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The Daily Five: Monday, 8 June, 2009

By David Quilty • Published June 8th, 2009 • Further Reading  

The Daily Five

Subway powered by renewable energy; hybrid scooters; new energy bill a gamechanger for solar industry; a plug-less sink; turning a 2-liter bottle into a light bulb

First renewable-energy powered subway in the world. Metro de Bilbao, the company that manages the subway system in Spain, says that all energy they used in 2008 was from renewable sources! Supposedly, this saved over 46,000 metric tons of CO2 from being released into the air, which is pretty astounding.

Piaggio puts their hybrid three-wheeler into production. Piaggio, the manufacturer known around the world for making 2-wheeled motor scooters, has announced that they have started producing their newest product, the 3-wheeled hybrid scooter. It should travel 12 miles without even using the gas engine, and even after that it should get 140 MPG. The downside? It might cost $14,000.

Energy bill could have huge impact on solar industry. If President Obama’s energy bill passes, it would require U.S. utility companies to supply around 15% of their electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind power by 2020. The upside, besides the use of more renewable energy? The solar and wind industry will benefit as companies start buying more and more panels and turbines to meet these demands.

Monitor your water use by not having a drain plug. How does that work, you say? I was curious too until I looked at the pictures. It is pretty ingenious in that in order to get rid of the water in the sink, you have to tip it over. According to its designer, the act of manually tipping the sink over and dumping out the water makes us more aware of how much water we are using and throwing away. What do you think?

How to turn a 2-liter bottle into a light bulb and free light source. It’s quite simple, really – empty the bottle, fill it with water, seal it shut, cut a hole in the roof, insert the bottle half-way through. Voila – free light. I guess people in a lot of countries are now using this as free light for their homes. I love when something so basic can be used to help so many across the globe!

  • Trying is the best thing to do. If only we could get everyone to try!
  • The sink was intriguing. In my kitchen sink, I use tubs for washing my dishes so I can carry the water to the garden and get extra use. Sometimes in bad weather that gets old...but, I'm trying.
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