2006 Honda Civic Hybrid first drive

For 2006, Honda makes it easier being green. The Honda Civic Hybrid is completely redesigned with daring new styling, a more powerful and fuel-efficient powertrain, added interior space, and a bigger trunk.

As soon as you place the 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid's CVT into gear and set off down the road – which is, by the way, a far less complicated procedure than the Toyota Prius – it's clear that there's a big difference between this new Civic Hybrid and the old Civic Hybrid. First, this one is comfortable to sit in. Second, it looks funky enough to attract some attention. Third, it is far quieter inside and more refined. Fourth, it's quick. Not speedy quick, but quick enough to get out of its own way. Finally, we got 47.1 mpg over 55 miles of rural two-lane roads, interstate highways, and congested city traffic. And we didn't need to baby it to get that number.

The great American airlines disaster

peakoil.com -> thebusinessonline.com :

Hurricane Katrina may have blown itself out in the early days of September but it claimed two new casualties last week. The post-storm spike in the price of oil was the straw that broke the camel's back for Delta Air Lines and rival Northwest. When prices jumped 25% in the days after the storm, Delta and Northwest were pushed over the edge. The airlines - long hobbled by high fuel costs, relentless competition and heavy debt which was causing them to burn millions of dollars each day - join the 140 US carriers which have sought Chapter 11 since 1978.

Fuel now gobbles up a quarter of the global industry's $400bn turnover and will push it to a collective loss of $7.4bn for 2005. The final toll could be even higher, however; each $1 increase in the price of a barrel of oil adds $1bn to the industry's cost base.

Rock-bottom operating costs due to fewer staff and quicker turnaround times at airports mean the budget operations can undercut the majors on ticket price. Southwest has even taken the precaution of hedging against the high cost of oil until 2008. Northwest and Delta, like most of their American competitors, have no such financial protection against surging oil prices. Their high debt and low credit capacity means they are not able to hedge against high oil prices even if they want to; if the price of jet fuel shoots up, they must immediately pay more in cash. At one time, the majors would have passed on the extra cost to passengers. But severe pricing pressure from low-cost carriers means they are no longer able to do this.

(2005-09-18 12:54:47 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Singapore company converts Waste2Energy

todayonline.com :

A company that converts waste into energy is getting a lot of attention these days as oil prices keep rising. The attractiveness of Waste2Energy's operational model lies in its ability to provide two solutions at once: Managing waste and producing energy. Companies like Waste2Energy have caught on to a growing business, as awareness about green issues continues to rise even as global oil prices scale new highs.

"Give me all the shit you can" is what Waste2Energy chief executive Steve Peters says to investors looking to finance his projects, literally. The company, established in January, is poised to take on numerous projects in the region given its expertise in converting waste into usable energy. This includes waste from sugarcane mills and fish canneries in Thailand as well as other sources. In Singapore, the company has the capability to convert food waste from hawker centres into energy. Singapore produced 531,000 tonnes of food waste last year, just over a 10th of the Republic's total waste output.

This is how Waste2Energy's business works: After the waste materials are collected, they are crushed and disintegrated using a biological process and converted into gas that can be harnessed for energy or bio-solids that can be made into fertilisers. Assuming that it collects 65,000 tonnes of organic waste a year, it would be able to generate an estimated 25,000 tonnes of gas, or 3 to 5 megawatts (MW) of electrical power per year.

Assuming funding is obtained to drive its projects, Waste2Energy would be able to generate 350MW over five years at full capacity, with each plant generating an average of 2MW to 10MW, he said. In comparison, Singapore currently has about 9,000MW of generating capacity for the entire island.

(2005-09-18 12:00:46 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

All HDB estates to have recycling depositories by 2007

channelnewsasia.com :

By 2007, all HDB estates in Singapore will have centralised depositories for residents to recycle unwanted waste daily. Minister for Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said this extra recycling option would be located within five blocks away from residents. To make it easier and convenient for everyone to do their part, about 1,600 centralised recycling bins will be set up in HDB estates within the next two years.

Students from Dunman Secondary School have been playing their parts to help increase Singapore's recycling rates. They collected 20,000 plastic bottles for recycling. It is believed to be the longest plastic bottle chain ever made. As Dr Yaacob noted, the project by Dunman Secondary isn't so much about setting a world record as it is raising awareness about recycling. Earlier, he told the students solid waste generation in Singapore has gone up six times over the last 30 years, a practice he said that's not sustainable in a country like Singapore.

The percentage of households recycling their waste has gone up from 15 percent in 2001 to 54 percent in 2004. The overall recycling rate in Singapore has increased from 40 percent in 2000 to 48 percent in 2004. Dr Yaacob believes it will still take a continual effort to educate all Singaporeans about recycling... with the aim of achieving an overall recycling rate of 60 percent by 2012.

(2005-09-18 11:15:12 SGT) [Env] Permalink

Singapore goes on dengue blitz

channelnewsasia.com :

The National Environment Agency has set up an additional Dengue Hotline - 1800-333-7777 - from Saturday to encourage more public feedback on mosquitoes. So far, response to the 1800-X-DENGUE hotline has been encouraging with about 1,000 calls a day - up three times from the usual.

Grassroots leaders, volunteers and MPs were out in force to locate and destroy mosquito-breeding sites this weekend. Taking the war against dengue to a new level, more than 700 trained volunteers from six organisations were out to track down mosquito-breeding sites at four dengue hotspots - Hougang, Ang Mo Kio, Yishun and Marsiling. At Hougang, they combed common areas and corridors, paying special attention to problem areas. Mr Yee Tuck Cheong, Volunteer from Singapore Soka Association, said: "These are the flower pots, the trays that need to be inverted, even along drainage, those that are being covered are not expose to sunlight, certain areas that are choked."

Mr Khoo Seow Poh, Director-General of Public Health at the National Environment Agency, said: "What we do these two days is to serve more like a baseline survey for town councils, for them to be more focused later to monitor potential breeding grounds in the weeks ahead."

(2005-09-18 11:05:08 SGT) [Env] Permalink

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