The Internet has revolutionized how we shop. Shopping has become an interesting intersection between society, economy, and technology. Its also an excellent place to find great deals. It used to be true that many green products were more expensive. Free trade? Organic? Recyclable? Post-Consumer? Get out the credit card and take a deep breath! But nowadays that’s not always true; in fact many green products are less expensive, or can save you a lot of money. That fact helps drive their popularity; so much so that even large corporations are taking efforts - or even pains - to go green. But with the mainstreaming green hype, we must beware greenwashing - misleading marketing or practices that lure consumers. On the flip side, buying stuff for the sake of stuff is not environmentally friendly either.

Green Companies:

It’s easy to know which companies are really making an effort.

National Green Pages: Co-op America provides the National Green Pages, which works like a phone book. Major brands include Patagonia, Seventh Generation, and Clif Bar; also features local stores.

LinksOrganic: an international guide to finding organic or environmentally-friendly businesses.

EcoMall: A 90s flash-back site with lots of great links for anything your heart desires.

Climate Counts: this site covers large corporations. It judges their carbon foot print and efforts to reduce it. It covers major brands in all product categories, but it does not cover individual products.

Green Peace Electronics Guide: similar to Climate Counts, covers large electronics corporations.

Green Products:

Find eco-friendly, affordable products that get the job done.

The Green Guide: a magazine and website with information and a buying guide, covering just about everything.

Green Home guide: for information and comparisons of furniture, appliances, building supplies, etc. in the home.

Pristine Planet: provides information and comparison shopping for just about everything, including services.

Compare The Brands: this site has a “green products page” organized by product type. For example, they compare tankless water heaters.

Responsible Purchasing: This site features details about the hows and whys of green products, along with a “products” section. They also explain different “green” standards (what does EnergyStar really mean?) and provide useful definitions (what is #7 plastic?). It’s an excellent educational resource, but the website can be difficult to navigate.

Green Building:

You have plenty of energy efficient and affordable options for home improvement.

GreenBuilding.COM: for everything you might need to know about improving or building your home, including LEED info.

GreenBuilding.ORG: at the time of this writing, they were renovating their web site, but it’s an excellent resource.

Oikos.com: All about green building products.

EPA.gov: Not just information on why/how to green build, but ways to get the government to help pay for it.

GreenHomeBuilding.com: Yet more information/ resources on products and methods for greening your home.

Community Product Review:

Don’t dive in blind, see what other people think about products you’ve never tried.

Huddler.com: My peronsal favorite, this site doesn’t just feature user reviews and product info; it also has user forums and wikis where users can share their opinions and expertise.

SustainLane: Member Product reviews about everything from flower food to organic ice cream.

LeafyGreen: a random but large collection of product reviews.

MetaEfficient: a blog that frequently reviews products.

Life Goggles: Another blog for green reviews and news.

Top 5:

my favorite sites for shopping across the web

Green Deals Daily: For daily sales and deals. Nothing says shopping like saving money.

Green Home Shopping: includes a toxipedia for easy reference.

Greenfeet.com: A hip place for anything your home desires.

The Google Directory: A shopping directory brought to you by Google.

Now that you have everything you need to shop online, I’d like to highlight a few sites in particular. Co-op America, for example, can help you find local businesses and deals in your community. While there’s something to be said for delivery (one vehicle delivering many products instead of many vehicles fetching a few products), local business and agriculture, especially local farmer’s markets, help take the sheer mileage off of most of your purchases. You can’t get much greener than that! Maybe consider Fair Trade and help ensure that factory workers earn a living wage.

“Footprint” courtesy of ClimateCounts.org. “Shop” courtesy of tao_zhyn via Flickr. “Desolate Home” courtesy of Kıvanç via Flickr. “Conversations” courtesy of b_d_solis via Flickr. “Spices” courtesy of GavinBell via Flickr. All Flickr photos were gleaned from the Creative Commons.

Xtreme Concentrated Solar Power: if a magnifying glass is like lightning to ants, this would be their atomic bomb.

We already know that concentrated solar power (CSP) is shaking things up in the solar industry. A subset within the industry is turning up the heat. “Extreme” Concentrated solar magnifies intense sunlight onto a solar cell, at temperatures that could melt it, to boost efficiency for less money.

