As we all know, we're in the midst of a slowly forming tragedy which strikes in unpredicatably and incognito. That is, global warming. Many of us are contributors to this problem. Though many of us can't stop driving, there are ways to pollute much less, with your same car. Here are a few simple ways (provided by Greenercars.com) you can reduce your CO2 emissions.

•   Flooring the gas pedal not only wastes gas, it
  leads to drastically higher pollution rates. One second
  of high-powered driving can produce nearly the same volume
  of carbon monoxide emissions as a half hour of normal
  driving.
  
• Driving 75 mph instead of 65
  mph will lower your fuel economy by about 10 percent,
  and can dramatically increase tailpipe pollution in many
  vehicles.
• When possible, plan your trips to avoid rush hour. Stop-and-go
  driving burns gas and increases emissions of smog-forming
  pollutants.
• Combine trips. Warmed-up engines and catalysts generate
  much less air pollution, so combining several short trips
  into one can make a big difference.
• Take a load off. Carrying around an extra 100 pounds
  reduces fuel economy by about 1 percent. Take a few moments
  to unload your cargo area.
• If your vehicle has it, use overdrive gear at cruising
  speeds. When driving a manual transmission, shift up as
  soon as possible. Running in a higher gear decreases the
  rpm and will decrease fuel use and engine wear.
• Try using the vents and opening windows to cool off before you turn on the air conditioner. Air conditioner use increases fuel consumption, increases NOx emissions in some vehicles, and involves environmentally damaging fluids.
• Keep your tires properly inflated. Tires should be inflated to the pressure recommended for your vehicle; this information is often printed inside the door frame or in your owner's manual. For every 3 pounds below recommended pressure, fuel economy goes down by about 1 percent. Tires can lose about 1 pound of pressure in a month, so check the air pressure regularly and always before going on a long trip or carrying heavy loads. Underinflated tires can also detract from handling, safety, and how long the tires will last.
• Buy low-rolling-resistance (LRR) replacement tires. Switching to a typical set of replacement tires lowers a vehicle's fuel economy as much as 4 percent. LRR tires, on the other hand, are specially designed to improve a vehicle's fuel economy. Most major tire manufacturers now produce LRR models, so when it comes time to replace your tires, seek out a set of LRRs.
• Get a tune-up. Whether you do it yourself or go to a mechanic, a tune-up can increase your fuel economy. Follow owner's manual guidelines. Be sure to check for worn spark plugs, dragging brakes, and low transmission fluid; have your wheels aligned and tires rotated; and replace the air filter if needed. Make sure all used vehicle fluids are recycled or disposed of safely.
• Use regular gasoline unless your owner's manual says otherwise. Unless your car requires premium, high-octane fuels improve neither fuel economy nor performance and will just waste your money.
• Don't overfill the gas tank or try to top it off beyond where the automatic nozzle clicks off. Spilled gasoline evaporates to aggravate smog formation and can leak into groundwater.
• Patronize gas stations that have vapor-recovery nozzles (those black, accordion-looking plastic devices attached to the nozzle) whenever you can.
• Park in the shade in summer to keep your car cool and minimize evaporation of fuel.
• If you have a garage, use it as much as possible to keep your car warm in winter and cool in summer.

This chunk of information is actually in the process of being put together. Upon discovering the idea, I instantly jumped to the conclusion that the company (which I would not like to name at the moment) was telling the truth because I was being too hopeful.

Upon futher research it seems to me that the company fraudulent as they are constant sayer of "no DETECTABLE mercury". With that said, a something familiar comes to mind. In the world of sports, steroids can be taken relentlessly, because they have been designed to be undetectable. Isn't it possible for a company which has hopes to dominate the fish market to use the same tactics? My opinion is absolutely, but don't take that as an accusation by any means. 

To me it seems fishy, for a lack of a better adjective, and I'm going to investigate their intentions thoroughly before I decide to exploit their deceit or broadcast a wonderful product. 

Question everything, always.

-APWV 

I'd like to blog a few ideas that I have for Zaadz, because I feel that one sentence does not provide much room for detail. I feel that I need more than to get my point across.

I have a few ideas I'm piecing together at the moment, and will have them posted within the next few days.

