|
My Visit To The
The Renewable Energy Fair was presented by the good folks from the Shoreline Solar Project, this being the third year they have created a truly wonderful opportunity for gathering alternative energy information, and enjoying several hands-on exhibits. |
|
| This is a view showing most of the fair, looking over the alternative powered vehicles and various exhibit booths... |  |
| Here are a few Electric Cars, which drew quite the crowd of interested observers... no rides were offered though. Oh Darn! |  |
| Here is the wackiest car on display, an all electric three wheeled commuter. The owner is getting into his high tech vehicle, and I watched as he turned it on and... nothing happened. Sad sighs from the crowd, and he had an embarrassed look on his face when he got back out. Oh well, better luck next year dude. |  |
| The coolest car of this group was an all electric Mazda Miata, which the owner said he created to show that even electric cars could be Fast and FUN! |  |
| The electric Miata electric motor and controller were visible, as well as several deep cycle, lead acid marine batteries. Not exactly 'cutting edge' technology, and overheard mention the conversion was done at the cost of $15,000. Clearly, electric sports cars don't come cheap! |  |
| Here is an example of the famed Smart Car, already widely available in Europe, but strangely not readily found yet in America. They have been proven to be safe, reasonably priced, and very fuel efficient... so when can I go out and buy one?!?!?! |  |
| Here is a view of the Smart Car interior. Nicely fitted and finished, and very comfortable for such a small car! |  |
| Here is an example of a Solar Electric Car, the owner was very proud of his work. He asserted that this car was charged only by solar cells, no power was taken off the regular power grid. Didn't ask how long it took, but can imagine that it would require days to bring it back up to full charge. |  |
| Still, this Solar Electric Car was nicely finished, the engine compartment was clean and generally was built with only 'off the shelf' parts. Also, I really loved his NO GAS license plate! |  |
| There were several Biodiesel vehicles on display, and their owners were all very proud of their cars and trucks. This was an example of a Biodiesel Mercedes which many people seemed to consider a great conversion job. |  |
| Also on display was this Biodiesel Burner, with a big jug of oil next to a flaming burner. The day was way too hot to spend time standing around talking to this guy... |  |
| There were other forms of transportation found at the fair, including a Segway Personal Transporter. No license or registration required, and this particular unit was outfitted with huge off road tires! Was told you could run almost 20 miles on a single charge! Can you imagine running into one of these on a hiking trail someday?! |  |
| This was an unexpected exhibit created by the students of Shoreline Community College. Using only readily available cardboard tubes and pressed cardboard sheets scavenged around town, they created this amazing Paper Bicycle! |  |
| The students at SCC also created this Paper Tricycle. Note that even the wheels are made from paper! Still, the gears and chain were conventional bicycle parts.. but hey! What a concept! |  |
| I just couldn't resist asking for a ride on the Paper Bicycle. However, one necessary modification would have to be more than a single gear! This thing took a bit of effort to peddle around, but just the same... nicely fitted and painted. |
|
| Of all the booths there, my personal favorite was this Solar Hydrogen demonstration. The guy in the orange tee-shirt would talk you ear off given half the chance (which I did) and had quite the variety of fun things to show off... |  |
| His best demonstration was a solar powered hydrogen toy house, with a fuel cell inside and switches and gauges to show how much energy it was producing. |  |
| He also had this classroom demonstration kit for sale, complete with solar cells, volt meter and sealed Fuel Cell! The price: only $150 (no.. I didn't buy one) |  |
| He had quite the array of Solar Hydrogen Toys, including this solar car, a couple of new electrolysis hydrogen generators, the spinning solar wheel, and even a spinning solar powered globe! This guy really had lots of things to check out! |  |
| There was a nice selection of books on the table, including this one found in my own home library, a great book in titled "Fuel From Water: Energy Independence With Hydrogen" as well as a small sample of the next generation flexible solar cell manufactured by Uni-Solar, (back side shown here) which has many potentially useful possibilities! |  |
| There appeared to be a good turnout of interested people for the fair, and there were reported to be about 50 exhibitors scattered around the school campus. |  |
| There were several booths offering to sell various Alternative Energy Converters, which are a necessity for those attempting to transition into home power generation. |  |
| Several types of Solar Cell Panels scattered around the grounds outside, each powering some form of electrical device demonstrating the potential for this growing power source. |  |
| There was also a big Wind Generator and booth set up to sell them. Although it was not spinning (tied up to prevent it from turning) along with samples of the lightweight blades cut open so you could see what they were manufactured from. There was also a booth selling glass jewelry melted by their big Solar Lens. I guess for safety reasons, it was turned away from the sun's rays to keep it from frying visitors. |  |
| Of course, there was plenty to do for children at the fair, including these Solar Powered Kiddie Pools for splashing around in.... |  |
| There were several Solar Powered Toy Cars speeding around this table, which at times went flying off the edge and crashed to the asphalt below. |  |
| This was my most Favorite Toy Car on display! They were very fast for their tiny size... but unfortunately, there were none for sale at the fair! Darn, these would be fun for playing with at home! |
|
| Continuing around to the walkway between buildings, there were still more booths set up sharing information on Alternative Energy possibilities, as well as environmental conservation, recycling, and assorted social/political activism groups. |  |
| Along the way, was found
this booth named Sustainable Ballard. Just wanted to share this
photo for those who think Ballard is populated only by
old people that drive too slowly, and eat gross pickled fish for
lunch...
|
 |
| Had a nice chat with the guy running this well appointed Bamboo Booth, while Heather was given a free sample of Organic Lavender Soap from Goods For The Planet from next door... |  |
| There was also lot's of hands on activities for the Kiddies, including building your own solar project! Get them interested while their young... and we might have half a chance for real change in the future! |  |
| Inside the auditorium was a demonstration named Volts and Jolts offered by the Seattle Science Center, which had a batch of alternative energy toys to show off to the kids... |  |
| Included on the Volts and Jolts table was this hand cranked generator, which gave me lots of ideas for the future... most interesting. |  |
| Finally, to end this visit to the fair, I wanted to show these bumper stickers found on the back of one of those Biodiesel conversion cars. Especially enjoyed the "Dennis Kucinich" sticker... oh, how these people truly believe in the big dream of a better energy tomorrow! |  |
|
Well... that's it for the most part. There were a several other booths selling technology, sharing information, assorted demonstrations, lectures in the auditorium, and even a bit of music. Spent a couple hours enjoying myself, and certainly looking forward to going to the fair again next year. Hope to see you there....
|
|
