Would you car-share your own car?
Unlike Zipcar and other fleets of shared vehicles, a few companies such as Spride Share, RelayRides and Getaround are taking car-sharing to the next level. They allow people to share their OWN cars, and get paid for it too (potentially $2000 per year for 10 hrs/week, according to Spride). All of these companies seem to be in start-up stage, so it’s unclear WHERE the cars will be available.
That’s certainly a good way to increase the car-share-pool, but I think it’s going to be a pretty big hurdle to get people to trust their cars with strangers. Cars are like our babies; they have needs and they’re expensive when they get a boo-boo. First, all the FAQs indicate that the car owner is not responsible for renters’ (mis)use. For example, Spride Share’s FAQ says “Because we provide insurance for the period during which your car is used by others, your own insurance carrier has no additional exposure.” Additionally, the state of California has addressed other worries thanks to Assembly Bill 1871 which passed on June 3, 2010. “This bill makes clear that personal vehicle sharing does not constitute a commercial use of the vehicle.  The bill also makes sure that the individual car owner is not held liable for losses that arise when the vehicle is used for personal vehicle sharing. … AB 1871 will now moves to the State Senate for consideration.”
Even with assurance of insurance, I will still have an emotional struggle to offer my car for communal use. But if it actually puts several grand in my pocket, then that might convince me. I wonder if this would encourage people to buy another car just for the sole purpose of car-sharing-for-profit.
Original article at Sustainable Industries Journal.
Bio-coal instead of Petro-coal
If you want to make your coal-fired train or power plant more enviro-friendly, then this might be good news for you.  A Seattle-based company is planning to offer “E-coal“, which apparently stands for eco-coal (I think they should have called it “bio-coal”, but maybe that name is taken). The big advantage for you, Mr. Steam-Train-Engineer, is that this E-coal  can be “substituted for fossil fuels, without the need for facility [or train] retrofitting.”
On a smaller scale, you can now fire-up some organic waste-based briquettes as alternative fuel. These are better than wood-based charcoal because they have a higher caloric content by weight and “leave no soot when touched, are easy to light and emit almost no smoke.” Â But I wonder if they add a flavor to food?
Biodiesel Made from Coffee Grounds
According to the American Chemical Society, Biodiesel can be made from waste coffee grounds! The benefits of coffee grounds include:
- Nearly as much yield as other sources like soybean and palm oil,
- 100% recycled/re-used source,
- coffee’s antioxidants prolong the biodiesel shelf-life,
- and of course, it creates a nice coffee smell!
So when will we see fuel pumps that offer a choice of smells? Popcorn, french fries, and now coffee. Yum!
Read more in the ACS press release…
Welcome!
This is my first post on the new blog-o-riffic version of tiltshift.com! This is the fourth major overhaul of my personal website since 1996.
- 1996 to 2001 - hosted on Europa (JPG snapshot)
- 2001 to 2005 - “Old” tiltshift.com (archive with many broken links)
- 2005 to 2008 - Tree-text placeholder (in limbo with no public content)
- 2008 to Today - Blog-o-riffic version (you’re looking at it!)
Now, let’s put these bits and bytes to work…
