Dear
Here is this week’s newsletter. It covers lots of good info including details from my review of Sustainable Transport in the UK.
Best
Russell Sydney
310-450-7419
In this
Sustainable Transport Club
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Community based action– One Sustainable Transport In England – an Overview – Two Appreciation for activists and volunteers– over 1000 names on the list – Three A Down to Earth Point of View about Oil – Four Santa Monica Projects Get Funded Outreach and Education - One Green Ambassadors Solutions for a Healthy Planet Conference. May 30, 2007 - Two Training series for leaders and super volunteers of bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. August 24-26 - Three Green Days in Beverly Hills/– *International Environmental Expo and Sustainability Conference – June 23/24, 2007* more info. Getting your Sustainable Ride * One Bicycle and E-Bikes in the UK * Two Quick report on EVT 4000e, 72 volt modified scooter. * Three Water Powered Car! – new technology and science to understand it * Four E- Bikes in Santa Monica Legislative Actions No new items reported – please submit info on your local state and national efforts. You can find the subject you want by looking for the separator bars or by using the active links above with the blue color and underlines. This is a two-way newsletter. You can get word out to the group by sending in any relevant information for inclusion in this newsletter. |
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Sustainable Transport In England – an Over view Congestion and high fuel prices have been pushing the UK toward a more sustainable system for years. What can we learn from their results that will help us catch up on the sustainability scale? What is going on over there? They have a national average of 9 mile per day driving compared with over three times that in the US and the vehicles are significantly more fuel-efficient. This is done while maintaining a healthy economy and a high quality of living. This is accomplished with the combination of solutions that we would all expect. They include: > Extensive use of highly efficient bus, subway and train system. > Pedestrian friendly cities including having goods and services within walking distance > A strong bicycle presence on the streets > A significant number of motor scooters and motorcycles in regular use > Smaller more fuel-efficient vehicles > A large percentage of diesel vehicles that get 20-30 % better mileage than comparable gas vehicles Over the next few newsletters we will compare the conditions in the UK to those here in the Los Angeles area to see what room there is for improvement and what we can learn from the British example. We will go through the solutions one at a time to see how they fit together. Substantial congestion is one of the two main forces driving these solutions. The congestion is particularly significant in the center of numerous cities and has caused these areas to be either closed to cars and trucks during the day as in York or to have fees levied for driving into these areas. The congestion fee for driving in London is the most striking example. Any vehicle entering a substantial and defined area in London is required to pay a fee for driving each day in that area. THE cars are monitored by an extensive camera system and fees and fines are the result. And the fees are substantial being close to $20 per day. When you add these fees to the parking hassle and expense on top of the high fuel costs and the slow movement of traffic you have strong incentive to find a better way to get across town. A recent analysis of this by the Vectrix people came up with this total cost of driving inside the congestion fee area of close to $100 per day for less than 20 miles driving. That compared to riding their electric motor scooter at less than $7 per day for the same distance. The speed of traffic seems to favor different modes of travel. There are times when bicycles are the fastest way to get around. If the average speed drops below 20 mph then the bicycles take over. They maneuver through stopped traffic and get across town very quickly. This is happening in London a lot of the time. They have conducted tests in Paris and found that bicycles are the fastest solution in that City which is why they are launching a program to put 20,000 bicycles for hire onto the streets this summer. London has the London Bicycle Campaign that is getting very good results. Here is a table that lays out the best way to get around when congestion hits specific levels: Average speed and the Best Ride to get around efficiently. 0-20 ………...Bicycles 20-30 ……….Motor scooters 30-40 ……….Buses over 40 ……..Cars Between 20 to 30 mph range motor scooters and motorcycles filter through the stopped traffic and get ahead by many car lengths with reasonable safety. Up to thirty mile per hour the two wheelers are faster than using the buses. Much over thirty the busses keep up and are as fast or faster than cars on the same routes. The City does things to support the buses in moving efficiently but routes that require changing buses means the cars become more efficient. Cars are also faster than buses on routes with average speeds over 40 mph but these routes are few and far between until you reach the out skirts of the city. The Subway is generally the fastest way to go any real distance in the city. This is true even with two or three changes. The tube, however, can be a stuffy crowded experience and the trains are subject to increasing delays. This is true in part because the trains are very frequent and any slight glitch backs several trains up and extends the delays. The fuel costs have always been high in England due to substantial taxes levied on them. Currently both regular gasoline and diesel are going for about $2.00 per liter. That works out to approximately $7.60 per US gallon. They buy the oil at the same market prices as most countries do but have a long-standing policy of having taxes that reflect the costs of auto use on