Artificial Leaf turns Water into Energy for Cheap

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) research team, lead by Dr. Daniel Nocera, have created a functioning artificial leaf which in reality is an advanced playing-card sized silicon+catalyst solar cell that can power a house in a developing country for a day using a gallon (3.79 liters) of water and sunlight....

The oxygen and hydrogen can either be passed through a fuel cell to generate electricity, or burned to generate heat. All the leaf needs is water and sunlight, and it will work for at least 45 hours without degrading in performance according to testing done in the lab.

http://www.reviewsofelectronics.com/scientists-create-artificial-leaf/228189/

People living in older neighbourhoods are less likely to be overweight !!

"Older Neighbourhoods" are "Jane Jacob's" neighbourhoods - short blocks, mixed use, WALKABLE, promoting sociability and appealing to the eye, to the foot and the mind. Most developers and planners seem to have been blinded to the obvious multiple good effects.
-John O'Gorman

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080730.NEIGHBOUR30/TPStory/?query=old+house

HEALTH: THE OLD-HOUSE DIET
REBECCA DUBE Globe and Mail July 30, 2008

Want to lose weight? Move to an old house.

People living in older neighbourhoods are less likely to be overweight than new-home dwellers, according to a study to be published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

For every decade added to their neighbourhood's age, women's risk of obesity decreased 8 per cent and men's obesity risk fell 13 per cent. Researchers found that people with old homes are slimmer because old neighbourhoods are more walkable.

"The data show that how and where we live can greatly affect our health," Ken Smith, co-author of the study and a professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah, said in a news release. His study examined height and weight data from the driver's licences of 453,927 residents in Salt Lake County and compared them with census data on median housing age.

The research doesn't mean all hope is lost for new neighbourhoods, Dr. Smith said, rather that developers should take their cues from the past to make it easy for people to walk around.
"We have the opportunity ... to create neighbourhoods that encourage less car driving, benefiting residents' health and wallets and shrinking our own carbon footprint," Dr. Smith said.

Metrolinx has tough road ahead

Toronto Star
Monday, April 14, 2008

Road Map to Recovery
Byline: Tess Kalinowski and Daniel Girard

Every day, Rob MacIsaac gets a unique perspective on the monumental task of weaning the Toronto region off its automobile addiction.

The Metrolinx chair's ninth-floor office at the foot of Bay Street overlooks an exit ramp of the Gardiner Expressway where a seemingly endless flow of traffic inches into the city long after the traditional morning rush has ended.

Fewer than 8 per cent of regional commuters outside Toronto and 23 per cent in the city use public transit, according to the 2006 Transportation Tomorrow survey of the Toronto area. Add that to a rapidly growing regional population and it is clear nothing less than a massive cultural shift can save us from choking on our own congestion.

Smog days are now the norm in summer. Last year was the second-worst on record, with 29, contributing to an alarming incidence of respiratory illness and childhood asthma. Obesity has become the scourge of our drive-through lifestyle. Economically, road congestion costs $2 billion a year in lost productivity in the Toronto region.

And, without swift action, it's only going to get worse.

Metrolinx is planning based on a projected growth of 2.5 million in the region, pushing the population to 8.6 million by 2031. Most of that growth will occur in the municipalities outside the city of Toronto.

The job of Metrolinx as the province's transportation planning agency for the region spanning Oshawa and York Region to Hamilton, is to help us clean up our act. Its blueprint for an integrated infrastructure, the roads and rails, buses and bicycles that could help effect that shift, is due out this spring.

"We need to change the culture in transportation," said MacIsaac. "The car is going to play a role for the foreseeable future, but we can introduce a lot of elements in combination with the car to have a much more effective system than we have today."

That's especially true in the regions outside the city, where the convenience of a car almost always trumps an incomplete and inconsistent public transit system.

But for MacIsaac and the regional politicians on the Metrolinx board, at least the timing for change seems right. An Ipsos-Reid survey of 1,000 residents of the GTA and Hamilton last fall found two-thirds believe the best way to improve the region's traffic situation is by increasing public transit, compared with one-third calling for more roads.

The public is also clamouring for action on global climate change. And, earlier this month, Statistics Canada figures showed that between 2001 and 2005, the number of people walking or using public transit to get to work in Toronto was up 7.2 per cent, with those cycling rising by one-third in the Census Metropolitan Area.

