In this Sustainable Transportation Club Newsletter:
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Community based action
Meeting of the Sustainable Transport Club – July 15th
Bicycle lane planning meeting SM City – July 10th
Hearing on the Future of Alternative Fuels – July 21st
In Santa Monica with State Assembly and Senate reps
Outreach and Education combined
Building the buzz on WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
Ventura July 14th - opening day splash –
Santa Barbara July 14th - opening day splash
Building our mailing lists - web sites tied to the movie
Getting your Sustainable Ride
Ethanol Vehicles – Conversions
Flex Fuel model and year list available
Seeking politically preferred gasoline – Citgo stations wanted
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You can find the subject you want by looking for the separator bars
with the row of XXXXX’s in this document.
Please send any relevant information for inclusion in this
newsletter.
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Meeting of the Sustainable Transport Club – July 15th
Several people have been asking about meetings and there are
some good things happening that we need to talk about.
WHEN: Saturday, July 15th
TIME: 12:00 noon to 2:00pm
WHERE: The Unurban Café, 33RD & PICO
(across from Trader Joes) Santa Monica, CA 90405
WHO: All of you are invited and this is a good chance to meet like
minded people who want to do what it takes to get us free from our
gasoline addiction. Bring new members by all means.
WHAT: The following items are of concern to several of us and
are the main agenda items. Please review and let us know of any
items or upcoming events you would like to include in the
discussion. Emails to electric@sustainabletransportclub.com
Hearing – FUTURE of ALTERNATIVE FUELS – July 21st
We are fortunate enough to have a hearing sponsored by our state
level politicians right here at Santa Monica College. At least one
of our members will be on the panel. Details below.
What can we do to make the most out of this event?
ALTernative CAR and Transportation EXPOsition for the fall
Called the Alt Car Expo it is being sponsored by our local people
and the organizers will be at the meeting. It is planned as an
alternative to the downtown show of gas sucking cars. We can be
at the middle of this and help it to be the hit we all believe it should be.
Getting our work with the CITY of SANTA MONICA on track
This will include an update on current efforts including the Green
Depot and the bicycle work. It is a travesty that we cannot all ride
our two wheelers and feel safe in this town.
Best way to schedule and FORMAT OUR MEETINGS
We have grown really rapidly this year and have a wide range of
people in the group. What is the best idea about meetings? Do we
want them once a month, once a quarter, twice a month? What
kind of format – agenda with time allocations, informal/social
gathering, or theme based meetings – bicycles one meeting – bio
diesel the next.
You can email your interest to us if you cannot make this meeting.
Emails to electric@sustainabletransportclub.com
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Bicycle lane planning meeting SM City – July 10th
WHEN: Monday, July 10th
TIME: 12:15
WHERE: Public Safety building, 333 Olympic Drive, 2nd floor
This is right next to city hall off 2nd street by the freeway.
WHO: bicycle supporters
WHAT: A discussion and review of the plans for the 2nd street
road way south of Colorado in Santa Monica. This is the safest
path for a bike between the beach and 11th Street. We need it to
stay that way and get even better.
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Hearing on the Future of Alternative
Fuels – July 21st
WHEN: Friday, July 21st
TIME: 10:00 to Noon
WHERE: Santa Monica College, Concert Hall, 1900 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica.
From the 10 - Take the Clover field or the 20th street exist and go
south to Pico. Turn right – the Concert Hall is at the intersection
of 19th and Pico.
WHO: State Assemblymember Fran Pavley and State Senator
Sheila Kuehl are sponsoring this. Both these people chair
environmental committees. Our own Kevin McKeown will be on
the panel along with experts in the field.
WHAT: The hearing will be discussing the future of Hydrogen,
ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas and plug-in hybrids.
This is a chance to connect with political interests at the state level
as well as to connect with more people for building the movement.
There will be a formal display of vehicles at the front of the
theatre and space is limited there.
We are working on getting preferred parking for alternative
vehicles in one area so we can have a show of strength.
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Building the buzz on WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR ?
The Buzz is off and running and you know if you helped create it.
This includes everyone who showed up at any of the openings -
especially if you brought your alternative ride. It also includes the
people who forward the emails and get their friends to show at the
movie. There has been great press coverage and lots of people
talking it up.
We are now moving on to the next openings. Plug in America has
asked for everyone to get his or her friends in New York to go to
the show.
We are focusing our efforts on Santa Barbara and Ventura – details below.
Read reviews of WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060620/REVIEWS/60620013/1023
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/grove_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002691221
http://evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=1050
There is also a full list of the openings scheduled around the
country for you to check out and forward to your friends in those
areas.
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Santa Barbara – July 14th opening day splash
WHEN: Friday, July 14th
The splash will focus on the showing that starts in the 7:00 time slot.
WHERE: PLAZA DE ORO TWIN SANTA BARBARA
Address: 371 South Hitchcock, Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Phone: (805) 963-9503
Show times
To be announced
BEST TIME: start to gather at 6:00
We have some good people working on this including the Santa
Barbara Electric Bicycle Company and one of the people who
helps to organize the Green Car Show for Earthday in Santa
Barbara. We can all join in and make the opening a splash that
will get some attention for the movie.
CARPOOLING: There is room for two or three people to drive up
there that afternoon and return that night.
Let me know how you want to help. We can hand out flyers as
people enter and exit as well as getting sign-ups for the club on the
way out. Email sbmovie@rsydney.com. You can work things
before and after the movie and still see the movie.
Help Spread the Word – forward this email to lots of people. Who
do you know in Santa Barbara – send them an email.
