One city in France was wide-awake early in the trend of going green. Located on the country’s west coast, La Rochelle now has an eco-transport system to be proud of.
La Rochelle in western France isn’t just a beauty spot, it’s a city whose green credentials leave others green with envy.
What’s become the city’s grand project all began in 1976 with hire bikes, an idea many other cities are only now beginning to adopt themselves.
These pick-up-and-drop-off bicycles are available all over town.
With a monthly subscription of 25 euros they’re free for the first half hour, then half a euro per hour.
Users simply swipe a card and off they pedal.
The swipe-and-hire system now includes electric cars.
Local resident Peggy Landon explains why she sold her car when she started using the system.
[Peggy Landon, Local Resident]:
”Well it’s obviously much, much cheaper. But I think also the other aspect that I really like is the sharing aspect of a car; everybody doesn’t need to have their own car.”
Next came electric boats … park and ride … and even deliveries.
To cut congestion goods are dropped outside the center and delivered by electric vans.
On top of keeping La Rochelle clean and green, local Vice President Denis Leroy is keen to transform the citizens as well as the city.
[Denis Leroy, Local Vice President]:
“The coming generation will not own their own car, it is less into cars than us, it is our generation that put the car everywhere. The car is a practical object so they use it for the time they need it and, seeing how much cars cost, they would rather spend their money elsewhere.”
The plan is to get people out of private cars, onto the streets and back into the community.
Peggy is certainly a convert.
[Peggy Landon, Local Resident]:
”To do something like this, to use these electric cars, what I feel is that it makes you want to do more for the environment. And to try and maybe explore other different possibilities where we can each do just one little thing to make a difference,” said Landon.
City authorities say this is more than just going green, it’s a philosophical vision.
La Rochelle is blazing a trail and those who are green with envy are keen to follow suit.
There are a number of promissing new entries into the electric bike arena. Some DIY, some kits, and some manufacturers. They range all the way up to above $42,000. They market is really ready for multiple solutions and some are getting there. Below are a few very interesting videos and articles bringing light to this very interesting area of solutions that are moving away from the fossil age.
Here is a great website for conversion kits:
The “E-Rocket” from Berlin, Germany…
E-Bike by Volkswagen
electricmotionsystems.com
And for safety you might want to check this out…
2011 Mini Scooter-E electric scooter
2011 Yamaha Electric Scooter
2011 Honda Electric Scooter
The E-Bu Bu Scooter
BMW Concept Scooter… electric version coming soon
2011 Ryno Motors first ride in parking innovative self-balancing one wheel electric scooter
And then there is the UNOCycle…
http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2009-11/electric-unicycle-transforms-two-wheeler
Forget about the hybrid auto — Shai Agassi says it’s electric cars or bust if we want to impact emissions. His company, Better Place, has a radical plan to take entire countries oil-free by 2020.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, and “Lost” producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10
Energy-related economic, security, and environmental threats are intensifying the national conversation about how to regain energy leadership and competitiveness, restore jobs and prosperity, and build a secure and climate-safe energy system.
Yet America lacks a comprehensive vision of how a market economy can achieve these transformational goals.
RMI has that vision, and is now building its detailed roadmap, which we call Reinventing Fire™. This strategy will bring together RMI’s 28 years of innovation and engage the world in our most ambitious and important work yet—using whole-system thinking and integrative design to move the U.S. off fossil fuels by 2050, led by business for profit.
Watch Ervin Laszlo shed light on the emerging changes happening today and the urgent need for technological and social cooperation and world peace.
This message and news goes beyond the fear of global warming and embraces the shift in consciousness toward not only creative networking for revolutionary solutions but a evolutionary change in the way we live together as a global family.
Ervin László (born 1932 in Budapest, Hungary) is a Hungarian philosopher of science, systems theorist, integral theorist, and classical pianist. He has published about 75 books and over 400 papers, and is editor of World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution. Moreover, he has recorded several piano concertos. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ervin_László
World Shift 2012 Declaration. Ervin Laszlo, Club of Budapest International
This video will be shown at the London WorldShift 2012 event on 09/09/09.
“There is no doubt that we are now in a state of global emergency. This unprecedented worldwide crisis is a symptom of a much deeper problem - the current state of our consciousness: how we think about ourselves and our world. We have the urgent need, and now the opportunity, for a complete rethink: to reconsider our values and priorities, to understand our interconnectedness and to begin a new direction - living in harmony with nature and each other.”
The 999 It’s Time team has identified 9 core action areas where we can all engage with positive change. This interesting group of individuals, who are championing each cause include, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on consumerism, Sam Roddick who is tackling activism and founder Rory Spowers who will be promoting the issue of awareness. On 9th September 2009, 999 It’s Time will orchestrate 9 maximum profile events and actions, aligning itself with thought-leading activists, artists, scientists, politicians, economists and thinkers, to wed the most credible and creative ideas into the 999 It’s Time Manifesto.
On the same day, WorldShift 2012 will also be launched. This global movement is dedicated to co-creating the foundations of a peaceful, just and sustainable world by the end of 2012. The organisation believes that an enlightened government is needed to address these issues and seeks to unite and engage everyone in this process by signing the WorldShift 2012 Declaration to commit to transformational change.
Eric Giler demos wireless electricity at the TEC conference.
Eric Giler wants to untangle our wired lives with cable-free electric power. Here, he covers what this sci-fi tech offers, and demos MIT’s breakthrough version, WiTricity — a near-to-market invention that may soon recharge your cell phone, car, pacemaker.
The competition and fight for the strategic control of oil vs. the cooperative and independence inherent in renewable energy is an interesting comparison.
With this in mind… Anne Korin is a conservative worth listening too. She is the Co-Director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. She points out a few key questions that are missing from many discussions about climate change, oil, coal, nukes, drilling, etc.
-Does America have the time to wait for the market to provide to solutions for energy independence?
-Are there times when government should intervene, like cap and trade?
-Why are we fighting wars that we are supporting both sides of?
-What real solutions can we do right now?
–Here is part one of seven…
And so…
-Will coal become less attractive because the Supreme Court has agreed CO2 is a pollutant and must be regulated by the EPA to mitigate climate change? Cick Here
-Will government step in with Cap and Trade to give renewable more advantage over fossil fuels?
As Obama has mentioned. Click Here
-Or will new innovations come forward that are more competitive than fossil fuels?
Like this study from Ausra about how Solar thermal power could supply over 90 percent of US Grid Plus new electric vehile auto fleet.
SolarEnurgy.net is powered completely by solar, wind and renewable energy to the tune of 130% of the data center power consumption, so we're not only neutralizing our carbon footprint, but also pumping an extra 30% of green energy back into the power grid! A light footprint.
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