 Come back soon :)

    Bill Gross and his company Idealabs have invented the absolute best piece of technology in the solar industry. Named after it's similarity in shapes, the Sunflower 250 is set to revolutionize the alternative fuel market, and eventually the economy. The Sunflower operates by concentrating light to amplify it's power, like holding a magnifying glass over an ant, except the magnifying glass is now 25 mirrors. The mirrors are on the ground and reflect the light upward, into a photovoltaic silicon panel, which absorbs the concentrated light and begins the energy creation process.
    Part of their mission statement reads:

    It's hard not too get incredibly optimistic upon the upcoming release of the Sunflower with a powerful statement like that.

Pictures of the process can be seen here: Sunflower.

Idealab.com has a long list of Q & A which I will post for your to see here. To see the full list, go here.

2.When will you have a product for homes?
We expect to deliver our systems for commercial rooftops in 2006. After we gain experience in serving these customers as well as get operational data from these installations, we can begin to modify our designs for use in other settings, including homes.

4. When are you shipping and what will it cost?
We will be shipping our first commercial units in 2006. We have yet to determine final pricing.

6. How do I become a dealer for your products?
Please send us an email at partners@energyinnovations.com with your contact information and qualifications. We are looking for qualified systems integrators with experience in installing solar electricity systems on commercial rooftops.

9. What about using a lens to concentrate light instead of mirrors?
One of our prototypes, the SunPod, used a Fresnel lens to concentrate light onto PV cells. It was highly effective, but the cost of Fresnel lenses was too great to deliver a market-competitive product.

12. What about storing the electricity in some sort of battery system for later use?
Battery storage is very definitely an alternative for systems designed to ensure uninterrupted power during a blackout or in off-grid settings. While we are not producing these systems ourselves, third-party developers can easily integrate batteries or other storage devices according to their customers' needs.

15. Can it withstand being hit by hailstones?
All devices of this type must pass the "hail test," among others, before being certified for commercial use.

16. How much electrical power is produced in full sun?
Our current design is capable of producing 200 watts of peak power.

17. Where will the system be useful? What about rainy locations like Seattle or British Columbia?
Solar electric systems can be used any place where there is sun, which pretty much means everywhere. Whether it's cost-effective to install a system, however, is another matter. Clearly some areas of the world get more insolation (amount of solar radiation per unit of surface area) than others and would therefore generate more electricity using the Sunflower. The map in this timeline on the home page will give you an idea of the relative sunlight in various parts of the U.S.

Click here to inquire about purchasing a Sunflower 250,
To contact Idealabs, go here.

Do your part to help the environment by telling others about this information.   

    Here are a few websites which should provide assistance and lots of useful information for starting new environmentally and economically friendly sources of energy (like wind, biofuel,etc...)

www.eere.energy.gov - the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

www.seia.org -  Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade association of companies involved in solar products and services. 

Need help looking for a certain piece of information? Contact me and I'll find it for you. 

 Do you know of anymore great websites with this kind of information? Submit them by messaging me, or just leave a comment.

Thanks for reading. 

www.Commuterchoice.com is an arrangement of information regarding alternative means for employees to commute to and from work. Commuter's Advice to receive tax breaks for both you and your employee if they arrive by work through an alternative means, such as bibcyling, carpooling, vanpooling, and even walking. 

Here's an example of CommuterChoice's contents which ,in this case, shows us how both employees and employers both benefit :

Employer-Paid Transportation Benefits. Employers can pay for their employees to commute by transit or vanpool, up to a limit of $100/month. With this arrangement, employees get up to $100 in a tax-free transportation benefit. Employers get a tax deduction for the expense and enjoy savings on payroll-related taxes. Employers have found that providing transportation benefits offers significant savings over offering the equivalent dollar value to employees in the form of a salary increase.

Employee-Paid, Pre-Tax Transportation Benefits. Employers can allow employees to set aside up to $100/month of pre-tax income to pay for transit or vanpooling. Employers save money overall since the amount set aside is not subject to payroll taxes. Employees save money, too, since the amount of an employee's salary set aside for transportation benefits is not subject to income tax, up to the specified monthly limits.

Shared-Cost Transportation Benefits. Employers can share the cost of transit or vanpool costs with employees-and everyone can receive valuable tax savings. With this approach, employers can provide a portion of the cost of taking transit or vanpooling as a tax-free benefit and allow the employee to set aside pre-tax income to pay for the remaining amount of the benefit (up to the specified limits).

For more information, goto www.commuterchoice.com.