Big Green Boxes: A “Hub-and-Spoke Model” for City Farming
September 2nd, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off
Grist has a new series of interviews up on people who are working to change America's food system in inspiring ways. Yesterday they posted an interview with Gene Fredericks that is worth a read; it introduces Fredericks's new venture: Big Green Boxes.
Big Green Boxes aims to bring a new, high-tech, and sustainable approach to feeding the city. The main idea is to re-use vacant warehouse spaces and fill them with fish ponds, waterfalls, and edible greens and herbs to provide year-round fresh and affordable produce in a closed-loop nutrient cycle. As Fredericks describes it:
It's a new business that will transform unused warehouse space into year-round indoor growing centers. We'll use hydroponics and aquaponics, along with advanced low-energy lighting techniques and vertical growing methods, to produce the very freshest leafy greens for local consumption regardless of climate.Our goal is to be a sustainable and profitable business that provides tasty, preservative- and pesticide-free fresh food, grown in the community for the community; that creates new jobs; revives some neglected real estate; and offers some pretty interesting educational exposure to green technologies.
What makes Big Green Boxes different from many other urban agriculture projects is its high-tech business approach:
Well, I look at Big Green Boxes as a high-tech business. But it's a very different one from large-scale farming, which has turned into a high-tech business by growing produce in huge volumes far from the end consumer, and which uses technology to modify, preserve, package, transport, and store their produce. BGB could change that. By using a combination of very new and very old technologies, local communities can grow their own fresh produce year round.
Additionally, BGB will take advantage of innovations in lighting, daylighting, alternative energy generation, water collection, and composting to make their growing spaces more energy efficient than greenhouses....with even more efficiencies expected to develop over time:
Ten years ago, Big Green Boxes was not economically or technologically feasible. Now it is. And, as the price of the equipment goes down, the price of oil and water go up it becomes more and more desirable. I know we are creating a somewhat artificial growing environment, and I don't ever expect that we'll replace outdoor seasonal growing, that's not our intention. But in the dead of winter and height of summer we can offer an alternative to sending fresh produce on a 1,500-mile pilgrimage from the fields to the table. Which has to be a good thing!
Read the full interview for more on BGB, including a description of their 'aquaponics' growing system.
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(Posted by Amanda Reed in Food and Farming at 12:00 PM)
Fuel Efficiency for Low-Income Homes, Gapminder, and The Human Storm
September 2nd, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off
Looking back one, two and five years ago today on Worldchanging:
2009
The Cruel Cost of Clunkers
Suzie Boss reports on the hidden social cost of maintaining clunker cars and how one innovative non-profit, Bonnie CLAC, is working to improve the lives of low-income families by getting them reliable, fuel-efficient vehicles...
2009
Free Data. Big Picture. Very Cool.
Which countries are healthiest, wealthiest and most educated? The Gapminder knows...
2005
The Human Storm
Jon Lebkowsky reflects on the social chaos of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath and the painful lessons the storm and the human response to it, can teach us about the kinds of planning and preparation needed to respond to future catastrophic 21st century weather events...
Other recent "look backs":
August 30
August 31
September 1
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(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Climate Change at 10:00 AM)
Focus EV to use liquid thermal battery control
September 2nd, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off Car will take its battery pack temperature, then automatically cool or warm it to optimal temperature range before charging or engaging the battery.Motor City getting in on electric fever
September 2nd, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off Coulomb Technologies installs free public electric-charging station in downtown Detroit as part of ChargePoint America program to encourage EV adoption.Cisco buys Arch Rock in smart-grid push
September 2nd, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off Networking giant to augment its IP-based communications tech with planned purchase of start-up Arch Rock, which makes wireless sensors for buildings, data centers, and utility networks.Federal Renewable Portfolio Standards Program
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off
Features B2B Websites Need (and Ones They Don’t)
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments OffRenewable Energy Monitoring Systems – the next big thing in residential solar?
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off
Understanding “Beginning Construction” Under Section 1603
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off
The Treasury Department recently issued a series of FAQs in an effort to clarify when projects will be treated as having "begun construction" for purposes of the section 1603 grant. As you may be aware, a project that otherwise qualifies for the grant but is not placed in service before the end of 2010 may still be eligible for the grant if construction on the project is begun in 2009 or 2010 and the project is eventually placed in service before the applicable "credit termination date." The new FAQs address a number of the unanswered questions. However, the framework adopted by the Treasury Guidance and the new FAQs is complex, and there appears to be a considerable amount of confusion among developers about how the "beginning construction" requirement can be met. Therefore, we thought it important to issue this alert.
Solar FlexRack Chosen for 60kW Solar Array at Ohio Advanced Technology Center
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off
YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO — His initial experience with the Solar FlexRack has convinced another project manager that the innovative rack mounting system for solar panels holds tremendous potential for the future.
Solectria Renewables Supplies over 10.5MW of Commercial & Utility-Scale Inverters to New Jersey
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off
Lawrence, MA – September 2, 2010 – Solectria Renewables, LLC, the leading U.S. PV inverter manufacturer, announced today that it will supply 10.5MW of commercial and utility-scale inverters for three photovoltaic (PV) systems in New Jersey in partnership with DCO Energy, an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.
U.S. Keeping up with European Biomass Demand
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off The U.S. has some of the best biomass resources in the world. The ironic thing is, we ship a lot of it over to Europe, where they put it to good use for heat and electricity.Turkish Renewable Energy May Feed EU Grid
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off Turkey plans to connect to the European electrical grid this month using GE's smart grid technology. The Turkish Electricity Transmission Company (TEIAS) will now be able to buy and sell power in the European electricity market, hopefully expanding the reliability and availability of energy, especially renewable energy, throughout all of Europe.Mascoma Buys SunOpta BioProcess for $51 M
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off Ethanol manufacturer Mascoma announced that it has acquired Canada-based SunOpta BioProcess Inc. (SBI), a division of SunOpta Inc. The two companies will now combine SBI's fiber preparation and pretreatment technologies with the consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) technology of Mascoma bringing Mascoma a step closer towards its full commercialization of cellulosic ethanol.CSP developer strategy: Clinching a deal with US utilities
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off
CSP Today examines how CSP projects can gain the critical edge over other renewable energy projects vying to sign power purchase agreements with US utilities.
Colorado – A Leader in Wind Energy
September 1st, 2010 Posted in Green News | Comments Off
Colorado, with its high mountains and broad plains, has expansive wind resources. With an estimated six million acres of windy lands in Colorado, most of which are located on the eastern plains, Colorado ranks 11th in the United States in wind energy potential. To take advantage of its substantial renewable energy resources, Colorado has created a regulatory environment that makes it attractive to develop wind farms and other renewable energy projects within its borders.