blog – Kelp4less

Posted on July 18, 2018

Ireland to Divest From Fossil Fuels

Positive Future #205 (Feature photo – Coat of Arms of Ireland – CCA 3.0 Unported) Ireland, a modest-sized nation of 6.5 million people, is the first country in the world to divest from fossil fuels. Called the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill, all public monies that have been invested in fossil fuel companies will be sold and pulled out. The sell-off is estimated to be around $500 million across some 150 different companies. Passed by Ireland’s Lower House, the bill still needs to be passed by its Upper House. Broad political support for the divestment from Ireland’s political parties means that the bill is expected to pass and become law by…

Posted on July 13, 2018

Americans Spend More Eating Out Than Eating at Home

Touch the Soil News #1065 (Feature photo – Chipotle, Part of the Eating-Out Scene – CCA SA 3.0 Unported) Total U.S. Food Expenditures are pushing past $1.5 trillion a year. Recent USDA reports reveal that over half of this total is now spent on eating out. The food chain is changing and Phil Lempert explains some of the major trends unfolding in the following video clip: Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

Posted on July 13, 2018

Farming the Desert Sands

Touch the Soil News #1064 (Feature photo – Desert sands on the outskirts of Abu Dubai, the largest city in the UAE – CCA SA 2.5 Generic) Technologies are emerging which allows sand to hold water and for microbes to flourish that maintain the soil and bring nutrients to plant roots. At the forefront of these technologies is China, which has demonstrated successes in turning deserts into farmable areas that can produce over 40 different kinds of crop. The United Arab Emirates is a desert nation that must import up to 90 percent of its food. The UAE, in cooperation with Chinese firms, is planning to start testing/developing desert soilisation…

Posted on July 6, 2018

Soybeans in the Crosshairs

Touch the Soil News #1059 (Feature photo – Soybean Field – GNU Free Doc License) America is farming 322 million acres of cropland in 2018. Of those acres, almost 90 million (28%) are planted to soybeans. Last year China purchased $14 billion of U.S. Soybeans – a market that underpins a significant share of farm income. The problem is that South America is also a large soybean producer. This means the U.S. is not the only farmer in the world. At the crux of the matter is that trade wars could hurt the most vulnerable – farmers and poor people with insufficient purchasing power. One must ask, why is the…

Posted on June 4, 2018

May 2018 Electric Car Sales – Breaking Records Again

Positive Future #167 (Feature photo – Shepherds– CCA SA 2.0 Generic) InsideEVs reports another record breaking month for electric plug-in car sales. Looking back, May 2017 plug-in sales in the U.S. were 16,596 units with the top selling model being the Tesla Model S (1,620 units). For May, 2018, plug-in sales were 24,563 units. That’s a gain of 48 percent over last year. The top selling plug-in for May, 2018 was the Tesla Model 3 (6,250 units). You can see the full report here: https://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/ Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

Posted on May 14, 2018

San Diego – Charts a Course to Electric Buses

Positive Future #148 (Feature photo – New Flyer Electric Bus – photo courtesy of San Diego Metropolitan Transit System) A few years ago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology issued a study that air pollution causes 200,000 early deaths each year in the U.S. In response, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System just approved the purchase of 6 forty-foot electric buses from New Flyer for a cost of $6 million. The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System is piloting this program to explore zero-emissions transportation. Considering the San Diego metro is home to 3.3 million people, San Diego is clearly part of a larger national trend. The new electric buses will have…

Posted on April 18, 2018

China – Electrified Car Sales Growing

Positive Future #127 (Feature photo – Electric Car Charging Stations Will Be More Common – CCA SA 3.0 Unported) Annual car sales (light vehicles) globally are around 93 million cars of which 24 million are in China. Recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy reveals that approximately 550,000 plug-in cars were sold in China in 2017 – 2.3 percent of the market. Amazing is that plug-in sales grew from 1.3 percent in 2016 to 2.3 percent in 2017. Increasing market share by 1 percent a year is no small feat. This means that plug-in car sales are set to grow by almost 250,000 a year. By 2019, China could…

Posted on April 11, 2018

Food Economics or What?

Touch the Soil News #985 (Feature photo – Soybeans in the Middle of Trade War – photo courtesy of USDA) The Presidential Administration is moving the nation towards a trade war with China. China is moving to retaliate. Some of the numbers floating around are that the U.S. may impose tariffs up to $150 billion on Chinese imports to America and the Chinese may retaliate by imposing tariffs up to $50 billion of American exports to China. Since money does not grow on trees, it will be the poorer factions of both countries that pay the price for the trade war. Agriculture and food are caught in the middle. If…

Posted on March 28, 2018

Meet Cora

Positive Future #108 (Feature photo – Cora Aerial Taxi– Courtesy of Kitty Hawk) The autonomous aerial taxi called Cora, is built in the U.S. by a company called Kitty Hawk. Kitty Hawk has teamed up with a New Zealand company called Zephyr Airworks. Together these two companies are working with the New Zealand Government to lead the world into aerial taxis. It’s great that small companies are still able to lead the way forward. Want More? – Sign up below Special Deals Ahead…Sign up!

Posted on March 20, 2018 March 20, 2018

Bollinger Electric Off-Road Truck – Jeep/Tesla Competitor?

Positive Future #102 (Feature photo – The Bollinger B1 – photo courtesy of Bollinger) Bollinger Motors is engineering the world’s first all-wheel off-road SUT (Sport Utility Truck). Called the Bollinger B1, it is the most innovative and exciting all-electric vehicle under development today. Maybe Tesla should take note. The vehicle has 15 inches of ground clearance and can carry 72 sheets of ½ inch drywall. The new truck boasts a range of 200 miles (all electric) and can be used as a source of remote power. Looks like off-roading is taking a new turn towards fun. The truck has a 120 KWh battery pack – which is 20 percent larger…