1st, Los Angeles

In this Sustainable Transportation Club newsletter:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Outreach and Education

Movie announcements - Two “must see” Movies

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR ?

Grand opening June 24th

An Inconvenient Truth – Playing now

Community based action

How these two movies can help us build our efforts – an

opportunity for you to help make a difference.

Green Depot progress - City Council meeting on June 20th

Getting your Sustainable Ride

Results from the Test Drives – Electric Scooters

Results from the Test Drives – Electric bicycles

Results from the Bio Diesel Co-op Meeting – more trailers

One near Downtown LA and one soon in Carson/Torrance

Compressed Natural Gas Station – in Santa Monica

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Movie announcement

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR ?

is coming with a

Grand opening June 24, 2006 at 12:45pm

This is a must see movie and we will have a booth at the Green

Day Fair as part of the Grand Opening. Come to the movie – help

with the booth – be a part of the solution!

Location: Landmark Regent Theater:

1045 Broxton Avenue, Los Angeles, (Westwood)

Tell all your friends - and read the next article about how we can

build on this.

Stars Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, and our own Alexandra Paul

The regular openings will be as follows for the So Cal area:

ARCLIGHT HOLLYWOOD 15 HOLLYWOOD,CA 6/28/2006

ONTARIO MILLS 30 ONTARIO, CA 6/28/2006

NUWILSHIRE TWIN THEATRE SANTA MONICA CA 6/28/2006

EDW SO COAST VILLAGE 3 COSTA MESA CA 6/30/2006

TOWN CENTER 5 ENCINO CA 6/30/2006

LAEMMLE'S PLAYHOUSE 7 PASADENA CA 6/30/2006

For more information on the Laemmle theaters and about the

movie, go to:

http://laemmle.com/viewmovie.php?mid=2143

Our Club members give it two sustainable thumbs up!

Several of the EV activists tied to our club have helped create and

promote this film. They are really excited about how well it came

together and the strength of the message. This film could really

help get people going with electric vehicles and help turn around

our dependence on fossil fuels.

The film is starring Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, Ed Begley Jr., Peter

Horton, Alexandra Paul and is directed by Chris Paine,

This is a perfect follow up to seeing the Inconvenient Truth.

Now it is your turn. You can support the effort by seeing the

movie. You can help by telling all your friends about it. You can

help by forwarding this to your friends. You can help by printing

out the flyer available by going to this address –

www.sustainabletransportclub.com - and giving a copy to anyone

you think might be interested. You can help by getting out stickers

about the movie – email a reply to find out how to get these.

Read the information after the next announcement to find out more

about how you can help and how you can participate in the grand

opening.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Movie announcement

An Inconvenient Truth – Playing now

This film featuring Al Gore really hits the mark. It takes away any

possible excuses for pretending that we are not responsible for

taking care of our atmosphere.

The issue of Green House gases is one of the compelling reasons

why we need to create a sustainable transport system. This movie

makes the need for that very clear.

If you have not seen it yet – please go. IF all your friends have not

seen it – please encourage them to go. Then get them signed up to

be part of the Sustainable Transport Club by going to

www.sustainabletransportclub.com .

You can also play “spot the EV activist” tied to our group. Watch

carefully during the opening scenes and see if you can tell who we

know that is on the screen.

The work that we are doing through this Club is one part of the

solution to the issues of global warming. By each of us doing what

we do to advance sustainability we are being the solution. By

working together through this Club, we are amplifying our

effectiveness.

The work of this Club is part of a proven process to create positive

change. This approach is backed up by academic research and

theory as well as proven efforts like the one that created the

farmers markets in California.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Community based action

How these two movies can help us build our efforts – an

opportunity for you to help make a difference.

Plug in America is working hard to promote the EV film. They

have arranged for our Club to participate in the Grand opening

with a booth right next to the theater as part of the Green Day Fair.

We can do wonderful things from that booth and really get the

message out about Sustainable Transport. The more of us that get

involved, the more we will accomplish – reply to this

email to let us know how you can participate.

There are other ways to help –

People coming out of the movies will be receptive to things they

can do to help out. That is a perfect time to get them on our team.

Here is what you can do to help make that happen.

Get people to the movies by:

Emailing all your friends and family

Handing out flyers or stickers to everyone you contact

Taking a large group with you when you go

Come and help out at the Grand Opening -

Mix and mingle with movie people and some great activists

Lots of thing to do to help: talk it up, hand out flyers, sign

people up for the Club

Go to the theaters when the movie is playing

Give people literature about the Sustainable Transport Club

Get people signed up for our Club mailing list.

The movies are a good way to find people to build the Club up in

your area. This is one way you can develop a group in your

local area as well as helping build the larger group.

This is a really good chance to build local groups in Pasadena and

in the Valley…….

It is a chance to get initial contacts in the other areas including the

inland empire.

We have had some really good responses from these sorts of

efforts up to now and have over 300 people on our mailing list.

