Wired News: Solar Tower of Power Finds Home
Wired News: Solar Tower of Power Finds Home: "The quest for a new form of green energy has taken a significant step with the purchase of a 25,000-acre sheep farm in the Australian outback. The huge alternative energy project isn't driven by manure, but by a 1-kilometer-high thermal power station called the Solar Tower.

Announced several years ago, the 3,280-foot Solar Tower is one of the most ambitious alternative energy projects on the planet: a renewable energy plant that pumps out the same power as a small reactor but is totally safe. If built, it will be nearly double the height of the world's tallest structure, the CN Tower in Canada.

The Solar Tower is hollow in the middle like a chimney. At its base is a solar collector -- a 25,000-acre, transparent circular skirt. The air under the collector is heated by the sun and funneled up the chimney by convection -- hot air rises. As it rises, the air accelerates to 35 mph, driving 32 wind turbines inside the tower, which generate electricity much like conventional wind farms.

But the Solar Tower has a major advantage over wind farms and solar generators: It can operate with no wind, and 24 hours a day. Thanks to banks of solar cells, the tower stores heat during the day, allowing it to produce electricity continuously"
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 2:09 PM (0) comments

 
solar
Who wants a roof that looks like a RAM chip? Enter Kyocera to the rescue with solar panels that (gasp) actually look like roof tiles.

- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 1:38 PM (0) comments

 
Flickr
This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 1:37 PM (0) comments

 
solar
Who wants a roof that looks like a RAM chip? Enter Kyocera to the rescue with solar panels that (gasp) actually look like roof tiles.

- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 1:36 PM (0) comments

 
Toyota scores highest in use of "green' plastics
Toyota scores highest in use of "green' plastics: "Toyota Motor Corp. was tops in a new study of leading automakers' use of safe, recyclable plastics in their vehicles"
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 12:14 PM (0) comments

 
VOA News - Environmentally Friendly Java Logs
VOA News - Environmentally Friendly Java Logs: "Most people who drink coffee in the morning throw away their used coffee grounds and never think about them again. But now, there's a way to re-use the grounds and maybe even reduce pollution.

A fresh cup of coffee. People throughout the world start their day with it. Much of the time, the used coffee grounds are thrown away and end up in landfills.

Java logs unwrapped
But some of these grounds are being recycled as 'Java-Logs' -- fire logs made from coffee grounds.

Richard Hiraga
They outperform logs made of compressed sawdust according to Richard Hiraga, the Java-Log representative in San Francisco, California. 'It burns as long as a traditional press log. It burns brighter, and it costs about a dollar more than a traditional (press) log,' he said.

It also burns cleaner than logs made from compressed sawdust or wood.

Richard says, 'It produces 85 percent less carbon monoxide emissions than any other presswood so that's really important and 96 percent less residue that goes into the air.'"
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 1:02 PM (0) comments

 
Ratings show how green cars are
BBC NEWS | UK | Ratings show how green cars are: "A new scheme is being launched to tell drivers and car buyers how environmentally friendly vehicles are.

Cars will be rated on a scale from A to F, based on their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions - the same system already used for fridges.

Only electric vehicles get an A grade. Smaller cars score a C while 4x4 vehicles, such as Land Rovers and Range Rovers, score an F grade."
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 9:21 AM (1) comments

 
EUROPA - Research - Headlines - Where is innovation policy taking Europe?
EUROPA - Research - Headlines - Where is innovation policy taking Europe?: "The EU is currently collating the results of its public consultation on how to stimulate innovation for a competitive Europe, which will inform the upcoming Innovation Action Plan. Headlines looks at the latest European innovation survey findings and how this might affect policy in this important area.

The better-known weapons in the EU’s armoury of innovation benchmarking tools are the European Innovation Scoreboard, the Innovation Trend Chart, the Innobarometer surveys and other specific studies on innovation policy and economic performance. According to the European Commission’s Innovation Policy team, these indicators point to three main hurdles – regulation, knowledge and resources – to the EU hitting its Lisbon targets.

“To maintain and improve Europe's living standards, Europe needs more innovation.” This is how the Commission explains the need for a new Action Plan for Innovation, especially if the Union wants to meet its Lisbon goal of becoming the world's most competitive economy by 2010. As it goes now, the EU still trails its major competitor, the USA, while competition from low-cost countries is mounting, the Enterprise and Industry DG explain on their Innovation Policy website.

