Green Tech

"Schneider Electric unveiled the prototype of the world’s first ZigBee-compatible self-powered switch at the ZigBee European Forum in Munich, Germany, on June 29. With this wireless, batteryless switch based on ZigBee technology, Schneider Electric is responding to market expectations for a product that is: - easy to install, as it is wireless, - reliable, as the switch operates continuously and requires no maintenance, - green, as there are no batteries to recycle." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

...in the right direction - rickbischoff from Bookmarklet

"The tire selection process is a daunting one. There are at least a dozen brands, along with several types of tires within any given manufacturer's product line. In many cases, each tire prioritizes performance in one or more key areas. There are high-traction tires for sports cars, tires with enhanced wet-weather grip, tires designed to last for a long time and, recently introduced, tires with really low rolling resistance to help save fuel. When consumers are forced to choose from such a long list of tires, they must turn to a government-mandated labeling system. Not surprisingly, this system can be confusing, frustrating and full of contradictions. Here's a look at the present problems and proposed solutions for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's tire labeling." - Jason Huebel from Bookmarklet

As someone who's lived in areas prone to heavy rain, freezing rain, ice and snow, I can assure you that your #1 priority when choosing tires should be performance (grip) PERIOD. An extra 1 mpg isn't worth a trip to the ER or a wrecked car. - LANjackal

Agreed. As long as you keep your tires properly inflated, fuel economy isn't a significant concern. - Jason Huebel

"“synthetic trees” — essentially high-tech towers with special absorbents that scrub carbon dioxide from moving air, and then hold it until it can be processed and stored." - mridul from Bookmarklet

"Pee. What can’t it do? From its reputable use as a fertilizer to questionable use as a hangover cure, urine has way more uses than you might imagine (or even want to know in the first place). Seriously. Some people even claim drinking it makes you healthier. Sounds completely quack to me, but what do I know? But in the realm of interesting uses for your own bodily fluids, using urine as a source of hydrogen to power the cars of the future is a serious undertaking and based on completely sound science." - Jonathan Lee from Bookmarklet

"Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have made a new kind of solar cell by growing an array of upright nanoscale pillars on aluminum foil. They make bendable solar cells by encapsulating the entire cell inside a transparent, rubbery polymer. The design, the researchers suggest, could lead to solar cells that cost less than conventional silicon photovoltaics." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"US researchers have developed an efficient way of producing hydrogen from urine - a feat that could not only fuel the cars of the future, but could also help clean up municipal wastewater...Gerardine Botte of Ohio University may now have found the answer, using an electrolytic approach to produce hydrogen from urine - the most abundant waste on Earth - at a fraction of the cost of producing hydrogen from water." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

@DGentry, true. - imabonehead

via http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009... - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"Assuming everything goes to plan, the car – supposedly capable of hitting sixty mph in around six seconds and managing 100 miles per gallon – will be entered in the Auto X Prize competition." - imabonehead

"The U.S. Department of Transportation and National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) are hard at work developing new ways to make the air conditioners more efficient and reduce the interior tempteratures in our cars and trucks. What's the big deal? Apparently, a whopping seven billion gallons of gasoline are used each and every year in the United States alone to run automotive AC units, which represents 5.5-percent of the country's fuel use. Burning that fuel emits more than 58 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"Back in February, the UK-based Lightning Car Company announced that it still intends to begin building and selling its Lightning GT by 2010. The £120,000 electric sportscar will be powered by one 120kW electric motor per wheel – assuming the fledgling automaker is still able to use hub motors from bankrupt PML Flightlink – that will get their electrons from 36kW of Altairnano NanoSafe lithium titanite batteries. According to its maker, the car should be able to accelerate its carbon fiber and Kevlar self to 60 mph in just four seconds and sport a range of up to 180 miles." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"The data center will be powered mainly by hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls, with 90 percent of that energy going towards powering the servers" - mridul from Bookmarklet

See http://ff.im/4IUvb - Bill Sodeman

Ruf already has an electric 911, Road&Track looked at it earlier this year - LANjackal

"Bamboo has come into vogue as a green, sustainable resource that's used for everything from cutting boards to clothing to wood floors. But until now, almost all of the bamboo in products sold here has come from overseas. That could change soon, as new planting techniques may lead to millions of new acres of bamboo shoots in the American South." - Jason Huebel from Bookmarklet

Panda, panda, who's got the panda? - Bill Sodeman

"The amazing spectacle is one of the largest in a growing number of "plant walls" or "vertical gardens" that are taking root across the world, as architects search for environmentally friendly ways to create beautiful buildings. Some visionaries even believe that soon we could be harvesting our food from the places where we live and work. Architect Ken Yeang is the world's leading green skyscraper architect and a passionate advocate of what is already being called "vegitecture"." - Bill Sodeman from Bookmarklet

++ Tina (that's a noxious weed in WA! Kill it!) - Jennifer Dittrich

"Better Place Hawaii Inc. has access to $45 million in special purpose revenue bond money for the planning, design, building and development of transportation infrastructure, equipment and apparatus to support electric vehicles now that Gov. Linda Lingle has signed House Bill 1483 into law as Act 114. The company is lining up financing, has signed a memorandum of agreement with Hawaiian Electric Co. to buy electricity and is moving ahead with its Hawaii plans. "We hope to be pulling permits and installing infrastructure before the end of this year," said Pete Cooper, acting managing director for Better Place Hawaii." - Bill Sodeman from Bookmarklet

