Archive for 'Alternative Energy'

Please don’t hurt yourself rushing to buy this piece of crappy Chinese solar technology.

This collapsible traffic cone presumably fits in one’s trunk. The little built-in solar panel charges a rechargeable battery that powers red LED bulbs.  Add some reflective ‘material’ and you have a supposedly green highway safety gadget.
No info on how a it gets solar-charged [...]

Climbing the Himalayas or heading to your off-the-grid chalet to write your next green how-to book?  Maybe you’ll need to keep your laptop charged.  This SolarGorilla Solar Charger will keep your iPod, laptop cell phone, PDA and handheld games powered-up no matter how far off the beaten track you get.  Clam shell design keeps your [...]

London-based Karbon Kintetics is field testing a cool looking and innovative electric bike for urban commuters, the Gocycle.

The bike has a lot of great features: it’s lightweight (injection molded magnesium), the seat and handlebars adjust without tools for each rider, it has a range of 6 to 20 miles (with pedal input), 3.5 hours of [...]

The notion of homesteading and “living off the grid” seems to invoke states of either self-reliant bliss or irrepressible confusion as to why anyone in this technological age would want to succumb to the law of the land, once again.

If you fall into the first category, then you’re probably someone who’s weary of depending upon [...]

Finland’s Windside Wind Turbines cut its teeth designing wind turbines for remote weather stations and installations located in the harshest and most extreme environments, from the frigid Antarctic to the sizzling Sahara desert.  Though they specialize in professional installations, the company does offer an interesting consumer small wind turbine for sale in Europe and Canada.

The [...]

Let’s face it.  We would all love to use wind or solar energy to power our homes, but neither one comes inexpensively!  But, until they’re made more affordable and easy to own, geothermal makes an advantageous alternative to the conventional energy sources we use now.  Geothermal heat pumps work in a similar manner to regular [...]

Green building is going Hollywood.

The Gatsby Hollywood has announced it will be Metro L.A.’s first all solar-powered, green community. The development is under construction on the corner of Hollywood’s Fountain and Wilcox Avenues. The 34 single family detached homes in the all-new community will offer premier sun-powered features and a Certified California Green Builder stamp [...]

It turns out the recently passed $700 billion economic bailout package contained some sweet tasting pork.  In addition to tax credits for geothermal, wind, solar and green building, Congress added tax credits for residential small and micro wind installations.  The ITC (investment tax credit) can subsidize up to $4,000 for installation of qualifying small wind [...]

Last night we attended the Chevy VOLT press event here in NYC,
and laid our hands and eyes on GM’s $1.2 million dollar prototype,
(”Please don’t slam the doors…”).

The vehicle looks sharp and rather sporty.  Not as dorky or funky as the Prius, but distinctive — in an intentionally more mainstream way.  Fact is, Chevy wants to [...]

Scottish company, Renewable Devices designs and distributes what they say is “the quietest rooftop wind turbine currently available.” The small footprint, Swift Wind Turbine, is designed for both commercial and residential use.
The 7′ diameter turbine produces 1.5kW @ 14 m/s, or roughly 2,000 kWh per year (roughly 20% of average home use) and requires about [...]

Hong Kong designer Keikko Lee has won a Gold Award at the recent Seoul Design Competition for her solar-powered “sticker lamp”, said to be as thin as a magazine cover.  The designer’s conceptual lamp features electroluminescent material on one side and solar panels and sensors on the other.  Stick it on your window to charge [...]

If you’re an active type who likes to dance, climb things, or perhaps has some rare twitching disorder, this may be the small device charger for you.   Armband mounted, this new eco gadget from Gotwind transforms mechanical energy into electrical energy to power or charge your phone or gizmo.  No word on whether the quality [...]