As a hockey enthusiast, I loved this article from Fast Company about the snafus associated with the electric ice groomers that were being used at the Olympics in Vancouver. Not that I want to see anything like this fail, mind you, but seems like maybe there should have been more testing done. You have to give the Olympics organizers credit for trying, but hard on green tech in general to face such a public failure.
GreenTech Pastures
Heather ClancyZamboni to the rescue after electric ice groom shortcircuits
Summary: Electric ice groomer snafu underscores need for green tech testing.
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Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues.
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Heather Clancy
Writing publicly about what the high-tech industry is actually doing to help itself and the world get greener or more sustainable is one way I figure I can contribute more meaningfully to said effort. I am also a big OMG-kind-of-fan of smart leadership, which is why the goodly folks who publish this blog let me go on about this topic and why I am always on the hunt for forward-looking business management ideas.
My daily writing is focused on looking for topics for my blogs, GreenTech Pastures and Business Brains. I also write often about emerging technology trends such as mobile computing, unified communications and cloud computing. Occasionally, I will pop up at an industry conference in some sort of speaking capacity. In cases where a speaking engagement involves a sponsor that may be covered in this blog, that fact will be disclosed in coverage as appropriate.
My corporate writing work usually consists of crafting research white papers about some aspect of technology. In the event that my commentary (in written, audio or video form) mentions a company for which I have provided consulting advice, I will disclose that fact. However, there is no connection between these projects and the topics that I am covering in my blog.
Biography
Heather Clancy
Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues. Her articles have appeared in Entrepreneur, Fortune Small Business, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times. In a past corporate life, Heather was editor of Computer Reseller News, where she was a featured speaker about everything from software as a service to IT security to mobile computing.
Heather started her journalism life as a business writer with United Press International in New York. She holds a B.A. in English literature from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and has a thing for Lewis Carroll.
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What's the difference between the "green" things and the Zamboni anyways? What makes them greener?
and was supposed to be all battery operated - like an electric car type of thing.
The Zamboni runs on gas or propane.
The Zamboni runs on gas or propane.
Did some research . . .
I think they were basically trying to cut corners, trying to be cheaper.
Apparently Zamboni actually does sell electrics, and have been for 50 years.
I think they were basically trying to cut corners, trying to be cheaper.
Apparently Zamboni actually does sell electrics, and have been for 50 years.
Because a coal plant is not gonna make anything electric greener in the end. Unless you are fortunate enough to have a nuclear power plant near you anything electric is not greener. CNG would be a pretty clean fuel to run the Zamboni on and many other things, but since its a "gas" everyone still dismisses it as a viable source of clean fuel.
.... so coal burning and nuclear power plants are
irrelevant to this discussion.
In fact, Canada gets much more of its power from hydro-
electric sources than the US.
irrelevant to this discussion.
In fact, Canada gets much more of its power from hydro-
electric sources than the US.
Obviously I think everyone runs on coal because we do so much here. All the environuts crusaded against Nuclear so haven't seen anything new in over 30 years.
As for Hydro, I wouldn't say much more, but maybe as a percentage of total power used they do. China takes the cake for the most. Its a shame we have been forced to use coal so much over the years. Just a shame. I know Nuclear is so scary the French get most of their power from it. The French, of all people.
As for Hydro, I wouldn't say much more, but maybe as a percentage of total power used they do. China takes the cake for the most. Its a shame we have been forced to use coal so much over the years. Just a shame. I know Nuclear is so scary the French get most of their power from it. The French, of all people.
ice groomer.. just say zamboni, its sorta like kleenx, when the brand is recognized as an object, its no longer a brand(if thats what you were trying to keep distinct).
To quote the Zamboni website:
"A few media outlets have published inaccurate
information regarding those machines,
associating the Zamboni brand name with the
malfunctioning ice resurfacers.
While it is unfortunate that there was an
interruption to the Winter Olympic events,
please note: the resurfacers which were on the
ice during those events were not Zamboni? brand
ice resurfacers and should not be referred to
as ?Zamboni machines?."
"A few media outlets have published inaccurate
information regarding those machines,
associating the Zamboni brand name with the
malfunctioning ice resurfacers.
While it is unfortunate that there was an
interruption to the Winter Olympic events,
please note: the resurfacers which were on the
ice during those events were not Zamboni? brand
ice resurfacers and should not be referred to
as ?Zamboni machines?."
Could you maybe link to a different version of the
article that doesn't require me giving Google more
information to view?
article that doesn't require me giving Google more
information to view?
or to get more people signed up with Google?
That is the Olympic Oval in Richmond. Not a hockey stadium.
The Olympia ice groomers were chosen because the GM (owner of Olympia) sponsors the games and Zamboni's are powered byh Ford engines.
Speedskaters described the the ice as 'sandpaper' after the Olympia machines groomed the ice.
The Olympia ice groomers were chosen because the GM (owner of Olympia) sponsors the games and Zamboni's are powered byh Ford engines.
Speedskaters described the the ice as 'sandpaper' after the Olympia machines groomed the ice.
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