Great article talks about transportation on two wheels!! Here’s an interesting thought: there are some 200 million motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, and trikes currently on the world’s roads. It’s definitely not hard to see why, especially in countries like India, China, and Africa, where they outnumber cars and trucks. It’s not hard to see why – motorcycles are affordable, efficient, and easy to repair.

Motorcycles also happen to be a whole heck of a lot of fun to ride – they’re nimble, quick, and without tons of metal and glass surrounding you, there’s an unmistakable sense of freedom. That same lack of protection can also make them quite unforgiving and dangerous.

Read the full article here.

This is a first for me!  A published poem about a junkyard! For Hoppe, that means the poems in his newly released book Diamond Plate (Obsolete Press, $10.00) should appeal as much to the mechanics he grew up with in the Michigan Rust Belt as to his peers in the Austin poetry scene. Hoppe will read poems from Diamond Plate Wednesday at an Austin Community College event that is free and open to the public.

Having worked a bevy of blue collar jobs, actively participated in the punk poetry and ‘zine scene, converted to Buddhism, raised a son and joined the English faculty at Austin Community College, Hoppe gives off the impression of a man whose eclectic life has mellowed to a gentler rhythm.

The poem “Junkyard Thaw” does just that. “Today’s adventure / finds me at the junkyard / where icicles give car grilles / vicious fangs,” he writes, capturing the surreal beauty of abandoned car parts in a section of the book called “The Persistence of Machines.”

Read the full story here.

Great little story out of Muncie on bringing fruitful land back from a former salvage yard!

Work has begun on a plan to re-vegetate Car Doctors, a former auto salvage yard on Burlington Drive adjacent to the Cardinal Greenway.

Revegatation is important in preventing erosion by water and wind and runoff of metal contaminants, and to alleviate unsightly conditions, says John Pichtel, a professor of natural resources and environmental management at Ball State University.

The project also will research the possibility of plants vacuuming up contaminants in the soil.

Mayor Dennis Tyler was on hand last week to thank Pichtel and his students for doing the project, which the city is helping to fund with $1,450.

The students are trying to “recolonize” the site by planting test plots of clover, rye grass, bluegrass and other plants, to determine which will grow best in the compacted, gavelly, infertile soil.

The project also will compare the ability of each type of plant to remove or stabilize soil contaminants.

The contaminants of concern include lead, arsenic, hydrocarbons and benzene. The site borders the White River as well as Cardinal Greenway. It also is the former site of bulk oil plants.

The students are using compost provided by Ball State in some test plots but not in others to determine if hauling in compost is worth the effort, Pichtel said. They also are studying the effects of amending the soil with mycorrhizal fungi, to see if it is better than compost in recolonizing the property.

Other vegetation to be planted at the site for testing includes, corn, wheat, soybeans and oats.

Eventually, Pichtel would like to recolonize the site with tallgrass prairie and a woodlot of oak, beech, birch and maple trees so it could become a recreational area with walking trails.

Read the full article here.

This one is the most eco-frienldy car engine you will ever see!  An Australian wood sculptor has created an amazing wooden replica of the Ferrari 365GTB V12 engine and is now selling it on eBay for $6,000.

Go Texas!  While just a bit tardy to give the American economy of 2009 a jolt, a $10.4 million stimulus grant is just now being put to work getting Austin residents into electric cars at a steal.

Pecan Street, an environmental nonprofit based on the University of Texas campus, is using the grant to set up a kind of energy use laboratory in the recently developed mixed-use neighborhood where the Mueller Municipal Airport used to be, according to a story posted today by Texas Tribune.

Read the full article here.

Michael Wilson of the Federal Trade Commission confirmed in a letter to the ARA the use of recycled automotive parts is OK for warranties!

In the letter, the FTC says: “Warrantors may not claim that a warranty is void simply because a consumer has used an authorized or recycled part.”

“Tying warranties to the use of new, authorized replacement parts is illegal under the Magnuson-Moss Act,” said Wilson. “Several months ago we asked the FTC to review position statements by several automobile manufacturers that implied that recycled parts are lesser quality parts than new OEM parts and that there use could void a manufacturer warranty,” said Wilson.

ARA raised concerns with the FTC that the position statements of the automobile manufacturers might mislead consumers into thinking that using recycled parts in a repair could void their warranty. As a result, the FTC announced the update of a consumer alert entitled Auto Warranties, Routine Maintenance, and Repairs: Is Using the Dealer a Must? The revised alert specifically notes that the mere use of recycled parts does not void a warranty and that it is illegal for warrantors to void a warranty or deny coverage simply because a recycled part was used.

This is great news for the environment and also for the auto recycling industry.  Using used green auto parts is a great way to keep the planet green and save some cash on repairs!

Toyota this past week revealed more details of its new 2012 Prius V hybrid wagon – and reaffirmed plans to begin selling the car in the United States this fall, even though it has been delayed in Japan and other markets because of the March earthquake and tsunami.

The first new model in a planned expansion of the brand to create a family of vehicles bearing the Prius name, the V essentially is a crossover version of the mid-size hatchback that arrived for 2010 as the third generation of Toyota’s groundbreaking gasoline-electric gas saver.

Now this is what I would call a Super Junk Car!!!

Forget alternate fuel sources, solar panels and wind turbines, a hotel that says it is one of the “greenest” in the world has found a new source of renewable energy – sweating guests.

Those staying at the 366-room Crown Plaza Copenhagen Towers will be encouraged to head down to the gym to spend time on its new fleet of electricity-generating exercise bikes. The bikes have iPhones mounted on the handlebars which monitor how much power is being produced and fed into the mains supply of the hotel. Any guest producing 10 watt hours or more will be rewarded with a free meal.

The scheme is a pilot project that will run for a year, and if successful, could be rolled out to all 21 Crowne Plaza hotels in the UK.

“The electric bikes offer our guests the chance to get fit and help power the hotel at the same time,” said Allan Agerholm, the hotel’s general manager. “It will be interesting to see how many guests take part and how much electricity we generate.”

Getting the free meal is surprisingly easy. The hotel’s calculations suggest one guest cycling at 30kmph for an hour will produce around 100 watt hours of electricity, meaning that reaching the threshold for the meal should take only six minutes.

Critics might argue that even those who cycle for a full hour will be making a rather token contribution to the energy use of a huge city hotel – 100 watt hours of energy is only enough to light a single 100 watt bulb for one hour. However the hotel counters that it wanted the target to be “achievable” so as many people as possible take part.

The hotel, which opened in November last year, is attempting to become carbon neutral. It has EU Green Building and Green Key certification and uses a groundwater-based cooling and heating system, low energy lighting and hand dryers, and is covered in solar panels on its south-facing aspects. So will its latest scheme catch on at other hotels around the world?

It sounds crazy but I love this idea!! And a great way to burn calories before partaking in some delicious dinner!