smart trainer app

i downloaded the freeware "smart trainer" app to my droid the other day. it utilizes enabled gps tracking to give you distance, speed, altitude, and stores the info on a google doc with corresponding g-map.
View Run 6 26 2010 in a larger mapi have to say that it is a pretty cool program and look forward to charting my runs throughout the future.

red rocks amphitheater

we have the good fortune of being a mere 25 miles from one of the world's finest natural amphitheaters, red rocks in beautiful morrison, colorado.

each year, we try to get out for at least one concert in the 9,000 person venue.  it is truly like being on mars--the geology is truly awesome and confounding to the mind.  being a scuba-diver, i have no question in my mind that this place was once under a large body of water.  we had a great time last night, seeing our old athens, ga band, widespread panic.  i need to count up my ticket stubs for how many times i've seen wsp, but know that i am well into the 30s.  love me some good southern, funky rock.

vegan italian food in japan?

vegan food is quite easy to come by in japan.  most basic language books have the cheat sheet on how to communicate your dietary desires.  once you open up that door, the possibilities are virtually endless.

a fine establishment in kitakami city, iwate prefecture is la taverna.  the wonderful folks there were very accommodating and thrilled to make a full on vegan meal.  now, this place is not traditional japanese food, but  a lilt on italian dining.  excellent wine selection, fantastic salad, a mushroom pasta dish to keep you up at night with your stomach growling, and a thin crust pizza with house-made tofu-"cheese."  all was absolutely delicious and wonderful.  and then they brought out the dessert...vegan strawberry shortcake--gluten-free, too!  the tofu-creme was a touch of magic.

many thanks to the fine folks at la taverna for a fantastic meal.

and to koji takusari and the takusari family for their wonderful hospitality! an amazing place to share with amazing people.

diplomatic adventures navigating renewable energy in japan

meeting with iwate-ken governor and senior advisors to discuss renewable energy initiatives in northern japan.

getting further detail from industry development director for iwate-ken.  a number of strong take-aways thus far:

• city of morioka –green initiatives
• iwate prefecture –dedication to advancing green technologies
• kowai closed-loop biomass facility–creating energy from organic matter discards
• city of ninohe –green initiatives and solar installations
• iwate hospital –energy efficiency, green roof, and solar initiative
• kashiwadai hydro-electric power station –in-line small hydro facility generating 13,100kw in the three stations, interesting to note: facility on national park land and strong efforts to keep visual impairment of facilities from public eye
• green power kuzumaki –wind farm in kuzumaki, energy self-sufficient town of 8,000 people by renewables
• kashiwadai kougen –biomass energy production for kougen facilities

design: mindful and simple

there is something humbling, something enlightening, something troubling about being out of your mundane experience and being in someone(s) else's everyday life.  one can find thrill and enjoyment in a thing so simple as a public wash basin.

closed-loop biomass energy generation (no, don't yawn--this is cool)

a major player in the organic/natural foods industry in japan, koiwai farms, has developed a zero-waste, methane capture energy generation system on their main growing facility in northeastern japan.  the biomass and composting facility is a closed-loop system--taking the organic debris from the agricultural production and integrating it into a fuel source--biomass for biofuel.

the biofuel is created using an active process of methane acceleration and capture.  the methane is then utilized to generate electricity and heat for the farm operations.  the residual bio-products following the methane capture process are nutrient-rich matter that can be further composted and, in a total closed-loop process, be directly applied back into the soil of the farm itself, as rich fertilizer.

the japanese are making some headway on a few model program installations such as this, in the biofuel realm.  very interesting and could be raised to large scale to create larger impact.

photovoltaic performance in heavy japanese snow

well, we toured a city facility with 50kW of solar pv in ninohe, japan on a day with 100% cloud cover and 1" snow accumulation per hour.  needless to say, we experienced the painful example of the intermittence in generation that photovoltaics are subject to.  fortunately, on such days the tendency of wind is in greater likelihood and, therefore, can serve as a secondary generation source.

there are a number of large wind generators in iwate prefecture that provide self-sufficiency for their demand area and surplus consumption.  this surplus is sold back to conventional energy producers via the grid and is mandated by the japanese government to be paid to the renewable energy generator at 2x the going kilowatt hour rate.  in this case, a typical japanese kwh goes for roughly .20cents.  surplus renewable energy (re) generation is purchased by a utility company from the re owner at .40cents per kwh.  not bad, eh?  it incentivizes larger systems beyond self-sufficiency for a homeowner or business to install--helping to leverage a fledgling renewable energy tidal wave to the conventional power generation on the grid.  we'll see what happens...
 

greening the city of baltimore, sustainably...

featured as this week's expert essayist with an audacious idea, www.audaciousideas.org, to create a true model of green industry creation and sustainability in baltimore, maryland.

baltimore has a ripe opportunity to foster green industry growth that will not only be environmentally beneficial, but will also elevate the financial and physical health of the community through green job-creation and generating substantial profit.  this triple-bottom line approach, i call green3.