After electric cars that have created hype in the automobile industry, it’s the bike now. GPR-S is an electric motorcycle manufactured by a small electric vehicle spare-parts company Electric Motorsport. The bike comes with an elective speed charger which can charge it up within 1.5 hours, which would otherwise take up to 4 hours using an on-board charger.

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With Mini E, the BMW group will become the first manufacturer to have a fleet of around 500 electric vehicles in everyday traffic around the world. This little eco car will work on a 150 kW electric motor with a rechargeable lithium-ion battey feeding it. As a result, the vehicle will be silent and emission-free. Plus it promises a range of 150 miles.

Though initially Mini E will be provided to select corporate customers in California, NY and New Jersey, it will have a world premiere at the LA Auto Show on November 19th and 20th, 2008.

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Light Emitting Diodes (LED), which are extensively used in various gadgets like watches, clocks, traffic lights will now be available for domestic use. With the prices of the semiconductor materials dropping, LED light bulbs can be used to light up our homes, but how economical and useful are they going to be? Let’s see…

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Texas teenager Lucas Laborde will be driving to school in an all-electric car that he built all by himself. No, we are not kidding when we say that he will drive to school in it as the guy is still only 17 years old. While most teens would spend the summer away doing far more attractive and far less productive stuff, Lucas spent it converting his gas-guzzling old car into an all-electric vehicle with no emissions. So how many hundreds of thousands of dollars did he spend on it? Lucas just spent around $ 10,000 in making the revamp!

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The Pininfarina B0 (pronounced B Zero) is a tribute to the legacy of Andrea Pininfarina (1957-2008) who believed that ‘designing and building cars is not only a business choice but a social responsibility.’ The B0 is clearly the solution for a pollution-free world, as was envisioned by its creator. This electric car of sheer styling is a collaboration born out of the partnership between Bolloré and Pininfarina. The four-seater, four-door hatchback with an automatic gearbox is being built in Turin and will be powered by Bolloré’s LMP technology, using the LMP battery that is rechargeable over a few hours only through a standard domestic main socket.

The car is a mass production model. The initial units will roll off by the end of 2009. The fully-electric vehicle will not produce any CO2 emission because of its use of the LMP revolutionary battery technology.� No exhaust gases or particulates from this car. For the past 15 years, Bolloré has been developing a solid-state lithium polymer battery that does not need any maintenance and has a lifespan of approximately 200,000 km (125,000 miles).
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If you were wondering how one could stay warm and cozy right on top of an ice-capped mountain, you must seek the advice of the Department of Architecture at the Swiss Federal Technical University. They have constructed the autonomous alpine shelter at a height of 2,810 meters above sea level. Many students and researchers have already started to use the facility and have spoken of its convenience and safety. They surely were awed, too, by its majestic perch on a snowy peak.

Situated right at the tip of a glacier, it is as remote and far away from any energy source as it could get. However, an innovative mind can take one a long way on the journey towards energy self-sufficiency. The building could be used by mountaineers as a base camp before making an ascent on the Alps.

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The Crown Estate of England knows which way the wind blows and has decided to acquire the prototype of the world’s biggest wind turbine, Clipper’s 7.5 megawatt MBE turbine, also known as the Britannia. While the other windmills have been land-based, this giant will be located in deep waters near the UK. This will assist the marine interests of The Crown Estate which includes almost the entire UK territorial seabed out to 12 nautical miles , about 55% of the UK’s coastal foreshore, and rights to lease seabed for the generation of renewable energy on the continental shelf within the Renewable Energy Zone which extends out to approximately 200 nautical miles.
This will drive forward the development of turbine technology designed for the challenges of the offshore environment hence providing a great opportunity to help establish a new industrial base of activity to advance the UK’s leadership in renewable energy.

The 10-megawatt monster machine built by Clipper Windpower of Carpinteria, California will have a wingspan larger than two soccer fields and will stand 574 feet tall when completed. The windmill is expected to displace two million barrels of oil as well as 724,000 tons of CO2 over its lifetime. It will also serve as the flagship for Clipper’s Britannia Project, an effort to produce massive new turbines on deep-sea floating platforms. If all goes as planned, the Queen’s windmill will light up thousands of British homes starting in 2012.
This thus, will not only prove benevolent but when yield as a good financial investment for the Crown as well.


Via fashionfunky

Solar parking lots have been discussed many a times by the environmental technologists. The concept speaks of putting photovoltaic arrays and parking lots together so that sunlight can be harnessed. Then again, the array functions like a canopy thus providing shade to the cars. After much talks, finally someone paid attention. A Silicon Valley manufacturer that goes by the name of Applied Materials has incorporated a solar parking lot in its campus. Since the company makes semiconductors, LCD displays among other high-tech equipment, the solar energy harnessed basically will contribute to their energy uses.

Such parking lots will be a blessing for electric cars and with the demand growing for the latter, the parking system will need to be updated with the photovoltaic arrays. After all what does a solar parking lot need but just sunlight! The benefits are plenty.

Via ecogeek

When the whole of America was perturbed about the oil crisis, a tiny prairie town in Minnesota decided to do something about it. You can well imagine what the town must be like when the local radio carry news updates like the price of cattle and feed, but they were wise enough to embrace renewable energy long before gas prices reached 4 dollars a gallon.

A group of farmers in Trimont came together to build a massive wind energy farm. As a result of their vision, the town ended up with 67 giant turbines, each taller than the Statue of Liberty, that produce enough electricity to light up 29,000 homes. Not only this, the farmers and the local government are making around two million dollars thanks to the wind energy. Buzz is that this is only step one, as the number of the towers will soon be doubled.

Imagine what a little foresight can do. For starters, it can bring a solution to America’s energy problems.

Via http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5566001&page=1

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Tired of a soaring electricity bill? Concerned for nature, want to reduce global warming but are a victim of lousy habits, always forgetful about switching off the lights or fans when you leave a room? For all those who are perfect example of “old habits die hard” notion but are willing enough to adopt greener ways, California based Agilewaves has come up with a smart device- The Resource Monitor. The device is native integrated system which functions in real time to monitor the electricity, gas and water consumption of your house. With the real monitor, you can carry out your chores without being worried about a hefty bill at the end of the month as you can set specific monthly targets for consuming these three facilities. The device uses behaviorally-driven quantitative feedback by the users for effective monitory. It is fit for use inside homes and offices. Resource monitor displays the consumption details and carbon footprint of a household/office via a built-in touchscreen interface or a password protected web page.

As I already said, the system is a real time analyst so now you can get hourly details about the eco-footprints of your daily activities inside your home/office. This well-structured monitoring approach helps in tightening the noose over reckless consumptions and wasteful activities. The company says its latest resource monitor tracks the performance of major appliances and then, calculated the resource consumption room/floor wise. Features like Standard browser application, real time data display, intuitive graphic UI, temperature data in key locations, budget setting and trend analysis and visualize time-series data to name a few, make Resource Monitor the ultimate watchdog device. The appliance comes from a responsible software company and it looks after your social, environmental and financial performance in a well–organized and efficient manner. Well readers, I m thoroughly impressed and would certainly go for it! What about you?

Via: agilewaves