Meanwhile, all three levels of government have pledged big money for public transit. Queen's Park, through Metrolinx, is spending $11.5 billion for 52 regional projects to expand subway, streetcar, light rail and bus services by 2020. Some of that money will help expand the TTC's Spadina and Yonge subway lines into York Region and build a network of light rail stretching to the farthest corners of the city's suburbs. Ottawa, which is being asked to pony up $6 billion for the provincial plan, hasn't committed to the Metrolinx plans but has earmarked some cash for its own transportation priorities.

So where do we go next?

Today and for the next five days, the Toronto Star will look at key transportation challenges facing the region and how other cities have tackled them. Ideas include road tolls, HOV lanes, parking and financial incentives to get people to share rides, take transit, walk, cycle and work a compressed week. Planners are trying to create communities easily accessible by public transit and other modes but also destinations in themselves, attracting workers, residents, shoppers and recreation seekers.

The series also examines some customer-service ideas, the high-tech and common-sense enhancements that could transform public transit's image.

MacIsaac does more than talk about being a model commuter. He takes a GO train from Burlington to downtown daily and uses a car-sharing firm or the subway if he needs to get around during the day.

His task now is to come up with a road map that will persuade others to get on board.

This is really about making more room for cars

Subject: Let's all agree to the obvious: This is really about making more room for cars.
DR. GRIDLOCK
Road plan isn't about carpools or buses, it's just making room for more cars

JEFF GRAY jgray@globeandmail.com Globe and Mail Mar. 10/08

Sixteenth Avenue, as I remember it, was in the late 1980s a charming two-lane county road, with mostly farmland - and real live cows - on one side, and on the other, the rapidly expanding world of two-car garages and front lawns, where my family lived.

While at least one of those farms is still there, 16th is now a wide-feeling four lanes - an ample buffer zone graces its middle in stretches - and a busy commuter artery, funnelling traffic to Highway 404.

It is lined mostly with the backyards of houses that are hidden away in twisty-street subdivisions, and passes parking lots, plazas and gas stations. It is sprawl in a nutshell:

Great for cars, if you aren't expecting too many of them and don't mind mild ugliness, and lousy for pedestrians, cyclists and public transit.

Now, 16th Avenue is on a list of a staggering number of York Region's main roads that regional chairman Bill Fisch wants to widen, in this case, making my onetime sleepy country road six or seven lanes across.

Mr. Fisch says the plan is about creating high-occupancy vehicle lanes for carpoolers and buses. But let's not kid ourselves. Public transit up here is still a fringe affair, despite recent advances thanks to the region's shiny, new Viva bus system. And any HOV lanes along these roads are either going to be unenforceable or only meant to be enforced in rush hours.

Let's all agree to the obvious: This is really about making more room for cars.

Armed with his HOV-Iane fig leaf, Mr. Fisch even recently scolded Toronto Mayor David Miller for refusing to match York Region's road-widenings on Toronto's roads south of Steeles Avenue.

Mr. Miller and Toronto's traffic planners, however, have concluded that widening roads is a short-term fix, and so is no fix at all. In just a few years sometimes mere months - the new lanes simply clog with more cars.

Even York Regionites, mostly a car-loving people, are rising up against the widening plans. The resistance has admittedly been driven by people who live along 16th Avenue and are not keen to have what will amount to a highway right next to their back-yards. A petition has been circulating, crowds have been packing political meetings, and Markham town council voted recently to ask York Region to consider other options.

"It seems like it's time to draw a line in the sand with regard to urban sprawl," said local resident Peter Miasek, a semi-retired environmental adviser to Imperial Oil, who has been spearheading efforts to stop the widening.

He acknowledges that for an hour in the morning, traffic on 16th Avenue is quite busy, and that it maybe takes five more minutes than it once did to zip across. But four-lane main arteries, with better public transit in the mix, seem to serve big, busy Toronto well, he observes: "We know that four-lane roads plus transit works, because south of Steeles, that's pretty much all you've got down there."

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti said the town has asked York Region to look at whether the various planned future improvements to public transit the Yonge subway extension, improved GO service - will take the pressure off the need to widen roads as the area continues its massive population growth. But in an interview, he seemed unwilling to go to the barricades to fight a wider 16th Avenue: "At the end of the day, though, we do need to solve the traffic problem."

