Greenpeace‘s latest Guide to Greener Electronics shows that great progress in greenification has been made by some companies, but that other companies are still lagging behind. Philips and HP are applauded for their efforts, while Microsoft and Toshiba have been called out for either backtracking on their promises or misleading the public “about its commitments” to making green products. → Read More
One of the most annoying things about fluorescent bulbs (including their new and improved little brothers, the CFLs) is the way they take a little time to get to full brightness. It differs from bulb to bulb, but you always end up cursing it inwardly, as it always keeps you in suspense of when that slight flicker will end.
Well, GE has solved that problem, at least kind of, by putting a tiny… → Read More
One of the major issues I’ve been seeing raised internationally in the last year is that of fresh water shortage. Do you remember that striking visualization of the entirety of our planet’s fresh water pictured next to the salt and the rest of the planet? Do you remember reading how in 20 or 30 years, populations will have expanded so much that fresh water will be “the new oil”? Like so many… → Read More
There was some chatter a couple months ago about the possibility of solar-powered tuk-tuks — you know, the little three-wheeled mini-vehicles used all over Asia. But the pictures were bad and the idea was still in execution. No longer! → Read More
Our very own White House is going green. Well, trying to go green. Solar panels will be installed on the roof of the White House by next spring, ending all of our nation’s problems in one fell swoop. → Read More
T-Mobile, fresh off some sort of short code carrier controversy, has been experimenting with solar-powered cell towers. The company has installed the tower (well, full cell site) in eastern Pennsylvania. It’s probably done so for two reasons: one, yeah, it could help the company save a bit of money in the longterm, and two, nothing like some good PR. → Read More
A long and grueling competition was finally settled today as the X-Prize foundation split a $10 million purse between three teams out of 111 competing to create a safe and effective 100MPGe car. The competition has been in full swing for the last few months, as an increasing number of vehicles have been eliminated from the running for any number of reasons. The final three have been judged to… → Read More
The EPA is revising the window stickers seen on new cars to more accurately reflect the capabilities of electric and hybrid vehicles. They’re also proposing, rather boldly, that a big fat letter grade head the sticker, ranging from A+ (for plug-in electric vehicles) to D (for Veyrons and R8s).
The Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers has condemned the stickers, accusing them of evoking… → Read More
Sanyo in Japan today announced [JP] what it says is the world’s first solar-cell-equipped public bus, the Solarve (which stands for Solar Vehicle). The bus was unveiled to commemorate the 100th anniversary of a Japanese transportation and logistics company called Ryobi [JP]. The Solarve is essentially a city bus with solar cells on top that generate power for its interior LED lights. → Read More
We’ve known about Porsche’s GTR 3 hybrid for a while now, but it’s nice to know that it’s not just lurking in a lab somewhere. No, it’s enjoying the Monterey sun and doing its damnedest to not appear ecologically sound. Of course, hybrids aren’t just about fuel efficency, so even if CAFE requirements are forcing badges like Porsche and Corvette to appear on… → Read More
I’ve written about plenty of green things in the past, but never a green wallet. That ends today! It’s called the Holstee wallet, and it’s made entirely out of recycled material from Delhi, India. Pretty neat, I think you’ll agree. → Read More
Tesla has released the details of their 2010 Q2 financial performance, and it looks like things are coming up roses for the nascent auto maker. Sales are up, with nearly $27m in sales coming in — translating to a total of around 250 Roadsters shipped. Their gross margins are up, though; their business is growing, and hopefully cash on hand will suffice to pay for R&D and manufacturing… → Read More
I just had the opportunity to test-drive the new Nissan Leaf here in sunny Seattle, and had enough time with the car to garner some first impressions, take some pictures, and shoot a little video. The Leaf, as you are probably aware, is Nissan’s new plug-in electric vehicle, and the first of the new generation of consumer EVs to be released here in the States. Sure, you’ve got the… → Read More
If your inner tree-hugger cringes every time you get a single book or knick-knack wrapped up in enough packing materials for ten, then this is for you. Oh, and you have to live in Seattle. Amazon has started a program in which you can get your packages delivered to the Seattle area in these cute reusable tote bags, which they seal with tape (and a kiss) and pick up the next time they come by. The… → Read More
Always on the cutting edge of “stuff that goes onto your power meter in the basement and you forget about” technology, Microsoft and Blue Line Innovations have teamed up to release the Hohm PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway. The device sticks to your power meter and reads the actual usag (N.B. it may not work on some older meters) and then transmits it to your Windows PC. The kit… → Read More
