Archive for June, 2007
June 22, 2007 at 9:32 pm · Filed under Green Tech, Off Grid, Solar
Here is the first outerwear product in the world that can recharge a cell phone, iPod or other device using solar power.
Italian ZEGNA presents the first commercially available jacket with integrated solar solution based on “iSolarX” – a flexible and highly efficient wearable solar technology.
The solar modules are mounted on a neoprene collar; the electricity generated from solar energy is transmitted through conducting textile leads and stored temporarily in a buffer battery or fed directly to a connected device. Read the rest of this entry »
June 21, 2007 at 11:30 am · Filed under Bio Fuel, Green Tech, The Politics
I am in the market for a new car. To my surprise there is no alternatives in Denmark to gasoline and diesel cars. It is possible to order a Prius, but no dealers has a model home I can test. It is also possible to import a hybrid, electric or plantoil/biodiesel ready car but theres is not one single place in this country I can go and see and have a spin in such a car.
Importing a car is a difficult task, there will be doubt about the tax until the car is imported and I would prefer to have a local salesman to address for service and if something goes wrong.
I do not understand why this is. All major car manufacturers have electric cars, hybrid and plant oil ready cars and they are on the market in several countries, why not here? Why do they not test the Danish market – they would find me and possible a lot of others potential buyers.
Some months ago the tax on new cars were differentiated, so it makes environment friendly cars a lot cheaper. This is said to have increased the sale of small gasoline cars – but so far no new products have been introduced. Thats a shame, now I’ll buy a Hummer instead…
June 20, 2007 at 2:20 pm · Filed under Green Tech, Money and Finance, Solar
Japan was the largest producer of solar power until Germany exceeded it in 2005. European countries have been expanding their production of solar power more rapidly than Japan. Germany now accounts for 39 percent of total production, while Japan’s contribution is 38 percent. Germany, which will host the summit meeting on global warming in June, has a reputation for being environmentally conscious, and subsidies for solar power have been increased, with the stable price of such power helping to make solar power generation more popular. However, in Japan, subsidized projects by the New Energy Foundation, aimed at generating solar power for private residents ended in fiscal 2005, and now only local governments have subsidized projects.
Source: Daily Yomiuri Online
June 19, 2007 at 4:39 pm · Filed under Bio Fuel, Green Tech, hybrids, On Grid, Video, Wind Power
Google.org – the philanthropic arm of Google – yesterday lauched an exciting project that offers a glimpse of a smarter energy future: cars that plug into an electric grid powered by solar energy. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles can quadruple the fuel economy of the average car on the road today. As Google.org demonstrated at yesterday’s event, plug-in hybrids can sell power back to the electric grid when it’s needed most through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology
Google.org’s core missions is to address climate change. In the U.S., transportation contributes about one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions –- with more than 60 percent of those emissions coming from personal vehicles. By accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrids and vehicle-to-grid (“V2G”) technologies, this new project, RechargeIT.org, aims to reduce emissions and dependence on oil while promoting clean energy technologies and increasing consumer choice. Linking the U.S. transportation system to the electricity grid maximizes the efficiency of our energy system. From these efforts, we believe the environment will benefit – and consumers will have more choices to fuel their cars.
We’ve been working with Google engineers and Hymotion/A123Systems to build a small fleet of plug-in hybrids, adding an external plug and additional batteries to a regular hybrid car so that it runs on electricity with gasoline (or even better, biofuels) to extend the driving range for longer trips. Here’s what it looks like:
[youtube]oDjSbWTJbdo[/youtube]
June 6, 2007 at 9:08 am · Filed under Uncategorized
China announced yesterday it had made a breakthrough in excavating natural gas hydrate, the so-called “flammable ice”, which is believed to be a potential natural energy source. Zhang Hongtao, deputy director-general of China Geological Survey (CGS), said gas hydrate samples were successfully collected from the northern part of the South China Sea last month. China is the fourth country after the United States, Japan and India to make such a technological achievement. Zhang said the development was expected to ease the country’s dependence on oil and coal. Initial estimates indicate the potential volume of gas hydrates around continental slopes in the area exceeds 100 million tons of oil equivalent, Zhang said. The samples were collected from two different stations in the Shenhu (Magic Fox) continental slope on May 1 and May 15, he said. Nicknamed “flammable ice”, gas hydrates are crystalline solids, which occur when water molecules form a cage-like structure around smaller “guest molecules” of methane, ethane, carbon dioxide and other substances. Stable only at low temperatures and/or high pressures, gas hydrates are extremely fragile, and mainly exist either in the seafloor or below tundra at high latitudes. The resource has become a hotspot of international research in recent decades, as scientists believe gas hydrates are a perfect alternative fuel resource to oil and gas, writes China Daily.
June 4, 2007 at 9:13 am · Filed under Green Tech, hybrids
Top Gear goes to Germany to take a look at a prototype hydrogen powered car made by General Motors. The car is the first car that has no mechanical links between the driver and the car. This allows for easy shift of body for different purposes. Read the rest of this entry »
June 2, 2007 at 12:03 pm · Filed under Ecology, The Politics
The European Parliament has adopted a report, which seeks to strengthen proposed new regulation on organic production and the labelling of organic products. The parliament has called for stricter rules for importations and certification bodies, better labelling with the possibility to keep national organic logos, integration of non-food products and extension of the scope of the legislation to catering and restaurants.Following the vote, Vice-President Marie-Helene Aubert from (Greens) said: “The EP has today voted for much stronger rules for organic production and product labelling in the EU. Following the active role of the Parliament on this regulation some of the changes proposed in the EP report have already been accepted by the Council. These include: a better framework for controls, inspections and certification of imports of organic products from third Countries, which did not have similar legislation and controls in place; clearer rules for processing, certifying and labelling of organic products, while preserving the existing specific national and regional labels of the private organic organisations. We also welcome that regular consultation of the stakeholders in organic farming is now agreed,” writes www.neurope.eu.
June 1, 2007 at 7:11 pm · Filed under Green Tech
Even the daily ritual of shaving can make an environmental statement. Or so hopes Braun. The division of consumer products conglomerate Procter & Gamble (PG) said today that its line of men’s electric shaver chargers had become the first to win Energy Star certification from the U.S. government. Braun says its shaver chargers consume 64 percent less electricity than standard shavers. Based on the number of shavers it sells in the U.S. market, that translates into the annual elimination of about 5.6 metric tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide, according to the company.
June 1, 2007 at 7:06 pm · Filed under Money and Finance
Joel Makower has this funny article about how marketing companies has divided the green consumer segment in to various groups.
“So, how many ways can you slice the green-consumer pie?
For starters, there’s Roper, which divvies up the marketplace thusly:
- True-Blue Greens — the most environmentally active segment of society (11% of the U.S. population).
- Greenback Greens — those most willing to pay the highest premium for green products (8%).
- Sprouts — fence-sitters who have embraced environmentalism more slowly (33%).
- Grousers — uninvolved or disinterested in environmental issues, who feel the issues are too big for them to solve (14%).
- Apathetics — the least engaged group who believe that environmental indifference is mainstream (33%).”
The list goes on and he concludes by suggesting his own segmentation.
- Read the entire article at http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/