York Region has referred Markham's request to its transportation department for further study.

Stephen Collins, who manages the roads branch of York Region's engineering transportation services department, provided a chart that shows that if current trends continue, much of 16th would be at or above capacity by 2021.

He said the region's strategy, which used to call for nothing ,but road widenings, has matured into a plan to create a "transit priority network," with wider roads of HOV transit lanes to feed local bus passengers to its Viva bus rapid transit system.

Still, this is York Region. Many long-standing residents moved there years ago for the "open spaces," Mr. Collins says, and they are not going to give up their car keys.

"They are car users and they will always be car users, and despite our best efforts to encourage them to use transit, they never will. So we need to recognize that we have those people in our community, and we need to provide services for them."

Maybe there is no alternative.

Maybe there are so many cars, and so many malls. and so many low-rise office complexes dotting Markham and Richmond Hill that there is no use even bothering to fight against a wider 16th Avenue. Or maybe this considerable handicap means York Region needs to adopt a much more radical approach to transportation, well outside of its comfortable four-wheeled box.

Dr. Gridlock appears Mondays.

They are car users and they will always be car users, and despite our best efforts to encourage them to use transit, they never will.

Stephen Collins

City's poor stranded in suburbs

Getting ready in the morning usually means grabbing your car keys or your bus pass. Which one of these you take says a lot less about who you are than about where you are. In Canada's big cities, only half of adults who live in the downtown core drive every day. Outside this core, four out of five adults drive every day, which is natural since fewer interesting places are within walking distance. In the newer suburban developments in the quickest-growing parts of the 905 region, walking to the nearest grocery store can seem like an epic trip. In Canada's suburbs, where you work, play, eat and sleep might well be in totally different areas of the community. This makes a car your ticket into a full suburban life.

Toronto Star, P.AA8, February 13, 2008

Spreading Sprawl

Canadians are becoming more and more dependent on the automobile, Stats-Can told us last week, citing figures showing that 74% of Canadians are full-time drivers, up from 70% in 1998 and 68% in 1992. This trend, a natural consequence of suburban sprawl, is only to be expected. Our governments spend billions to promote the use of suburbs. Take the most recent shot in the arm for sprawl, British Columbia's $14-billion plan to enable longer, faster commutes; to develop the low-density areas outside Vancouver; to enable the dispersion of Vancouverites to the outlying areas; and to counter the natural incentive we all have to live close to our places of work, study, and play.
National Post, P.FP15, February 2, 2008

In the News...

Metrolinx to release Active Transportation Green Paper
A draft version of the Metrolinx (formerly the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority) Green Paper on Active Transportation is up for approval by its board this Friday, January 25th, and will then be released for public comment.
You can read the report by clicking here
______________________________________
Viva sets wheels in motion for rapid transit on Yonge
The wheels are in motion for officials to move forward with rapid transit on Yonge Street. The question is, will it be bus lanes or subway line? In 2005, Viva launched its 20-year transportation plan. Its second phase is a $1.8 billion project to install bus-only lanes on Yonge Street, between Steeles Avenue and Highway 7, then north to Bernard Street in Richmond Hill.
Thornhill Post, P. 9, January 31, 2008
______________________________________
StatsCan: Our car addiction is growing
Don't you just love statistics that challenge conventions and puncture presumptions? Until recently, my favourite batch were those suggesting that U.S. states that permit citizens to carry concealed handguns have lower rates of violent crime. Citing those statistics is like sticking a mischievous finger in the eye of anyone who wants to ban handguns in Canada. My latest favourite, though, is a new Statistics Canada report showing that despite all the gum-beating we do about protecting the environment, Canadians are actually more dependent on their cars with each passing year, even in big cities with good public transit.
Hamilton Spectator, P. 19, January 25, 2008
______________________________________
News Release: Consultation begin for Canada's first motor vehicle fuel consumption regulation
OTTAWA - Transport Canada is reminding Canadians that consultations for the country's first motor vehicle fuel consumption regulations have begun, as announced on January 17, 2008 by the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. The Government of Canada recognizes that the transportation sector is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and for the first time the government will regulate the fuel consumption of cars and light trucks, beginning with the 2011 model year.
Transport Canada, January 23, 2008

The World's Newest and Cheapest Subway: Beijing Line 5

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/beijing_subway_5.php

Some modest proposals to liberate city streets

From John O'Gorman (getsmart listserv)...