The holy grail of renewable energy is not just efficiency but competitive pricing. Most consumers don’t want to wait 5-10+ years to earn back their investment in energy savings, assuming that they can afford solar. Never mind the added value of generating some of your own energy. Utility-scale facilities hinge not only on cost, but infrastructure. If you build your solar/wind farm in the desert, transmission lines may not come out to meet you. So when someone claims to have a cheap, efficient solar technology, people pay attention.

Extreme Concentrated Solar stands out because it claims to be affordable and very efficient. Unlike solar-thermal (CSP), which utilizes the heat of the sun, this technology still converts light into power (photo voltaic). So many solar companies have attempted to reduce cost by rising to industrial scale, but this method takes the opposite approach. XCPV (extreme concentrated photo voltaic) uses very small solar panels combined into a module design, and modules are infinitely scalable.

The most recent announcement comes from Sunrgi, which claims its XCPV system will “produce electricity at a wholesale cost of 5-cents per kWh” (via news release). Their system magnifies sunlight 2,000 times at over 3,000 degree Fahrenheit onto a small, top-of-the-line solar panel, which dramatically boosts the amount of energy the panel can produce. Since the system is in a module, it can be as big or small as you want. The modules also track the sun throughout the day to maximize power output, and they’re upgradable. That means if better solar panels hit the market in the future (or if theirs do get fried after all), you can switch them out. Another feature Sunrgi claims is an impressive efficiency rating of 37.5%. For the uninitiated, that might not sound like much, but consider that the world record in February, 2008 was 31.25% using CSP - on an unusually sunny day. But the whole system hinges on its cooling mechanism, described only as nanotech “goop”, to prevent the solar panels from melting. And that technology is still “proprietary”. In other words, they haven’t actually made commercial product yet.

Before you let your hopes dash to the wind (another future technology!?), let me set you at ease. Sunrgi hopes to bring their product to market in about a year, so we’re not talking about pipe dreams. These guys are serious, and they’re out to make some money at 5 cents/kwh. But fortunately for us all, this technology is not new, and Sunrgi is not the first to point a magnifying glass at a solar panel. The Aussies beat us to it.

It started out as the Sunball in 2005, but soon evolved into the Suncube. The Suncube also concentrates solar energy with an efficiency rating over 30%. It’s a modular system that tracks the sun and appears less bulky than the Sunrgi system.

The system comes to us from Green and Gold Energy of Adelaide, Australia, but before I provide the link, let me disclaim. Apparently, if you believe the word on the street, the website is the personal baby of GG&E’s founder. He’s very proud of his GG&E site. More important is the product: not only is GG&E producing XCVP modules around the world, but they’ve already signed a deal with Emcore, who will provide concentrated solar cells with 20 year warranties. Partner groups ES Systems in Korea just secured $28 millions dollars more worth of Emcore solar cells. More importantly, GG&E is building a manufacturing facility, and their product is already on the market.

So the exciting thing about Extreme Concentrated Photo Voltaics is the combination of high efficiency with low price. By magnifying the power of the sun, these companies are pushing the envelope at a time when energy prices are high. But these ventures are not without risk. Inadequate cooling of of the solar cells could result in decreased performance or melting. There’s also hurdles facing solar energy; the least of which is investing in manufacturing infrastructure, and transporting product. But the magic number here is 5 cents/ kwh. Mike Chino of Inhabitat.com notes:

“Craig Goodman, president of the National Energy marketers Association, has stated that “Solar power at 5 cents per kWh would be a world-changing breakthrough. It would make solar generation of electricity as affordable as generation from coal, natural gas, or other non-renewable sources, without require and subsidy.”"

(edit: fixed some spelling and clarified the title)

There are a lot of cool gadgets out there, but there’s a fine line between what’s cool and what’s useful. This is a green list of gadgets that are useful, but boast the extra-cool factor of using renewable energy. No batteries required!

10. The Ship has Landed

The lightship is a solar-powered LED mounted on suction cups. Result: a portable, hands-free, solar light. It’s even weather proof and weighs a slim 8oz. For under $15, this is the best 8 hours of clean light I can think of, and I might just get one for my car/camping trips/travels.

9. High-tech pool toy?

If you simply must have hot water anywhere, at any time, try a portable solar water heater. Could it double as a heated water bed? A pool toy? Bring some towels if you decide to try. This gadget is designed to bring cheap, easy hot water to people and places without access to indoor plumbing or electricity. It rolls up small enough to fit in a backpack, and it’s supposed to be affordable enough for people or communities in developing nations.

