Filed under: Etc., Green Culture, On Two Wheels, Green Daily

For the seventeenth consecutive year, this Wednesday will mark the annual Ride to Work Day. The event, which falls every year on the third Wednesday of July, is intended to promote fuel savings and the reduced traffic which comes as a result of motorcycle and scooter riding. This, of course, is an event we can get behind. As motorcycle and scooter sales worldwide increase due to fuel prices which have likely not yet hit their apogee, more and more ex-drivers are ditching their automobiles in an effort to save big money on their fuel bills. Still, it is currently estimated that just over 1-percent of these riders choose to commute to work on their two-wheelers.

Benefits to ridin' to work are many, including the aforementioned fuel savings and lower traffic, less damage to roadways, quicker commutes in places where lane-sharing is permissible and the fact that riding is fun. Don't think that riding to work makes a big difference? If every day were Ride to Work Day, fifteen-million gallons of fuel, and the associated CO₂ emissions, could be saved per year. That, friends, is a big number although it is probably a conservative estimate given that American drivers consumed 9.3 million gallons of gasoline per day in 2007.

[Source: Ride to Work Day]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Diesel, Hybrid, European Union

FedEx has already managed to rack up over two million miles in its fleet of hybrid delivery vehicles, and will now be further padding that number thanks to ten additional diesel hybrid vans from Iveco for use in Europe. The vans officially began their duty in Milan and Turin, Italy on July 10th. While we are most interested in the CO₂ emissions savings, FedEx will surely enjoy the corresponding 30-percent reduction in fuel use.

In what could be the most important news from this story, though, Iveco claims that it will begin regular production of the diesel hybrid vans by the end of 2009. If that is the case, any commercial customers that are interested in purchasing the fuel-savers will be able to follow the lead of FedEx, which has already proven the technology to be commercially viable.

[Source: Iveco]

Continue reading FedEx adds 10 new diesel hybrid vans to test fleet

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chrysler, USA

Dodge Zeo concept

As company after company announces electric vehicle additions to their lineups by 2010, Chrysler is again expected to be a late arrival to the green-car party. The automaker started the semi-autonomous unit, ENVI, last year specifically to design and develop electric drivetrain vehicles like the Dodge Zeo concept pictured above but any belief they can put one of their creations on a showroom floor in a timely (read "competitive") fashion seems misguided. Company spokesperson, Nick Cappa, in a recent e-mail to the Detroit Free Press said they are currently developing electric vehicles and are "...planning on product within three to five years,". After the past disastrous quarter ,that saw sales plunging 22 per cent, there are many who aren't sure the company will even last that long. Bought up by Cerberus Capital Management last year, it has recently been busy fighting off bankruptcy rumors.

Nick Cappa, for one, still seems to be taking the long view. Defending the company's tortoise-like pace getting into the rapidly expanding hybrid market he says, "If you want to go ahead and make everything a full hybrid system, fine, but what if you can turn everything into a range-extended vehicle and take it beyond the 2020 campaign for 35 miles per gallon? The new technology ENVI is developing could do that." We hope, indeed, his confidence is well-placed and that they pick up the pace a notch or two.




[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Diesel, Flex-Fuel, Ford, USA

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Ford F-150

A four cylinder engine in the F-150? What is the world coming to? Um, the realization that the price of gas isn't likely to go back down, that's what. Still, it was one thing when muscle car enthusiasts were told they may get a four cylinder Camaro, but it's a different story to expect hard-core truckers to welcome anything less than six cylinders. In truth, the 2.5 liter Eco-Boost engine Ford is considering for its entry-level F-Series truck should prove plenty powerful with 260 hp and 300 lb.-ft. of torque, especially in the short-bed single-cab versions of the pickup it will be offered in.

Next year, the 4.6 liter V8 will be the base-engine, which seems contrary to expectations in this day of fuel saving fever. In time, a 3.5 liter Eco-Boost six cylinder will take over for the aging modular 4.6 in base-truck duties, and its 350 hp and 390 lb.-ft. of torque will be more than powerful enough in the quarter-ton. The 16 mpg city and 22 mpg highway is also a welcome improvement over its V8 forebear. We should also mention that a new smaller diesel V8 engine is on the horizon. Truckers, welcome to the new world order. Come on in, the water's fine.

[Source: Pickuptrucks.com via Autoblog]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, News

How many times have you driven a short distance in the city - say, to a local ice cream shop - only to circle the neighborhood again and again, looking for a parking spot. You quickly realize that you could have easily walked there in the time it took you to find a spot (not to mention, saved a ton of gasoline). In fact, a recent study by the New York Transportation Authority discovered that 28 percent to 45 percent of traffic on many streets in New York City is generated by people circling the blocks, looking for parking spots.

But if a new San Francisco program is successful, this scenario will be a thing of the past. City officials plan to test a wireless sensor network, called "SFpark," that will send information about empty parking spaces to drivers' cell phones, or be displayed on street signs. 6,000 (out of the city's 24,000) metered parking spaces will be used for the trial, and 4x4-inch, battery-operated plastic sensors will be embedded in city streets to track spots as they become available.

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom claims the program is a way to manage congestion and calm traffic patterns, instead of using restrictive tolls, like in London and Singapore (New York has proposed a similar plan).