the government. This cost includes road building and maintenance as well as the government’s less direct costs such as off setting balance of trade from oil and vehicle imports. It would be interesting to see a detailed break down of the fuel taxes verses expenses at the government level. Would the cost of protecting and securing the oil supply be included? The comparably low fuel costs in this country generally means that the government is subsidizing the use of gasoline automobiles by providing funds for roads, parking facilities, regulatory oversight and law enforcement. With the increasing military cost of protecting the oil supply and the cost of the trade deficit from higher oil prices we are using our income tax dollars to reduce our fuel costs. Even worse, the huge federal deficits mean we are borrowing from the future to burn up limited natural resources today. This is keeping the free market mechanisms from adjusting our resource use in ways that would be appropriate. Whatever the details of all this are the bottom line is that the people in England are better positioned to handle the continuing fuel price increases than we are in the US. We have some serious catching up to do and we can learn much from how things have been handled in the UK. Stay tuned for more details on this subject. |
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Appreciation for activists and volunteers– over 1000 names on the list A note of special appreciation goes out to David Dutra, Lillian Light and all the people who helped to organize the South Bay Energy Fair. The fair was almost twice what it was last year and is laying the foundation for all sorts of good results. David and Lillian are leading the way to a Sustainable future in their communities. Many thanks to you and those who helped you. Thanks also to Paul Scott who helped cover the table at the event. That guy is everywhere doing it all. Huge appreciation goes out to Dalia Adeina, Elliott Hanes and Megan Tolete for their help in getting the over three hundred new names into our data base with a special note of thanks to the people at Sustainable Works who helped make that happen – Genevieve, was that you! All this effort has put us well over the 1000 people mark for our newsletter. That will let us take things to a whole new level with people all over the county, the state and even over seas. |
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A Down to Earth Point of View about Oil A recent conversation with an English man who has spent his life in the oil industry was very telling. This was casual conversation with a politically conservative semi retired industry insider about the state of the global oil supply. While his point of view does not bring startling new info to the mix and this discussion is somewhat preaching to the choir, even the veteran activists among us may get some value from what he said. The value comes from how simple and clearly this conversation made the case about these very complex things. This might help you to communicate with others about why they need to pay attention and help change our situation. The other thing of value is that this conservative insider gives clear validation as to why we are working so hard on this issue. When asked, he could not make a judgment call about whether we had reached peak oil or not. The issue of how much oil we have left and what it would take to get it out of the ground is too complex to come to a simple conclusion. Even with thirty years in the industry he knew that the questions that go along with this issue are so dynamic that it could go in lots of different directions. What he was clear about is that the major discoveries have been made and that proven reserves are not likely to increase significantly. His understanding went to a different and much more straightforward level of concern. A level that was very clear and powerful. That understanding was this. The Countries that use the lion’s share of the oil are not the countries that have the oil. A recent study done by British petroleum shows how this works. That study is called “BP 2004 Statistical Review of World Energy”. Over the last thirty years North America has consumed over thirty percent of the oil supply. North America has less than 5% of the world’s population. It has about 6% of the proven reserves. Those reserves have been declining steadily and production has been dropping since the 1970’s. Europe has consumed between twenty-five and thirty percent of the oil supply over that same thirty years. Europe is reducing its use. The US is increasing its use. Asia (from India to China) has over 30% of the world’s population and has about 4% of the worlds proven reserves of oil. They are just now getting to the point of using over 25% of the oil supply which is up from around 15 % thirty years ago. The Middle East has over 60 % of the worlds proven reserves. Central and South America have just under ten percent between them as does Africa. The interesting thing about this is that the gas-guzzling world has a point of view that justifies this disproportional ownership verses use. An article in the May 14 Newsweek captures that point of view from the perspective of an American energy advisor J. Robinson. In discussing the need for production to keep up with “international demand” he writes “Countries with large resources have an obligation to the world economy to develop their oil.” That translates into the United States and Europe taking the worlds oil to maintain the highest consumption rates of energy and goods on the planet. This is done while denying the countries that own the oil the right to use that resource. They need to use it to develop their own standards of living by using the energy to build their own economies. Somehow they are obliged to give up their own future while keeping our wasteful life styles going for the sake of the “world economy”. That is called a disproportionate sense of entitlement. The truly ugly part of all this is that the access to oil is tied into the