8. The Fridge without Power

A little ingenuity paired with the laws of thermodynamics have made Mohammed Bah Abba a famous man. His invention is simple: place a pot into a slightly larger one. Pad the space between them with wet sand, and cover with a damp cloth. As the water evaporates, it will draw heat out of the containers and cool whatever’s inside. The system has already proved itself in northern Nigeria, a hot and arid region. Food lasts for days or weeks longer compared to the only alternative: room temperature. Here in the land of plastic coolers, I can think of a few common uses: Camping trips could be easier without the weight of heavy packs of ice and the danger of freezing more fragile foods. Egg-cicle anyone? Even if you don’t intend to leave the comforts of modern civilization, consider these for cooling food or drinks at your next BBQ, or even for a DIY kid’s science project.

7. Speaking of BBQ…

We’re putting heat in the kitchen with solar cookers. The benefit here is that some designs are lightweight with easy-to get materials, like foil and pizza boxes. They also offer a neat alternative for your next BBQ (and yes, they can get hot enough to cook meat) if, for example, you live in an area with frequent fire-bans. Since there are no flames involved, it’s much safer and there’s definitely something fascinating about watching the sun roast your food.

6. Crank your Gadgets:

How about a MP3 player that you can crank? You’ll never run out of juice if you can charge your gadget by hand. Trevor Baylis, the inventor of the hand-crank radio, brings you an MP3 with plenty of whistles and bells. If a wind-up MP3 isn’t your cup of tea, how about a kinetic cell phone or phone charger? You might hesitate to buy anything that requires physical exertion on your part, but what happens when there’s no socket in which to stick your regular charger? Be the cool kid who can charge himself. Also, consider emergency applications. The MP3 comes with a flashlight, and the cell phone charger could keep you connected when you most need to call for help.

5. Personal Wind Turbine

We’re not talking about the huge wind-farm fodder; we’re talking about something you can strap to your house. Now I admit, gadgets tend to be smaller and more… gadgety. After much deliberation, I figured omitting wind power would be like forgetting Unix in a “Top-5″ for PC operating systems. Plus, they look really cool. For a mere $500 you could own this turbine, which is designed for charging batteries (the batteries would power a cabin or house). The Japanese turbine (shown above) hasn’t quite hit the American market yet, but it’d be my wind-power-of-choice. Airplane propellers are so last-year.

4. Sunlit Gadgets

Solar powered lighting aside, what about self-sufficient gadgets? Nowadays there’s a wide variety to choose from. There’s Msi’s solar’powered MP3 player, which you can also plug in when the sun won’t shine. How about a Bluetooth headset? You too could strut with all the style of a pocket-protector, smug in the knowledge that yours works indoors and out. Other self-sufficient gadgets include a mosquito repeller, tire gage, and all-in-one survival kit. However, some of the extreme deals associated with these makes me wonder if they’re worth the low price…

3. The Nerdies Lights Around

Let’s play with fiber optics. You could have natural sunlight (sans UV and infrared) for your home or office, and it could come from fiber optic cables (pictured above). Among the gadget you don’t get to see (assuming it’s wired through your walls), it’s got to be the coolest. You even get a futuristic collector dish on your roof.

2. Lightcap 200

This is a solar-powered cap for your water bottle. So why power your Nalgene? It turns your translucent water bottle into a solar-powered lantern. Every backpacker knows that every ounce counts, so now you can combine two heavy but necessary items into one. There is also the cool factor: pick you color with your favorite shade of kool-aid.

1. Solar Battery Recharger… even your laptop

It was bound to be on the list. There are a range of solar-powered rechargers. Some come with battery packs (for when the sun don’t shine) or bells and whistles. Voltaic Systems and Burton’s Solar Roll claim the prize of recharging a standard laptop. As you might expect, prices range from $20 to “owch”. But if you carry a purse, tote your gadget horde, backpack, geocache, or travel through regions with less-than-reliable electricity, any one of these could be invaluable. Plus, they all come with a magnificent cool factor.

(images courtesy of Sunlight Direct Products, EcoGeek.com, and Solarjo)

I cover a lot of upcoming or future technology, but it’s time to step into the present and aim for the past. Today we’re going to look at a technology available right now that can make some wanton energy waste history. It’s a surge protector that stakes the hearts of vampire electronics without hassling you, the sleeping victim.

