ecoGizmo
Capturing carbon to create greener plastics
April 10, 2008 Chemists are investigating ways to use carbon dioxide removed from smokestack emissions to make a raw material for the production of DVDs, CD-ROMs, beverage bottles and other products made from polycarbonate plastics.
Philips' energy efficient street lighting cuts city energy consumption
April 10, 2008 Streetlight systems are expensive for cities to operate and maintain. They also use a lot of energy — representing almost 40 percent of a typical city’s electricity spending. Echelon Corporation announced at the 2008 Light+Building event in Frankfurt that Philips Lighting, one of the world’s leading providers of lighting systems, has built its new Starsense street light telemanagement system using Echelon’s LonWorks platform, which uses Echelon’s power line transceivers to communicate between lighting fixtures and Echelon’s i.LON SmartServer to provide Internet access and local monitoring and control. It is believed Starsense can deliver energy savings of over 40 percent, reducing cities’ energy bills and carbon footprint.
Power Utility launches energy saving software
South Jersey Gas is now offering its customers the ability to manage their energy consumption, practice energy efficiency and reduce their energy costs using a free web-based service. Developed by Aclara Software, the new service gives customers access to energy information relating to their utility bills.
Versatile HYmini wind and solar portable charger
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April 8, 2008 HYmini is a handheld portable electronics charging unit that uses renewable wind and solar sources to top up its power. The device can recharge most 5V appliances, including mobile phones, MP3 players, iPods, PDAs, and digital cameras.
World's fist commercial scale tidal energy generator nears completion
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Bristol based renewable energy company Marine Current Turbines has completed the first installation phase of the 1.2MW SeaGen Tidal System at Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough - a site chosen for its combination of fast tidal current and ability to provide shelter from bad weather which may hinder the construction process. It is expected that the breakthrough power plant will be operational around mid-year with its massive 16m diameter twin rotors harnessing the tides to produce the equivalent amount of energy it takes to power 1000 homes. After its final assembly at the Harland & Wolff dockyard in Belfast, the crane barge “Rambiz” positioned the 1000 tonne structure onto the seabed 400m from the shoreline where it will be secured by four pins drilled to a depth of around nine meters.
Self-powered eco-switch for hotel rooms
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April 4, 2008 This card-operated wireless switch from Echoflex Solutions offers the hotel industry a solution for reducing energy waste by in unoccupied rooms.
Solar cells created with inkjet technology
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April 3, 2008 Using FUJIFILM’s cartridge-based Dimatix Materials Printer (DMP), Konarka Technologies has demonstrated the world's-first fabrication of highly efficient solar cells using of inkjet printing technology.
Brazilian traffic lights turn green
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April 1, 2008 Many of us are being encouraged to make the switch from power-hungry incandescent lights to more eco-friendly illumination technologies like LEDs. In proof that this simple process yields big results, a Brazilian project which saw all of the incandescent-based traffic lights in a Sao Paolo suburb replaced with LUXEON LED-based lamps has delivered estimated energy savings of USD$240,000 and reduced municipal energy consumption by 1340 megawatt hours per year.
BigBelly solar-powered garbage compactor
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Able to compact gallons of rubbish with a single gulp, the BigBelly solar trash compactor cuts public garbage collection emissions by up to 80 percent and operates for an entire day on the equivalent energy it takes to make a piece of toast. The compactor is the only on-site solar-powered trash compactor currently available.
Could paint be the next solar breakthrough?
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March 31, 2008 Researchers at Swansea University are developing a new way to integrate solar energy into building construction by applying a type of flexible solar-cell paint onto steel cladding.
Record 65 million square foot solar panel installation for California
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March 28, 2008 California’s biggest electricity utility, Southern California Edison (SCE), has launched a project which will account for the largest solar cell installation in the United States. A massive 250 megawatts of advanced photovoltaic generating technology will be placed over 65 million square feet of roofs of Southern California commercial buildings – enough power to serve around 162,000 homes.
Octillion announces NanoPower solar window production breakthrough
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Octillion Corp’s NanoPower Window technology can convert existing glass windows into solar power generators; an unobtrusive, easily installable and updateable solution for residential and commercial buildings. Octillion has recently announced a plan to improve the deposition of silicon nanoparticles on to glass – a key step in making the technology mass-producible.
