Posts Tagged ‘green’
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
 This kiteboat journey is really interesting. Check out her blog.
Anne Quéméré has kicked off the kiteboat crossing of the South Pacific, from Peru to Papeete (French Polynesia).
The French sailor will travel alone and without assistance about 4,200 nautical miles (7778 km). Quéméré will be trying it for the second time, after she was forced to quit the journey in 2008, after spending 40 days at sea.
Anne has departed on 3rd March, at 3am. She is expected to reach Papeete in in two months to two and a half months. Reliable, light and rapid, the kiteboat prototype was designed by Marc Ginisty, a naval architect.
The sailing craft is six metres long and 1.9 metres wide and the hull net weight is of 80 kilograms. Four solar panels, fore and aft, will recharge the battery, operate the GPS, the satellite phone, the computer and the watermaker.
Quéméré carries 30 kg of foodstuff, required for the 8-to-10 week journey, mainly of the freeze dried variety. She will have five meals and snacks during each day.
You can follow Anne Quéméré’s challenge, here. Source: SurferToday
Tags: Anne Quéméré, eco, green, kiteboat, South Pacific crossing, wind
Posted in Everything Else, Green | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
 The most eco-friendly surfboard around
A surfboard made of beach trash. This unbelievable business idea is “owned” by Kevin Cunningham, surfer and founder of Spirare Surfboards, an environmentally-friendly surf company.
“Spirare Sustainable Surf Craft” is the project that transforms debris into objects of design. That is, a beautiful surfboard. But how did he do it? Kevin Cunningham recycles plastic and glass and reuses it in the skin of the surfboard. Also, plastic bottles are cut up and reassembled into fins.
The first limited series of recycled surfboards will be featured in galleries around USA and then 100 will be sold as custom orders.
The project needs your support. Let’s take the debris out of our ocean and protect what we love most: waves and oceans. Remember that in a foam board with a wooden stringer only 3-4% is renewable material.
Take a look at Spirare Surfboards’ website and get in touch with Kevin Cunningham. Backers of the project will receive priority status for any custom surfboard order. Source: SurferToday
Tags: eco, green, recycle, Surfboard, sustainability, trash
Posted in Green, Surfboard | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
 This is one of the greatest inventions, plastic to oil
Surfers Without Borders have presented the results of the “Plastic to Oil” demonstration, held at the Orella Stewardship Institute. The new technology allows everyone to transform normal everyday plastic into gasoline, kerosene and diesel for your surf trips. At the beach, if you need to refuel, pick up some trash and transform it again. This is definitely not the only answer to the huge global issue of marine debris, but it is really helpful. The machine will head to Santa Barbara and will be shown by doing beach clean-ups and transforming plastic.
For the past several years, Surfers Without Borders have been researching various methods of producing energy from waste. While there are many clean ways to get electricity from biomass or organic matter, the NGO was particularly looking for ways to create an incentive for people to clean up the ocean, mainly the plastic that has gathered itself and our attention in the Northern Pacific Gyre.
After many sessions surfing the internet, Surfers Without Borders came across a pretty promising process and series of machines designed by the Blest Corporation of Japan. After contacting them, they were put in touch with their US representatives, E-N-ergy Inc.
The machines range from a small desktop units to large continuous processing machines and refiners that can handle up to multiple tons of plastic waste. The plastics are put into the melting chamber where they are heated to around 420 deg C, at which point the plastic boils and the hot gasses are run through a water bath to be condensed into oil.
The desktop unit uses one kilowatt of electricity to convert one kilogram of plastic into one liter of oil, at a cost of around US $0.25. The oil can then be further refined back through the same machine into gasoline, kerosene, and diesel. A small amount of ash is left over, and the off-gasses are turned into CO2 and water with a catalytic converter, or can be used to run a generator.
The process is called pyrolysis and is a tried and true method for converting almost any type of material into energy. Material is super heated in the absence of oxygen, so does not combust, but vaporizes into gas. Since there is no combustion, the process is relatively clean. Source: SurferToday
Tags: eco, fuel, green, oil, plastic, surfer, Surfers Without Borders
Posted in Everything Else | No Comments »
Thursday, December 30th, 2010
 Beautiful, strong and eco-friendly bamboo can be used to make surfboards, skateboards and more
Advertising is the ‘wonder’ in Wonder Bread. so says Jef I. Richards, Professor of Advertising, University of Texas in Austin. Bamboo fabric is becoming the Wonder Bread of sustainable textiles. This isn’t to say that bamboo doesn’t have many exceptional qualities. The green hype is starting to lead to a loss of credibility.
Bamboo has gained entry into the apparel and fashion industry. It’s being touted as the latest and hottest sustainable eco fabric but some are starting to question this.
Bamboo: Facts behind the Fiber
Many conventional fashion designers and eco-fashion designers have Bamboo in common. Why?
In part because of its luxurious softness, smooth hand, flowing and gentle drape, and easy price – at least compared with silk and cashmere – and eco friendly cachet, bamboo has gained entry throughout the fashion industry. But it has been the trumpets heralding bamboo as the latest and hottest sustainable eco-fabric that have been the most strident. And some of the hoopla is justified.
Growing bamboo is a wonderfully beneficial plant for the planet and most is naturally organic bamboo. The manufacturing processes where bamboo the plant is transformed into bamboo the fabric are where the sustainability and eco-friendly luster of bamboo is tarnished because of the heavy chemicals, some of which are toxic, that are often required. Read on and learn more about bamboo and its sustainable properties @ Curl Magazine.
Tags: bamboo, eco, fiber, green, Surfboard
Posted in Green, Surfboard | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
 Imagine the towing force of this kite
SkySails was the first company to understand the advantages of wind technologies in the shipping industry.
This unique invention has reduced fuel consumption and emissions of ships by up to 35%. But, as it happens in kiteboarding, there’s one critical element that should be adopted correctly: the lines or, in this particular case, the ropes that link the ship to the kite up in the sky.
That’s why SkySails has teamed up with DSM Dyneema and Gleistein. They have researched and developed the world’s strongest fiber: Dyneema. This special rope is carefully designed to deliver the high strength, light weight and excellent durability required for heavy duty rope applications.
Can you imagine the power applied in this towing kite? Well, a 160m2 SkySails’ kite generates a tractive force that corresponds to the thrust of an Airbus A318 turbine engine.
After two years in the market, the green Beluga has dramatically cut costs in fuel consumption and is pushing this technology forward. What could kiteboarding learn from this developments? Source: SurferToday
Tags: Beluga, Dyneema, eco, green, kite, Kiteboard, rope, sail, ship, technology, wind
Posted in Everything Else, Kiteboard | No Comments »
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