Vampire appliances are pretty much anything you can plug in that still sucks energy when it’s supposedly turned off. Some are pretty obvious - the clocks on your microwave or VCR/DVD player burn all day, everyday. We know they’re not “off” because we cans see their LEDs glow. But other electronics, from your television to your cell phone charger also draw power when they’re plugged in but not in use. Check out a handy graph from Good Magazine. Some gadgets are notorious, like your plasma TV. Estimates claim that 5% or more of U.S. energy usage is insidiously wasted by “stand-by mode” or certain misleading “off” buttons. A whopping 5% may not sound like much, but it adds up to about $1 Billion dollars per year - and energy prices will probably continue to rise.

Be honest - how many times would you go around the house unplugging everything before it got old? Smart greenies have been switching off their surge protectors, but it’s easy to forget while watching your favorite late-night TV show or blogging at 4am. So what can we do about these metal-toothed Nosferatu in our midst? How about a surge protector that turns off all your appliances for you?

Smart Power Strips are easy to use: One “master” outlet on the strip controls six other “slave” outlets. When the power usage of the master outlet decreases (by a large enough amount), it automatically turns off the slave outlets. If you plug your “master electronic” like a TV or computer into the master outlet, all your periphery appliances - printers, speakers, Playstation, etc. - are automatically turned off. Oh wait, you have a Tivo and you don’t want all of your peripheries to turn off? No worries, the Smart Power Strip has three “constant” outlets that behave like normal, so you won’t miss your favorite shows. And of course, when you turn the “master” back on, the “slaves” will buzz to life. So instead of housing a legion of thirsty vampires, you can sleep soundly with a gadget that puts your electronics on a diet. For the best deal, check out Amazon.com.

This is not the first or only such gadget on the market. Your choices range from super-smart peripherals to wall monitors to watt-counting surge protectors. You can even use a low cost, old-fashioned timer. For your energy efficient computer needs, you can download power-saving freeware. These applications extend beyond home use too; businesses are jumping on the band wagon to reduce their energy costs and boost the bottom line. These steps could provide big savings for offices with lots of computers and copy machines.

EDIT: Thanks to Tim Hurst for pointing out a neat video via Ecoscraps

(Nosferatu image courtesy of LikeTelevision.com)

(Smart Power Strip image courtesy of MetaEfficient.com)

So I suppose it’s not surprising that some people are looking for meat alternatives, and I’m not talking about Tofurkey. I’m talking about real meat, but minus the animal.

PETA, the folks who brought you ultra-soft vegetarian porn and plenty of responsible living tips, is offering 1 million dollars to “the first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro meat at competitive prices” (contest details here)

That’s right, it’s lab-grown meat that never met its maker - namely, an animal.

Though no one has yet claimed the prize, I can already see controversy on the issue. Would you eat test-tube meat? If someone snuck you a lab-steak, would you know the difference? Would producers be required to label the product or would it go incognito like GMOs? And what about GMO lab-meat?

EcoGeek also opens a whole new door of possibilities. What does whale taste like, and is it OK to eat it if no whales were harmed in the making of your meal? How about an endangered tiger-steak or hippo pot roast? Would you sample lab-grown humming bird hearts? They might be tasty.

The issue at hand is our definition of “meat” and concepts of food. Given the recent controversy and publicity within our meat mass-production industry, it’s no surprise that people are starting to ask if there’s a better way. But where do we draw the line between the food we grow and the food we create?

I must admit my own trepidation on the concept. Though I’ll try anything once, the idea of my chicken breast slowly forming in a petri dish isn’t exactly appetizing. On the same token, I also believe it’s important to avoid essentialist ideas of “purity” and “essence” that I see so frequently in debates about food, animals, and the mythical Mother Nature. Is there some quality of protein and fat that changes when grown in different environments? Is it the molecular makeup or strategy of growth that’s important in food? After all, a lab is much cleaner than a chicken and I doubt a lab-meat product would hit supermarkets unless the quality of the meat was comparable to animal-based products. When we slaughter an animal, we don’t eat all of its parts, and sometimes we’d rather not know where the extra bits end up.

By removing the resources to breed, feed, raise, and slaughter an animal - simultaneously removing questions of environmental impact and humane treatment - we could dramatically streamline a growing international industry. Maybe we could even make meat taste better with some creative “growth techniques”.

