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50 Comments
- Zeitgeister, on 11/14/2008, -0/+9Probably worth it simply for the amount of free publicity its getting for being first
- Bastet62, on 11/14/2008, -1/+9Cool.
- form3hide, on 11/15/2008, -1/+6Oh, total *****. They're doing this because it's trendy to be "green" right now. And they know they can get free press by doing something "green."
- Richandler, on 11/15/2008, -2/+7So I wonder how long it will take to offset the transportation of a 35,000 lb sign?
- orangester, on 11/15/2008, -0/+4Looks cool. All it takes is one instance of this before others follow suit. Hopefully.
- bigbenorr, on 11/15/2008, -0/+3Thanks for this amazingly descriptive article.
- uncleosbert, on 11/15/2008, -1/+4i see your point! fortunately, people generations ago decided to build cities for us all to live in, and power plants conveniently making electricity for us. and then they layed tons and tons of cable connecting it altogether so you could just plug stuff into your outlet.
ah yes... thank god we haven't always been such shortsighted, uncreative, cynical, lazy buttnuggets! i don't know how i'd get through my day without your insights! - Kordras, on 11/15/2008, -1/+4Whether it's trendy or not, at least it's happening.
- fauxXenophanes, on 11/15/2008, -0/+3Too bad the solar array can't charge battery cells for later use(??)...
- v4vishal, on 11/15/2008, -0/+3And at night, it can power itself using light from other billboards!
:) - moolcool, on 11/15/2008, -2/+5HEADLINE: ECO-BILLBOARD SAVES PLANET. But seriously, what is the average billboards "carbon footprint"? If they REALLY cared about the environment they could cut back in ways far cheaper then their billboards. Publicity stunt, nothing more.
- jhails, on 11/15/2008, -0/+3Thank God scientists are working on these extremely pressing issues. Environmentally friendly billboards will be a huge leap in solving America's energy shortfall. When can I request one for my neighborhood?
- Temo1, on 11/15/2008, -1/+4My workplace is in that picture. (Thomson Reuters)
Actually the guy who sells advertising on the Thomson Reuters billboard sits across from me. We're not green in that area yet :( - unconquerable, on 11/15/2008, -0/+3Thats pretty cool, but... on the other hand, I HATE ADS!
- LilBoyLuver, on 11/15/2008, -0/+2The article states that they do have batteries hooked up to the solar panels:
"They will provide 90 percent of the sign’s power; the rest will come from the solar panels on the sign, feeding electricity to eight collection batteries up in the sign."
they just don't have a generator. - merm, on 11/15/2008, -0/+2Actually, it's widely known that city dwellers have a much smaller carbon footprint than most suburban dwellers: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/28/global.warming.ap ...
- Temo1, on 11/15/2008, -0/+2Well, I was just talking about the fact that the billboard wasn't green, not my entire lifestyle. Although I do take public transportation from New Jersey every day, so really I don't consume too much.
Also, I should mention that I'm a recent college grad and presently still an intern at Reuters. - aussieNickuss, on 11/15/2008, -0/+2Geez....if 22kW+ is required to power a passive/static billboard, how much power do the large TV screens consume?
- rivalius13, on 11/15/2008, -0/+2http://www.bugmenot.com/view/nytimes.com
- shoppingkart, on 11/15/2008, -1/+3Adblock Plus blocked all relevant images. =(
- brandita, on 11/15/2008, -0/+2A few less lights in time square would also help.
- LoadStar, on 11/15/2008, -0/+2Yes, it IS a publicity stunt. I'd suggest that getting publicity is the point behind EVERY advertisement. And no, this one sign alone won't save the earth, nor would I think even Ricoh would suggest that it will.
In this advertisement's case, the publicity isn't so much for Ricoh (though they are getting their share of publicity, admittedly, what with their name on the sign, after all) but for the technology. This billboard is a practical demonstration of how easily people can integrate renewable energy and use it to supplement or even replace non-renewable energy sources. I think getting people reading, thinking, and talking about renewable energy sources like wind turbines that can be easily integrated into an urban environment is a GOOD thing. - darkciti2, on 11/15/2008, -0/+2It makes perfect sense.
If the weather is too ***** for sustaining energy, it's probably too ***** for people to be standing around looking at outdoor advertising. - ehwanksta, on 11/15/2008, -0/+2new yorkers have to respect the new GREEN MONSTER! bwahaha.
- darkciti2, on 11/15/2008, -0/+2We're at peak oil/energy.
What's wrong with going green?
Please don't mention "reserves" because reserves are specifically set aside for plastics manufacturing. - phreak79, on 11/15/2008, -0/+1This was first published in LiveScience back in July. When exactly is it going live?
- seth553, on 11/15/2008, -0/+1Barack, you know darn well that the batteries will survive best if they stay float-charged. RE power sources are sized to consider the longevity of the battery bank, which in turn is sized to support the load. It's possible for the sign to lose power, but the client is willing to risk a little downtime - a good example to set for Americans, if you ask me.
