Sunday, April 27, 2008

New Simpsons Ride is Designed to Save Energy



The Simpsons Ride opens in May at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando, based, of course on the blockbuster Simpsons movie and hit TV series.

Of course it will be a mega-popular ride. It's also a green ride -- an energy efficient green travel destination.

The ride was designed with new lighting technologies and new electric motor drives that save energy.

Through what Universal is calling a "green" conversion process, "The Simpsons Ride" will use some 55-thousand less watts per hour than the ride it replaces.

That adds up to power savings of 662,796 watts a day during the busy summer months, That's a pretty impressive power savings. So how are they doing it?
The environmentally conscious Simpsons Ride features the largest lighting installation of LED lamps in theme park ride history. Not just Universal, but all theme parks.

The Simpsons Ride is illuminated by more than 2,500 LED lights. These use one-third the power of standard incandescent lighting. So, instead of using up 82-thousand watts of electricity an hour, the LED lights need just under 28-thousand.

It's just part of Universal Studios commitment to green as a core business value. A company-wide "Green is Universal" initiative includes programs to increase recycling ratios, switches to alternative fuels, conservation of energy to reduce carbon footprints, and printing on recycled paper.