Good As New Parts From Boeing For Half the Price?

Bloomberg just published an enthralling article about Boeing’s strategy behind whether or not they should refurbish older used airline parts. The article first explains the situation, goes into an industry overview, then defines the problem/opportunity, goes into examples and lastly their competition. Here’s a summary:

There are “potential riches in the aircraft that land in aviation’s junkyards as airlines ditch older jets for models that burn less fuel”. Also, Boeing is the world’s largest plane maker and so they may be in the market for a salvage company that recycles engines, landing gear and other components from scrapped jetliners.

Right now Boeing is in the maintenance, repairs and spare-parts business which has been profitable but they have been contracting out the dismantling of used planes that Boeing buys so this part of the business is what Boeing is considering adopting.

There’s a $3.2 billion market for used parts and this figure is growing since airlines commonly discard planes way before their 30-year service lives.

Some of the companies that Boeing might have looked at acquiring in their desired space are Aircraft Demolition LLC and AAR Corp. Also, it was reported that in January of this year, Fort Lauderdale raised $500 million from clients

In terms of problem/opportunity there’s risk that if Boeing deals used parts at a price that’s as much as 50% cheaper, and is certified to be as good as new, their new aircraft parts sector will suffer the consequence. Considering that 6,000 jetliners are expected to be driven out of service over the next decade due to improvements in fuel savings engineering, refurbished jetliner parts might help Boeing keep older air craft afloat longer.

We’ve posted a few articles on the shift towards greener skies, here are a few hits:

https://mygreenhalo.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/virgin-america-flies-the-greenest-skies/

and

https://mygreenhalo.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/solar-power-plane-preparing-for-around-the-world/

We hope you enjoy them and please, let us know what you think on Twitter @GreenHaloUSA

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-07/boeing-s-treasure-is-others-trash-in-parts-recycling.html

 

Another great Green article from Green Halo
Track your recycling at www.greenhalosystems.com
Follow Green Halo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/greenhalousa

Orange Juice Is Up For Grabs Again

We said that orange juice wasn’t an eco-friendly beverage option, and now it’s been shown that the consumption of orange juice was recently at an all time low at the lowest amount of sales since 2002! The Florida Department of Citrus found orange juice sales was at its lowest level since 2002 in the 4 week period that ended July 5^th.

Orange juice prices went up a few years ago because the Asian citrus psyllid bug caused a decline in citrus production. In addition, consumer tastes have shifted to enjoying other beverages like acai juice, green juice, coconut water and blended coffee drinks to name a few things.

What will happen to the demand of orange juice and could a decrease in the amount demanded bring a more eco-friendly nature to the industry?

Source: http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2014/7/23/orange_juice_sales_h.html

San Francisco Will Be World’s First Zero-Waste Town by 2020

San Francisco, California achieved a remarkable diversion rate of 80% which is higher than any other U.S. city and they plan to be a zero-waste city by 2020! Talk about an extreme amount of planning, consideration and most importantly a great shift in habits.

Since 2009 the city’s municipal ordinance requires city-wide source separation of all organic materials, that means that urban food waste and composting measures were put into effect. There are also three bins for composting, recycling and lastly their (sometimes smaller) trash cart! Besides requiring San Franciscans to contribute food waste to compost, and the three bins which encourage recycling, the third effective phenomenon that has been seen in San Francisco is a reduction in the amount of convenience items such as plastic bags that shoppers use.

Now, the city has 20% more waste diversion to go to reach their goal of zero waste and our source has a good point that this last bit might be the most challenging. Although San Francisco has the right incentives, technology, habits and laws, there are still more convenience items in their waste steam that will be key in achieving zero waste.

Please, tell us what you think @greenhalousa on Twitter

Our recent blog posts about San Francisco working towards zero waste:

 

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall–Who’s the Greenest of Them All?
San Francisco Bans Bottled Water on City Property
Cultivate Festival

 

 

Sources: http://bit.ly/UO3Zkg

and

http://bit.ly/1oR5dYq

What is the Fashion Industry Doing to the Environment?

For one thing the dye from blue jeans is being washed away into rivers and oceans.

In addition, rivers and the land that crops are cultivated in are toxic as a result of clothing manufacturing in areas such as China, Bangladesh and India.

People living near these polluted waters must filter their water which we’ve also written about:

1. The most effective way to combat tap water pollution

2. The Production of Bio-products as a Source of Energy and Waste Water Treatment

Blue jeans are probably here to stay and while it’s good that the fashion industry is more eco-friendly than ever, the current levels of pollution are so extreme that indigo blue dye runoff from jean factories can be seen enering the ocean from space.

 

Source: http://www.ecouterre.com/riverblue-is-an-upcoming-documentary-exploring-the-dark-side-of-denim/

Please, connect with us @WasteTracking on Twitter to let us know what you think.

$73 Million From the World Bank Went to Copper Mining in Africa

The World Bank announced early this year that they will support the building of The Inga 3 hydroelecyric dam, Africa’s largest copper producer with $73 million.

The World Bank is funding the “environmental- and social-impact studies for the project on the Congo River. South Africa and Congo agreed to develop the $12 billion dam that would produce about 4,800 megawatts and supply electricity to both nations…” according to Businessweek.com.

Kawtanga is the region with the majority of copper mines and the Congo wants to start construction by October 2015.

 

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-07-27/world-bank-to-support-construction-of-congo-s-inga-3-hydro-plant

Refresing and original videos by @HumanBrainPower

Thepowerofbrain.com produces awesome videos that cover an array of categories such as biology, engineering, construction, technologies, entertainment and more in a captivating presentation.