Overall, the program has several benefits: parking time limits and fees can be adjusted based on the time and day, and the city can monitor the percentage of spots occupied at any given time (for instance, SF might set a goal that only 85% of spots should be occupied).

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The greenest, fastest, and safest commute, one that requires the lowest investment from your pocket and from your tax dollars (compared with mass transit and HOV lanes) is from wherever you are in your home to your home office. The same goes for your employees.

Facet/Teletrips reports that each person teleworked or telecommuted just 1 to 2 days per week then each year they would save 100 - 200 gallons of fuel and 1.5 to 5 metric tonnes of CO2 / employee / year (equates to 7.5 percent -25 percent of an individual's annual carbon footprint). 

Teleworking is like giving your staff a pay raise and a cut in hours for free. Facet/Teletrips reports that it saves them each $2,000 - $10,000 in after tax dollars and frees up 160 hours of their time from commuting every year.

Your organization also benefits from teleworking as it can gain $2,000 - $10,000 real estate and other cost savings / employee / year, and greater staff retention and recruiting. 

https://www.teletrips.com/public/learn.php

The rising gas prices are already reportedly making organizations think about teleworking. Employees, especially lower-paid ones like contact center agents are less willing to travel the same distances to work because they have to pay more out of their pockets.

Telework is also a proven disaster response strategy by distributing the workforce that makes operations less vulnerable to threats and 'events'. Telework ties into the Internet, which was conceived of and created by the US government to withstand and respond to an enemy attack by distributing computers over a network. 

And on 9-11-01 both telework and the Internet delivered. I wrote and answered the 'Are You OK' e-mails from a friend's house in New Jersey that I ended up after evacuating my old Manhattan office with my laptop--after witnessing the attacks that had knocked out conventional communications systems. My son, a paramedic, was at Ground Zero but neither my wife nor I knew if he was dead or alive for nearly 2 days because we could not reach him.

If you have a contact center and want to learn more about teleworking then I invite you to register and take part in a great Webinar on this topic that is taking place Wedneday July 16 at 2pm ET, sponsored by VoltDelta and Transera. Your questions are very welcome and will help us increase our understanding about this timely topic.

http://www.tmcnet.com/webinar/volt-delta2/volt-delta-webinar-agent-at-home-solutions-revolutionary-change-for-the-contact-center.htm



 

Tags: carbon footprint, disaster response, energy reduction, green technology, telecommute

Related Entries
• Companies Can be 'Green' With the Technology They Already Have - Oct 05, 2007
• Eco One - Sep 02, 2007
• Al Gore’s Green Tips - Aug 27, 2007
• Polycom - Aug 20, 2007
• BMW Hydrogen 7 - Aug 19, 2007
• Green Technology Conference - Aug 16, 2007
• CO2Sink - Aug 07, 2007
• BMW Goes Green - Jul 30, 2007
• Sacramento Greens Up Light Rail - Jul 23, 2007
• Mobile Phone Carbon Footprint - Jul 20, 2007

TrackBack (0) | Comments (0) | Tag with del.icio.us | Green Blog Home | Permalink: Telework: the ultimate green commute

Tags: telework, telecommute, fuel savings, CO2 reduction, disaster response, carbon footprint
Copyright Green Blog

Filed under: Manufacturing/Plants, Chevrolet, USA

Chevrolet has seen a double-digit sales increase of its Cobalt compact car this year since gas prices began their unstoppable upward trajectory. Fortunately for us in the states, the newfound importance of small cars means that we will likely see the new 1.4 liter turbocharged global-mill in the U.S. version of the Chevy Cruze when it goes on sale here in 2009. See, everything has an upside if you look hard enough. Fuel economy in the forties on the highway will be welcome, as will the adequate 120-140 horsepower. When the new Cruze goes on sale in its home market, it will be built in the Lordstown, Ohio plant where the Cobalt is currently assembled. Expect both cars to remain in Chevy's line until the Cruze and its next-gen Delta platform sees its full ramp-up. A sedan body-style will appear first, though we'd expect a coupe shortly thereafter to properly compete with such vehicles as the Honda Civic and Ford Focus.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Food, Home

It probably says more about me than the company, but every time I open the cabinet and see that box of IF YOU CARE unbleached coffee filters, I feel a stab of green guilt and panic.

Do I care? Am I doing enough? I mean, I bought these filters, with their environmentally friendly production methods and low carbon footprint. I carry the paper brown box with it's vegetable based-inks like a badge of biodegradeable pride through the supermarket.

IF YOU CARE has several other great products, like 100% recycled aluminum foil and silicon coated baking sheets. Their packaging is also 100% recycled. Clearly, they do care.

Still, I have to admit, the name irritates me. Not so much that I'll go buy chlorine-bleached filters out of spite, but I'm willing to admit that I'm a sucker for good marketing, and I'm turned off by what I perceive as negative pressure. Maybe it's the all CAPS. The thing is, there are a lot of people like me out there, and we've been well trained by the advertising machine to expect a little sugar with the pitch. For green companies to break through to the mainstream, they have to play with the same tools, or weapons.

Of course, some people would say that if I really cared I'd have a reusable coffee filter.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

“saving millions of trees, protecting the environment and contributing to the country’s economy.”

original news source