. That was exciting. (Yes, I get excited over worms. Don't you? LOL)
More later....some photos eventually, too!
Dig it!
bobbi c.
Posted July 14th, 2007 by Biopact team
According to PopSci, these new batteries from A123 systems are able to recharge rapidly (a minute or two), to last for a decade, and to operate in high-temperature environments. The batteries use a nanotech modification to traditional lithium ion batteries.
Lots more information at the A123 systems web site.
Posted July 12th, 2007 by Biopact team
A large removals firm in New York city is due to pilot BioDiesel on 10% of their trucks (around 50 vehicles). The equivalent saving on CO2 emissions of 45 vehicles per year!
If you want to buy BioDiesel in the UK, check out this
map to find your local source.
Lastly, I the welder has attacjed three box sections of steel to the sides of the tanks. Into these go the support legs to raise the tanks off the ground. Once in place the taks stand a little under 6 feet tall. 
