Archive for 'Alternative Energy'

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 [...]

Swedish energy products company, Home Energy, is marketing an innovative new small wind turbine, the Energy Ball v100.  The Energy Ball utilizes the ‘Venturi‘ effect to increase the speed of the wind passing through its spherical design to make it more efficient at low speeds.
The design is a departure from the conventional three blade, propeller-like [...]

As our freshwater sources continue to dry up, water is becoming an ever more valued resource.  In these thirsty times, desalination companies are making considerable headway in solving our water shortages by creating drinking water out of ocean water.  The process, however, has been known to be energy-intensive, very costly, and disruptive to marine life.  [...]

Sharp has introduced this solar powered LCD at the recent CEATEC Japan trade show.  Not a lot of details available at the moment.  But it looks like the solar panel is larger than the LCD screen, which makes this a little problematic for studio apartment dwellers, not to mention your cousin Barry, who’s living in [...]

My guess is that this solar calculator is targeting the quickly expanding green accountant demographic.  A dedicated collective of eco-conscious CPA’s focusing all their off-the-grid analytical skills on saving the planet one spreadsheet at a time. Great for balancing the books deep in the outback or the Amazon jungle.
kinda cool looking
$8 @ brando.com.hk
Related:  previously on [...]

Now that title’s a green mouthful!  Zehn’s Carbon Neutral Apparel achieves a 90% carbon footprint reduction in the manufacture of the pictured hoodie by using renewable wind power and low impact, organic farming.
The manufacture of the typical hooded sweatshirt is 62lbs of carbon dioxide emitted. By comparison, a Zehn solar or wind power hooded sweatshirt [...]

Impress friends and influence people by going off-grid and powering your iPhone 3G with solar power.

This solar powered iPhone charger will fully charge you phone in 3 hours or provide a steady source of power while you’re tanning by the pool.  The rechargeable battery in this charger can charge via USB connection or fully charge [...]

Cycling safety accessories manufacturer, Pedalite, will start selling its eco-friendly, solar powered,  Ankelite sometime around December.
This solar gadget is designed to fit around the ankle or arm of you athletic types - this safety light can charge in either natural or artificial light and provides 3 hours of flashing light on a full charge.  The [...]