"There are significant challenges to altering more than half a century of automobile-centred urban design, not the least of which is political inertia, according to the experts at an international walking conference here this week."

Also, there is a video available at the web address below.

http://www.thestar.com/article/264145

PEDESTRIANISM

TheStar.com | Ideas |

Some modest proposals to liberate city streets

A conference here this week aimed to turn around a half-century of car-driven urban planning, Oct 06, 2007 04:30 AM

Tess Kalinowski, Transportation Reporter

The sidewalks are wide. They're lined with flowers and trees. There's a bus stop, a bench, maybe even a small park. There's room for bikes and cars, but children and seniors don't have to worry about being run over.

That's the street everybody wants to live on, shop on, work on and walk on.

The planners and engineers know how to build it.

So, why are so many of us trapped in labyrinthine suburbs where, even if we want to walk, we imperil our lives doing so on the gravel shoulders of arterial roads?

There are significant challenges to altering more than half a century of automobile-centred urban design, not the least of which is political inertia, according to the experts at an international walking conference here this week.

But there's also a growing movement of pedestrians and cyclists ready to turn the transportation hierarchy on its head – to put people ahead of cars.

New developments can be made walkable, according to Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman, considered a maverick for his designs that rely more on human behaviour and less on road signs – eliminating elements like traffic lights, stop signs and lane markers altogether – to encourage civil traffic patterns.

"If you want people to behave like they're in a village, you have to build a village," he said.

Put car windows at a level closer to curb height so motorists see pedestrians differently. Vary paving materials and landscaping according to space use. People will instinctively know what to do, says Monderman.

The British conference chair of Walk21, Jim Walker, says he's seen "lots of disgusting places, but they can be sorted."

Other cities that have hosted the event wanted to show off their pedestrian-friendly strides.

Toronto was different, Walker said, because it chose the conference as the launch date for its new pedestrian strategy, part of a sustainable transportation plan to reduce reliance on the car.

The revolution is already under way in places like Kensington Market, now closed to cars on Sunday. St. George St. south of Bloor St. is another example.

"Ten years ago, (St. George) was a four-lane road with very narrow sidewalks and no landscaping and the very simple act of brilliance was to get rid of two traffic lanes, widen the sidewalks and landscaping. (Now) the sidewalks are full all the time and you have a beautiful street with trees that will eventually arch and meet in the middle," says Toronto's former planning chief, Paul Bedford, now a teacher and consultant.

Bedford can't resist adding that a hefty private donation helped embarrass the city and the University of Toronto into tackling the project.

But it doesn't work everywhere. In 1971, Yonge St. between and King and Gerrard Sts. was turned into a pedestrian mall.

"It was great for a (while), but even though there was no traffic, people migrated naturally to the sidewalks because they didn't feel like they should walk in the middle of the road," said Bedford.

Experts admit it's tougher to retrofit the worst of 1960s- and 1970s-style planning in the old suburbs of Toronto or places like Oakville and Pickering.

Perhaps we don't view walking as an integral part of our lives like Europeans, suggests Walk21's Daniel Egan, Toronto's manager of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

North Americans "spend thousands of dollars to go to those places (like Europe) and walk around and then you come back to your suburban bungalow and drive everywhere.

"I don't think it's necessarily political, I think it's part of the culture where that's something you go and enjoy but you don't actually live in it," he said.

"I don't know how you turn back the clock. All these places that are great are old. They were built at a time when walking was the way you got around."

Kensington Market in Toronto has pedestrian Sundays. One doesn't fully appreciate the joy of being in a carfree zone until experiencing it firsthand. "The streets echo to human sounds: footsteps, voices, whistling porters, street musicians. People dawdle without worrying about onrushing traffic. " Carfree Cities, J.H. Crawford.

The stink, roar, and danger of car and truck traffic inhibit street life.

FEET FIRST

Five ways to make more walkable cities as heard at Walk21 conference:

1. Widen sidewalks to accommodate pedestrians and put curves in roads to slow traffic. Add planters as an alternative to repaving.

