Green Energy News | June 17, 1996

June 17, 1996 – Vol.1 No.12

ENERGIES... week of June 17, 1996

FICTITIOUS OIL MAGNATE J.R. Ewing would scoff at the notion, but Dallas,Texas now has an energy efficient commuter rail system. Opening last week, the 11 mile light rail Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is expected to move 15,000 people a day, with another branch opening in December. Dallas would like to see the whole city rail accessible by 2010, including a line to busy Dallas- Fort Worth Airport.

Despite Texans’ love for cars many are concerned about pollution and car-congested streets. Some 40% polled said they’d use the new trains. Watch out, J.R., they’re comin’ your way!

“NEW URBANISM” is the new-old look in suburban planning. New communities are sprouting up around the country with features like those of the old cities. Cars parked in garages around the back. Homes facing a town green. Small lots with sidewalks out front. Homes of varied size and architecture. Shops to service the neighborhood. Communities built for people, not cars.

New Urbanism was pioneered by architects Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk beginning with the successful Seaside community in Florida in 1981.The team are planners of the new Kentlands community in the rolling Maryland countryside north of Washington. Developers hope to attract buyers and renters interested in community life and the family values it supports. Similar New Urban planning will be incorporated into new public housing in Baltimore.

New Urbanism is also energy efficient. People can walk to work or on errands. Children can walk to school. The car stays quietly at home.

LEAVE IT TO THE SCOTS. Scottish researchers have developed a way to use manganese to replace toxic cobalt in rechargeable lithium batteries.Cheaper than cobalt, manganese is used in the battery’s electrode.Scientists Robert Armstrong and Peter Bruce came up with the idea at the University of Saint Andrews.

Manganese, by the way, is often found in nodules on the ocean floor and is used in the production of steel for durability, corrosion resistance, and malleability. As an alloy it can exhibit unusual electrical properties in resistance and heat expansion. Manganese alloy is used as one laminate of the bi-metal coil in many thermostats.

The manganese-lithium batteries could be used in any application from computers to electric cars.