Santa Barbara is ripe for a chapter of the Sustainable Transport
Club. We are making good contacts up there through this and
should have good ties and communication as a result. The
movement is building.
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Ventura July 14th - opening day splash –
WHEN: Friday, July 14th
WHERE: CENTURY DOWNTOWN 10
555 East Main Street Ventura, CA 93001
(805) 641-6500
Show times
The splash will focus on the 7:30 showing.
BEST TIME: start to gather at 6:30
This effort needs more people to step up to help make it happen.
Santa Barbara is coming on strong and there is no reason we
cannot put in a good showing in Ventura as well.
We can get the flyers up there to be handed out. You can get flyers
to the people leaving the 5:00 show and going into the 7:30 and
9:50 shows. You can also help get the people coming out of the
7:30 show to sign up for the newsletters etc.
You could all plan on bringing your electric vehicles. We will try
to take up the parking in front of the theater. It is a good idea to
put signs on our vehicles.
By kicking things off in your area you help to build the buzzzzzzz.
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Building our mailing lists - web sites tied to the movie
One of the things that is happening is that we are becoming a
movement. Building that movement is occurring by us being able
to communicate with lots of other people and groups. That is one
of the main roles for the club. It is also one of the things the
Movie is doing brilliantly.
Here are the links for the groups that helped create and promote the
movie. Some of them are sources for EV’s etc. Please check these
out and see if you want to be more closely connected to one or
more of these.
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Getting your Sustainable Ride
Ethanol Vehicles – Conversions
One of our people was asking about the availability of kits for
converting gasoline cars to ethanol use.
Does anyone know about people converting gas suckers to
ethanol?
There is a discussion about whether ethanol really is sustainable.
That discussion will be touched upon in future newsletters. Any
information you might have on this subject would be appreciated.
Evaluating Conversions
Converting a vehicle to use alcohol fuels has to take into account
the differences in the chemical and physical properties of the fuels.
There are four big items to address when going about converting
from gasoline to ethanol. One has to do with the air to fuel
mixture. The second has to do with the lubrication of the “top end”
of the engine. The third has to do with getting water into the oil in the engine. The fourth is the type of metals that will come in
contact with the fuel.
The standard air fuel mixture ratio for gasoline is 14.7 pounds of
air to a pound of gas. The standard air fuel mixture ratio for
ethanol is 9 pounds of air to a pound of ethanol. Adjusting that
mixture is something that requires very specialized knowledge of
the fuel system of any given car. This is more easily done with a
carbureted system than with a fuel-injected system.
The “top end” of your engine includes the combustions chamber in
your cylinders, the intake and exhaust valves, and your fuel
injectors to name the ones that all require lubrication from the fuel.
Gasoline has a much higher lubrication quality than does alcohol.
Alcohol is a solvent for oil and will thin out the oil in these areas.
Lower lubrication of these parts will result in increased wear and
failure. Reengineering these parts for the alcohol fuels would need
to be done by high-level engineers with extensive trials to verify
the results.
Alcohol fuels have a much higher percentage of hydrogen than
gasoline and they also contain oxygen. This means that they more
readily produce water as a result of the combustion process. They
also can have higher moisture content in any residual fuel inside
the engine. This moisture can work its way into the oil of the
engine – particularly on an older engine. The heat of the vehicle
will evaporate this moisture when the engine is hot enough for a
long enough period of time. Short trips around town may not solve
this problem.
The presence of moisture in the oil not only creates the possibility
of lubrication failure but it would result in rust over a long period
that can also cause engine wear. This is another area where an
engineering effort would help handle this problem.
Alcohol fuels have the ability to interact with certain materials,
particularly metals, that can result in problems. The following
quotes from the Department of Energy Handbook for Handling,
Storing, and Dispensing E85 makes this point well.
“Some materials become degraded by contact with fuel ethanol
blends having high alcohol concentrations. Zinc, brass, lead, and
aluminum are sensitive metals. Terne (lead-tin-alloy)-plated steel,
which is commonly used for gasoline fuel tanks, and lead-based
solder are also incompatible with E85. Avoid using these metals
because of the possibility of fuel contamination and potential
difficulties with vehicle driveability.”
“Nonmetallic materials that degrade when in contact with fuel
ethanol include natural rubber, polyurethane, cork gasket material,
leather, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyamides, methyl-
methacrylate plastics, and certain thermo and thermoset plastics.”
Any attempt to convert to alcohol fuels should address these
problems. These problems suggest that it is prudent to simply buy
a flex fuel vehicle instead of converting.
Call or email if you have more info on this - 310-450-7419 electric@sustainabletransportclub.com
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Getting your Sustainable Ride
List of Flex Fuel models by year is available
Flex Fuels vehicles have been in production throughout this decade
and are being championed by several US manufacturers. The
vehicles have been engineered to use both gasoline and ethanol
using the basic internal combustions engine. The fact that this can
be done is one clear reason why the automakers are supporting this
fuel. It is seen as a way to extend the life of the internal
combustion engine.
There is a list of these vehicles available from our web site. Go to
www.sustainabletransportclub.com and select the link on the main
page. This will be listed under the option for “Get Other Reports
and Information” as well.
Email to Sustain@rsydney.com
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Seeking politically preferred gasoline
One of our people is concerned about supporting Venezuela in
their efforts to use oil to benefit every day people. They are
interested in finding Citgo stations in Southern California.
Does anyone know where to find Citgo Stations?
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Meeting for the Sustainable Transportation Club and Newsletter