jimiller, I'm with you on that thought. The Europeans are way ahead of us in several green tech departments, and much of the related research has been funded by governments, in partnership with commercial entities and universities.
And in the case of something that will benefit all of us in the long run, occasionally the government needs to step in and provide the initial motivation to begin looking at a technology. Green in this case. But as compaies embrace the idea and continue to develop the technology, within a few years, hopefully, the technology will in fact be a more efficient way to make profits in a way that doesn't hurt the environment.
Rob, we are ahead on recycling out here, as well as on energy savings via methods like turning down the thermostat and going solar. We should be, but probably aren't, on water conservation, considering that most of the state is considered part of the dry Great Basin geographic area.
That's interesting that recycling has made a big enough difference that the waste folks have noted the change. It's picking up here, but it still looks like only about a third of my neighbors are putting much out on the street. You folks in California are way ahead on this.
I ask because a couple years ago our garbage company gave a lower tier price option, not for fewer garbage pickups, but smaller garbage containers, since so many people were recycling so much that the regular can size was too big. Of course, they go the other way--you can pay an extra fee for an extra pickup--but not down. I wish they would also size down price according to pickup frequency.
I actually don't know, Ann. Garbage pickup charges end up on the water bill, and I've never tried to read those things. Good question though. I think I'll take a look.
Rob, that sounds like my garbage company's schedule. My question is, can you pay a lower fee for fewer pickups than once a week? For example, if you only set out garbage twice a month for pickup instead of every week, do they have a lower price tier for that?
Well, I'm on a neighborhood street. The trash just come by once a week (two different trucks) for both at-the-curb recycling pickup as well as the trash for the landfill. I have recycling every week, even if I don't have landfill trash.
The willingness of consumers to pay a bit more for at least some green alternatives is increasing, while the price differentials come down. As I've pointed out several places, the Freedonia Group analyst I interviewed for an upcoming March feature feature made it clear that, at least for bioplastics, consumer demand for sustainable solutions is what's driving innovation. It's consumers who are willing to pay a price premium for ecological plastic bag replacements or EVs, for instance, not aerospace engineers who care if their aircraft components are made of green materials. So lumping everything together in a single discussion is somewhat misleading.
If I composted, we'd probably have our household waste down as far as yours, Rob. My excuse is living in the redwoods--no vegetable gardens here. The question is, will your garbage company pick up only once a month and give you a lower rate? Ours doesn't. I bet none of them do. They need to get with the program and start offering another rate structure level for reduced waste households like yours.
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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