Since this is just a contest and no one has successfully managed in vitro meat yet, I’ll be content to sit back and watch the show. I’m hoping for some real fireworks on this one! But at the end of the day it will be consumers who decide, and I sincerely hope people will take a moment to read the facts before hitting their local grocery. If, by chance, this turns out to be a better and tasty technology, it would be a shame to shun it on nostalgic ideas of a along-gone farmland and its inhabitants lined up for slaughter.

Image courtesy of MyTeeSpot.com

As climate change become a more central issue for people and governments around the globe, a lot of people are looking for solutions - fast solutions. If there were a quick and inexpensive way to dramatically reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, we should go for it right? Well a number of “quick fix” solutions, which have centered around hacking the environment to fight climate change, have been floating around for years. One strategy is to capture the CO2 with plankton and bury it in the ocean (which is much easier and cheaper than pumping it into the ground). Another is to change the composition of our atmosphere to reflect sunlight. Others tend to be more sci-fi and outlandish - but all of them might just turn out to be disastrous.

Even with more realistic alternatives, like carbon capture and sequestration from coal plants, have drawn criticism. But that hasn’t stopped some of the world’s wealthiest and most outspoken environmentalists from offering millions of dollars for a feasible and fast solution that captures CO2 out of the air after it’s released.

No wonder some are trying to use technology to solve our CO2 problem. While renewable energy and energy efficiency help prevent more CO2 pollution, several companies are looking to make money off off the inert gas. Not to be confused with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), these focus on the technology and economics of only capturing CO2. What we do with the carbon next is an open question. Fortunately “CO2 is the 19th largest commodity chemical in the United States”, according to the DOE, with numerous industrial, agricultural, and everyday uses - you can even make fuel out of it. So whoever first manages to harvest it cheaply could make a lot of money, even without millions in prize money.

Universities and academic collaborations compete with scientists and businesses to reach this goal. The Green Options network has featured promising technologies from Sandia National Labs before. While many are still in design or prototype stages, others are already being commercially demonstrated. Dr. Rona Fried points out in her Solar Today article that the technology is not new. Submarines and spacecraft use scrubbers and filters to protect their crews from their own exhalations. There’s even a famous scene in the movie Apollo 13 about repairing one such device in 1970.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/0dJUm73OFt0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

A better way to absorb CO2 on a larger scale is to use chemicals called sorbents. They soak up carbon dioxide on contact like a plant or sponge; then the CO2 can be separated from the sorbent and used. The trick is to build a machine that can do both without requiring excessive operation costs. If it needs too much energy, maintenance, etc., it simply won’t be profitable.

A company called Global Research Technologies (GRT) believes they have designed a viable system in that works at ambient temperatures (no cooling required) and uses about the same amount of energy as a power-plant flue scrubber - the type already available to clean power plant emissions. They call it the ACCESS (Atmospheric Carbon CapturE SystemS) device, which has already been demonstrated, and it’s exciting because it could be located almost anywhere. They could line our highways, form rows like wind farms, or be installed near industrial facilities that use or produce CO2. Better yet, the technology is scalable, so the larger you build them the more CO2 they collect. One such ACCESS device the size of a tree could capture 1,000 times more CO2 than a tree. Global Research Technologies even claims that 250,000 such models, each about the side of a wind turbine, would neutralize the CO2 we’re currently emitting. GRT hopes to produce 100 of these devices within 5 years. Unfortunately they’ll be expensive, about $250/ metric ton of CO2 captured, but like any industry, economies of scale could dramatically reduce that cost to $30-$50 per ton. GRT hopes their technology will be competitive on the carbon offsets market.

Klaus Lackner, a professor of geophysics at Columbia University, helped found GRT and design the ACCESS device. From the article: “Lackner outlined the potential of carbon capture as one piece of the portfolio of carbon reduction strategies”, which means of course that this is not THE ANSWER to climate change. We cannot and should not rely on this or any one solution to “solve” our CO2 problem. We still need to increase our energy efficiency, invest in renewable technologies, and work towards more sustainable lifestyles. But with all the depressing facts, figures and discussions surrounding our rising CO2 emissions and climate change, this is one technology among many that provide a ray of hope. Maybe, just maybe, with the plethora of resources at our disposal, we can begin to build a technological infrastructure that will not come back to haunt us with half-acknowledged or poorly understood consequences of unbridled development.

Images courtesy of
Solar Today
Physorg.com

The United States has a natural edge when it comes to wind energy. Unlike Europe, we have a lot of land with which to harness wind, including across sparsely populated areas. If NIMBY isn’t a problem, the potential for sustainable energy generation is even greater.