"The Department of Energy has released its final call for proposals for $3.9 billion in stimulus funds available for smart electric grid projects. The so-called Funding Opportunity Announcements include $3.3 billion in cost-sharing grants for immediate deployments of existing smart-grid products and services. It also includes $615 million for demonstration projects showcasing next-generation technologies. " - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"The Detroit Free Press is reporting that GM will indeed build the Chevy Volt in China, but that all the Volts built in China will remain in China. Think of it as the Vegas of car sales. After initial production begins at GM's Hamtramck plant and export demand exceeds production there, GM will likely build Volts around the world for local markets. In the meantime, engineering and pre-production work on the Volt is taking place ahead of schedule." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"Thanks to 15 year old Texan Javier Fernández-Han, we feel a little more hopeful about the next generation’s ability to adapt to a world of limited resources. The high school student developed a fully featured algae-powered energy system that combines a dozen new and existing technologies to treat waste, produce methane and bio-oil for fuel, produce food for humans and livestock, sequester greenhouse gases, and produce oxygen. Dubbed the VERSATILE system, the project is this year’s winner of the annual Invent Your World Challenge $20,000 scholarship." - Jason Huebel from Bookmarklet

"It will mean a wholesale reinvention of the global energy economy; anything less could result in catastrophe. Here's how we'll get there. To reach this goal will require a two-pronged approach. First, we have to get serious about the small stuff: better insulation, tossing the incandescent lightbulbs and, yes, inflating our tires all the way. Second, we need to scale up every low-carbon energy source we have — wind, solar, nuclear — pretty much immediately." - Jason Huebel from Bookmarklet

"Hong Kong-listed Chinese power company GCL-Poly Energy Holdings yesterday announced that it will pay HK$26 billion ($3.4 billion) to acquire Jiangsu Zhongneng PV Technology Development, a supplier of polysilicon used in solar panels. The chairman of GCL-Poly, Zhu Gongshan, is also the owner of Zhongneng and by absorbing the target into the listed company, Zhu and his associates will become GCL-Poly's majority shareholder." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"All of the company's power plants benefit from the Chinese government's efforts to promote clean energy—such as higher on-grid tariffs and preferential tax treatment. The company intends to increase its interests in clean and renewable fuels, including solar technology, according to a stock exchange filing." - imabonehead

"NPR has created a tool offering a visual guide to renewable energy in the United States, allowing you to quickly scan which states offer the most abundant supply of hydroelectric power or wind generation. Visualizing the Grid provides five overlays of a map of the U.S., showing high-power transmission lines, the location and capacity of power plants, a state-by-state breakdown of the sources of power, and the best locations for solar power and wind power." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"Nissan will build its electric car -- maybe an electric version of the recently hyped Cube? -- in the U.S., bringing an undisclosed number of green jobs to Smyrna, Tenn., according to Reuters. Together with an affiliated NEC lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant, Nissan will invest as much as $1 billion in the new electric cars -- which it plans to pump out by 2012 (as many as 100,000 per year)." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

Someome pls call the undertaker & tell him he forgot his car.... - 2na

lol - imabonehead

"The Environmental Protection Agency rates the Fusion Hybrid at 41 miles a gallon in the city, 36 on the highway and 39 in combined driving. That is an incredible 8 m.p.g. better than the similar-size Toyota Camry Hybrid in city driving and 2 m.p.g. better on the highway. " - Bill Sodeman

"[A]n eco-friendly fabric seat made from recycled materials is standard." - Bill Sodeman

"Of the 10,500 small wind turbines installed last year, 99 percent were attached to giant constructed towers in rural areas. Rooftop wind turbines—constituting 1 percent of the market—have a huge potential in urban and suburban areas. But the products, which are heavy, noisy and require permanently attaching wind-catching blades to homes, have not yet caught on. One inventor thinks his unique turbine is just what the market is looking for. Are rooftop turbines set to take off?" - Jason Huebel from Bookmarklet

I would be awfully tempted to build a fuselage around a couple of these. :-D - Jason Huebel

"Homeowners trying to save money on their electric bill and take advantage of tax credits by buying and installing solar panels may run into one major setback: It can, quite literally, take an advanced degree to install rooftop photovoltaics. A new AC panel for sale by Andalay Solar, however, takes a step in the DIY-friendly direction by getting rid of the dangerous DC wiring and inverter setup. Could this be the beginning of the cost-effective, truly DIY solar panel?" - Jason Huebel from Bookmarklet

A group of California venture capitalists unveiled plans for a new American carmaker Wednesday called V-Vehicle Co. as investors place more bets that small startups can steal share from the old-guard manufacturers in the years ahead. - Shey from Bookmarklet

V-Vehicle founder and chief executive Frank Varasano, who was executive vice-president of software developer Oracle Corp. until 2001, sketched out the rough details of his plan to build high-mileage cars at an abandoned auto factory in Monroe, Louisiana. - Shey

"This summer, Swedish car company Volvo and European energy company Vattenfall will begin testing plug-in hybrids and gathering data about how people actually drive the cars and where they recharge them. They'll use the data to refine the design of vehicles that they hope to bring to the European market in 2012." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet