Free Electric Car Charging; Truth About Cheap Biodiesel; Free power for the world; Energy Star 5.0; Solar Thermal Energy

UK Electronics Retailer Offers Free Electric Car Charging (Video). UK retailer Comet - the British equivalent of Best Buy - has installed a prototype charging station at one of its stores. This is exactly how EV cars are going to compete with gas engines - by having charging stations everywhere we go!

Learning the Hard Truth About Cheap Biodiesel. In Colorado, it’s easy to find biodiesel distributors in major cities along the Front Range. We recently fueled up in Fort Collins, and were pleased to find that the cost of biodiesel was more reasonable than ever. But my joy at the cheap price quickly disappeared a few days later, when I read the latest news about the biodiesel industry’s assault on the rain forest and orangutans. Scary stuff here!

Free power for the world through creative thinking. Don’t think so? Click through and watch some of these YouTube videos.

Get ready for the Energy Star 5.0 barrage. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star 5.0 specification officially went into effect on July 1, so steel yourselves for a flood of activity proclaiming support for the new standard. Click through to see what’s different in Energy Star 5.0 vis a vis the Energy Star 4.0 specification.

Solar Thermal Energy - cheaper & easier than Photovoltaics. Solar thermal energy, which is the oldest way of tapping power from the sun, has been used for years in heating applications for households. The basic mechanism of solar thermal energy is to collect the solar radiation and transfer the heat directly or indirectly to its final destination via a heat transfer medium - usually a fluid.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Real-Time Carbon Counter; Yahoo powered by Niagara Falls; Second Life for construction debris; Government’s Biomass Program; Turbines Spin in Antarctica

NYC Real-Time Carbon Counter. This counter displays the amount of equivalent greenhouse gas emissions in terms of carbon in the atmosphere, and is constantly updated based on measurements from NASA, NOAA, and supporting research from MIT. The number is a reflection of all greenhouse gas emissions (methane, nitrous oxide, etc.) by their impact equivalencies in carbon.

Yahoo Data Center to be powered by Niagara Falls. The data center will be powered mainly by hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls, with 90 percent of that energy going towards powering the servers. The center itself will be built to resemble a chicken coop, using 100 percent outside air to cool the servers, a task which typically gobbles up 50 percent of a data center’s energy supply. How cool is this? Go Yahoo!

Recycling Center Taps Green Technology to Give a Second Life to Construction Debris. From sheet rock and concrete to wood and metal, the $7 million, state-of-the-art sorting line, custom built for WM by Lubo, separates C&D recyclable items from the waste stream collected at commercial building sites or home remodeling projects. The line also has state-of-the-art TiTech optical sorting capabilities for the processing of dry recyclables such as aluminum cans, glass and newspapers from commercial trash loads.

The Government’s Biomass Program in detail. Biomass is a clean, renewable energy source that can help to significantly diversify transportation fuels in the United States. The Biomass Program is helping transform the nation’s renewable and abundant biomass resources into cost competitive, high performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower.

Turbines Spin in Antarctica. Wind energy is being harnessed everywhere, even Antarctica! The Belgian research station on the continent, named Princess Elisabeth and opened in February by the International Polar Foundation, is powered primarily by eight small wind turbines that can withstand the extreme arctic conditions.

Hybrid energy delivery system; Super Green, Super Dangerous, Super Bike; Reflective glass rule to keep cars cooler; Multi-Wall UV building sheets; Most efficient single junction solar cell

GROW: A Hybrid Energy Delivery System. These futuristic leaf-like designs are actually solar leaves that harness power from both the sun and the wind. This unique hybrid energy delivery system (called GROW) is the brainchild of sustainable design company SMIT (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology).

Super Green, Super Dangerous, Super Bike. Now this is quite frightening, really. It’s an electric “motorcycle” that steers from the back and has a tiny rear wheel. Would you drive it?

CARB adopts reflective glass rule to keep cars cooler. Wondering why this was not implemented a while back, but we gotta take what we can get! Starting in 2012, new vehicles will have to incorporate glass that reflects 33 percent more infra-red radiation away from the car and keeps the interior cooler. It’s estimated that the changes will result in a 700,000 ton reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in California annually by 2020.