This is thanks to the efforts of a whole range of our members

including Paul Scott, John Breza, Joe Gershen, Aggi Reader,

Michael, Sally Maslon, Kent Strumpell, and Russell Sydney and

lots of others as well as our friends from the Westside Greens

particularly Will Yeager and the folks with the Bio Diesel Co-op.

Now you can help as well. Just call or email and we will send

flyer and sign up sheet information so you can work this in your

local area.

310-450-7419 - electric@sustainabletransportclub.com

Remember – a group of dedicated people working together has

always been how positive change has come about in the face of

overwhelming obstacles. We are one such group looking at the

face of Global Warming and oil dependence.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Green Depot progress - City Council meeting on June 20th

The Green Depot is moving forward with a discussion scheduled

for next week at the Santa Monica City Council meeting on June

20th. The City staff has recommended that the Depot be included

in the budget that is being finalized. There is a good chance this

will result in the city allocating a substantial amount of space for

the Green Depot out of its existing facilities.

As most of you know the Green Depot is set up to be a center for

developing sustainable energy alternatives that includes

transportation applications. The funding of a facility opens up

many possibilities in this direction. Once we know about the real

estate, the question we will be looking at will be – what are the

best applications for that real estate in developing sustainable

energy solutions.

The plans already call for putting in bio fuel pumps – bio diesel

first – possibly E85. The nature of the site will determine how this

and the other parts of the program fall into place. Stay tuned and

feel free to provide support and input into this process.

Send your ideas and suggestions to info@greendepot.org

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Results of Test Drives – Electric Scooters

The general agreement was that the new E-max sport was the

closest to being a solid alternative to using a car for local errands

etc. It was followed closely by the EVT 168 1500 watt. Both of

these have solid rides and the warranty it takes to give people

confidence in the wheels.

The more generic brands were interesting and a way to save money

for more adventurous people with more skills as a mechanic.

There was a general feeling that people wanted the speed and

range to improve and for the prices to come down. While this is

happening based on a huge global demand it will only happen in

our area when the volume of our local demand supports it. How

do we get sustainable transportation to become a local reality if

you do not do what you need to do to help make it happen? IF not

us then who?

Fortunately the recent activity has resulted in three new electric

scooters being brought into the area. One new E-max was

delivered into the Santa Monica area – look for the silver colored

silent ride with the latest EV driver in town. One EVT was

delivered into the Hollywood area and they liked that so much they

have ordered a second one. Things are moving forward!

We will schedule additional test drives when we hear from people

that they are interested. Just email the club.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Results of Test Drives – Electric Bicycles

Several people tried the electric bicycle from Santa Barbara

Electric Bicycle Company and one couple went up there and

purchased one. That makes one more bio-electric hybrid in town.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bio Diesel Co-op News

The Co-op is moving their bio diesel trailer to the east near

Silverlake and near Downtown LA.

They are also going to put together a second trailer to be located in

the Carson/Torrance area.

Let all your friends in these areas know that they now have a

choice between using gasoline or a renewable fuel.

The Co-op will have a meeting on Saturday, June 17, 10-3pm to

prepare the site for operations including building the fence.

The address is 163 North Avenue 21, Los Angeles, CA 90031.

To get in touch - biodieselcoop@yahoo.com

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling station opened to the

public in Santa Monica

The City of Santa Monica has operated a CNG station on Stewart

Street between Olympic and Colorado for some time and it has just

been converted to a credit card operated station for public use.

Stewart is located between Centinela and 26th Street.

This means that people on the Westside now have an easy way to

use natural gas instead of gasoline in their cars.

The company that is operating this station has a web site with lots

of details about using CNG. The address is

www.cleanenergyfuels.com. The information provided is however

very favorable toward their business interest and they are very big

business.

CNG has potential to contribute to sustainability and the opening

of this station is good impetus for us to focus on this alternative to

gasoline. It is a chance for us to pool our knowledge and create a

clear statement about the pro’s and cons of this fuel source. This

statement can then become part of the Sustainable Transport

Primer that would let lots of people understand this alternative.

The following is a draft for your review. Please feel free to send

feedback and to add details to help turn this into a comprehensive

but concise statement.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a sustainable fuel

Sustainability

Natural Gas is predominantly produced from geologic reserves and

these are considered fossil fuels. There is a specific volume of gas

in these reserves that are subject to the same sorts of limitations as

the oil reserves. The current indications are that the natural gas

reserves will last longer than the petroleum reserves under current

production and use. A significant increase in natural gas use for

fuel would change that projection.

The main component of natural gas is methane. There are two

notable renewable sources of methane-based gasses being used at

this time. One is from the processing of sewage waste and the

other is from landfill emissions. These are a very small percent of

the total production at this time but they point to the sustainable

sources of the future.

It is possible to produce a gas comparable to natural gas from

renewable sources primarily from the digestion of green waste and

other bio-mass sources. The top of this list is to process animal

sewage from pig and cattle sources. Food waste of all kinds can be

digested readily into methane gasses as can a full range of related

agricultural byproducts.