London's mile-high vertical village
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March 18, 2008 One of the key challenges in urban architecture over the next 50 years will be figuring out how to squeeze vast numbers of additional people into urban areas that are already extremely crowded. London, for example, will somehow have to deal with a projected 100,000 extra inhabitants every year until 2016. The current plan of building new "commuter towns" on the city's outskirts causes a raft of problems - but architecture think tanks are working on ambitious solutions that go vertical instead of horizontal in search of space. Could 100,000 people be comfortably housed in a single structure? Could one building realistically be a whole new town, with schools, parks, public squares and hospitals?
New Toronto waterfront development will have a “future proof” energy centre
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March 18, 2008 Waterfront Toronto, a 2,000 acre area of largely publicly owned land, is one of the largest urban developments currently underway in North America. As part of the project, a 3500 square meter District Energy Centre is under development which will consist of an interconnected network of underground pipes which that be extended to every area in each of the waterfront precincts. The plant will initially be powered by natural gas but the design will incorporate the necessary features for easy conversion to more sustainable, alternative fuel sources when they are approved for urban use. This "future-proof" system will make the new waterfront neighborhood a more efficient and sustainable user of energy in years to come.
Largest wind power transmission project in U.S. underway
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March 12, 2008 Generating power from clean energy sources is one thing, but green energy still needs to find its way to the consumer. In a boost for the State's wind power transmission infrastructure, California’s biggest electric utility Southern California Edison (SCE), has begun construction of the largest project of its type in the United States. Once complete, the project will have the capacity to transmit 4,500 megawatts of electricity from wind farms and other generating companies in the State.
Raser Technologies announces two new geothermal energy projects
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March 7, 2008 Raser Technologies has committed to two new geothermal projects, bringing its total project count to seven and representing 70-75 megawatts (MW) of power projects initiated since April 2007.
Microturbines to reduce emissions in NYC
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March 5, 2008 Installation of microturbines has been completed in New York with the aim of providing clean energy and reducing the City’s residential and commercial carbon emissions. MicroTurbine systems, developed by Capstone, have been installed in four locations around the City and are fueled by clean burning natural gas, and emit very low emissions.
Daylight savings is found to waste energy
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March 5, 2008 For decades, conventional wisdom has held that daylight-saving time reduces energy use. Now a university study of a unique situation in Indiana has provided compelling evidence challenging that view. Daylight savings may actually waste energy.
Bourne Energy's RiverStar: a fresh approach to hydropower
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March 5, 2008 Hydroelectric dams produce little-to-no emissions and draw energy from a renewable resource, but they are still plagued with the inherent problems of all large-scale power plants: they’re costly to build and maintain, land intensive, and have negative environmental consequences. That’s why Bourne Energy believes the future of hydropower, and the solution to global energy demand, is in small generators that harness power from river currents. The company's RiverStar power modules collect kinetic energy by passing the water through low RPM turbines that don’t harm aquaculture. The units can be cheaply mass-produced, and require no construction on river bottoms, allowing them to be installed quickly and inexpensively even in areas inhospitable to development.
The eco-friendly Green Cell mobile phone battery
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February 29, 2008 The award winning Green Cell battery design concept is a universal format cell phone battery that's safe, environmentally friendly and can be recharged or replaced at a local vending machine.
Cellulose ethanol commercial demo plant for Montana
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Construction has begun on an integrated cellulose and starch ethanol commercial demonstration facility in Montana, USA. The plant is being built by AE Biofuels, an energy company focused on developing next-generation ethanol and biodiesel production from both non-food and traditional materials.
Plans for 280 megawatt solar plant in Arizona
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Plans have been unveiled for a whopping 280 megawatt (MW) solar power facility in Phoenix, Arizona, making it one of the world’s largest. The Solana Generating Station, to be run by Arizona Public Service (APS), will produce enough energy to serve 70,000 customers when operating at full capacity.
The gravity powered floor lamp
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Gravia uses a slowly sinking weight to charge 10 high-output LEDs, which fire into the acrylic lens and create a diffuse light output of 600-800 lumens, roughly equal to a 40-watt incandescent bulb. The LEDs are activated only a few seconds after the process begins, and the entire operation is silent.
