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From the monthly archives:

January 2008

Solar and Wind Powered StreetLights In Tokyo

January 30, 2008

We just wrote about the new LED streelights in Ann Arbor. Now we find these self-contained streetlights that generate 100% of their power from the sun and the wind. During the day, solar power is stored in a battery at the base of the light pole. At night, they illuminate while continuing to generate power [...]

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Glass LED Lamp: Rechargeable and Cordless

January 29, 2008

This “Rotondo” rechargeable lamp uses LEDs for illumination — it will run for about eight hours before it needs a recharge. The lamp is also water resistant and is made with mouth-blown parnaterraglas with a frosted finish. It will cycle through a spectrum of colors, and can be stopped when the hue you desire is [...]

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First U.S City To Be Lit With 100% LEDs: Ann Arbor!

January 26, 2008

Ann Arbor is on its way to being the first U.S. city to light up its downtown with 100% LED-based streetlights. The city expects to install more than 1,000 LED streetlights beginning next month. The city anticipates a 3.8-year payback on its initial investment.

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The Best Low-Flow Showerheads

January 22, 2008

Low-flow showerheads are efficient. They can significantly reduce your household water consumption without a noticeable difference to your shower experience. The term “low flow” is generally defined as a showerhead with a water consumption rate of 0.5 to 2 gallons per minute (gpm). Here’s my review of what’s available:

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The Largest Building In The World To Be Green

January 22, 2008

Foster + Partners have just been granted preliminary permission to start construction on this volcano-shaped superstructure in Moscow, which will be dubbed “Crystal Island”. In terms of efficiency monolithic buildings like this seem unnecessary, but the proposed dimensions are amazing: it will be 1,500 foot tall with 26,909,776 foot squared of floor space, that’s enough [...]

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The “Energy Plus” Building Produces All Its Own Power

January 22, 2008

The “Energy Plus” office building, to be located outside of Paris, is designed to produce all its own energy for heating, lighting and air conditioning. This zero-energy building, according to the designers, will be the greenest office building ever created. It will accomplish this by having more solar panels on its roof than any other [...]

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Review: The Best Flashlights (2008 Update)

January 21, 2008

Update: See our newer post The Best Flashlights Of 2009
What are the most efficient flashlights available today? We think LED-based flashlights are the only ones worthy of consideration. LEDs will shine longer than other bulbs, and can withstand shocks and temperature extremes. The best LED flashlights incorporate bright, high-quality LEDs with regulatory circuits that insure [...]

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The Tallest Wind Turbines In The U.S. Installed In Texas

January 18, 2008

The tallest wind turbines in the U.S. have been installed in Texas — the Vestas V90 turbines are 345 feet high, and are rated at 3 megawatts each. They are part of the 63 megawatt Snyder Wind Project, a wind farm that’s just been installed in western Texas.

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3 Megawatts Of Mirrored Solar In Spain

January 17, 2008

A company called SolFocus (which was spun out of Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in 2006) has started installation of a 3-megawatt solar power plant in southern Spain. SolFocus makes solar cells that use much less silicon than regular panels because they use lenses and mirrors to concentrate sunlight. The solar concentrators magnify sunlight 500 [...]

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Huge “Air Tree” Structure Produces Its Own Power and Oxygen

January 16, 2008

In Madrid, Spain they are currently building a huge structure called an “Air Tree” or “Eco Boulevard de Vallecas”. The Tree was created by Urban Ecosystem to be a social center, and to improve the surrounding environment. The structure is also completely self-sufficient, generating all its own power with solar cells. Any surplus energy is [...]

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Toyota To Release Plug-In Hybrid In 2010

January 14, 2008

Toyota has just announced that it plans on building its first plug-in hybrid by 2010. This car will be direct competition with GM’s high-profile Volt, which is set to released that year. However, many pundits believe that the Volt is “vaporware” and will not be released in 2010.

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Hybrid Gets 150 Miles Per Gallon Using Ultracapacitors

January 12, 2008

It’s a prototype hybrid car that gets 150MPG, and goes 40 miles on electricity alone, drawing its power from a combination of lithium-ion batteries and ultracapacitors. The ultracapacitors provide a burst of energy to the engine, when needed. They are then recharged by the lithium-ion batteries. This avoids the problem of emptying the batteries too [...]

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eZee Electric Bikes: Great Performance and Affordability

January 10, 2008

eZee’s Torq II electric bike.
A to B Magazine is a comprehensive electric bike review magazine published in the U.K. Here’s their electric bike review page, where bikes are rated on a five star scale. Unfortunately, all of their 5 star bikes are only available in Europe. One brand that got a 4 star rating is [...]

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LED Bulbs Could Light Homes In Less Than Three Years

January 10, 2008

LEDs lights are very efficient, but because of their structure, much of the light in standard LEDs becomes trapped, reducing the brightness of the light. Because of this, LEDs are only useful for “task lighting” in the home — as floor lamps and desk lamps. Now researchers believe they have found a way of introducing [...]

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Philips’ New Eco-TV Uses Only 75 Watts

January 9, 2008

This new 42-inch LCD "Eco TV" by Philips was announced at CES 2008 (Consumer Electronics Show). The television certainly has a lot  of energy saving features  that make it possibly the most efficient TV on the market. CNET reports:

[The TV] has the ability to dim the backlight–by up to five times peak brightness–in response to [...]

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Schwinn Electric Bikes Now Available

January 6, 2008

Schwinn’s new range of electric bikes are finally available. These innovative bikes have electric motors and batteries integrated seamlessly into their design. Schwinn claims that the four pound Protanium® lithium polymer battery included with these bikes is the lightest and most durable on the market. One charge will last 40-60 miles. The battery also charges [...]

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Electric Mountain Bikes

January 6, 2008

There are only a few electric mountain bikes on the market, but electric motors can certainly assist with  off-road riding. You can also build you own electric mountain bike by installing an electric motor kit onto an existing mountain bike. There’s also the Biontague, which is a mountain bike that has a electric kit [...]

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Storing Solar Power In Molten Salt

January 4, 2008

Solar power is a truly efficient source of energy, but it tends to fluctuate, and, as you might know, it turns off at night. One clever way to alleviate this intermittence is to store solar energy in the form of heat using molten salt. An aerospace company, Hamilton Sundstra, has created a venture called SolarReserve, [...]

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Bamboo Hangers

January 4, 2008

We’ve featured quite a bit of optimal and sustainable clothing over the years, but what about those devices you use to hang up your clothing? We mentioned the bioplastic hangers, available from Earthsaver. Now, the Great American Hanger Company has launched a new line of bamboo hangers, and these hangers really show off the beauty [...]

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