2. Get rid of signs that state the obvious. Street design and buildings will tell people where to go and how to behave.

3. Bring back benches, bathrooms and drinking fountains, as well as mixed-use development.

4. Safe streets are busy streets. One way to fight intimidation is to attract lots of people.

5. Subways are expensive. You could build enough bike and pedestrian infrastructure to serve the entire region for the same price as a few kilometres of subway.

Transportation key election issue in York Region

Metroland York Region newspapers

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
COLUMN

No one route to better commute
By: Sean Pearce

As anyone who wakes up impossibly early every weekday morning to make the trek to Toronto for work well knows, traffic congestion isn’t going away.
Far from it.

Every year, the number of cars on the road, often occupied by a single person, seems to multiply exponentially on hwys. 400 and 404 and any other route that leads into the big city.
The drive home isn’t much better.

So far, all four major party leaders have come out saying Ontarians deserve better than to become virtual prisoners in their automobiles for 10, 15 and, in some cases, 20 hours a week. And the economic implication of all this congestion is nearly as costly as the social one.
It is then safe to say, in terms of transportation issues, York Region faces a multitude of obstacles, but has a myriad of possible solutions at its disposal.

Transit
In terms of improving public transit in the region, each party presents a slightly different approach, but all agree more is needed.

The Liberals spent a number of months leading up to the election introducing a whole host of transit initiatives, each more ambitious than the last.

One of the more recent was MoveOntario 2020, a $17.5-billion plan that would see, among other things, construct a new subway into York Region under Yonge Street, up to Hwy. 7 in Richmond Hill. This, along with the subway to Vaughan, would give the region a subway in the east and west portions with the idea it would help more people to park their cars and choose transit instead.

Of course, the only problem is determining whether or not the cash-strapped TTC, who would have to pay the operating costs, will be able to foot the bill in the long run.

Is the subway even the best possible solution for York Region in the long haul? The Progressive Conservatives don’t seem to think so. The PCs, under John Tory, have vowed to create a new funding model for Ontario, one that sees all gas tax collected going back to municipalities.

That way, it is the municipal governments that can decide for themselves how they should spend the cash.

In a similar fashion, Mr. Tory has said it should be the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, the experts, recommending these major transit projects and not politicians.
More to the point, the much touted plan for the subway, seeing as how it may take at least four to five years to get things under way, might simply be too little too late.
The time for rapid transit and action is now, Mr. Tory said.

The NDP also has said it favours increasing public transit and, in some cases, freezing fares to keep from deterring would-be riders with increasing prices. That might be a valid point seeing as how the York Regional Transit committee is in the midst of implementing a possible fare increase at this precise moment.

The Greens are, naturally, also in favour of more public transit as the answer to congestion and, to that end, are advocating the diversion of 75 per cent of all funds currently budgeted for highway construction, up until 2012, toward transit.

The one thing all parties seem to support is the extension of GO Transit’s rail corridor through the region to Barrie and the implementation of all-day rail service in York.
Roads

Of course, improved and enhanced transit in York Region will not get everyone out of their cars and on to trains, buses or even subways.

The Liberals seem to have recognized this and have been working away building and expanding the province’s network of high occupancy vehicle lanes in the hope if people must drive, they will, at the very least, carpool.

Work on the long-discussed extension of Hwy. 404 to Georgina also seems to be under way.
The PCs, among them former minister of transportation Frank Klees, have come out saying York Region needs more than future subways and even enhanced transit.

The extension of Hwy. 404 to Georgina, Hwy. 427 to Orangeville and the construction of the Bradford Bypass are of vital importance, Mr. Klees said.

If these major arteries were built or extended, the logic goes, congestion would decrease dramatically as there would be less need for through traffic to clog up roads such as Davis Drive, Wellington Street or Woodbine Avenue on a daily basis.

The NDP and the Greens also seem to support ideas such as encouraging consumers to buy more eco-friendly vehicles and the creation of more HOV lanes in addition to new transit initiatives and simple ideas such as tele-commuting and people-powered solutions such as cycling and even good, old-fashioned walking.

Reality
The fact remains voters are looking for action on the congestion issue and it is likely whichever proposal is most sound, the real answer will likely be a multi-pronged approach. Is more and improved public transit needed? Yes, absolutely. Too many people complain schedules are inconvenient for their lives or routes don’t go where they need them to go, so, instead, they drive.