Environmentally Friendly Construction Using Energy-Saving Makrolon Multi-Wall UV Sheet. When compared to standard products, the use of Makrolon Multi-Wall UV Sheet since 2003 has reduced European emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by roughly 65,000 tons, which corresponds to several million square meters of roofing surface.

Most efficient single junction solar cell? Surrey-based QuantaSol said its new single-junction device can achieve 28.3 percent efficiency illuminated by 500 times concentrated sun light. This could be the future of solar panels, for sure!

Speeding up recycling with lasers; Vodafone solar powered mobile home; Smart ForTwo review; Solar Power from Outer Space: Microwaves and Frickin’ Lasers; Peapod neighborhood EV

Speeding up recycling with lasers. At the Panasonic Eco Technology Center in Kato, Japan, they’ve come up with a way to recycle old CRT TVs three times faster. Typically, workers could only disassemble 24 sets per hour because of the time-consuming task of separating the thick glass contained in the front and backs of the tubes. Now, with a new method that users a powerful laser, workers can disassemble 72 per hour.

Vodafone’s solar powered mobile home. “La casa movil de Vodafone,” or the Vodafone Mobile Home, creatively combines glass house living, tiny house design, loft-like features, sustainable elements, and portable architecture all in one tight package. There is a family of 4 vacationing in the house throughout Spain this summer!

Smart ForTwo review. The Smart ForTwo isn’t for shy people. Even though Smart USA has sold about 30,000 of these tiny two-seaters in the U.S., the little rollerskate attracts a lot of attention. On the road or in a parking lot, the ForTwo is a conversation piece, and people will come up and talk to you. However, even though the ForTwo’s gearbox has been “improved” from the 2008 model, it’s still an unforgivable mess. Yikes!

Solar Power from Outer Space: Microwaves and Frickin’ Lasers. Space Based Solar Power (SBSP) is an idea first voiced by scientist Dr. Peter Glaser over 40 years ago, and during times of high energy costs or crises in fossil fuel supplies, the idea keeps rearing its head. The premise is that large photovoltaic arrays can be assembled in a geosynchronous orbit at 22,000 miles above the Earth, generating electricity that can then be transmitted via microwave or lasers to Earth.

Peapod neighborhood EV. Peapod neighborhood electric vehicles use no gasoline and emit no pollutants. So, whether it’s a trip around the neighborhood or a drive to school or work, the Peapod is the ideal way to contribute to a greener planet and a healthy lifestyle. These are so very cool if you lived in an urban neighborhood. Would you drive one?

Ultra-thin batteries; Fuel cells to power Coke; Methane into natural gas; EV charging stations; Self-driving green car

German researchers have conjured up a kind of battery that’s less than a millimeter thin and is made by the reactive layers onto each other like a silk screen. What’s next…a car that folds into a briefcase?

Fuel cells to generate power for Coca-Cola. UTC Power will supply two of its new PureCell Model 400 fuel cell systems to Coca-Cola to generate energy and heat for 30 percent of their NY facility’s operations.

Technology to turn waste methane into liquid natural gas. Landfills, coal beds and cattle feedlots all produce methane, which is often either flared or released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas… but Prometheus Energy has developed a technology to turn that waste methane into liquid natural gas.

16 EV charging stations in downtown Hillsboro, OR. The charging stations are available for public use and are part of the city’s large-scale sustainability and green movement, designed to showcase conservation, environmentalism and eco-friendly design. Nicely done Hillsboro, OR!

The ultimate green geek, voice-controlled chariot. The ATNMBL (Autonomobile) is billed as a car that would allow passengers to drink, read its flat screen display, or simply relax and watch the scenery pass by through its large, panoramic windows. In addition to the style and comfort features, the vehicle would also be electrically powered, thus it would be the ultimate green machine chariot of the future. What do you think - ready to give up driving yet?

