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1. Give our shiny new carbon calculator a spin
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2. How to toast Earth Day
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3. Second cohort of projects enters comment period
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4. Big ideas for low-carbon living
Give our shiny new carbon calculator a spin
We just launched an overdue rev of our spiffy carbon calculators. Try ‘em out for yourself. A quick rundown of some of the new features:
- Biodiesel! CNG! E85! We now have much better support for alternative fuel types. Try calculating for a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon, for example, or a 2008 Honda Accord.
- Integrated results! Easily compare your emissions across driving, flying, and home energy use.
- One-way flights! A long-standing feature request.
- Multiple cars and home! Add ‘em to your profile, watch the carbon tally climb.
- Cooler stats! Find out how much you’re spending on gasoline every year, see how your plane flight compares to other modes of transportation, etc.
Plus, we made a bunch of changes behind the scenes that will allows us to roll out new features a lot more easily in the future, so watch for some more announcements soon.
And, of course, please let us know if you hit any bugs. Drop an email to info@terrapass.com.
How to toast Earth Day
Dr. Vino is still working the low-carbon wine beat. It seems someone has actually taken up the challenge of delivering a quality wine in TetraPak packaging. These cardboard-and-aluminum “juice boxes” are dramatically lighter than traditional glass bottles, and therefore greatly reduce carbon emissions from shipping.
Actually, the maker of the Yellow + Blue Malbec has taken a number of measures to shave emissions:
Instead of bottling the wine in Mendoza, he put them in a 24,000 liter flexitank. The wine was trucked over the Andes, loaded onto a ship on the Chilean coast, then shipped through the Panama canal and up to Montreal below deck in an insulated container (but not refrigerated). There it was trucked to Toronto where the TetraPak packaging material was waiting…
The facility in Toronto is also certified organic. The wine is put in the one liter boxes that weigh 40 grams each (compared to 500 - 750g for a bottle) and loaded onto a truck for a warehouse in New Jersey.
That might sound like quite a journey — and it is — but it still represents a 50% reduction in carbon footprint from the traditional method of bottling near the source.
Of course, TetraPak has its own issues (hard to recycle; makes product look like industrial cleaner; etc.), and locally produced wines are still going to be a better bet if carbon is your sole consideration. But if you’re interested in voting with your dollars for a shift in global production techniques, consider picking up a…bottle? Box? Pack? It should be a good conversation starter at the very least, and that’s not a bad feature in any wine.
One small problem: I have no idea where to find Yellow + Blue. If I find out, I’ll post an update.
(Dr. Vino does have advice for locavores as well. Of course, left coast wine drinkers are well-covered. East coasters might check out the Lenz Estate Merlot, produced on Long Island.)
Disclaimer: As noted in the past, I know a fair amount about carbon and very little about wine. Buyer beware, particularly if your palate is easily offended.
Second cohort of projects enters comment period
Last month, we saw seven projects successfully go through the TerraPass comment period. To our knowledge, we're the only carbon offset company to incorporate public stakeholder input into our project selection process.
A new engine will generate clean energy from landfill gas at Worcester County Landfill.
Today we're adding two more projects to the mix: a brand new landfill gas to energy project in Maryland and a cow power project in upstate New York. Sharpen your pencils, and let us know what you think after reading the reports on the two new projects.
A special thanks for your comments. Based on feedback from the last comment period, we've adjusted our Project Information Reports to include reporting on the negative environmental impacts of these projects, such as the concrete and steel used in a dairy digester. As we did last time, we'll summarize and respond to the comments we receive and if appropriate adjust our practices. With your help TerraPass will continue to lead the charge for quality in the carbon offset market.
Big ideas for low-carbon living
Yesterday the New York Times offered up a green issue of its Sunday Magazine focused exclusively on carbon. Some of the stuff you’ve seen before (particularly if you read this blog) and some of the stuff is a bit slight (hasn’t Blackle been debunked about 100 times over by now?), but there are, of course, plenty of interesting nuggets. Here are a few from the transportation section:
- Compressed air cars — small automobiles that power themselves via a tank of highly compressed and environmentally benign air — have been around for a while. Now it seems the technology might find a market in India, where the same company responsible for the (potentially environmentally disastrous) world’s cheapest car has acquired the rights to produce and sell the air-powered version.
- Israel and Denmark are leading the charge for gas-free roadways. In Israel, the plan involves government subsidies for electric cars, coupled with for-profit initiatives to develop an extensive network of charging stations and battery exchange points. Under certain battery subscription plans, your car could even be free. David Roberts has a few more details.
- Aviation is thought to be one of the toughest carbon nuts to crack. Planes burn a lot of fuel, and no really great substitutes exist for long-distance travel. However, it’s possible that the problem could be managed rather than solved — airline emissions are a relatively small proportion of global emissions, and various efficiency measures could help keep fuel use down, even if eliminating emissions entirely remains out of reach. Some airlines are even cutting the weight of in-flight magazines to save fuel, lending new credence to our suggestion that eco-sensitive passengers go to the bathroom before boarding the plane.
And there is one article I have to single out for criticism: what on earth compelled the addition of a short blurb on “ghost bikes,” roadside tributes to cyclists killed in traffic accidents? Environmentalists would have you believe that bicycles are a good thing. “The hundreds of ghost bikes throughout the world, however, silently testify to a darker truth.” Really? I’m willing to bet that hundreds of people around the world have also been killed by splinters and bunny rabbits. I’m also 100% positive that millions of people have been killed by car accidents and coronary heart disease.
Bikes: good and good for you.
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