Digesting organic matter to produce fuels is also how ethanol fuels

are produced. The production of an alcohol fuel is a more

controlled digestion process that produces the liquid alcohol fuel.

The remaining mass of digested material still has the potential to

produce methane gas through additional biological processes. This

would tie the two fuels together in the same processing system.

It should be emphasized that current natural gas sources for fuel

are almost entirely from fossil fuels sources. Using the natural gas

vehicles will help create a need for renewable sources of the fuel

but that may not happen until the fossil fuel sources are seriously

depleted. A push to get renewable sources implemented is vital to

the sustainability of this fuel.

Environmental Impact of the fuel

The best part of compressed natural gas is that it is generally

cleaner than gasoline or diesel fuel. They produce less NOx and

particulate matter than diesel. They are generally cleaner in all

respects than traditional fossil fuel. The mileage in passenger

vehicles is close to but generally below gasoline and diesel. This

is off set by the current pricing that is below these other fuels.

The big drawback is that they produce CO2 that is added to the

green house gas content of our atmosphere. The fossil sources are a

net addition on this level. The bio mass generated fuels would be

carbon neutral.

Natural gas vehicles may be cleaner but they are not zero emission.

They are net carbon dioxide contributors and you would not want

to be in a closed garage with a running CNG vehicle.

Environmental Impact of production

The environmental impact of natural gas production is much lower

than that for oil production, soil and water contamination being

minimal. Transportation costs are generally lower as much of it is

done through pipelines.

The demand for natural gas is creating pressure to bring larger

supplies to areas like California. That is resulting in strong and

repeated efforts to create shipping terminals for liquid natural gas

(LNG) along the coast. These terminals would be large with huge

storage tanks and docks for some of the largest ships on the seas.

Currently ships using marine diesel are the largest source of air

pollution in the Southern California area and there is no guarantee

that the LNG tankers would use anything other than Marine diesel.

The federal government has not been able to control the emissions

or the fuel use from international shipping.

Shipping natural gas by sea is a real source of problems as it

creates a shipping hazard with each ship representing a potentially

very powerful explosive device. The shipping terminals and

storage tanks are a similar problem with the added issue of large

clouds of escaped gasses.

Escaping gases are a problem.

Pipeline construction for natural gas is an issue in environmentally

sensitive areas. High on this list are areas where permafrost exists

and would be damaged by pipeline construction.

Energy efficiency

The internal combustion engine does a good job of burning the fuel

completely and can produce good fuel mileage. This is surprising

given that the energy content of the fuel is lower than gasoline as

the following numbers show.

1 U.S. Gallon of gasoline contains 114,132 btu

1 U.S. Gallon of compressed natural gas contains 19,800 btu

It is possible to use natural gas to power a fuel cell that produces

electricity to run an electric vehicle. It is also possible to use

natural gas to produce electricity at a power plant that charges an

electric vehicle. Both of these involve complex energy conversion

factors that it would be good to get data on.

Producing methane from bio mass may not produce as clean or as

high a quality fuels as a natural gas that has been aged for

thousands of years. It may be more effective to us these gasses to

create electricity for charging EV’s rather than collecting it and

cleaning it etc.

Safety

Compressed Natural Gas is stored in pressurized tanks at pressures

up to 3000 pounds per square inch (psi). It is a flammable and

explosive gas at normal pressures. A tank with that kind of

pressure will act like a small rocket when a small puncture occurs.

The gas escaping will catch on fire when exposed to a small spark

or flame. Fire entering the tank will cause explosions.

Automobiles can be constructed to protect the tanks and be

reasonably safe. Using such a pressurized tank on a two-wheel

vehicle makes it harder to protect the tank. Would you want that

tank located between your knees or under your seat?

Cost of use

This is directly tied to the price of the fuel that varies by market

supply and demand. The prices have jumped up in recent history.

There is a current comparison that indicates that CNG purchased at

a pump has a price equivalent to one gallon of gasoline at $2.40.

This is compared to the price of gasoline averaging around $3.40.

It is not defined how this equivalence is calculated.

There are a number of manufacturers producing vehicles that can

use CNG including the Honda group. These cars can be fueled at a

pumping station as well as by using a fueling station that can be

installed in a home or a business that uses your existing gas supply

to fuel the vehicle. These units are expensive and there may be tax

incentives for using them. They fuel slowly compared to the new

pumping station and the domestic cost of gas may be even lower

than that at the pump.

You can find out what the specifications are for passenger cars that

use alternative energy sources by going to

www.sustainabletransportclub.com and click on the button labeled

“Get Other Reports and Information”. This has the mileage figures

for CNG, flex fuel, and hybrid cars.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Please sign up to receive this newsletter by going to

www.sustainabletransportclub.com

This newsletter is produced by Speakers Press for the Sustainable

Transport Club. You are encouraged to contribute articles that

support developing sustainable transportation. Authors contribute

electronic first serial rights only and retain all other rights.

are authorized to electronically forward all or part provided this

Activities that make a difference for Sustainability