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Flying on used cooking oil

After years of testing Royal Dutch Airlines KLM has launched the first commercial flight on bio kerosene.

 
The bio trip with paying passengers was between Amsterdam and Paris and it was the first in a project of 200 green flights. They will be operated on biofuel made from used cooking oil. KLM declares it is open to using different raw materials for the end product, as long as they meet a range of sustainability criteria, including substantial reductions in CO2 emissions and minimum negative impact on biodiversity and food supply. The fuel is supplied by SkyNRG. This company states that other airlines are interested in their green kerosene.

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NRC/Rien Zilvold
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A documentary about zero-emission motorcycle grand prix

In the documentary Charge Mark Neale follows a handful of racing teams during the first ever and second zero-emission motorcycle grand prix.

 
The races were held on the Isle of Man, which is located between Great Britain and Ireland. There lies one of the most dangerous tracks in the world, which already has claimed the lives of over 200 racers. In his 90 minutes documentary Neale offers an insightful look into the young and still developing world of electric motorcycle racing. One of the main characters in the film is Cedric Lynch, an eccentric electrical pioneer who invented the Agni motor. This energy source can propel a bike upwards of 130mph while running at 93% efficiency. 

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Charge Movie
NOW
Solar panels as isolation

It turns out that solar panels can do more than provide you with renewable energy. They also offer great isolation of the building.

 
An engineering team at UC San Diego found that the presence of solar panels on rooftops does not only come in handy to power a building with green and cheap energy. They can also significantly cut down the power needed to heat and cool your building because they isolate well. It keeps buildings an average of 5 degrees Fahrenheit cooler during the day and keeps heat in during the nighttime, which could save up to 5 percent cash on heating costs in the winter. Also, the panels, especially the tilted kind, create wind tunnels where heat is swept away from the building as it moves between the panels and the rooftop.

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UC San Diego