Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Time for a TurnaroundWell, my friends, things are finally looking up, and good timing, too, since I’m sure you’re all sick of me bitching. Recent bike build, including wheels… fun! In what feels like a fairly short time, I’ve come from sitting around … Continue reading → […]
- This Raised My PulseHey, baby… wanna ride? I may be injured, but I’m not dead yet. I can still have racy thoughts. Here’s more info. In other news, UBI was an awesome success! I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Overhaul day…. … Continue reading → […]
- Time for a Turnaround
- Edgy Veggie
Wildfire danger lower this year, but still serious
Sean McCaffrey of the Roosevelt National Forest fire crew digs a line around the West Creek Fire west of Glen Haven last year. The fire, which burned about an acre of steep, rocky terrain, was sparked by a lightning strike. | Photo: Walt Hester, Estes Park Trail Gazette
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — Gov. Bill Ritter says wetter than usual conditions have reduced the fire danger this year but the state is ready if there is a major wildfire on the Western Slope.
Officials have warned that the continuing bark beetle infestation has left Colorado’s high country at risk of a major fire. Read more
Turning beetle-kill wood into motor fuel
Lodgepole pines | flickr user gregor_y
Weird. The Post reports that some clever folks have found yet another use for beetle-kill wood — motor fuel.
Its not exactly turning a sows ear into a silk purse, but Cobalt Technologies Inc. is aiming to transform pine-bark-beetle-killed lodgepole pines into motor fuel.
A Colorado State University lab is preparing to test the brew from the California startup company in a four-stroke, overhead-valve Honda engine.
Plus, if you read the story, you’ll learn a little about the differences between ethanol and butanol.
So here’s a dumb question — what’s the demand for beetle-kill wood looking like? Or what would it look like if a few people started using beetle-kill butanol?
Boulder County Issue 1C would halve jail’s utility bill
Inmate Kevin Halfen loads a massive washing machine with towels while doing laundry Wednesday at the Boulder County Jail. With laundry going 16 hours a day, among other needs, the jail burns through a lot of electricity. But Boulder County officials hope voters will pass a ballot measure to allow energy-efficiency upgrades at several public buildings. Photo by Mark Leffingwell.
The Boulder County jail does a lot of laundry.
If it’s not uniforms, it’s bed sheets or underwear, meaning that the industrial-sized washers and dryers are often running 16 hours a day, greedily sucking electricity off the grid.
About 500 people live at the jail, so when you add the laundry to a flood of hot showers and countless burning light bulbs, the facility racks up a pretty hefty utility bill: $250,000 a year.
The Boulder County commissioners want to slash that bill, and if voters give them the thumbs-up at the ballot box in November, they say they can cut the amount of money spent on jail utilities in half.
This November, the county commissioners are asking voters for permission to make major energy-efficiency upgrades to the jail with the ultimate goal of cutting its $250,000 annual utility bill in half. Boulder County Ballot Issue 1C would allow the county to take advantage of new federally backed, zero-interest loans to make $6.1 million worth of improvements to county buildings, including the jail, the justice center and the sheriff’s headquarters.
The new loan program is part of the federal stimulus bill, and the money must be used for public buildings. Read more
