Green Energy News | March 29, 1998

March 29, 1998 – Vol.2 No.52

ENERGIES... week of March 29,1998

GEOTHERMAL FOR PLANNED COMMUNITY. A first-of-its-kind community of almost 950 single family homes will be developed in the Ozark Mountains north of Harrison, Arkansas - with lake water as the geothermal source for heating and cooling. Construction of Bear Creek Springs Community will be begin this year, and all homes will be built using the GeoExchange system, the most energy efficient, clean, and cost effective system on the market today, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Each house will include state-of-the-art climate control systems and water from the GeoExchange systems will be recycled for irrigation of the 18 hole golf course, residential lawn sprinkler systems, and supply for the community fire protection system.

In the planning stages also are garden patio homes, condominiums and multifamily units. Participants in the development include Autumn Oaks Communities and K&M Shillingford of Tulsa, Oklahoma; ClimateMaster of Oklahoma City; GeoExchange of Washington, D.C. and others.

HOT ATTICS MAKE HOT WATER. Why not use the stifling air in an attic space as an energy source? According to SolarAttic you can. Stagnant air in an attic can climb to well over 100 degrees F (conservatively) on a sunny summer day. The power of the Sun can be used to make hot water for heating, domestic use and for swimming pools with SolarAttic's patented technology.

Hot attic air that isn’t used as an energy source should be removed to keep living spaces below cooler. SolarAttic offers an efficient method for that too. Unlike a traditional roof vent, their vent system doesn’t require a hole in the roof. With SolarAttic’s system a perforated duct, installed along the underside of the ridge - inside the attic - inhales stuffy air uniformly to be exhausted through a gable vent or down to a soffit vent.

Maybe SolarAttic ought to contact the developers in Arkansas for even more efficiency. Check out SolarAttic’s website at http://www.solarattic.com.

LOW COST ELECTRIC VEHICLES. B.A.T. International, and partners, have announced plans to build the “Clean World Car” electric vehicle which can compete head-to-head in cost and performance with internal combustion engined vehicles, according to B.A.T.

Initially to be built in a plant in Otay Mesa, Mexico, the EV will have a composite chassis that can be used as a platform for a pickup truck, van and passenger car. The rolling chassis, including suspension and running gear, weighs less than 1300 lbs. Batteries are advanced lead acid.

B.A.T. has an order for 55 vehicles, with others in the works. First year production goal for the Mexico plant is 1000 EV’s. Future plans include world-wide production of the Clean World Car.