April 2009 Archives

The Fusion Hybrid 1,000-Mile Challenge team took turns driving several routes in and around Washington D.C. over the course of approximately three days and nights this weekend. The results were beyond expectations.

The route involved elevation changes, and ranged from the relatively open George Washington Parkway to a 3-mile stretch in the heart of the city that is clogged with roughly 30 traffic signals.

"The Fusion Hybrid works brilliantly," Gerdes said. "When you don't need acceleration power while driving around town, the gas engine shuts down seamlessly. There's not another hybrid drivetrain in the world that does that as effectively. The Fusion engineering team really knocked it out of the park."

cleanmpg.com

Wayne Gerdes, an engineer from Illinois who coined the term "hypermiling" to describe the mileage-maximizing techniques

Exciting: A two-mode competitive hybrid product from a U.S. based automaker that is getting great reviews and is surpassing real world testing.

A video of the event.

York College of Pennsylvania students explore their own minds during Scholarship Day Mosiacs with the help of their professor Rebecca Quattrone.

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When Cindy Arnold picked up the mail one day in early March, there was a large manila envelope in the It was a handwritten note from President Barack Obama. In it, he told her he would watch out for her son, who is in the Army.

"It was very overwhelming," Arnold said.

The Stewartstown, Pa woman wrote a letter to the president Jan. 20. It was the day she talked to her son, Pvt. Matthew J. Arnold, as he filled out paperwork detailing with should happen to him if he were hurt or killed.

Printing can be a toxic business. In the mechanical printing world, oil based inks gave way to soy based. The York Newspaper Company newspaper products are printed with soy based ink

In the increasingly digital reformulation of large scale printing Hewlett-Packard has developed latex inks for large scale printing operations like billboards. According to the HP site, "new water-based HP Latex Inks provide the benefits of solvent-ink technology--like outdoor durability--without imposing the typical environmental, health, and safety considerations."

An HP Designjet Latex printer and a Gandi Aquajet Dye Sub printer that uses water based inks to print on fabric will be part of a graphics trade show at Color Reflections at 400 Green Street, Philadelphia on Earth Day.

Upcycling takes a waste product or a combination of waste products and innovates them into something new and useful.

The Sugarloaf Crafts Festival, will feature more than 300 artists from across the country at its upcoming show in Timonium, April 24-26.

Among the "green" artists at Sugarloaf are Ed Kidera - who uses parts from cars and farm equipment, and steel cylinders (re: SCUBA tanks) to create large-scale metal sculptures. You'll also find clothes and fashion by Mo O'Grady, who takes a holistic approach to her art by using natural fabrics to create her pieces, creating fringe and decorative elements on her pieces with excess fabric to minimize waste. In addition, artist Bud Scheffel uses recycled scrap metal to create his mobile and wind sculptures designs.

The daily voice of the Obama campaign, manager and adviser David Plouffe slipped into history after the election.

He recently purchased a Ford Fusion Hybrid (41 mpg city and 36 mpg) in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. usnews.com

Codo is partnering with Gung Ho Bikes in North York to provide five bikes for Codo residents to share. Tenants can use the bicycles to get to work, run errands or cruise the York County Heritage Rail Trail. The program was started to promote green transportation and fitness for area residents.

flipsidepa.com

Cigar box guitars were born out of necessity according to Shane Speal of West York.

During the early part of the last century when the wooden boxes were as popular as the cigars people smoked, the free container became the basis for many artistic kids looking to strum their way into music on a budget.

Today, the no rules instrument, tells a story of innovation, self-reliance and personal expression.

The Rev. Marion Haynes-Weller releases a butterfly during the children's sermon Sunday at Kreutz Creek Presbyterian Church. The butterflies symbolize new life, she told the congregation during Sunday's Easter service.

When you wake up every day, who thinks about this? People take it for granted that the sun's there every day. It hits a little closer to home.

-JoAnn Graham, York Township.

Before dawn Wednesday, more than 75 people gathered inside Temple Beth Israel in York Township to celebrate the heavens' return to their positions at the beginning of time.

The blessing of the sun, or Birchat HaChama in Hebrew, comes 'round once every 28 years on the Jewish calendar.

Environmental concerns, including awareness about global warming, helped bring global attention to the event, which until this year was little known outside the Orthodox Jewish community.

US carmaker General Motors is joining with scooter maker Segway to make a new type of two-seat electric vehicle.

The prototype, which will be debuted in New York, is aimed at urban driving. GM aims to start making them by 2012.

The vehicle, named Puma, can go as far as 35 miles on a single charge. It will use lithium-ion batteries.

As alternative engine technology matures, manufacturers jockey for position and price.

Honda decides to cancel diesels for their larger platforms and evolve their gasoline hybrid offers into the larger cars. The price of the new low cost Honda Insight will not chase Toyota lowering the price of a Prius. automobilemag.com Consumers win with two low cost hybrid offerings.

Volkswagen has revealed its new Golf GTD, a sporty diesel version of the Golf. autoweek.com I recall a friend stuffing a diesel into a sporty 80's vintage VW GTI and thinking that I wanted one. Unlike the 80's a modern diesel has gobs of low end power, runs clean and would be alot of fun. Consider the premium cost of diesel fuel over gasoline before determining the dollars saved.

Chrysler LLC on Monday named U.S. based A123 Systems as the supplier of batteries for its first electric vehicles slated for debut in showrooms 2010. reuters Chrysler's plan like General Motor's Volt Electric car will use an efficient fossil fueled motor to charge batteries that will run an electric motor(s).

The electricTransit Connect (commercial truck) will be Ford's first full-electric vehicle and will be followed in 2011 by a 5-passenger car that will travel up to 120 miles per charge, according to Ford. Further details on that vehicle are unknown, but Ford is has been testing a fleet of Focus compact sedans that use an electric powertrain built by Magna International of Canada. foxnews

Citizens Bank Park is combining baseball with environmental awareness. The program combines the use of energy, consumables and fan awarness,

• Utility power usage at Citizens Bank Park is fueled by 20 million kilowatt-hours of Green-e Energy Certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). According to the EPA, this is the largest single purchase of 100% renewable energy in professional sports and is equivalent to the planting of 100,000 trees.
• Frying oil will be used as bio-diesel fuel. Recycling glass, plastic and cardboard generated from game day preparation and sales; using carry-out trays that are 100 percent post-consumer fiber; providing bio-degradable serviceware and cups; utilizing plastics that are easier to recycle; using compostable products; reducing amount of condiment packaging waste by providing dispensers instead of individual packets; and using locally grown produce and organic foods.
• Building-Related: The recycling of cardboard, paper, fluorescent lamps, lighting ballasts, plastic, aluminum and glass bottles; utilizing environmental-friendly cleaning products as well as a "bio-enzyme" which eats grease trapped in kitchen drain pipes; utilizing energy conservation using the Building Management System and Light Control System; universal waste recycling; converting to LED lighting (which uses 80% less power and lasts years longer than traditional incandescent bulbs); right-sizing trashcan liners; and re-using rain run-off water for landscaping and field irrigation.
• Recyclable Containers: 35 oversized, 80-gallon recyclable containers will be placed throughout the ballpark for fans to utilize and aid in recycling efforts.
• "Red Goes Green Cards" for Phillies Employees: All full-time Phillies employees, including players and coaches, will receive a one-year credit to secure clean, renewable energy for their home consumption, compliments of the Phillies and WindStreet Energy.

If you guide your life by the numbers, your potential is always too old or too young for something. Too young to try or too old to continue.

A tree doesn't know how old it is. It lives, reaching for the sky, and one day falls.