ENERGY FLASHES

Issue # 55 - January/February 1979

"POWER" IN YOUR POCKET! Folding bicycles were banned from the U.S. marketplace two years ago, —when the Consumer Product Safety Commission ruled that the clamps used to secure the hinges on these "breakdown" bikes were hazardous. Now, however, a new design is being patented in Massachusetts that could sidestep that ban. The "Pocket Bicycle", a 23-pound, 5-speed collapsible touring model invented by two Newton, Massachusetts men, doesn't have a hinge. Instead, the little velocipede is designed like a suspension bridge ... with struts and cables that form a diamond around a collapsible seat post and the main frame tube. If the design can be economically produced, the "Pocket Bicycle" could be on the market later this year.

THE HOME-WEATHERIZATION CHAMPION OF THE NATION is Pennsylvania, whose Department of Community Affairs has already weatherproofed 35,000 homes ... and is continuing this winterizing program at a rate of 1,500 houses a month. Over 800 people have been trained for the job ... many of whom have learned new job skills ranging from basic construction to energy auditing. As of last January, the program had saved Pennsylvanians $2.4 million ... which is the equivalent of 114,285 barrels of oil, or $100 per household per year.

SCREW-IN fluorescent light bulbs—which can be used in ordinary incandescent bulb sockets—have been developed by Thomas LoGiudice, a Manhattan engineer—inventor. LoGiudice's invention, dubbed the Fluro-bulb, is about the size of a regular 60-watt bulb and—best of all—it produces the same amount of light as the standard bulb, while only using 20 watts of power.

NEW ENERGY MAGAZINE, a new, ultra-slick, bi-monthly publication, will hit the newsstands in late January. It plans to help its readers "save money with energy—wise hints, do-it-yourself projects, and honest evaluations of new products ... and make the planet's life force its business". It's brought to you by Thor Anders, publisher of High Times magazine.

THE ENERGY (S)COOP OF THE YEAR! Frank Angelo of Jonesboro, Arkansas was about to be fined $10,000 a day for burning 200 tons of bark, chips, sawdust, and shavings a week ... leftovers from the chicken coops that he manufactures. So, Angelo invented a 70-ton rotary furnace from an abandoned railroad car, an afterburner, and recycled conveyor belts and pipes. The furnace is now generating up to 20 million Btu's an hour ... enough energy to power 750 Jonesboro homes. A by-product of Frank's invention—activated carbon—is sold as a filter to remove cancer—causing agents from air and water.

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY IS IN HOT WATER. Geologists from Virginia Polytechnic Institute have told federal officials that tappable reservoirs of geothermically heated water exist under the eastern coastal waters of the U.S. The Energy Department plans a "prospecting expedition" —which will include 60 new offshore wells—to locate these sources of heat.