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
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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

 

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

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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

Track your recycling at www.greenhalosystems.com

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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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@WholeFoods and other #food retailers vowed not to sell GM #seafood

“Whole Foods Market Inc, Trader Joe’s and other food retailers representing more than 2,000 U.S. stores have vowed not to sell genetically engineered seafood if it is approved in the United States…”

Reuters posted this announcement from the Campaign for Genetically Engineered-Free Seafood in an article by Lisa Baertlein since the U.S. F.D.A seems close to approving genetically engineered salmon from AquaBounty Technologies. A product that they call “AquAdvantage Salmon” would be the first genetically engineered animal for the US’s food supply and it is designed to grow to market size in half of the time that conventional salmon take to grow. This salmon is “essentially Atlantic salmon with a Pacific salmon gene for faster growth and a gene from the eel-like ocean pout that promotes year-round growth.

It’s true that many popular foods in the U.S. such as corn cereal, soy milk, and other veggie products are bioengineered but the debate about engineering animals is a hot one. Let us know what you think @wastetracking on Twitter or in the comments here!

 

Another great Green article from Green Halo

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@WhiteWaveFoods earns USGBC’s #LEED certification for New #Construction

WhiteWave Foods is a leading consumer food and beverage company and their milk dairy facility in Dallas, Texas recently received green building certificates! WhiteWave Foods produces Silk®, Horizon®, International Delight® and Earthbound Farm® products. Their 325,000 square foot facility earned the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for New Construction.

This facility includes both a dairy and no-dairy area, there is also a 5,000 hp ammonia refrigeration system, multiple raw milk receiving bays, soy extraction area, multiple batching, filler lines and finished product coolers. This state-of-the-art facility is the result of just 8 months of renovation at a former frozen yogurt plant.

The president of WhiteWave Foods explained that the company is committed to helping people eat better and that how they make their products is just as important as what they make.

Vendingmarketwatch.com’s article on WhiteWave Food explained how the LEED credits were earned for this building:

“The LEED green building certification system is the foremost program for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. Green attributes of the WhiteWave facility include:

·  Nearly 90 percent of all demolition and construction waste associated with the project was diverted from landfills.

·  Landscaping that requires no irrigation

·  Fixtures that use 30 percent less water

·  100 percent of wood-based building materials certified sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

·  Nearly half of all building materials manufactured within 500 miles of the site

·  Use of materials and design techniques that facilitate solar reflectivity, helping to address “heat island” challenges associated with Dallas’ urban development. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the annual mean air temperature of a city with 1 million people or more can be 1.8–5.4°F warmer than its surroundings, increasing summertime peak energy demand, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and heat-related illness.”

Since this company’s products are so popular it’s good to know that WhiteWave Foods is committed to our health and how their products are made. This building also employed 300 individuals and LEED buildings are one incredible way to help the planet.

 

Source: http://www.hill-wilkinson.com/markets/food-beverage/white-wave-foods

and

http://www.vendingmarketwatch.com/news/11574721/whitewave-foods-opens-companys-first-certified-green-manufacturing-plant

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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@zenrobtics #Recycling Robot Separates Valuable Materials with Great #Efficiency

The ZenRobotics Recycler currently separates Metal, Wood and Stone from mixed construction and demolition debris. The separator received the Global Cleantech Cluster Association’s Later Stage Award for Best in Waste Management at the end of 2013 and ZenRobotics Ltd. is working on increasing the features of this product. Separating mixed construction and demolition debris is important because currently people perform their arduous task and their labor could be use very effectively elsewhere in waste facilities. Not only does this take a dangerous and tedious task off of the hands of waste facility employees, but this robot even improves recovery rates and sorting efficiency.

Jaakko Särelä, CEO of ZenRobotics, says that ““It is already clear that clean technology will develop to a globally significant business sector. What is now needed is a national strategy for the development of environmental technology”. The minimum amount of reclaimed debris that the sorter can reclaim annually is 12,000 tons with the potential to sort up to 60,000 tons. In addition, the sorter little energy, and only costs $1.36/hour to operate.

 

Another great Green article from Green Halo

Track your recycling at www.greenhalosystems.com

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