Some more aviation news for your edification. The British-built Zephyr is a solar-powered, unmanned aircraft that just flew for two weeks over the Arizona desert. That’s two straight weeks, mind you. It’s a triumph of engineering! → Read More
Is there a green movement in China? Maybe there ought to be, considering the numbers that have just come out. China is now the planet’s number one consumer of energy, overtaking the U.S. in the process. But at the same time, the U.S. has improved its energy efficient more so than China, meaning that the U.S. can get the same amount of work done while consuming less, say, coal or oil. → Read More
It’s summer here in the Northern hemisphere, and that means the solar-based industry in the US is in top experimental gear (to clarify: the company in question is British but the test flight is in the Arizona Desert). A few more months and they’ll hibernating or relocating to their Australian headquarters, but in the meantime, we’re getting a lot of solar-related news. It… → Read More
New York City residents will now be able to track their water use in real time. The city has installed wireless meters in The Bronx (the program will expand in the future), and residents will be able to see how much water they’re using at any given moment. The idea is to encourage people to cut down on their water consumption. “Wow, I used X-Number of gallons of water during that shower… → Read More
A handy Greenpeace e-mail popped into my e-mail collector unit that reminded me of this: hey, Apple is a nice company to the environment! While the iPhone 4 may be a flawed hunk of junk, it is constructed out of Earth-friendly materials. Not a stitch of PVC plastic or BFR to be found. Meanwhile, Dell has waffled and waffled for years now, saying that, oh sure, our products will be totally green… → Read More
A solar-powered airplane, named the Solar Impulse, means to prove, once and for all, that harnessing the energy of the Sun is a good and practical idea. I mean, why would we try to capture some of the energy put out by a completely free nuclear reactor hanging in the sky? The plane took off from Switzerland a little bit ago, and will try to fly for 24 hours without stopping. Here’s hoping it’s a… → Read More
Some auto racing news for your Wednesday morning. Formula One, the fancy circuit that, like soccer, is popular everywhere but the U.S., plans to cut emissions by some 15 percent within three years. That’s a remarkable goal seeing as though Formula One cars (and all supercars, for that matter) are about as green as a smokestack from 1900. → Read More
Did you know that, according to Electrolux, a Swedish appliance manufacturer, there are gigantic piles of plastic debris floating about our planet’s oceans? Some of these are as big as the state of Texas! Way to go, humans! So, Electrolux’s proposal? Collect all that trash, then turn it into vacuum cleaners. You couldn’t make that up if you tried. → Read More
Just now you were wondering, “how can I get more algae in my day-to-day life?” Well, maybe not then, but you are now. Now. Now. See? So now that you’re wondering it, I have an answer for you. I know! Such a lucky coincidence! Or maybe it was meant to be. You and this algae-powered lamp are a match made in the epipelagic zone. → Read More
I love National Geographic, but man, there are a lot of them out there. How many basement bookcases sag under the weight of 20 years of National Geographics? It’s one of those magazines that people tend to keep rather than recycle after reading — to its credit, no doubt, but perhaps it’s time to do something else with them. I don’t often approve of dismembering print media, but when it’s to… → Read More
It’s too bad we didn’t hear about these before Bag Week. Feuer Bags is a German company that makes bags out of decommissioned fire hose. You better believe they’re tough. Plus, they have a beautiful worn-in look right out of the box. I know “pre-worn” is a bit of a cliché now, but there’s something beautiful about objects that are genuinely hard-used and have… → Read More
Everyone loves the idea of solar energy. The three big challenges are that solar cells are expensive to produce, they’re not very efficient, and you need some means to store the energy collected. I’d heard of solar shingles before, which are basically roofing shingles with solar cells in them, but now word is coming out of solar cells printed on paper. As usual, the technology is still years away… → Read More
We like electric vehicles here at CrunchGear, from the Volt to the Leaf to the Eneloop to the U3-X. But fantasy electrics are one thing — what if you actually want to buy a real live electric bike? → Read More
Although we are moving towards a paperless society, that dream is still a long ways off, and a lot of Bics are going to be employed before it arrives. The pens we take for granted sell for a hundred a dollar in bulk, and they’re worth every penny. They also get thrown away, and I’m guessing from the price that high recyclability and sustainability aren’t really primary goals of the Bic… → Read More
NEC has developed an eco-friendly cooling system for CPUs, claiming the technology [JP] uses uses 60% less energy than a water-cooling system and even 80% less than an air-cooling system. The core of the system is a liquid chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) substitute, which circulates around the CPU to draw away heat and has low greenhouse effects. → Read More
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