worst wars on the planet right now. Obviously it is no coincidence that the biggest war the US is involved in is at the heart of the Middle East. It has recently been made apparent that the situation in Darfur is being driven by oil availability with China joining in on the financial end of that one and a similar situation is happening in Nigeria that also revolves around that country’s oil reserves. The harsh reality for the United States is that we have built our economy and quality of life by using up our country’s easily attainable energy supplies. The rest of the world wants to do that same thing with their energy resources. We can either figure out how to maintain our quality of life in some other way or be willing to take the worlds energy to keep going the way we have. The rest of the world may not be too excited about the second choice and that might just explain why the US is no longer the beloved big brother on the planet. The good news is that we – the Sustainable Transport Club members and other like-minded people around the world - are working to change things. One of the things we need to change here in the US is our sense of being entitled to drive the biggest vehicles we feel like driving. The gas hogs of our country have to go – they are simply not worth fighting the rest of the world for the energy to use them. What can we each do to turn around the idea that bigger faster cars are cool, hip, or sexy? What can we do as a group to get this turned around? |
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Community Based Action Santa Monica Projects Get Funded The Santa Monica Budget is coming through with some projects that will impact sustainable transport. These include projects that are based on suggestions from some of our local bicycle activists with the support of both the Council and the staff. Here are some of the details – more to come. Please review these and let us know what you think. They all have advantages and none of them are perfect. What do you think about going from diesel buses to LNG? We can submit your responses to the City – please provide your name and address. Downtown Santa Monica Bike Transit Station (FY 08-09 through FY 09-10) Grant Amount Recommended: $1,669,000 Local Match Obligation: $904,000 Description: This project is for design and construction of a
store front bike center in a downtown Santa Monica parking structure with
attended and self parking for bicyclists. The center would also include other
clean mobility services to the downtown Transit Mall and commercial district. School Based Bicycle Training (FY 08-09 through FY 09-10) Grant Amount Recommended: $84,000 Local Match Obligation: $45,000 Description: This program will provide training for students on
how to safely ride bicycles on City streets. Training will include rules of the
road, on bicycle training and route selection. Replace 20 Diesel 40-foot Busses with Alternative
Fuel (LNG) Buses (FY 09-10 through FY 10-11) Grant Amount Recommended: $4,266,000 Local Match Obligation: $1,580,000 Description: Metro staff is recommending that funding be
provided to replace the ten buses eligible for replacement consistent with the City’s
fleet management plan. With this funding BBB can replace 10 diesel buses,
leaving 88 diesel buses remaining for replacement (or 45% of the total fleet).
Complete replacement of BBB’s diesel bus fleet with alternative fuel buses is
anticipated by 2014. Ocean Park Boulevard, Main Street, Neilson Way
Signal System Upgrades (FY 11-12 through FY 12-13) Grant Amount Recommended: $933,000 Local Match Obligation: $234,000 Description: This project includes the installation of signal
modifications and communication improvements needed to bring the streets onto the
Advanced Traffic Management System. Pedestrian Improvements for Intersections w/ Bus
Stops (FY 08-09 through FY 10-11) Grant Amount Recommended: $3,252,000 (for the Westside COG) Local Match Obligation: $1,751,000 (from the Westside COG) Description: This project is for design and construction of
pedestrian crosswalk improvements at intersections with high transit activity. The
submittal included 27 intersections throughout the four Westside Cities. Santa Monica’s
submittal included the five crosswalks on Lincoln Boulevard that serve local
bus stops. The total grant request was for $4,255,000 (prior to inflation) and
if the grant is approved, the cities will need to decide how to scale back the
project. Bike Technology Demonstration Project (FY 08-09
through FY 10-11) Grant Amount Recommended: $279,000 (for Santa Monica) Local Match Obligation: $120,000 (from Santa Monica) Description: This project was prepared by and for the City of
Santa Monica and was supported by the Westside Cities. This project is
for design, installation and evaluation of several bicycle technologies within
the City of Santa Monica and development of tool kit for use by the Westside
Cities. |
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Green Ambassadors Solutions for a Healthy Planet Conference. May 30, 2007
On Wednesday (11:00-2:30 at Crossroads High School) Green Ambassadors, youth empowering youth program, will be having a Solutions for a Healthy Planet Conference. We are brining together youth from around Los Angeles to create a youth coalition. Out of this coalition we will develop action plans to green Los Angeles. Out of this coalition we will be selecting 20 delegates from around Los Angeles to be responsible for the action plans. These delegates will receive college credit from Los Angeles Trade Technical College (up to 7 credits) over the on year commitment. We are in our gathering funds stage for our mobile embassy where the Green Ambassadors will meet and exemplify sustainable solutions though out Los Angeles, California, and United States. (more of this to come)
This conference is inspired and sponsored by SCD (southern California disposal) who is using biodiesel in its fleets. So, a huge focus of this conference will focus on biodiesel as a solution that can be obtained right now!