“The coolest Nature Video Ever [Edited By Roen Horn] is a spectacular slow-motion film about the origin of life among focused shots. In addition to nature shots, their website shows a “Point of View Surgery Shown with Google Glass”, “Holographic Imaging Via Your Smartphone’s Screen”, “The World’s first “Invisible” Tower [South Korea], “Lamborghini Aventador Process Production HD”, and so many more videos that combine education with entertainment.

For your viewing pleasure please see:

 

Source: https://wastetracking.wordpress.com/

Another great Green article from Green Halo

Track your recycling at www.greenhalosystems.com

Follow Green Halo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/greenhalousa

New @WholeFoods is super #efficient!

A new Whole Foods opened in Brooklyn, NY and it’s called “Third and 3^rd, Brooklyn” which has an awesome green parking lot. The parking lot roof has a lot of solar arrays, the streetlights are solar powered and wind-powered, and there are electric car charging stations as well

In addition to having one of the most efficient parking lots made so far, this Whole Foods offers:

Bike Repair and Parking: Bikes are beloved by Brooklynites and Whole Foods Market, so we want to support people’s ability to maintain and ride them. This form of alternative transportation contributes to a reduced carbon footprint and a healthier lifestyle.

Knife Sharpening: Knife sharpening services from Scott Jennings of X-Calibur Knife & Scissor Sharpening and Christopher Harth ofNYCutlery and products including knives and specially-made Third & 3^rd cutting boards.

Vinyl Records and Wrecords by Monkey: A vinyl venue featuring music as well as reclaimed vinyl jewelry and accessories fromWrecords by Monkey, a Brooklyn-based design and lifestyle brand

THE ROOF: Serving a variety of local and seasonal menu items from snacks to salads to entrees, including vegan and vegetarian offerings, as well as 16 beers on tap, The Roof, offers indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the Gowanus Canal, surrounding neighborhoods, and the Manhattan skyline. Hours 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.

YUJI RAMEN: Chef Yuji Haraguchi will serve his praised Japanese mazemen dishes with a twist; including Bacon & Egg, Salmon & Cheese, Miso Roasted Vegetables and Spicy Tuna. The takeout venue will be open for lunch and dinner, seven days a week.

JUICE Etc.: a made-to-order juice bar, offering fresh-pressed fruit and veggie juices and smoothies.

Shopping at Whole Foods is a pleasure, if you can make it out to Brooklyn to see this one let us know what it’s like! You can tag this store with #thirdand3rd and don’t forget, we are @GreenHaloUSA on Twitter!

 

(Source: http://wastetracking.wordpress.com/2014/07/13/new-wholefoods-is-super-efficient/ )

Another great Green article from Green Halo

Track your recycling at www.greenhalosystems.com

Follow Green Halo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/greenhalousa

Understanding the #energy #efficiency of products is made more scientific than ever by #FLEXLABS

This is the outside of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s new FLEXLAB

 

FLEXLAB is the world’s first energy use lab that will help builders and manufactures test entire building systems down to the component level on a significant scale.

This lab offers solutions for people who bring products to test out and want to use all of the lab’s equipment to do so, to people who want to bring their product to test out with their own machinery and equipment.

Current projects involve measuring energy usage for the Genentech building, PG&E and more!

The lab has 4 stations (shown in the video above) to accommodate a variety of testing scenarios including:

1. “Test-drive technologies”

2. “Individual circuits and meters”

3. “Lighting and plug-load elements”

4. “On-site training”

5. “Compression testing”

and more.

According to the FLEXLAB, there is a problem that buildings are designed to be energy efficient, but once they are being used they end up using a lot more energy than was planned. A new study even pointed out that energy efficient buildings sometimes use more than twice the energy than was expected based on their design.

Here’s an except from the lab’s website about what they offer:

FLEXLAB is the first test bed in the world that can evaluate the energy efficiency of major building systems, as an integrated system, under real-world conditions. Stakeholders can evaluate energy-efficient building technologies individually or as integrated systems in advance of building projects or retrofits, in order to:

• Optimize integrated systems to maximize energy savings
• Ensure occupant comfort and user-friendliness
• Verify cost-benefit numbers
• Train building operators
• Build confidence in new technologies

 

( Source: http://flexlab.lbl.gov/ )

Another great Green article from Green Halo

Track your recycling at www.greenhalosystems.com

Follow Green Halo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/greenhalousa

Store Design in Tokyo Looks Like Unfinished #Construction to Some

Some say that this En Yu-An shop looks like unfinished building. This store features modern crafts that blends traditional crafts with modern design in Tokyo.

Here are some photos of the store, and more pictures can be seen at the link at the bottom.

What do you think?

 

 

Source: http://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/18/wood-frame-tokyo-shop-fumihiko-sano/

 

Another great Green article from Green Halo

Track your recycling at www.greenhalosystems.com

Follow Green Halo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/greenhalousa

@Teslamotors #supercharger charges a half of a Model S in as little as 20 minutes

 

For the lifetime of Tesla’s Model S, owners can travel for free between the cities of well-traveled high ways in North America, Europe and Asia! The Tesla Supercharger is a station that can provide a half a charge in as little as 20 minutes! Again, these chargers are free, and they are strategically placed so that owners can drive to station to station and enjoy nearby amenities if they so choose.

To learn more about where the stations are located, how to charge an EV and more, click on the link below.

 

Source: http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

 

Another great Green article from Green Halo

Track your recycling at www.greenhalosystems.com

Follow Green Halo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/greenhalousa