Massachusetts ocean energy; Biodiesel Pipeline Starts Operations; GM Says Volt to be sportier than Prius, Insight; President Obama announces new light bulb standards; Solar vest won’t win you any friends

Massachusetts Master Plan for Ocean Energy. Massachusetts has released a draft of a plan that would govern the permitting and management of projects such as tidal and wave energy farms. Creating the management plan would yield maps and studies showing sensitive habitats that would require protection, as well as sites that are suitable for energy projects.

First Biodiesel Pipeline Starts Operations. A 5% biodiesel blend moved from Mississippi to Georgia, and also from Mississippi to Virginia, via the Plantation Pipe Line Company, which is owned jointly by Kinder Morgan with a 51 percent stake, and Exxon Mobil with 49 percent. What do you guys think about this?

GM Says Volt to be sportier than Prius, Insight. While I do hope they can make this possible, I guess we will wait until at least 2010 to find out. GM wants to make the Volt a better handling, more sporty car than the Prius or Insight, to appeal to people looking for a more substantial driving experience. I am a big fan of the Prius and think GM will need to really “bring it” to make the Volt successful.

President Obama announces new light bulb standards. New national minimum energy efficiency requirements for light bulbs will save more energy than any other standard ever issued by any administration. The new standards, announced by President Obama today, will make the hundreds of millions of fluorescent tube lamps that light offices, stores, and factories more efficient. They also will phase out conventional incandescent reflector lamps, effectively extending the phase out of inefficient incandescent products initiated by Congress in 2007 to the common cone-shaped bulbs used in recessed light fixtures and track lighting.

Solar vest won’t win you any friends. Sure, you may look a little silly, but at least your gadgets in your pockets will be charging using the power of the sun! The entire back of this vest is covered with solar panels, and as our friend Siel from Mother Nature Network says - “it appears this bully magnet’s actually being created and sold to geeky environmentalists!”

Staff at HP’s Dutch headquarters were greeted on arrival by Greenpeace activists confronting them with pictures of the pollution HP’s toxic products cause in Asia and Africa. The PC giant has already received a public reminder of the need to reprioritise toxic chemical phase out, when activists returned ‘toxic laptops’ to the company’s Chinese headquarters on July 1.

PVC is the single most environmentally damaging of all plastics, and can form dioxin, a known carcinogen, when burned (i.e. when people throw their computers in a landfill, which many still do). In the new report, Apple’s new computer lines are virtually free of PVC and completely BFR-free, which “demonstrates the technical feasibility and supply-chain readiness of producing alternatives to these hazardous substances.” So really, there is no reason why every computer maker cannot meet the standards that they had promised to meet.

Bridge Between Private and Public Transport; Tires made of orange oil; Solar aircraft to circumnavigate the globe; Lemon-juice & water powered clock; Fake trees helping to clean up CO2

A Bridge Between Private and Public Transport. It’s a small non-polluting vehicle that not only works on a giant organized system that reduces traffic and travel time to a minimum, it’s made to encourage car-pooling as well. The vehicle runs on Li-On batteries, recharged by solar panels on the roof of the vehicle. The batteries can also be charged at any number of special zones in the city through induction charging. Love this idea and wish we would see it in cities everywhere!

Tire Made of Orange Oil Uses 80% Less Petroleum. Yokohama’s new Super E-spec tire, which is made in part from oils extracted from orange peels, is composed of 80 percent non-petroleum materials and has improved rolling resistance, meaning it is more fuel-efficient.

Solar aircraft to circumnavigate the globe. The plane is made out of carbon fiber materials, has a wingspan of about 200 feet, and it’s covered with over 12,000 solar cells that power four individual 10-horsepower motors. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to be the test pilot for this plane!

Clock powered by just water and lemon juice. No batteries needed - just tap water and some lemon juice is all that is needed to keep this clock ticking!

Fake trees to help clean up CO2 emissions. Not sure why we need this when “real” trees do this job just fine, but hey - who am I to judge? A modest geoengineering concept is to build “synthetic trees” — essentially high-tech towers with special absorbents that scrub carbon dioxide from moving air, and then hold it until it can be processed and stored. I guess they could put these up in bulk, whereas real trees take years to mature. What do you think?

