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Archive for the 'Alternative energy' Category

New energy group seeks stimulus millions

February 25th, 2010, 4:12 pm by

To hear Greg Trimarche tell it, Orange County is missing out — big time.

“Orange County is not getting anywhere close to their share of stimulus dollars,” Trimarche said. “We’re getting about 30 percent of the national average.”

This week, Trimarche, a partner at the Bryan Cave law offices in Irvine, did something about it. With Brandman University, Trimarche launched CleanTech OC, a new trade group dedicated to getting Orange County’s share of billions in federal stimulus dollars for clean-energy projects that remain unclaimed.

“If we do our job right, we should be bringing millions of dollars of clean technology grant money into Orange County,” he said.

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Safety complaints soar at San Onofre

February 19th, 2010, 3:22 pm by

Employees at the San Onofre nuclear plant made 10 times more safety complaints in 2009 than the mid-range level for the industry, according to a leaked management memo posted online by a local environmental group.

The same memo said a quarter of the employees fear retaliation from management if they call attention to safety problems.

The number of complaints made by employees does not necessarily correspond to actual safety problems. And, while the San Onofre plant remains under scrutiny by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a variety of procedural and personnel issues, the agency has repeatedly said the plant is being operated safely.

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Poll: Endangered-species condoms in O.C.?

February 11th, 2010, 8:38 am by

An environmental group that says reducing human population growth could help save endangered species will distribute 100,000 “endangered species condoms” across the nation on Valentine’s Day — including in Orange County. pbear2goc

Volunteers will hand out the condom packages – each carrying an image of one of six endangered species along with catchy slogans – in bars, public events such as concerts, supermarkets, college campuses and other locations.

Among the images on the condom packages, which are free, is a polar bear with the slogan, “Wrap with care, save the polar bear,” along with five other threatened or endangered species: the jaguar, American burying beetle, snail darter, coqui guajon rock frog and spotted owl. Read the rest of this entry »

O.C. firm behind Super Bowl ‘green police’

February 9th, 2010, 2:48 pm by

The electric, stand-up police scooters that seem to be popping up everywhere — including in a recent Super Bowl commercial — are the creation of a Costa Mesa company. t32

The “green police” were featured prominently in the ad for Audi during the Super Bowl, but the vehicles and their growing use by law enforcement are quite real.

Both the standup scooter — called T3 Series Electric Standup Vehicle — and its lithium-ion batteries have been distributed worldwide by T3 Motion, Inc.

The company says it recently hit a landmark: 5,000 of the batteries shipped to a variety of agencies around the globe. The batteries, with a range of 25 t0 50 miles, can be swapped out in minutes, so their range is limited only by the number of backup batteries on hand.

T3 Motion also has shipped out 2,000 of the vehicles themselves.

Marketing manager Jeff Simpson said the company tailored the vehicle for use by agencies. They are not available to consumers.

“We have a vehicle that the market helped design,” he said.

Some 500 law enforcement, government and security agencies use the devices, which can hit 20 mph and are ideal for tight, crowded spaces, indoors or out. Their turning radius is zero degrees.

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The “green house” effect: green home on sale for $1.7 million

January 19th, 2010, 1:09 pm by

One of Orange County’s first all-green houses has hit the market in Huntington Beach. The price: $1.7 million. It has its own “power plant” — a solar power system — green building materials and energy-efficient appliances. Huntington Homes blogger Marilyn Kalfus tells us the full story.

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Toyota exec talks hybrids, “peak oil”

January 14th, 2010, 3:49 pm by

The president of Toyota Motor Sales USA introduced a new hybrid concept car at the Detroit Auto Show Thursday, then launched into an often-taboo topic: “peak oil.”

It’s the sometimes-ridiculed idea that the planet’s oil fields will reach a peak of production, then begin an downward slide from there. The Register’s auto writer Matt Degen has the full story on his Auto Motion blog.

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