Green Transportation // Current

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14 days ago

New All-Electric Ducati Has A Top Speed Of 15MPH

Ducati comes full circle by offering a slick looking electric-powered bicycle called the City Pearl.... more

theauthor
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Can the old Animal Forest Park and Funland in York Beach, Maine follow a new sustainable path?

It would make my heart sing to be allowed, by the forces that be, to be able to help develop and renovate my father and his... more

CarolynGillis
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Mukluks to keep it real in the USA

"Warning! Steger Mukluks and Steger Moccasins are addictive. We make the warmest winter boots and most comfortable moccasins... more

CarolynGillis
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Warren Buffett Makes a $44 Billion (!) Bet on Trains, Buys BNSF

Has the Oracle of Omaha seen the future? If so, it seems to include more trains, because Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett's investment vehicle, decided to buy the remaining 77.4% of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railway that it didn't already own, and the price tag wasn't small: 44 billion dollars when cash, stock and debt are included. Mr. Buffett says that he's betting on "the United States", because "railroad operators cannot do well unless American businesses were producing goods and customers were buying them." But is it possible that he's also betting that relatively fuel-efficient trains will play a bigger role in the future of transportation?

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BNSF is one of only four remaining transcontinental railways, and the second largest one in the US after the Union Pacific Railroad. It is said to be better managed and more forward-looking, though (for example, it installed pipes carrying optical fiber next to its tracks in some places, allowing it to carry both heavy freight and digital goods).

The NYT writes:

The deal, which including Berkshire's previous investment and the assumption of $10 billion in Burlington Northern debt brings the total value to $44 billion, represents what Mr. Buffett said was a big bet on the United States.

BNSF is a freight company, but many Amtrak routes use BNSF rails, and maybe one of Buffet's plans is to expand into passenger rail? This could certainly be a growth sector if oil becomes more expensive and low-carbon technologies are given a push because of concerns about global warming.

Trains area already pretty fuel-efficient by amount of weight they carry, but new technologies such as hybrid and electric locomotives could make them even greener.

One of the side benefits of this investment by Mr. Buffett could be rising the profile of rail in the US. This could attract other investors - many of whom try to follow Buffett wherever he goes - and help modernize the rail network in the country.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/warren-buffet-buys-bnsf-railway-trains-berkshire.phpHas the Oracle of Omaha seen the future? If so, it seems to include more trains, because Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett's... more

pjacobs51
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25 days ago

Clever 'chopped' cars promise cheap electric commuting

IT COULD take a "perfect storm" to create electric cars that match gas-powered cars' range - a mix of... more

pjacobs51
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25 days ago

Proterra Rapid-Charge Hybrid Bus: A Big Step Towards Zero-Emission Public Transit

This week a new fast-charging hybrid bus from Proterra was unveiled that may be the first step toward a much more fuel efficient... more

theauthor
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1 month ago

The Ultimate H2O transporters

Water flow through a garden hose or a nanochannel (10-9 m) has incredibly different fluid flow transport mechanisms. In one case the theory of fluid dynamics holds and in the other nanoscale phenomena dominant. In a hose single water molecule transport is not a dominate feature however the unique properties of, in particular, carbon nanotubes make single water molecule transport a reality. Interestingly, it is the entry and exit of water molecules that is believed to be the factor limiting transport . So how does this come about?

For this we need molecular dynamic (MD) simulations which show that hydrogen atoms are attracted to the nanotube while oxygen is repelled such that water is orientated with the hydrogen atom entering the tube first.1 If the nanotube diameter is small enough (approximately 0.8 nm) water forms a 1-dimensional chain travelling at an average of 17 molecules per nanosecond (or 99 cm s-1).2 However, other MD simulations report dramatically decreased mobility at this nanoscale due to the change in the mechanical properties of water.3 So there are discrepancies in our theoretical understanding of this phenomena.

Experimentally water transport through carbon nanotubes is far from trivial. However, ever since Holt et al.4 measured the flow of water through a silicon nitride/double-walled carbon nanotube nanofiltration membrane and discovered flow rates 4-5 orders of magnitude higher than estimated by classic models for Poiseuille permeation4 the search has been on to create extended membrane films for use in emerging novel water treatment technologies. The promise of higher transport fluxes, specificity and selectivity through a water treatment membrane is always in our minds, particularly in arid environments such as Australia.

Dr Ellis and her colleagues at Flinders University believe they can make a valuable contribution to the problems facing water challenged environments. Their work is currently funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery grant. Their recent review on "Carbon nanotubes anchored to silicon for device fabrication"5 emphasizes the need for control of nanotube orientation in order to reap the diverse range of potential applications they may afford. In particular, their uses in water transport systems.

The efficiency of a membrane may be dictated by structure, composition, and design. Many synthetic chemistry techniques exist which enable the design of a nanohybrid filtration membrane to vastly improve its function. To this end Dr Ellis and her colleagues are using a variety of synthetic chemistries to construct nanohybrid water filtration membranes based on wet chemical (self-assembled) vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VA-CNTs) and ultrathin nanocrystalline porous silicon.Water flow through a garden hose or a nanochannel (10-9 m) has incredibly different fluid flow transport mechanisms. In one case... more