According to Roby Roberts, V.P. of Government Relations for Vestas, you need about 8,000 components to make a wind turbine, some of which are really big. Apparently the trick with so many bits and pieces is bringing them together; it doesn’t make sense to transport them over vast distances. Consider the iconic wind turbine propeller blades. Some of the largest blades are 80 meters long - over 260 feet! - which no doubt require special handling, licensing, and lots of money to transport. Instead of building or assembling many of these parts overseas, it makes much more economic sense to manufacture and assemble them locally. That means jobs, lots of them, for communities and regions where wind turbines can be built.

All of the industry leaders agreed that each of their companies was eager to build and expand their manufacturing and Research & Development capabilities across the United States, which would produce thousands of stable jobs. Julius Steiner, CEO of Gamesa USA, commented that if the supply chain could be built in the USA, it would be internationally competitive. That’s part of why, despite policy difficulties, international companies like Gamesa (founded in Spain) have jumped into the US market without any guarantee of a production tax credit (PTC) extensions.

“The PTC provides an incentive of two cents per kilowatt-hour generated to facilities that produce electricity from renewable energy resources…The credit can be claimed for 10 years, beginning on the date the qualified facility is placed in service. The facility must begin operation before the credit expires.” - AWEA newsroom

It’s not that the wind industry needs tax credits to exist, but they do need the PTC to expand and build a supply chain. Without these tax credits, building the manufacturing infrastructure for large-scale wind turbine projects would be nearly impossible. The key to investment in manufacturing is a long-term outlook.

Randall Swisher, Executive Director of the AWEA, said the industry needed five years minimum of policy stability to expand the existing infrastructure foundation. Roby Roberts of Vesta claimed that once the supply chain is in place, prices should drop, making the industry even more competitive. If Congress extends the PTC for even a year, these companies will continue to expand their manufacturing capabilities. Fortunately all of these companies have already built the first links of a solid supply chain, all of them are optimistic that the tax credits will come, and all are commited to the US market.

The importance of the PTC can be gleaned if you take a step back. Internationally, the markets with the most lucrative potential for the wind industry are the USA, Europe, China and India. Europe has a lucrative policy system in place, and China recently announced their own policy to spur the development of wind power. That leaves the United States as a kind of uncertain frontier where, like the Wild West, fortunes could be made or lost. The fortune at stake is not just local jobs, but leadership in a lucrative technology which these industry leaders agree is “limitless”.

Wind power is already booming, but because energy demand is always rising and wind is renewable, this industry could grow for decades without slowing down. All they need is enough time to build, which relies upon the PTC. Julius Steiner characterized this moment as, “the middle of the beginning for the renewable energy industry.” He compared potential renewable energy policy to the laws that made the Interstate Highway system possible, hoping for a similar national push towards a nationally beneficial energy infrastructure. They were all unanimous in a sense of urgency: the time to expand the PTC was now. If the tax credits are allowed to expire, opportunities could be lost and manufacturing jobs will be the first to suffer.

I left with a firm impression that these industry leaders are optimistic about the future. Having survived previous boom-and-bust cycles, they felt that they had passed a critical phase in their industry development, and that a foundation had been built on their end. But, I agree with Julius Steiner when he said that we needed to get the “fundamentals right in our country” by setting a policy foundation for renewable energy to launch from.

Several states have already begun to move in that direction, but the wind and sun know no political boundaries. Even a minimum national policy would help us diversify the power grid, move towards energy independence, and build manufacturing jobs at home instead of exporting them overseas. On top of it all, we would have cleaner air and contribute less to climate change. Wind power is already a leader among renewable energy technologies, and its future is bright - that is not in question. The question instead is whether or not we, as a nation, will support it now and reap the economic and ecological benefits later, or delay it another year while our competition forges ahead.

See a video of highlights from the press conference here.

(AP Photo/The Rosen Group, Kevin Wolf via AWEA’s Flickr)

(Many thanks to Kate Marshall for a copy of the graph.)

I was lucky because I ate a big breakfast Sunday morning, which sustained me until dinner. The first thing I encountered at Earth Day were the booths, which housed dozens of companies and organizations that came out to support the festivities. Usual suspects such as the U.S. Green Building Council and National Resource Defense Council were there, lined up along side Tetra Tech, Starbucks, Google, FedEx/Kinkos. I learned that the USGBC has a myriad of resources for your would-be green home, including remodeling.