The impact of ‘regulation’ on innovation, the Commission continues, is important in balancing public concern against commercial opportunities, such as developing genetically modified (GM) agriculture. As for the treatment of ‘knowledge’, several issues affect European innovation – among them, intellectual property rights, technology transfer, and how to improve networking between people and companies. ‘Innovation’ also needs the right resources for venture capital to be freed up, regional disadvantages to be ironed out, and more investment in skills and lifelong learning, the Commission continues."
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 11:55 AM (0) comments

 
iPodlounge Review: Better Energy Systems Solio Solar Powered Charger
iPodlounge Review: Better Energy Systems Solio Solar Powered Charger: "Limitations aside, conservationists and technologists alike have respectfully pushed solar power as a complement to - rather than replacement for - other energy sources. Combining a pragmatic conservationist philosophy with the latest technologies, U.K.-based Better Energy Systems Ltd. is now offering Solio ($99.99), the world's first iPod-matching solar powered charger. An iPod-specific cable is included, but using alternate cables ($19.99 per set), Solio also works with other mobile devices, including popular brands of cellular phones and PDAs."
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 4:07 PM (0) comments

 
Chicago Tribune | Naperville offers an eco-friendly energy option
Chicago Tribune | Naperville offers an eco-friendly energy option: "In Naperville, certificates for 200 kilowatt-hours worth of electricity generated by a wind farm, solar panels or dams on the Fox River cost $5 a piece. A typical home uses about 800 kilowatt-hours of electricity, except in the summer when the air conditioning is running, Poole said.

Residents can buy as many $5 packages of electricity as they want, Poole said.

It is impossible to deliver a specific kilowatt of electricity to a specific street address.

Instead, what residents actually are buying are renewable energy certificates. Every kilowatt-hour of electricity purchased is delivered to the power grid and displaces a kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by a coal or nuclear power plant."
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 12:23 PM (0) comments

 
2005 could be warmest year recorded
CNN.com - NASA: 2005 could be warmest year recorded - Feb 11, 2005: "A weak El Nino and human-made greenhouse gases could make 2005 the warmest year since records started being kept in the late 1800s, NASA scientists said this week.

While climate events like El Nino -- when warm water spreads over much of the tropical Pacific Ocean --affect global temperatures, the increasing role of human-made pollutants plays a big part.

'There has been a strong warming trend over the past 30 years, a trend that has been shown to be due primarily to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,' said James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, based in New York."
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 12:15 PM (0) comments

 
Linux PR: Environmentally Friendly Software that Turns One Computer into Ten
Linux PR: Environmentally Friendly Software that Turns One Computer into Ten: "Innovative Linux-based software that reduces the environmental impact of computing by turning one computer into ten.

CALGARY AB (February 7, 2005) - Userful's innovative 1-Box software offers an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional computers. Userful's software turns one computer into ten fully independent workstations. 1-Box software creates substantial environmental benefits by reducing the hardware required by quickly turning an ordinary PC into a network of up to ten workstations. Ultimately, this software allows up to ten users to work simultaneously from the same computer box; reducing power consumption, unnecessary waste, and emissions from computers."
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 11:26 AM (0) comments

 
X-Craft LCS Coated with QuietShip(TM) Quiet Improves Human Performance on Board Ships
X-Craft LCS Coated with QuietShip(TM) Quiet Improves Human Performance on Board Ships: "The X-Craft is a high-speed experimental vessel developed by the Office of Naval Research. The 73-meter aluminum catamaran is designed to demonstrate cutting-edge technologies that will enable Navy warships to operate farther, faster, safer and deliver a variety of missions with less manpower. In this real-world application QuietShip coating applied to the hull and mission bay of X-Craft was one-third lighter than standard navy tiles and successfully reduced the noise by 15 decibels, a 65% reduction in perceived noise. QuietShip, an environmentally friendly (no VOC) viscoelastic polymer, was designed to be highly effective on High-Speed Craft and all other aluminum, steel and composite-hull vessels."
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 12:42 PM (0) comments

 
dry cleaning
It's too bad this is about an hour and a half from me. But for those of your closer to Winston . . .

Environmentally friendly dry cleaner opens in Winston-Salem - 2005-02-03 - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area: "Dry Cleaning Station, which bills itself as an environmentally safe form of dry cleaning, opened Monday at 110 Oakwood Drive in Winston-Salem. The franchise is owned by Bill and Gray Patton."
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 8:33 PM (0) comments

 
Environmentally friendly dry cleaner opens in Winston-Salem - 2005-02-03 - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area
It's too bad this is about an hour and a half from me. But for those of your closer to Winston . . .


Environmentally friendly dry cleaner opens in Winston-Salem - 2005-02-03 - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area: "Dry Cleaning Station, which bills itself as an environmentally safe form of dry cleaning, opened Monday at 110 Oakwood Drive in Winston-Salem. The franchise is owned by Bill and Gray Patton."
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 8:23 PM (0) comments

 
GreenBiz News | New Technology Uses CO2 to Make Plastic from Orange Peels
GreenBiz News | New Technology Uses CO2 to Make Plastic from Orange Peels: "Using just the oil from orange peel and CO2, researchers at Cornell University have found a way to make a high quality, versatile plastic in an environmentally friendly way.

This would also offer one small solution to the growing global problem of how to control and reduce increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere.

Plastics are polymers, and are made up of a long chain of carbon-based molecules, usually made from petroleum. Limonene is a carbon-based compound that makes up around 95% of the oil found in orange peel, often used to give household cleaners a citrus smell. "
- posted by Chuck Eesley @ 2:01 PM (0) comments