Does York Region need a faster network of highways? The answer, again, is yes. The fact is, no matter how good transit is, it will not entice everyone out of their cars.

Hopefully, as the HOV network continues its expansion, more people will be encouraged to travel with others, but the fact remains many people in this region still continue their age-old love affair with the automobile.

Creating a longer and more efficient network of highways will undoubtedly remove much of the unnecessary through traffic in the region and, in the end, allow everyone to get where they are going more quickly and efficiently.

Finally, sprawl must be reigned in. Construction continues often without the benefit of infrastructure such as adequate roads and transit. All four parties are agreeing this cannot continue.

The fact remains whoever the voters choose, there must be action and it must come soon. York Region and Ontario, on the whole, cannot afford to wait.

People-friendly streets

TheStar.com - editorial
October 01, 2007

The car has ruled Toronto's streets, and those of other cities, for decades. Now, a promising movement is afoot to ease that domination by better serving the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders.

A four-day conference on more liveable cities starts in Toronto today, attracting delegates and speakers from around the world. The meeting's theme is "Putting pedestrians first." And on Wednesday the city's public works committee is to discuss a forward-looking report that suggests several practical ways to make Toronto friendlier to those choosing to walk, bike or use public transit.

When Toronto residents leave their car at home, they help improve the planet's health by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As well, they boost their own well-being by getting exercise that would be denied them sitting behind the wheel.

Many suggestions listed in the works committee report are attractive because they can be put in place fairly quickly and are relatively cheap. Some could be done almost immediately.
Simply increasing the time allowed at stop lights for pedestrian crossings would make a big difference. Another proposed change is to stop all traffic, in all directions, for pedestrians at some intersections. This "scramble phase" would allow people to walk diagonally, from one corner to another, completing two street crossings at once. The report calls for such a system next year, on a trial basis, at the intersection of Bloor and Yonge Sts., and at Bloor and Bay Sts.

Other recommendations include conducting an environmental assessment as the next step toward building an east-west bicycle route through the downtown core in 2009, imposing longer rush-hour parking bans on key routes, endorsing bus lanes in the shoulder areas along certain parts of the Don Valley Parkway and studying the creation of permanent pedestrian streets in selected downtown areas.

Each of these proposed measures is relatively modest, but together they signal a new direction for transportation planning in Toronto. That new direction deserves encouragement and a strong vote of support from members of the works committee and from city council.

Green in the News

Study awards Victoria urban transit kudos
Victoria has the greenest urban transportation practices in Canada, followed closely by Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau and Winnipeg. But none of the 27 cities surveyed received an "A" on their report card, says a study to be released today. And while the top cities only received Bs, five others got Fs. "It's amazing how many shades of green there are in this country," said Toronto international trade lawyer Barry Appleton, whose private Appleton Charitable Foundation funded the study conducted in co-operation with the University of British Columbia's business school.
www.canada.com, September 21, 2007
______________________________________
Ideas for a greener region are out there
When it comes to action on climate change, Canadian cities should be the leaders. Sadly, this is not the case in Niagara. According to the Pembina Institute, the region ranks 27th out of 27 Ontario municipalities - dead last - in environmental sustainability. It's shocking considering that Niagara has been talking about smart growth - a planning policy intended to foster more environmentally friendly communities - since at least 2001. But, the Pembina report notes, there has been a lot of talk and little action. The glaring shortfall is Niagara's continued reliance on the car.
St. Catharines Standard, P. A12, September 20, 2007

Could seawater fuel your car?

The Associated Press

A cancer researcher in Erie, Pa., has stumbled on a technique that could turn salt water into fuel, a novel invention that is being touted by one chemist as the "most remarkable" water science discovery in a century.

John Kanzius happened upon the discovery accidentally when he tried to desalinate seawater with a radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer. He discovered that as long as the salt water was exposed to the radio frequencies, it would burn.

The discovery has scientists excited by the prospect of using salt water, the most abundant resource on earth, as a fuel.

Rustum Roy, a Penn State University chemist, has held demonstrations at his State College lab to confirm his own observations. The radio frequencies act to weaken the bonds between the elements that make up salt water, releasing the hydrogen, Roy said. Once ignited, the hydrogen will burn as long as it is exposed to the frequencies, he said.

