Category: Transportation (Page 3 of 9)

Boston Ave Shuttle Will Now Stop at Whole Foods

Beginning this fall, the free campus shuttle which runs a loop along Boston Avenue on the Medford/Somerville campus will add a stop at the Whole Foods store on Mystic Valley Parkway.

Though there are several groceries stores near campus readily accessible by car, reaching them by foot or by bike — and returning with a load of groceries — can be difficult, inconvenient, and time-consuming.  The new shuttle stop will provide students with another option for fresh produce and other healthy food and make doing errands simpler and more sustainable.

The revised schedule will also include a stop at the Mayer Campus Center, thereby linking the Boston Ave and Davis Square shuttles and making travel between the different sectors of campus and its surroundings more feasible.

Recycling interns Alex Cherry and Megan Mooney worked with Administrative Services to make the change possible. Cherry notes that Whole Foods offers a bottle and can return station and hopes students will use the shuttle for that service as well.

Administrative Services hosts information about shuttle schedules and the shuttle tracker app. The shuttles will begin operating once the school year starts, but the Boston Ave shuttle is available here.

 

GUEST POST: University of Rochester Team Discovers a More Efficient Way to Convert Alternative Fuel

Written by Darya Nicol, University of Rochester ’16

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Like ethanol, butanol can be used as a fuel additive to gasoline as a way to reduce harmful vehicle emissions. In just six months, Professor William Jones’ University of Rochester research team developed an efficient route to n-butanol, making it look more like gasoline, thus enabling butanol to be a better alternative to ethanol.

Jones’ team of five researchers accomplished this by modifying the Guerbet reaction. Named after Frenchman Marcel Guerbet, the organic chemical reaction converts ethanol to butanol plus water. Before the team’s discovery, the Guerbet reaction produced the co-product acetaldehyde which can react with butanol to produce unwanted molecules. Jones’ team modified the reaction to produce only one product and 25 percent more butanol than with the previous process.

Switching from ethanol to butanol prevents engine corrosion. To streamline the modified Guerbet process for the fuel industry, Jones states that “this process would be attached to an ethanol production facility.” The facility would update the process to produce both ethanol and butanol.

Butanol is not currently used in mass because the fermentation process producing it does not build up a large enough concentration, although advances are being made in this process. The typical length of butanol production with the newly developed system is one day. Ideally, for the process to perform at maximum productivity, Jones states, “we need a less expensive catalyst and a longer living catalyst.”

Iridium is used as the initial catalyst for the reaction. However, iridium is quite expensive. According to Jones, “it’s gold expensive.” The financial support of the National Science Foundation and the Center for Enabling New Technologies through Catalysis, an NSF Center for Chemical Innovation program, was needed to conduct their research.

Once efficiency is maximized, consumers ultimately won’t be the ones making behavioral changes. Jones states, “they’ll get the benefits of it without even knowing it.” Changes must be made by companies. According to Jones, “for a company to buy into it, it has to replace a more expensive alternative, not just for a financial benefit, but for an improvement in performance.” As of now, modifying the Guerbet reaction is one improvement in the right direction.

This article is a guest post via The Green Dandelion, the sustainability blog of the University of Rochester. 

Photo Source.

5 Ways Students Impacted Sustainability at Tufts in 2015

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Student efforts contribute to a culture of sustainability at Tufts in many ways. Your actions are invaluable, no matter how large or small! What you do each day affects Tufts’ environmental impact — whether you are participating in a sustainability-related club, planning a  zero-waste event, conducting sustainability research, or simply recycling and composting your waste.

Although students regularly contribute to campus sustainability, we wanted to highlight several initiatives from the past year that contributed directly to Tufts’ sustainability goals. These goals are outlined in the 2013 Campus Sustainability Council Report and focus on the areas of waste, water, and energy & emissions. Progress in these areas is tracked regularly and is detailed in the annual Campus Sustainability Progress Report. The list below is by no means comprehensive, so we encourage you to check out the report on Tumblr!

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The #MCBC2016 Countdown is ON!

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There are just 4 days left ’til the 2016 MassCommute Bicycle Challenge!

Here’s how you can gear up:

Sign Up the new webinar:  “Bike Commuting Decoded” (space is limited, we recommend signing up in advance)

Just in time for MCBC, we’ve partnered with our friends at MassBike to host a free webinar on Thursday, May 12th from 12:00-1:00 to explore the nuts & bolts of bike commuting. If you, or someone you know is part of the 60% of Americans who are interested in bike commuting but feel too concerned to start, this is the event for you.
Learn from the experts and ask questions about how you can make biking a part of your daily commute, during Bike Week and all year round!

Nominate Someone (or yourself!) for a Wheelie Award!

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The Wheelie Awards are a special way to recognize and honor cyclists who ride with a unique level of dedication and excitement. For example, do you know someone who rides their bike like a minivan? Nominate them for the Pack Mule Award! Know someone who fell in love while cycling? Nominate them for the Bicycle Love Story Award! You get the idea.

One winner will be selected in each of the following categories to win a special prize provided by the sponsor of that award ($200+ value!).  Award decisions are based on online written submissions, as well as accompanying photos and videos sent via email.

This year’s Wheelie Award Categories include:

…and last but not least…

Make Sure YOU (and/or your team) are Registered for the Challenge! 

If you registered for the Challenge in 2015, we still have all of your information. Just log back in with your email and password or click on the “Returning Users Login” button, and you’re good to go! If you are a new participant, or if you missed us in 2015, you will need to register through the MCBC website.

*Be sure to select “Tufts University” as your institution!

**If applicable, please indicate your employer in your registration settings so that the miles you log count towards your company’s totals!

Questions?
Email: MCBikeChallenge@masscommute.com

On Social Media? Let’s Connect!
Facebook: @Masscommutebicyclechallenge
Twitter: @MCBikeChallenge
Instagram: @MCBikeChallenge

Join the 2016 Tufts Century Ride!

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce that this year’s Tufts Century Ride will take place on Saturday, September 17, 2016! Registration is now open through September 2nd.

The Tufts Century Ride is approximately a 100 mile bike ride open to the entire university community with stops on the Medford/Somerville, Grafton, and Boston campuses (i.e., Tufts Century). For those who prefer a shorter ride, there will also be route options available beginning at approximately 20 miles. In collaboration with the Tufts Cycling Team, the Tufts Century Ride is meant to provide a fun way for community members to connect, and a unique way to see our three campuses.

Register today! For more information contact TuftsCentury@Tufts.edu or visit http://provost.tufts.edu/tufts-century-ride.

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Read our blog post on “Biking Resources at Tufts” for some great tips!

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