I am emailing you, because I want you all to be part of the conference.
#1. Do you know any students that would be interested in attending (we are close to being full, but I don’t want to deny any youth that have passion for the environment to miss the opportunity to connect, we will be having another conference, Be Cool, Be Green Action Conference on August 7,8,9 downtown)
#2. Do you want to be a green mentor and support the Green ambassadors on their quest of greening Los Angeles and ultimately the planet. Here is the agenda for the day
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Training series for leaders and super volunteers of bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. August 24-26 Thunderhead Alliance presents: WINNING CAMPAIGNS August 24-26, 2007 The only professional campaign training series for leaders and super volunteers of bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. Location: LACBC headquarters, 634 S. Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
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Green Days in Beverly Hills/– *International Environmental Expo and Sustainability Conference – June 23/24, 2007* more info.
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Bicycle and E-Bikes in the UK There has been a real blossoming of Bicycle use in England. They are everywhere, the country, the city, on trains, on subways. It is just awesome. Here is some information about what is going on. Folding bikes are all over the place. They can be taken on all forms of mass transit but were primarily seen on the trains and the Tube. There is no accommodation for bicycles on the buses. Why you ask? Because the bicycles are just as fast as the buses in most places. The most popular folding bikes being sold include the Brompton, the Mezzo and the Dahon. There is a claim that the Brompton is not only the best but the original folding bike – anyone have info on that? There were lots and lots of transport bikes with straight handles and good racks on the back. Add to that a whole range of mountain and road bikes to get the full mix. Here are some links to check out the larger retailers I ran across. www.halfords.com and www.cyclesurgery.com. Also www.thecyclestore.co.uk. The big bicycle cities that I ran across and was told about are York, Oxford and Cambridge. York was amazing in how well they have things sorted out for bicycles. It was a real inspiration to see over 300 bicycles parked inside the train station right next to the bicycle rental place. Pictures will follow. E-bikes. The e-bike presence was not obvious in London but there was a very nice dealer that showed what is going on. Check out www.vitaelectric.co.uk for info and links to their brands. They have a full line of e-bikes with the Sparta being their top of the line. This is supported by good sales of the Swizzbee and the Giant. He noted that the electric motor scooters have not been that well received due to the early bikes coming through with poor quality and limited capabilities. The only e-bikes that I spotted were up in Norwich where two were seen. Someone suggested that there are local areas where clubs have formed and specific e-bikes are proliferating and that Norwich is one such place. There was also an electric bicycle race in Wales but I was not able to get to that. It did however receive good press coverage both in newspapers and on the TV news. It sounds like a wonderful event. For more info http://www.presteigne.org.uk/Organisations_Details/orgid---4013 More details on bicycling in UK to come. |
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Quick report on EVT 4000e, 72 volt modified scooter. One of our people has been working with this modified scooter. A recent test ride in Palos Verdes showed it is fast and strong. It is the second electric motor scooter I have ridden that can handle really serious hills like those found in Palos Verdes. The other one was the Vectrix. While the Vectrix is a whole different level of bike in terms of ride and range that is still a strong statement about the development of these other electric rides. This scooter is made in Taiwan and has good quality compared to most others at this level. The brand has been established in the US for over four years. The bike uses a brush motor from a manufacturer that has a strong track record for quality motors. The draw back to these is that they need to have their brushes changed at some point and they draw a lot of current in a way that is tough on batteries. It is designed to go 30 to 35 so this modification is faster than the rest of the bike is designed to handle. It is still a good ride and is second in speed an power to only the Vectrix. The E-Runner goes up to 45 mph and takes longer to get there. It is however, better engineered to handle this speed. The EVT was modified with extra batteries to raise the voltage as well as other unspecified modifications. Here is what the owner reports about his recent testing. “I took my longest ride yet this last Saturday. 10 miles from Torrance to Hermosa Beach, attended a 1 hour meeting, then 10 miles back down to Torrance. City driving, starts and stops, speed range from 30 mph to 50 mph. At the end of the 20 miles, my (rather coarse) gage showed at half. It dipped below half when I accelerated. I suspect the realistic range, under these conditions, is perhaps 25 miles. David” This would be the best bet for someone wanting a reasonable priced bike to handle either high traffic speeds or regular heavy hill climbing. Our Club contact for people interested in EVT’s is John Breza. He has been an EVT dealer for several years and is one of the most active supporters of the Club. Phone 310-804-3383 email imercury@mac.com |
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Water Powered Car – new technology and science to understand it One of our members wrote in to ask “how come I haven’t heard anything about this,” Water powered car. The answer is that this is the sort of technology that people do not understand and do not trust. You can check out this technology at the following links then come back to understand some of the science behind this.
