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From the monthly archives:

May 2007

The Greenest Skyscaper In The U.S.?

May 31, 2007

This skyscraper, One Bryant Park, is being constructed on 42nd street in New York. The tower will be hard to miss: it has a faceted glass facade that maximizes the daylight entering the building, while minimizing the heat. The 54-story building is designed to earn the LEED Platinum rating (the highest designation from the U.S. [...]

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PowerHub: Backup Power From Solar, Wind

May 30, 2007

Xantrex, a company well known the renewable energy world, is introducing a new product called the PowerHub. It’s a self-contained power storage system that can be recharged with DC power from solar cells or wind turbines. Additionally, It can be charged via an outlet using AC power.

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Off The Grid Homes

May 30, 2007

In Off the Grid Homes, architect Lori Ryker, examines a number of modern homes that are “off grid” — meaning they are self-sustaining in regards to electrical power and water use. Looking at each home, she highlights the techniques that were used to generate power and conserve it.

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China’s Solar-Powered City: Rizhao

May 29, 2007

Rizhao City, which means City of Sunshine in Chinese, has a unique dedication to the sun. In Rizhao, 99% of households in the central districts use solar water heaters, and most traffic signals, street and park lights are powered by photovoltaic solar cells. In the suburbs and villages, more than 30% of households use solar [...]

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Solar-Powered LED Road Signs

May 29, 2007

The Canadian company Carmanah has introduced some new solar-powered LED road signs. The lights are completely self-contained and require no external wiring. The signs can often pay for themselves in a couple of years, due to the amount of energy they save.

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3 Megawatt Solar Roof: The Largest In Europe

May 27, 2007

PGIGrup, a company in Spain, is building the largest solar roof in Europe, for the Telefonica Business Park Complex in Madrid. The park will have over 16,600 photovoltaic solar panels that will run the length of the entire office complex on the building rooftops.

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La Mancha Experiments With Solar Concentrators

May 27, 2007

The land of La Mancha, made famous by Quixote and his windmills, is a sun-drenched, windy part of Spain. Fittingly, the region is a veritable experimental hot-house for solar concentrator installations. Many start-up companies are at work devising techniques of focusing light on a solar cell, in order to reduce the amount of silicon or [...]

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Affordable Wind-Powered Housing In London

May 26, 2007

Architects Waugh Thistleton have won planning permission for this wind-powered residential building is to be built in London. The building is clad in glazed tiles and features a stunning tower of helical wind turbines at its spine (unfortunately not visible here). It will provide 66 private and affordable apartments, as well as 1,117 sq [...]

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Dockside Green: A “Closed-Loop” Green Community

May 25, 2007

The city of Victoria in British Columbia has many cutting-edge green buildings and developments in the works. One of the more ambitious projects is Dockside Green, which is an entire green community to be built along Victoria’s upper harbor. Comprised of 26 buildings on 15 acres, the project will include 1000 apartments, condos and townhouses, [...]

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Electric Motorcycles

May 24, 2007

There’s increasing interest in electric motorcycles these days. Just like other electric vehicles, electric motorcycles don’t generate any emissions and are quiet. They and can go 30 miles on 5 cents worth of electricity. You may have seen the electric motorcycle featured in Popular Mechanics recently. Not long ago, the electric Killacycle set a world [...]

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Aquarius Tower To Integrate Wind Turbines, Solar Cells

May 22, 2007

The Aquarius Tower will have wind turbines and a solar roof cleverly incorporated into its design. It will become one of the few buildings in the U.S. to incorporate such energy generating features. The tower is a proposed 38-story, 240,000-square-foot condominium complex that will be located across from the Georgia Aquarium, in Atlanta. It will [...]

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New York’s Yellow Cabs To Be All Hybrids by 2012

May 22, 2007

New York City’s fleet of yellow cabs will go entirely hybrid within five years, and all its vehicles for hire will have to meet new emissions and mileage standards by next year, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The city said the increase in fuel efficiency will save taxi operators more than $10,000 per year. The [...]

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An Innovative Mercedes-Benz Hybrid Bus

May 21, 2007

It’s a prototype of a diesel-electric hybrid bus from DaimlerChrysler! The company plans to unveil this bus, the Citaro, to the general public sometime this year. The bus has a sophisticated hybrid system, that allows the bus to run in emission-free battery-only mode. Rather than providing continuous driving power, the diesel engine in the Citaro [...]

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Schwinn’s New Range of Electric Bikes

May 16, 2007

Schwinn will be releasing a new series of electric bikes this summer, with the motors and batteries seamlessly integrated their overall design. The bikes will come with a lithium polymer battery that Schwinn says is the lightest and most durable on the market. One charge will last approximately 60 miles. The bikes also charge faster [...]

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Skyscraper Creates All Its Own Energy

May 12, 2007

This skyscraper, to be built in Dubai, is called the Burj al-Taqa (‘Energy Tower’), and it will produce 100% of its own power. The tower will have a huge (197 foot diameter) wind turbine on its roof, and arrays of solar cells that will total 161,459 square feet in size. Additional energy is provided by [...]

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Turn Your Bike Into A Powerful Commuting Vehicle: StokeMonkey

May 12, 2007

Here at MetaEfficient, we’re always looking for an excuse to ride a bike, rather than drive a car. It’s just more fun, and you get the added benefit of exercise. But what if you want to take your bike to work or to get groceries? Most bikes in the U.S. are built for recreation in [...]

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Micro-Wind Turbines: Update

May 11, 2007

I first wrote about these wind micro-wind turbines for TreeHugger in March. Since then the microturbines have become available for sale through the Motorwave website (here’s a direct link to the store). Right now, shipping costs from Hong Kong are about $300, but Lucien Gambarota, the inventor says he hopes to offer the turbines [...]

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3000 Megawatts of New U.S. Wind Power In 2007

May 10, 2007

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) today released its First Quarter Wind Power Market Report, announcing that the U.S. wind energy industry is on track to install over 3,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power in 2007, with Texas likely to account for about two thirds of the new installations.

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EcoLEDs: Mercury-Free LED Bulbs

May 10, 2007

A start-up company is offering mercury-free, energy efficient, high-brightness LED lights to replace typical light bulbs in homes and offices. The EcoLED lights use 1/10th the electricity of incandescent light bulbs, and are estimated to last 50,000 hours before burning out (approximately a decade of normal use). Unlike compact fluorescent bulbs, these bulbs contain no [...]

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Quiet Revolution Wind Turbines

May 10, 2007

Quiet Revolution is an English company that makes visually intriguing wind turbines. The QR5 Vertical Axis Wind Turbine generates 6 kilowatts of power. It’s quieter than your typical wind turbine because the tip speed is slower, due to the triple-helix design, which in turn allows it to be situated closer to buildings and on towers. [...]

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