Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

If you’ve ever traveled in the developing world you’ve probably heard loud motorcycles zoom by and breathed in the smoke that they produce en route. A group of social entrepreneurs decided to engineer an affordable solution to address 2-stroke engine emissions and lack of efficiency. Envirofit International is a non-profit organization that has developed a retrofit for motorcycles (and other vehicles) that reduces carbon monoxide emissions by 76%, carbon dioxide emissions by 35%, and hydrocarbon emissions by 89%, while reducing fuel use by 35% and oil use by 50%.
Using a process called Direct Injection, the carburetor is eliminated and fuel burning is optimized. The product has been successfully implemented in the Philippines, resulting in job creation, carbon emission reductions, and reduced fuel consumption. This is a great example of how a simple innovation can be used to improve both quality of life and the environment.
Tags: Colorado State University, engineering, income generation, international, science, solutions, technology
Posted in Development, Environment, Sustainability, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
In this episode, the Green Rapper heads to Redwood Creek in Marin County to talk water quality with Doug Kern. Doug is a scientist and teacher who is involved with restoration of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Doug shows us how to collect critical data about this precious resource. Find out how clean your tap water is compared with filtered water and water from a creek. Also, the Green Rapper finally gets confronted on his bathroom manners and then freestyles about it.
Here are the results of our water quality monitoring:
| Water Type |
Total Dissolved Solids (mg/L) |
| Bottled Water |
300 |
| City Tap Water |
209 |
| City Tap Water (Brita filtered) |
61.5 |
| Redwood Creek |
84.4 |

Tags: county, dissolved, marin, million, muir, National Parks, nature, parts, per, quality, redwoods, science, solids, urban, Water, woods
Posted in Bay Area, Conservation, Environment, National Parks, Water | No Comments »