Architecture students think outside the box to design low-cost, less-waste housing
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A non-profit organization has given architecture students a chance to learn about the practical, hands-on elements of their future profession whilst exposing them to the benefits of building low-cost, sustainable housing using materials sourced from the local area. Since 2000, DesignBuildBluff and graduate students from the University of Utah’s College of Architecture & Planning have designed and built energy-efficient, inexpensive houses using natural building methods and materials made of recycled products and locally salvaged waste or by-products.
Office depot breaks ground on first "green" store
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February 20, 2008 Office Depot plans to open its first "green" LEED-Certified Store and the company recently celebrating breaking ground on the Austin, Texas site. The store will be the most energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly store in Company's North American retail chain and is due to open in summer 2008.
Global Warming Solutions plans hybrid solar plant
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February 18, 2008 Research and development has commenced to create a new type of solar power plant employing technology that would allow it to produce electricity even during periods of no sunlight. The solar plant will use LETG (Light Electric Thermal Generator), a hybrid solar and thermal energy technology that generates energy by heating up liquids that circulate on the surface of a solar panel.
Human bodies turn up the heat
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February 11, 2008 A new environmentally friendly building to be built in Stockholm, Sweden, will harness human body heat from commuters at the neighboring railway station. The idea is to harness the heat generated by the 250,000 people who pass through Central Station each day using heat exchangers in the ventilation system.
US$15 billion alternative energy investment for Masdar Initiative
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February 5, 2008 Following on from last year's announcement of plans to create the world’s first world’s first zero carbon, zero waste city as part of the Masdar Initiative, the Abu Dhabi government has committed a US$15 billion to help explore, develop and commercialize clean energy sources.
California’s 5 megawatt Solar Farm receives final approval
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February 4, 2008 Cleantech America Inc. has received formal approval from the California Public Utilities Commission for its CalRENEW-1 solar facility. Due to begin operation in the spring of 2009, the plant is the largest utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar facility being developed under California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard program.
CC Medico’s Air Launcher nozzle eases aerosol can recycling
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February 1, 2008 In an era where the need to reduce, reuse and recycle is a the top of the agenda, any innovation that helps in this regard is a welcome one. In providing a solution to the specific problem of recycling aerosol cans, Tokyo-based company CC Medico has developed the Air Launcher JET Alpha nozzle, a new type of aerosol nozzle which is easily removed and separated from the can by hand, which makes recycling the cans much easier.
HP advances recycling techniques for ink cartridge manufacture
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January 31, 2008 HP has developed engineering technology that enables it to use post-consumer recycled plastics in the production of new its inkjet print cartridges. To date more than 200 million cartridges have been manufactured using the process and materials used include multiple sources and grades of recycled plastics – from everyday water bottles to used HP inkjet cartridges.
Intel goes green with power purchase
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January 30, 2008 Technology giant Intel has announced it will purchase more than 1.3 billion kilowatt hours a year of renewable energy certificates, making it the single-largest corporate purchaser of green power in the US. The decision is part of a Intel's multi-faceted approach to reduce impact on the environment, and places the company at the top of the EPA's Green Power Partners latest Green Power Partners Top 25 list.
Energy Island: unlocking the potential of the ocean as a renewable power source
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January 29, 2008 Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion uses the temperature difference between surface and deep-sea water to generate electricity – and though it has an efficiency of just 1-3% - researchers believe an OTEC power plant could deliver up to 250MW of clean power, equivalent to one eighth of a large nuclear power plant, or one quarter of an average fossil fuel power plant. Architect and engineer Dominic Michaelis and his son Alex, along with Trevor Cooper-Chadwick of Southampton University are developing the concept with plans of putting the theory to the test on an unprecedented scale by building a floating, hexagonal Energy Island that will harness energy from OTEC, as well as from winds, sea currents, waves, and the sun.
Eco-friendly photo albums from Unibind
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January 23, 2008 The Unibind range of DIY photo albums from Peleman Industries now incorporates Green PhotoBooks in an effort to make capturing your special moments a little more sustainable. The new environmentally-friendly PhotoBooks are made from natural and recycled materials with covers comprised of cotton-flax.
Low cost, nano-based solar cell from GE
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January 22, 2008 GE Global Research, has demonstrated a scalable silicon nanowire-based solar cell, which has the potential to achieve up to 18% efficiency. The breakthrough by the lab’s Nano Photovoltaics (PV) team is a promising new development in making PV systems more economically viable for consumers than conventional solar options.
