Alt Fuel | AzSustainability.com - Part 3
Apr 24

Maybe we won’t have to wait until 2010 to get a car that doesn’t run on gasoline. The Th!nk City electric car is going into production in the US and should be popping out cars soon. The perfect combo might be solar panels for your house and this electric car for your commute.

This could be it: the Th!nk City electric car, a four-seater with 110 mile range and top speed of 65 mph, priced under $25,000, made from 95% recyclable materials, and available in the U.S. in 2009.

The Th!nk City electric car is the product of Norwegian firm Th!nk Global, an auto manufacturer backed by Silicon Valley funding who has plans to assemble the cars in Southern California. In contrast to Tesla’s limited release of 300 cars per year, the Th!nk City is designed for mass production to the tune of 30-50,000 units within a few years. Th!nk already produces about 10,000 of these cars in Europe annually. [Gas 2.0]

Th!nk’s Website.

Apr 23

James Towner, AzSustainably founder AzSustainably’s founder and your loyal blogger, James Towner, was recently quoted in a great story in the Phoenix Business Journal. Although the wording of one of his paraphrased statements was a bit skewed (they made it sound like he was supporting the use of food crops in biofuel as opposed to his intended point of stressing the need for waste-veggie oil bio to decrease the demand on food crops) they covered the topic well and discussed some important points. Hopefully the points James brought up as far as various ways restaurants (and any businesses or individuals) can conserve will be well received and will encourage businesses to be more mindful and know that there are options that can be beneficial financially, of benefit to their image, as well as good for the environment. Thanks, James! Nice work.

Click here to read the article: “From fat to fuel” from the Phoenix Business Journal

Apr 22

Not since the Ghostbusters have we seen a business turning to emergency response vehicles as part of their brand identity. PC911, a Las Vegas based mobile IT service company, uses retired ambulances to rush to computer emergencies across the Nevada desert. While the Ghostbusters used dangerous nuclear accelerators to do their job, PC911 is turning to a safe and often overlooked alternative fuel to save money and reduce damage to the environment.

Chad Stone, founder of PC 911 (http://www.pc911lv.com), is running the company’s ambulances on used vegetable oil. Chad launched his company in 2005 and found that ambulances would be perfect for hauling everything needed for mobile computer repairs. However, the soot from the diesel engine bothered Chad and he took steps to make his ambulance fleet cleaner. It costs $1,200 to convert each one to run on vegetable oil, but the company saves quite a bit of money due to decreased diesel fuel usage. Also, by using retired ambulances, the company keeps its costs lower and keeps the ambulances on the road instead of in a junkyard.

PC 911 is also involved in other actions to help the environment and the community, including participation with Cell Phones for Soldiers.

Look for this green and community oriented company to be in the Valley of the Sun soon. PC911 is currently looking for a Technician and Senior Technician to fix sick computers all across Phoenix.

Apr 18

Maybe not. With so many cars just over the horizon that will have much higher miles per gallon than anything we have now perhaps it is time to get a tune up, check that tire pressure, and wait until 2010 when some extremely efficient cars are due to hit the market. Here’s some of the cars we’ll have to choose from:

Zenn – Electric, 250 miles per charge

Mitsubishi’s iMiev - Electric, 100 miles per charge

2010 Prius – New type of battery, plug in option, 80 – 100 MPG.

Chevy Volt – Plug in hybrid, 40 miles on just batteries per charge, after that generator kicks in to charge battery. ~150 MPG equivalent.

My choice might be for a biodiesel powered hybrid such as the 70 MPG hybrid VW Golf that was recently announced. Biodiesel made from Algae or WVO of course, don’t want to take away from our food supply. I’d imagine a plug in version of that would do extremely well.

[Why You Should Wait Until 2010 to Buy a New Car]

Apr 15

Call to action canceled. Looks like AZ Biodiesel will be moving to a new city. Update forthcoming.

Check out the popular posts to the right. –>

The City of Chandler Arizona has ordered AZ Biodiesel to cease operations because of zoning compliance issues and refuses to let them operate while these issues are worked out. AZ Biodiesel is a small company making WVO Biodiesel and can’t afford to be shut down while waiting for Chandler to complete this 3 to 6 month process. AZ Biodiesel has the full support of the city’s fire marshal and has been safely producing biodiesel for their own vehicles for three years at their current location. They are located in a light industrial zone which has been approved for biodiesel production in the City of Phoenix. AZ Biodiesel is the only source of biodiesel made from waste oil in the Phoenix area and it would be a huge shame for the city to loose this valuable resource. Please encourage the City of Chandler to let AZ Biodiesel operate while this process is completed by emailing, calling, or faxing them at the address and phone numbers below.

**Update please read before contacting the City of Chandler. Please check the comments below for the response you’ll get back from Chandler and also AZ Biodiesel’s response to that. There are definitely two sides to every story and maybe both parties have some blame to accept for this mess. As far as I can tell AZ Biodiesel wasn’t trying to get around any planning and zoning laws, they were under the impression they had followed all the rules and had done everything the City had asked. That was until they were shut down without warning. It seems there was some sort of communication disconnect between the City and AZ Biodiesel and instead of working with AZ Biodiesel to fix any issues they shut them down and told them they’d have to wait. Hopefully our letters can help move this process along and get these issues resolved without having to make AZ Biodiesel move or go out of business.

« Previous Entries Next Entries »