The discovery is "the most remarkable in water science in 100 years," Roy said.
"This is the most abundant element in the world. It is everywhere," Roy said. "Seeing it burn gives me the chills."

Roy will meet this week with officials from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Defence to try to obtain research funding.

The scientists want to find out whether the energy output from the burning hydrogen — which reached a heat of more than 1,650 C — would be enough to power a car or other heavy machinery.

"We will get our ideas together and check this out and see where it leads," Roy said. "The potential is huge."

$100M to Ease Gridlock in 2 Years

http://www.thestar.com/article/249785

I was glad to read about these recommendations; but the $100 Million seems like small steps compared to the $17.5 Billion Move Ontario 2020 plan.

'New urbanism' projects put jobs close to home; Forget long commute to downtown Toronto. Residents can walk, bike to work, retail stores in 'compact l

The Toronto Star, Sat 25 Aug 2007

A new live-work development planned for Whitby is part of an evolution in urban planning that will see more of us walking to work, riding our bikes and parking the car, say architects, planners and politicians.

"My sense is that we're at the beginning of what is going to be a profound transition to a more healthy, balanced and sustainable way of building our communities," prominent architect and urban designer Ken Greenberg said yesterday.

A planned development in Whitby that grabbed attention this week may provide homes for 14,000 and jobs for 10,000 when it's completed in a decade. Residents will be able to live and work in the same community rather than spending hours commuting to jobs in downtown Toronto.

It's the latest in a string of such developments planned or under construction in the Greater Toronto Area.

"It's the new urbanism. It's all about sustainable communities," said Dave Ryan, mayor of Pickering, where the largest of such projects is now in the works.

Construction of the Seaton community in North Pickering is to begin in about two years. When it's complete, about 20 years from now, it will be home to 70, 000 people and 35,000 jobs.

The high-density developments will include more condominiums, more mixed-use buildings and more "green" components.

"It's about a more compact lifestyle where people are taking up less space in their living environment. The complete community provides jobs as well as places to live. It brings the amenities that contribute to the quality of life closer so that people don't have to get in their cars to go shopping and go to schools," Ryan said.

The province is pushing for more developments like this through its Places to Grow Act. Passed two years ago, it requires that at least 40 per cent of any new development in the Greater Golden Horseshoe be in areas that are already built up.

This movement in planning, also known as smart growth, is responding to a way of life that has its roots in the Industrial Revolution.

"It was at a time when smokestacks were spewing soot and toxic fumes. People wanted to get away from workplaces that were seen as unhealthy environments. There was this whole idea of a bucolic life in the countryside," Greenberg said.

The emergence of the car made this possible. Zoning followed, with central business districts, industrial districts, residential districts, cultural districts, shopping centres and the list goes on.

But the downside of this way of life spawned a counter-movement.

"At least for the last couple of generations, there has been a realization that there were some terrible downsides and opportunity costs," Greenberg said.

"Life on the fringe was isolating, it was hard on families, it left women very often as the primary caregivers and homemakers in situations where they were separated from everything else. We got to the point where virtually every adult had to make every trip in an automobile and traffic congestion became astonishing," he said.

Today's workplaces aren't the health hazards they once were and it's possible for people and their jobs to co-exist in the same community.

"This mixing of things is the most fundamental thing you can do about sustainability. We need to get people not to spend enormous amounts of fuel and fumes and time moving from one thing to another. We need to bring things in closer proximity to each other," Greenberg said.

In addition to homes and jobs, this also applies to recreation, retail and culture.

This kind of mixed-use community stands in stark contrast to what most of the GTA looks like today.

"If you fly into Toronto, 90 per cent of what you see from the air is old- style subdivisions. They are essentially tract housing," Greenberg said.

There is little employment in these neighbourhoods. Residents have to jump into their cars just to buy a litre of milk, and there are few amenities.

Gary Wright, Toronto's director of community planning, cites Maple Leaf Square, being built beside the Air Canada Centre, as an example of the type of development the city is encouraging. The development will include a hotel, offices, condominiums, restaurants, stores, a daycare and underground access to the subway.

"In a lot of areas, we do want mixed-use because it just adds to the vitality," Wright said.