Some of you may remember a post I wrote back on my birthday that offered a sneak peek of a top-secret project I have been working on in my garage, and asked you to guess what the picture might be. Here is the picture that I posted on that day:

Well, the time has come to unveil more pictures of project timeline and all its finished glory, followed by some information as to how I made it, what its for, and what I will be doing with it now that it’s done. Let’s first take a look at a few pictures I took as I was building this solar space heater…

So, now can you guess how this thing works? As air enters the 2 holes on the sides near the bottom, the sun is heating up the soda cans all painted black to absorb the heat. The cans have holes drilled in the bottom, so the air being drawn in at the bottom works its way through all the heated cans and gets hotter and hotter as it approaches the top. With convection, more and more air is drawn in through the bottom and the heat rises. A single hole drilled in the top of the frame is where all this heat comes out, and I have to tell you - it’s friggin’ hot and it comes flying out of there at full speed. That’s the basics of how it works. But how was it made? Well, if you cannot see from the pictures, the ingredients include:

One old window frame w/glass intact
Empty soda or beer cans, spray painted black, with holes drilled in the bottom
Duct tape
A piece of insulation
Plywood for the back (I only have cardboard on it right now, so it’s not even sealed properly)
A dryer vent to hook to the top to direct the heat where you want it to go
Small screen to cover the 2 intake holes at the bottom

That’s it - it’s basically a free heater. However, now you may be asking how/where it could be used? Well, what I was initially going to use it for was to heat my garage during the winter, so I could work out there all day without freezing to death. My plan was to lean it up against the outside of the garage, right below a south-facing window, and let it collect the sun’s rays there. And then, I was going to build a custom window-shim out of a piece of wood that would let me prop open the window a bit but keep it sealed, and then cut a hole in the wood to attach the dryer vent to, which would bring the hot air into the garage. Kind of like this:

And finally, if I wanted to, I could mount a tiny fan to blow the heat further into the garage. But judging by the temperature reading coming off the air at the top, I might not even need to do that. It was up to over 105 degrees the other day around 11am. Amazing! And as I mentioned, it’s not even properly sealed yet.

But while that was my idea for it at my house, I think I might give this one away to someone who has trouble affording to heat their home during the winter, so at least they could have heat during the day. I have to do a few more tweaks, and finish the back, but other than that, it’s a solidly-built, indestructible free heat source that should go far to keep someone warm…during the day. Unfortunately, the moon just doesn’t shine bright enough to power it.

Thinking of building one of your own for your workshop, garage, or even house? Let me know if I can help. It was quite a lot of work, but totally worth it in the end to know that I built a source of free heat that actually works!

Big Dig House; Tougher LEED standards; Scion iQ coming soon; Magic Cube; More solar arrays on public lands

Big Dig House reuses materials from the Big Dig in Boston. The structural system for this 3,400sf house is comprised of steel and concrete discarded from Boston’s Big Dig, utilizing over 600,000 lbs of salvaged materials from elevated portions of the now dismantled I-93 highway. As a former resident of Boston, I can tell you that this project created quite a mess and I am glad someone got some use out it!

Newer LEED Standards will require better energy use reporting. All construction projects seeking LEED certification must use a new version of the green building standard. One of the biggest changes will be with energy use reporting, and building owners must now annually submit data about how much energy (and water) they use or get re-certified every two years.

Scion iQ Coming By Early 2011. Toyota is preparing its tiny iQ 3+1 city car for North America and will badge it as a Scion. The car could arrive late in 2010 as an 2011 model, or in early 2011 as a 2012. I love this tiny car and think it will do well here in the US as drivers downsize and look for better MPG.

Magic Cube solar-powered clock-lamp-radio. I wouldn’t mind having one of these clever little clocks in my bedroom. It is a solar-powered clock, lamp and radio, which not only can save energy but also reduce clutter by combining 3 items into one. Hope they start selling them!

New Measures to Aid Solar on Public Lands. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that 670,000 acres of lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management would be studied to determine whether they could support large solar power arrays. Mr. Salazar says he expects there to be 13 commercial-scale solar projects under construction on public lands. Now this is some welcome news for sure!