Starbucks was handing out free samples of their newest brew, and FedEx was handing out bookmark-sized pamphlets with some of their green credentials and a paper flower with real flower seeds in it. Google has teamed up with Scholastic to help students learn about Earth Day and the environment. With three easy lesson plans students can use Google Earth to explore environmental issues around the world. I couldn’t help but wonder about some of these companies and how “green” they really are. I know from experience that any discussion involving Starbucks is bound to be contentious, but let’s leave that discussion for another day. More exciting things were already happening around me.

Also being showcased were a pair of “extreme-hybrid” SUVs by AFS Trinity. The plug-in hybrid claims a 40 mile range on the battery and 150mpg city/highway. Apparently AFS Trinity used “off-the-shelf components” with their patent-pending technology to transform two Saturn Vue SUVs. I assume that the two vehicles I saw at Earth Day were prototypes. Their informational display, housed in a large travel bus, focused on the cost of gasoline and benefit of hybrid and electric motors over conventional. There was also a promotional video on board.

Finally I made it to the main event: the stage. Using all of my many wiles, I managed to get a front-row view for most of the show. The music was excellent with an emphasis on change, and the speakers hailed from many movements and many nations. The rain even stopped for almost an hour! With the Capitol building hovering in the background, Ed Begley Jr. introduced a parade of climate scientists, activists, and business people who called out for legislative and cultural change for our society. The crowd numbered in the thousands. It wasn’t until an excellent performance by O.A.R. that the weather took its worse turn.

We were asked to seek shelter from the lightning. The irony here was that there was no shelter, except the trees lining the Mall. Didn’t my wilderness survival teacher tell me that trees aren’t “shelter” in a thunder storm? I felt that staying low in the open, a good distance from electrical equipment, might be the safest place to wait, but the D.C. police disagreed. We were cordially encouraged to stand under the trees. Once the show was able to go on, Chevy Chase set the mood and Edward Norton campaigned against plastic bags. Despite the persistent rain (no one had been dry for hours), the crowd was upbeat and lively. Up front there were mostly young people, and admittedly many were more interested in music (”We want the Roots!”) than changing the world. But the message was clear. My favorite video of the day chronicled the total destruction of a swath of Bolivian rain forest via satellite photos taken over several years. Even the most disinterested individuals around me were shocked.

Finally it was time to go home; I’d been soaked to the bone for hours. I left just in time to see the Washington Monument get struck by lightning - maybe the trees were safer after all.

For more pictures, check out my Webshots account.

Developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena, Germany, the Kolibri CORDLESS is the size of a shoe box and it weighs a little over 2 lbs. No cables required, you just point and click. Several seconds later a detailed 3D image will appear on a laptop. From there you can analyze and use the digital model.

Devices like this one are already available, but until now they were too big and heavy to carry around. The next best model is twice the size and weight of the Kolibri CORDLESS. Why is the Kolibri so much lighter and smaller, you ask? LED lights, of course. 3D “cameras”(they’re actually called “sensors”) shine a projector light on an object, and two cameras record the image from two different angles. Then a computer compiles the data into a 3D image. By using LEDs, the Kolibri 3D sensor replaces larger, hotter, and more power-hungry Halogen bulbs. However, LEDs are not without flaw:

“This poses an additional challenge, as the LEDs shine in all directions. To ensure that the image is nevertheless bright enough, the light has to be collected with special micro-optics in such a way that it impacts on the lens.”

The Kolibri CORDLESS could provide valuable services to doctors, forensics experts, industrial workers and more. Crime investigators could take 3D images of important evidence without disturbing the scene. Doctors could use exact, custom images of patients for sleep masks, surgery prep, or even prosthetics. Engineers or designers would have better models of tight, hard-to-reach spaces in buildings, structures, or products. Archaeologists could exactly record carvings or etchings in stone, wood or clay - some of which might be too delicate for moldings. Artists, no doubt, could have a field day. It might not be the greenest new gadget on the block (LEDs don’t automatically mean “green”), but users will no doubt increase their productivity as they perform work, and who knows what kind of important research could benefit?

The Kolibri could replace plaster as a reliable source for 3D models, and easily expand into spaces and places where plaster can’t go. Though not yet available for sale, Fraunhofer IOF will showcase their new gadget at the Control trade fair in Stuttgart, Germany, April 21-25 (Hall 1, Stand 1520).

