Sure coffee fuels you, but can it fuel your car?
How will alternative fuel options change road trips in the year 2020?
This summer, I’ve noticed a lot of my friends have replaced jet-setting vacations with road trips this year (and by noticed I mean stalked via Facebook). A road trip I annually take is the 15 hour motor trek up the east coast from Atlanta to northern New Jersey to visit family. Somewhere between North Carolina and Virginia my eyelids start giving out and my gas light blinks on. It is the perfect time to stop at a gas station, fill up my feisty red civic and grab a hot cup of mediocre vending machine coffee.
“Yeah… I’ll take a small hazelnut roast and a 10 gallons of Americano for my car.”
A request like this may not be as far-fetched as it sounds. Check out this vehicle, nicknamed “car-puccino”, that runs on coffee fuel. BBC TV host Jem Stansfield converted this 1988 VW Scirocco to run on coffee grounds into flammable gasses that can be used in the engine instead of petrol. The car successfully completed a 210 mile trip from London to Manchester! Check out the full story here.
I am going to do more research to find out what it is specifically in coffee beans that make for good automobile fuel. With people doing more and more wild experiments like these, who needs oil? I can only hope that in ten years, Americans will look back and chuckle at how much conflict the battle over oil caused and zip around in their coffee fueled cars.
More than 25% there!
Fundraising update:
$360 raised, $940 to go!
Thanks to all my Shanghai Sponsors!
Closed Loop Cartoons (?)
I’ve been working on some cartoons that tell the story and process of Closed Loop while I was in Lund, Sweden. I have been struggling with a fun way to depict Closed Loop — because looking at straight up photos at garbage isn’t all that intriguing — so I decided to try this out. Here is the beginnings of a scene …
Thanks Shanghai Sponsors!
Raised $170 dollars so far! That might be only 13% of my goal, $1300, but I can taste the subpar airline food already (it never tasted better).
I am very grateful to my four sponsors so far: Anne Wang, Glorian Persaud, Greg Yen, and Cristina del Rosario. All of the sponsors will be listed in the [Shanghai Sponsors] tab in the upper right. I just need 23 more donations of $50 to be on my way to China.
Closed Loop Experiment has been selected as one of five projects to represent Lund University and the School of industrial design, at the Cumulus 20th anniversary exhibition in Shanghai during the World Expo. Unfortunately, there is no funding for exhibitors to fly to Shanghai and be with their work. I am trying to raise money to help me cover the cost of airfare. To donate, go to the “donate” tab on the upper right and follow paypal instructions. Your donation is greatly appreciated. Every person who donates gets a custom screen printed Closed Loop shirt.
The Closed Loop Goes to China!
I just received an e-mail from a former classmate of mine at Lund University that the Closed Loop Experiment has been selected as one of five projects to represent Lund University and the School of industrial design, at the Cumulus 20th anniversary exhibition in Shanghai during the World Expo.
I am really ridiculously excited to exhibit in Shanghai! Unfortunately, there is not enough funding to give all of the exhibitors free tickets to China, but I am none the less very honored to have been selected.
I am currently working on the posters I have to design for the event. I will be sure to post them when completed!
Sustainable Eating
Above is a painting I created last week (for newlyweds Leigh and Phillip Adams). Its a little cooky and Dali-esque, but it makes me think…
What happened to good ‘ol American farms? If the earth has been used and abused to its capacity and we end up going to the WALL-E route to space — will we harvests chickens in the sky? Cows on the moon? Become vegetarians?
Food has always been a great interest of mine. Eating food. Cooking food. Growing food. Reading about food. Watching other people cook food. Even drawing food sometimes. Eating sustainably is a big concern of mine. I would like to think I currently eat sustainably, probably more than the average person, but I know there are many more changes in my diet that need to occur before I really am (goodbye eggo waffles)…
I am still struggling with my definition of sustainable foods — or if there is even one concise, definition.
Two things that I try to diet on are:
1. Locally grown produce, natural to your geography
2. Locally raised meat, natural to your geography
No mystery meats. No frozen veggies. No processed candies. No seafood in Atlanta. The list goes on …
It is extremely difficult to follow by these principles 100% of the time. I can’t live without processed candies! Anyone that knows me, knows that I have a gargantuan sweet tooth.
On the bright side, just think about it — if you ate all fresh, local vegetables, you would cut down on packaging waste from frozen veggie bags. Purchasing freshmeat from your butcher also reduces packaging (styrofoam and shrink wrap vs. a sheet of rolled up paper). Also, if you choose to eat meats that are indigineous to a certain area, you are experiencing the best that region has to offer! That is something I really enjoy about this diet; I appreciate food more when I travel. I went to Savannah last weekend and had a phenomenal blue crab cake that was without a doubt more delicious than any crab cake I would have had in Atlanta.
Thoughts on eating sustainably? Post them as a comment below!
Working with GTRI
For the past few weeks I have been meeting with some fantastic people at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) that want to start making their building more green. Moon Kim contacted me, my adviser from when I formerly interned there Fall semester in 2009, asking if I could help them with sustainable living tipes and set up an enviromental management system (EMS).
There are so many great ideas! GTRI has already established a group of people to act as the “environmental cheerleading team” (sounds silly, but is very important to have when starting an EMS). Two employees are determined to set up an urban rooftop garden! How incredible would it be to take your lunch break on the roof in an environment as pictured above? I would be a much needed improvement from eating at your desk. I have done it on a regular basis, and I truly believe that eating at your desk in front of your computer during (a time that is supposed to be a break from work) is a soul drowning activity. But, that’s just me.
I am really happy to be part of the project. I think more and more businesses will realize that there IS a business case for sustainability.
Saving energy = saving money.
More green space = happy employees.
A solid environmental management system = marketing advantage (and green street cred).
Grad School.
It is official. I have decided to apply to graduate school for fall 2011.
I am currently teetering between two majors. I am very passionate about both of them:
Public Health or Environmental Engineering. I really want to bring my design skills and innovate the current systems in these fields. Design new ways to transport medication in developing countries. Design household products that measure energy in ways that have not been conceived yet. There are so many exciting opportunities!
Eeeenie, meeenie, minie, moo .. alright, I know I can’t decide that way. In my mind the two fields are so interconnected! I wish I could do both. I have to come to a decision soon though!
Drug Recall + Wooden Pallets. What?!
As many of you know, Johnson and Johnson had a HUGE recall of some medications in January 2010; Tyenol Extra Strength Rapid Release Gelcaps and Benadryl Allergy Ultratabs.
Well, the reason for the recall was WOODEN PALLETS. What?! is exactly what went through my mind. My mind was blown, once again.
“The January 15th, 2010 recall was initiated as a result of consumer complaints of a musty or moldy odor that has since been linked to the presence of trace amounts of a chemical called 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA). After a thorough investigation, it was determined that the source of TBA was the result of a breakdown of a chemical that is applied to wood used to build wooden pallets that transport and store product packaging materials.”
Almost every product is shipped on pallets. Food products, baby products, medical products… There are so many scary thoughts circling my brain right now, I am not sure how to even express them.
Read the full story here.
