efficiency

High Speed Rail: Coming To A City Near You?

China is leading the world in miles of high speed rail lines with 2,813 miles in operation and another 5,312 under construction. Spain, France, and Japan are all vying for 2nd place. Germany and Italy each have around 600 miles of high speed rail. The U.S.? Zero. But that could soon change. President Obama’s proposed [...]

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Google Pulls The Plug With Inductive EV Charging Stations

Plugless Power, an innovative EV charging station that uses hands-free, wireless inductive charging, has been installed at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. Developed by Evatran, the charging stations are built into parking spaces to automatically charge the electric vehicle while it’s parked. This is the first public trial of the system. Google utilizes a [...]

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Best Commuter Bikes For 2011

The best commuter bikes for 2011 present a wide variety of styles and components to best suit personal needs. Bike manufacturers have answered the call to the increased population of bike commuters by designing full lines of commuter specific bikes. Though many of these commuter bikes aren’t cheap, if you’re giving up the car in [...]

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Amazing Dutch Bike Path Embedded With Solar Panels

What could make bike riding even more efficient? How about a bike path embedded with solar panels to produce clean energy while encouraging people to get on their bikes? The town of Krommenie in the Netherlands, just north of Amsterdam, will be receiving the SolaRoad bike path, scheduled to open in 2012.

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High Speed Trains In The U.S.: A Matter Of Efficiency

With the high speed rail debate officially jumping the tracks into the political arena, American citizens are left to sort through the onslaught of bureaucratic bantering which so often leads to misinformation. The question that’s causing tempers to flare on both sides is whether the government should be funding high speed rail projects across the [...]

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World’s Largest Solar Roof To Power High Speed Rail Station in China

Efficiency abounds in China as the world’s largest building integrated photovoltaic project prepares to power the railway station where some of the world’s fastest high speed trains pass through. China Sunergy, a solar cell and module manufacturer based in Nanjing, China, has recently signed a deal with CEEG (Nanjing) Solar Energy Research Institute to supply [...]

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New Luminescent Bulbs May Outshine LEDs and Fluorescents

Retailers are gearing up to meet deadlines for the incandescent light bulb ban. Ikea has already stopped selling the inefficient bulbs. And California has pulled the plug and is letting current supplies run down. Many incandescent lovers are shedding tears and hating on the mercury-containing CFLs and the more expensive (though infinitely more efficient) LEDs. [...]

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Best Electric Bikes For 2011

The past year has seen an abundance of bike manufacturers entering into the electric bike arena with slick, lightweight and powerful bikes. Despite misconceptions, electric bikes allow commuters to increase their range safely and arrive to the office smelling fresh, while still getting exercise (yes, you still have to pedal an electric bike) and reducing [...]

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Leaving Cable: Using a Computer as a Television

If your New Year’s resolution is to bring your technology into the 21st century, revamping your TV is a great place to start. The unfathomable amount of information available for your viewing pleasure on the World Wide Web begs the question: why are you still settling for cable? Check out these suggestions to take your [...]

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New Ford Focus Electric Aims to Blow Nissan Leaf Away

Since the release of our 2011 electric car review, Ford has unveiled the new 2012 Focus Electric, first at the recent 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show, and currently at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Though showing up a little late to the electric vehicle party, Ford is flaunting the new Focus’ ability [...]

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