You also know that centralized generation and distributed generation together make up the "diversified portfolio" that we need to avoid massive blackouts like the one in 2003. Sure, RE has inefficiencies, so does the grid. If we have an educated energy market, RE technology will continue to improve. Which brings me to my third point....
If you really think that energy education amounts to no more than a "PR stunt", you must think that God has blessed us with enough fossil fuel to last forever. A favorite quote from Jared Diamond: "The only people who think that it's possible in a world of finite resources to sustain growth indefinitely are idiots and economists." - darkciti2, on 11/15/2008, -0/+1I think it's worth it for the precedent; but what do I know? I'm just a progressive/futurist liberal.
- uncleosbert, on 11/15/2008, -0/+1fortunately barackalypse, i do have a great desire to discuss this! had you commented like 2of8, wondering if this energy could potentially be used elsewhere, then i would have dugg you up.
instead, you said, "This is exactly the reason why alternate energy is typically only used as a PR stunt, as required by Government regulation, as a showcase of the technology, or in remote locations where traditional grid infrastructure is too far away."
so did you mean to write that or is it like a tic or something? - 101dotcom, on 11/15/2008, -0/+1Nice
- understudy, on 11/15/2008, -1/+2The idea is great, but it's a bit ugly and bulky.
I know, I know, my criticism has just contributed to global warming and I should just shut up and love everything that purports to be green.
_ - chibichibie, on 11/14/2008, -3/+4This is a great turning point of being aware of the environment. With so many billboards, a great change!!!!
- Myztry, on 11/15/2008, -0/+1"By generating its own electricity — enough to light six homes for a year — the sign could save as much as $12,000 to $15,000 per month"
Hmmmm. So electricity for housing cost $2,000+ (12,000/6) per month...
I think someone is just trying to sprout impressive random numbers! - 2of8, on 11/15/2008, -0/+1When I read that, I thought about why not use the rest too. Hm. I wonder if they can somehow get it to feed into the city's grid and get money back from it. Is that feasible?
- darkciti2, on 11/15/2008, -0/+1It's entirely possible to create a green sign without using ANY oil.
I can smelt aluminum in my furnace without oil. I can machine it and process it into any form I'd like without oil (aside from a few lubrication drops). It requires electricity, but here in the USA my electricity is produced by coal (until I get my solar panels installed).
If we had more electric cars/trucks for transportation, we could transport anything and everything without oil.
Printing is irrelevant because that sign is digital. - darkciti2, on 11/15/2008, -2/+2Who cares? It only happens once.
It also won't happen all at once, so the weight will be distributed among many forms of transit - some will be more efficient than others.
We're not talking about transportation. We're talking about a one-shot high-efficiency sign. - 2of8, on 11/15/2008, -1/+1Increase in awareness, yes. Change for the environment? No. Printing huge signs with your company logo, and illuminating them during the night - with "green" light or not - is not a significant change for the environment. At this rate, nothing's going to come of it. These kinds of technologies need to be applied on a massive scale, and for essential uses such as heating and agriculture.
- Barackalypse, on 11/15/2008, -2/+2You work in a high rise in the middle of the biggest metropolis in the United States, nothing you can do can make that green. Cities of 10 million people aren't sustainable without massive transportation, water treatment, and electrical requirements.
- Scottamus, on 11/15/2008, -1/+116 wind turbines and 64 solar panels? what kind of monster ***** billboard is this?
- 2of8, on 11/15/2008, -0/+0It is printed, unless I read something wrong: "It will feature custom-printed opaque vinyl sheeting bearing the red-and-white Ricoh logo."
It isn't really a good thing to say that there's excess electricity to power electric cars and trucks.. 54% of US energy comes from coal. Not something to be proud of. - 2of8, on 11/15/2008, -1/+1Making a "green" sign isn't going to prevent oil shortage. How did they process the aluminum, or transport it to the location, or print the sign?
- guffly, on 05/07/2009, -0/+0Wow! I want to go see it! And this is certainly a good way to bring environmental awareness.
- Barackalypse, on 11/15/2008, -2/+1You don't like 45 foot tall spinning columns?! I wonder how loud these will end up being, but I'm guessing their assault on your ears is droned out by background noise.
- inactive, on 11/15/2008, -2/+1Everything is green nowadays. Green landfill, green car exhaust, green oil spill, green, green, ***** green.
- savedave, on 11/15/2008, -1/+0that's exactly what I would buy if I had $3,000,000!
- MOJIRA, on 11/15/2008, -3/+1Did anyone else read that as Emo-Friendly Billboard? I know it's a stretch, but I was like, wtf, click.
- Barackalypse, on 11/15/2008, -4/+1Shall I explain the wisdom of large centralized generating facilities, over source generation, to you? This sign's turbines are expected to generate an average of 22kW, but they're only using 4.8kW, which means they're overproducing by almost a factor of 4 because of variably in the wind (mostly) and losses due to the charging and discharging of batteries. Actually, you know what, its pretty clear you have no desire to discuss the merits of doing this, so I'm stopping here.
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