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

 

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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

Estimate sq. mi. of solar panels needed to run the planet on solar power alone

 

Nadine May’s research found that only 25,000 square miles of solar panels would be needed to supply the entire world’s energy needs.

Requirements for solar panels on buildings are on the rise (up 34% this year) and the technology is also improving quickly. For a breakdown on the different types of solar panels please check out our article from last month that broke down the different types and generations of solar panel technology.

The land art generator initiative shows where the 25,000 square miles of solar panels could go around the world to match up to what’s needed. 25,000 square miles is slightly larger than the state of West Virginia but when you look at it on a map like this, it seems easy to achieve.

 

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2014/0729/How-many-solar-panels-would-it-take-to-power-Earth

 

Harley-Davidson’s Much Anticipated Electric Bike Photos and More!

LiveWire by Harley-Davidson is a super-fast and energy efficient electric motorcycle

Harley’s Electric Engine

Handmade demonstration models of Harley-Davidson’s first electric motorcycle, LiveWire, were shown in New York at an invitation-only event. Harley’s research facility is in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and it’s designed to go from 0 to 60 in less than four seconds.

LiveWire on the Road

With the increase in sustainability and environmental trends over the years, the President of Harley, Matt Levatich explains that these trends are part of the lifestyle and the requirements of riders. Harley’s decision really puts electric motorcycles on the map since no one can tell how big this industry will be or how significant it will be but Harley has the resources to make it humongous.

It has been said that there is almost zero market size currently for a full-sized electric bike, so one common thought is that Harley has the marketing power to create demand for full-sized electric bikes. Not only is Harley going to generate some demand, they will also work to lower costs, build charging stations, and to improve technology that will in-turn, help all of the players in the market. In 2012 Harley sold 260,000 bikes, and Zero Motorcycles, the top seller of full-sized, high-powered electric bikes sold only 2,400 electric bikes in 2013.

 

Hand-built LiveWire

 

 

 Source: http://wastetracking.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/harleydavidson-coveted-livewire-electric-motorcycle-story/

 

Another great Green article from Green Halo

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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

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Inspirational and #Educational #Sustainability Across the U.S.A.

Did you know that Chicago, IL has become the epicenter for LEED-certified buildings?

How about the fact that landscaping designed to conserve water is called Xeriscaping and it’s big in Denver, CO?

Freshkills landfill in New York, NY is a landfill that’s three-times the size of Central Park and it’s being worked on so that it can be turned into a park!

Portland, OR is home to the Bicycle Transportation Alliance whose mission it is to create healthy, sustainable communities by make bicycling safe, convenient and accessible.

 

Source: http://ecowatch.com/2014/07/14/ranking-sustainability-programs-u-s/

and 

http://btaoregon.org/

 

Another great Green article from Green Halo

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@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

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Top 10 Ways to Reduce Your #Carbon Footprint!

Here it is, a list of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint according to National Geographic and the folks @GreenHaloUSA

How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

1. Make your home energy efficient.
Your home can be responsible for creating twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as your car. Since half of the energy used in your home helps to heat and cool it, making your home as energy efficient as possible will take big chunks out of your carbon footprint. Steps you can take include: Getting a home energy audit; installing energy efficient windows; insulating your attic and walls; installing a programmable thermostat; turning your thermostat down 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in summer.

2. Drive less.
Combine your trips in the car, so you don’t have to go out multiple times to the same location. When possible, use public transit, walk or bike to your destination.

3. Buy the highest gas mileage car for your needs.
Cars contribute 20 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels; the better your gas mileage, the less gas you burn and the fewer emissions you create.

4. Buy energy efficient appliances.
When replacing appliances, buy Energy Star qualified appliances (these use 10-50% less energy than standard appliances and can save you $80 or more per year).

5. Recycle.
Creating products from recycled materials uses up to 98 percent less energy than producing things from new materials.

6. Replace your light bulbs.
Switching to energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs will save you $30 over the life of the bulb, because these they use about 75 percent less electricity than traditional incandescent bulbs.

7. Buy local food.
Each ingredient in a U.S. meal has traveled an average of 1,500 miles. If we all ate one meal per week of local, organic food, we’d save 1.1 million barrels of oil per week.

8. Eat less red meat.
Beef takes a lot of energy and resources to produce. Replace red meat with fish, chicken and eggs and cut your food carbon footprint by 29 percent. Go vegetarian to cut it by 50 percent.

9. Lower your water heater temperature from 140 degrees F to 120 degrees F.

10. Buy carbon offsets for the rest and make yourself “carbon neutral.”

( Source: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/human-footprint/trash-talk2.html )

 

Another great Green article from Green Halo

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Coconut oil as biofuel for an island is 1 thing to add to the amazing list of coconut uses

Tokelau, a New Zealand island has an abundance of coconuts but the same can’t be said for other natural resources that help us survive. For this reason, Tokelau’s leader Foua Toloa announced in 2009 that the island will switch to using coconuts and solar power to provide all of the energy for the island. At the moment, diesel is administered to the island from New Zealand to meet the island’s electricity demands (about 42,000 gallons annually). In addition to diesel, gasoline and kerosene is also imported to the island.

In Tokelau, most of the population has modern appliances, including satellite TV and Internet. It’s astonishing to think that the island can run off of solar power and coconut oil but we applaud Foua Toloa and Tokelau for being so bold.  

The new energy plan is to transfer most of the islands’ power generation to 93% photovoltaic solar arrays and biofuel from coconuts will supply the remaining 7% of power generated in Tokelau. Some say that this effort is purely symbolic but we should note that this is part of an effort amount South Pacific island nations to encourage renewable energy systems.

Source: http://www.fastcoexist.com/1678915/a-tiny-pacific-island-is-now-powered-by-coconuts

Another great Green article from Green Halo

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Altaeros Energies has a genius invention to share with us

Altaeros Energies has announced the first planned commercial demonstration if it’s Buoyant Airborne Turbine or BAT product. The announcement event plans to deploy the BAT at a height of 1,000’ above ground which could break the record for the highest wind turbine in the world. See what the BAT looks like here:

The BAT has a helium-filled, inflatable shell which lifts the apparatus to high altitudes so that energy can be consistently generated in a low cost way as well. BAT is secured to the ground with high strength tethers and electricity gets sent to the ground from there. The reason behind traveling to higher altitudes is because the winds are stronger and more consistent higher up in the sky.

To learn more, visit: http://www.altaerosenergies.com/

Another great Green article from Green Halo

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