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Today’s Stories:

US Demand for Oil Shrinks
The European Wind Energy Conference :: March 16th-19th, 2009
Mama Aint No Fool :: Clean Your Plate
Tesla’s 250th Delivery
Facebook Educates Users
The Swedes are at it again!

US Demand for Oil Shrinks

According to the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) Monthly Statistical Report, U.S. gasoline demand (measured as deliveries) ticked up 2 percent for February, perhaps in response to lower prices. February diesel demand, however, plunged 12 percent and jet fuel demand dropped 6.6 percent from a year ago, reflecting the faltering economy. Overall, total oil-product demand fell 3 percent from a year ago, marking the lowest demand for a February since 1999. Despite the decrease, oil companies continue to yield record profits.

The European Wind Energy Conference :: March 16th-19th, 2009

Videos from Event
The European Union’s premire event for wind energy is taking place this week. Global leaders of the industry will meet in Marseille, France to discuss the future of the industry and pressure diplomats to finalize recovery plans to bring stability back into the sector. Here’s Bruce Douglas, Chief Operating Officer, European Wind Energy Assoc. (soundbite)

Mama Aint No Fool :: Clean Your Plate

Over half of the food produced globally is lost, wasted or discarded according to a report from the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). Worldwide demand for food is expected to grow steadily over the next 40 years threatening to run the planet dry. Here is Professor Jan Lundqvist of Stockholm International Water Institute at World Water Forum in Istanbul explaining why your mom was right when she said “Don’t waste your food!”. (Soundbite)

A related story: Libya is Drilling for Water in the SaharaAt a cost of 33 billion dollars and taking over 50 years, Libya is drilling for what amounts to prehistoric reserves of water under the Sahara to be pumped to coastal towns. Promising to be one of the largest engineering projects of all time, the water pipeline is two thirds complete and drawing much debate at the World Water Forum.

Tesla’s 250th Delivery

Tesla Motors delivered its 250th car last Saturday. Lucky No. 250 was Dr. Rob Wilder, an academic and entrepreneur who created the first Index on Wall Street for energy efficiency and zero-carbon solutions.

Tesla is now producing approximately 20 cars per week, which will increase to 30 per week this summer. The Roadster remains the only highway-capable production electric vehicle of any kind for sale in the US or Europe. It does 0-60 in 3.9 seconds yet is twice as energy efficient as a Toyota Prius.

Tesla will unveil its Model S prototype sedan March 26, 2009. The Model S will likely be the world’s first mass-produced, highway-capable EV when it rolls off the assembly line in late 2011. Coming in at just under $50k after tax rebates, the car is touted to have operating costs making it competitive with cheaper conventional cars.
Our Green By Design TV feature on the Tesla Roadster is here

Facebook Educates Users

The popular social networking site Facebook might inadvertantly help educate users on energy efficiency. One of their applications which comes from Support.com is called Green Your PC. Once a user agrees to use it, they must download software which then tells them how energy efficient their computer is. Using recommendations from Energy Star and Carbonfund.org, the Green Your PC application tracks your computer’s energy use. It then calculates your daily savings by trees, CO2 and barrels of oil. The software then configures your settings for maximum efficiency.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/facebook-app-saves-pc-energy-maybe.php

The Swedes are at it again!

Leave it to the crafty Swedes to rethink how we use our natural resources. This time they’ve figured out a way to reuse our urine! Pee has long been known to be a great fertilizer, but we humans tend to flush ours into our water supply which is not only gross but costs lots of money to subesequently extract again. That’s why Gothenburg researcher Zsofia Ganrot’s new method of powdering pee (which also removes traces of pharmaceuticals) is such a great idea. each one of us contributes about 7-9 liters of urine a week to sanitary systems. In Sweden alone, collection of this resource could offset 1/5th the country’s fertilizer use, according to Ganrot.

Ganrot’s technique consists of adding magnesium oxide to liquid urine, which causes crystals to form quickly and drop to the bottom of any collection device. When zeolite is added, the crystals retain 70 to 80% of their nitrogen. The crystals are then dried to a white powder called struvite that can then be used for plant fertilization. Separated toilets that divert urine from other waste are a Swedish specialty, but Ganrot hasn’t yet outlined how a home toilet could be adapted to become a mini-fertilizer production unit.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/recycling-pee-to-fertilizer.php