Water does not have much chemical energy in it. That is to say it is a very stable molecule that has two hydrogen atoms attached to one oxygen atom and none of these bonds are unstable or easily changed to a lower energy level. In order to get energy out of a molecule it has to go from a high-energy state to a lower one. Water is already at a low energy state. Further more this “fuel” technology starts with water at room temperature and ends with water at room temperature. That means there is no energy change involved because all water has the same amount of energy except to the extent that the temperature is different. So how can this be a fuel at all? The answer is that it probably is not a fuel but rather a way to release energy from other material including fuels like gas and diesel. Water can be broken down into hydrogen gas = H2 and oxygen gas = O2. Putting energy into the water and breaking the molecule apart creates both of these. A process called electrolysis is how this is usually done. The energy that is put in can then be released from these gasses and used for various purposes. The process is one way to store energy, particularly electricity, for later use or to be used in ways not suitable for the direct application of the electrical energy. These gasses are then burned to release the energy. When hydrogen is burned it is oxygenated and becomes water again and oxygen is hydrogenated to produce water also. Both of these release energy. Fuel cells “burn” hydrogen also, they just do it slowly and release the energy as electricity rather than just as heat. This whole cycle is not very efficient and generally results in energy being lost no matter how the gasses are “burned” (either as a flame, an explosion or slowly through a fuel cell.) On the basis of this science, water cannot be a source of energy and therefore cannot be a fuel in the usual sense of the word. That is why hydrogen gas does not create energy efficiencies when burned in an internal combustion engine and why hydrogen fuel cells are viewed as inherently inefficient by many people. It is more efficient to use electricity to charge batteries that captures 80 percent or more of the energy where as the hydrogen fuel cell is capturing closer to 30 percent of the energy. But lets go back to the water powered cars. This basic science does not mean that the results from the technology are not valid. It just means that some other chemistry is involved. Some of this we can pin down and some of it is still obscure. The part that we can pin down is that this HHO gas is probably allowing the gasoline to be burned more completely and more efficiently. Gasoline is made up of hydrocarbons, which are molecules of carbon and hydrogen. These are high-energy molecules that release lots of energy when all the carbon-to-hydrogen bonds are broken as well as all the carbon-to-carbon bonds. If all these bonds can be broken completely to their lowest energy level then you end up with water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2), which are very low energy molecules. They are all produced by combining oxygen (O2) with the Hydrocarbons. The chemistry that is probably working is that the HHO gas is doing two things. One is that it is helping to separate the hydrocarbons from each other so they can be burned more easily. The second thing is that it is making oxygen more readily available to the hydrocarbon so it can burn more quickly and efficiently. Both of these are desirable and are the sort of things that automobile engineers pursue diligently to improve engine efficiency. The HHO process is probably just doing that through gas chemistry rather than mechanical or liquid fuel chemistry. The question that follows is whether this HHO process is better or worse than other ways to do the same thing. The vehicles being tested are using very standard internal combustion technology that has been improved significantly since that time. In addition there are other novel ways to attempt a similar result. Magnetizing the fuel being one such attempt. The industry is working on all this and has a lot of cash at stack. The competition should produce some interesting results. The part of this that is not clear is what makes HHO gas different than water vapor. Is it some sort of blend of hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen gas (O2)? This is most likely. Or less likely, is some intermediate form between stable water (H2O) and the gas blend? Does anyone have information on that level? Is there some part of the science that I missed? Please note that a blend of hydrogen and oxygen gases is very unstable and is actually an explosive mix. That is why we have to be sure of our science before jumping on any specific technology. |
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E- Bikes in Santa Monica Cycle Santa Monica has some good information on a new electric bicycle outfit in Santa Monica. Here are the links to further information on that. http://cyclesantamonica.blogspot.com/2007/05/vanguard-bicycle.html http://cyclesantamonica.blogspot.com/2007/05/custom-e-bikes.html |
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Please sign up to receive this newsletter by going to www.sustainableclub.org or call 310-450-7419 or by emailing to main@sustainableclub.org We also have a group discussion area at http://groups.google.com/group/sustainableclub?lnk=srg Anyone wishing to be removed from this mailing list just hit reply and put the word remove at the top of your response. Speakers Press produces this newsletter 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. Copyright Speakers Press April 2007. All rights reserved. You are authorized to electronically forward all or part provided this copyright notice is included. Except as noted above. |
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