| Friday, November 11, 2005 |  |
| Matilija Dam removal gets a boost | 2 comments |
| 11 Nov 2005 @ 00:13 This is the dam that is less than am ile from where I live. Ventura County Star Matilija Dam removal gets a boost Coastal Conservancy OKs $1 million to help with project planning By Tony Biasotti, tbiasotti@VenturaCountyStar.com October 29, 2005 The effort to blow up Matilija Dam and return the Ventura River to a more natural state got a $1 million boost this week from the California Coastal Conservancy. The conservancy, a state agency that buys and protects coastal resources, voted unanimously to allocate the money during its meeting in Long Beach on Thursday. It will go toward the project's $8 million design phase. Removing the dam will cost about $130 million, with most of it to come from the federal government, according to a Coastal Conservancy report on the project. Getting federal money any time soon appears doubtful, though, because the cost of repairing levees and other water-related projects destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita is expected to take all of the federal water project money for years to come. Matilija Dam is near Ojai, along Matilija Creek and a few miles north of Lake Casitas. Since it was built in 1947, 6 million cubic yards of sediment has built up behind it, and the reservoir now holds less than 10 percent of the water it once did. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Ventura County Watershed Protection District blame the dam for the near demise of the southern steelhead trout in the Ventura River. According to the Coastal Conservancy report, the steelhead population has dropped from 5,000 to fewer than 100 since the dam was built. The dam has also contributed to increased erosion downstream at Ventura's beaches, the report says. The Army Corps of Engineers and the county are still developing a plan to remove the dam. "It's not like you just take it down and let everything rip," Ventura County Legislative Analyst Sue Hughes said. "There's people who live along the way, and there's a lot that has to be done first." First, some of the sediment behind the dam must be removed and placed along the Ventura River in "sand-starved" areas, Hughes said. The rest will be allowed to flow naturally downstream. In 2011, the Corps of Engineers is scheduled to bring the down dam through controlled blasting, Hughes said. By 2020, the rest of the sediment should be gone and Matilija Creek will be much the same as it was in the 1940s. The project also includes two new bridges along the Ventura River, and two new wells for the city of Ventura's tap water. Non-native plants will be removed, and trails and other recreation areas will be built, Hughes said. "You'll be able to get all the way from the ocean to the Los Padres National Forest on foot," she said. But first, the project needs money. The $1 million from the Coastal Conservancy is the first half of an expected $2 million from the state for the design and planning phase, Hughes said. About $78 million of the project's $130 million budget must come from the federal government, she said. The project is included in a water resources bill passed in June by the U.S. House of Representatives. It is now under consideration in the Senate. But that bill is only an "authorization" of the money, or a plan to allocate it in the future, Hughes said. Congress must still vote in future bills to allocate the money. More > |
| Notions of Expenditure | 1 comment |
| 11 Nov 2005 @ 00:10 Notions of Expenditure April 11, 2005 06:42 AM - Think about it. We go to the gym every day, get on a machine and expend great amounts of energy. Multiply that by everyone in your gym, in all the gyms in all the world and what have you got? a lot of power! This project is a request "for speculative proposals to re-design exercise equipment to generate and store energy; and/or to retrofit gyms to function as local power sources linked to the grid." It envisions a redesign of gyms into power hubs and a linking together of the power hubs into a massive power network. All this and get fit too. More > |
| Portable Energy Source: FreeCharge Weza | 0 comments |
 11 Nov 2005 @ 00:06 Portable Energy Source: FreeCharge Weza November 10, 2005 08:30 AM - Justin Thomas, Virginia This is one gadget I might actually have to buy as soon as it's available. The FreeCharge is a portable power supply that outputs 12V DC through a standard "cigarette lighter" style plug. It has enough power to jump-start a car or boat, but it can also recharge most portable devices. When you have no access to electricity, can you can always step on the treadle to generate power yourself. This device shines in emergency situations, such as when your car needs a jump start on a deserted road. The FreeCharge's 7Ah sealed lead acid battery can also be charged with solar panels, wind-powered turbines, or via standard AC power. To run AC devices, you'll need an inverter of some kind, since it only outputs DC directly. Available from CCrane for $294.95, but not in stock until March 2006, so unfortunately there's no chance to give it as a gift |
| Windside Vertical Wind Turbines | 8 comments |
 11 Nov 2005 @ 00:03 Windside Vertical Wind Turbines November 10, 2005 12:57 PM - Michael G. Richard, Ottawa Thanks to Kimmo Leskinen for letting us know about the Windside vertical wind turbines in the comments of our post about the Terra Moya Aqua vertical-axis wind turbine. The Windside turbines have been around for over 20 years and are based on sailing engineering. There are 8 models offered on their product page and their most interesting characteristics are the 0dB measured sound emission (they are basically silent) and the small amount of space required because of their vertical nature. More > |
| Hybrid Taxis Finally Arrive in New York City | 0 comments |
| 11 Nov 2005 @ 00:01 Hybrid Taxis Finally Arrive in New York City November 10, 2005 04:24 PM - Michael G. Richard, Ottawa We've written about hybrid taxis many times (Grist Chats With Hybrid Taxi Driver, Popular Support for Hybrid Cabs in NYC & Hybrid Taxi Bill Passed by NY City Council), but now the speculation over whether they will be used in NYC is over and the first hybrid cabs have hit the streets. "New York City’s first hybrid taxis—a mini-fleet of six Ford Escape hybrids—officially entered operation today with a ceremony in midtown Manhattan where officials from government, advocacy groups and industry gathered for the send off. [...] According to the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, each New York taxi averages nearly 100,000 miles of driving annually. Thus, the fuel savings for drivers and operators could reach the thousands of dollars every year, and enable hybrid taxi owners to recover the premium cost of the technology within the first year on the road." The hybrids approved for taxi service by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission are: * Ford Escape / Mercury Mariner Hybrid * Toyota Highlander * Toyota Prius * Honda Accord * Honda Civic * Lexus Rx 400h A potential addition to the list is the Toyota Camry hybrid which should come out in about a year, along with the Nissan Altima hybrid. |