Via Eureka Alert

Computers aren’t very environmentally friendly. They contain lead, mercury, cadmium, lots of plastic, and they thirst for electricity. Most people don’t realize that most of a computer can be recycled, so most discarded computers head to the landfill where the heavy metals can contaminate local water and air. Computers and electronics have become disposable in our culture, so the amount of electronic waste generated each year is astounding. Fortunately these are not problems without solutions. Starting from the beginning of a computer’s life to its demise, it can be easy to optimize everything about your PC.

Buying, Building, and Design

With the new popularity of green, critics have been quick to turn on companies like Apple for pumping out so many gadgets. The good news is that companies have been quick to respond with energy-efficient models, recycling programs, and improved design. Many “green” initiatives focus on energy efficiency but ignore manufacturing or end-life issues, so be wary of their “environmental” credentials. If you find a product or company that can vouch for the creation, use, and disposal of their products, you’ve struck gold. The good news is that newer models use fewer harmful chemicals and metals, require less energy, and improve performance. Lean, and mean is the angle many companies are aiming for with “green” patched on to sell. Laptops are the best example of this trend as they become smaller and more powerful simultaneously. So rest easy knowing that if you must buy a new computer, it will probably be more efficient than your old one… assuming you don’t hook a brand new 60-inch flat screen to it.

If you’re extra-nerdy and decide to build your own computer, odds are you’ll know exactly what you want. And you can design with efficiency in mind. This article is particularly helpful along these lines, as the author sets out to build an efficient beast. There’s also the question of the type of PC. If you want the Gamer’s Holy Grail, it’s going to be much harder to keep power usage down. High-end graphics cards and custom cooling systems will give you the best in gaming experience, but you’ll pay on your electric bill and your carbon footprint. (See Using Tips below)

Of course you don’t want to just throw out a computer or gadget that still works. Most of the energy consumed in a computer’s lifetime occurs during production - before you ever buy it. So the longer someone uses it, the better. (See below for donating and recycling programs.)
For a green buying guide, check out iYogi or Computer Shopper

• Laptop use half as much energy as most desktops. Nowadays, they can be just as powerful.

Using Tips

So you have a computer and you want to improve its energy efficiency. Great! New or old, odds are you can optimize your energy usage and save money at the same time. I’d start with the most neglected aspect of computer maintenance: clear the vents. All computers generate heat and heat can damage components or reduces their operating efficiency - they slow down . So computers use fans to cool themselves, and slits in the plastic casing allow ventilation. These vents tend to collect dust and get clogged. To clean the vents, first turn off your computer. If you have a laptop, wipe off the excess dust with a damp cloth. Since you shouldn’t crack open your laptop, you might blow hard into the vents and you’re done. For a desktop, you can open the case (be gentle - don’t force it open) and use that cloth to collect dust bunnies. Ground yourself by touching the metal side. Don’t scrub the hardware. Do this twice a year to be safe.

The life of your computer depends on how long it remains useful to you. So if you take good care of your computer’s software, you might be surprised at how much performance you can recover. Cleaning out your cookies, temp. files, etc. etc. really go a long way. Also, avoid loading lots of little programs all over your computer. That cute little application might amuse you, but it might also come with malicious programs that clutter and slow down your computer. Delete all programs that you don’t use regularly. And with laptops, turn them off before carrying them around. Here’s a handy check list.

Other efficient practices are easy and straight forward: If you’re not using your computer, turn it off. In the old days there was a debate about which was more energy efficient - leaving your computer running or turning it on and off. With the old technology, it was a viable debate. Today the verdict is in: Turn It Off. If you’re only stepping away for a few minutes, set your settings so the monitor automatically turns off (only the oldest monitors need a screen saver) or the hard drive slows down. A lot of people and businesses have downloaded UniBlue’s Local Cooling free program to save money. It easily lets you customize your computer’s power settings, and it calculates how much energy, water, and pollution you prevent. Best of all, you can’t forget if it does it for you.

For printing you might consider GreenPrint (also free) to make printing web pages, documents, etc. more efficient. This program lets you highlight exactly what you want to print - and eliminate the rest of the unwanted page(s). And you can print to PDF, which carries more space-saving options. The program automatically tracks how much paper and money you save along the way.

If you have a desktop with lots of peripherals - monitor, speakers, printer, etc. - an easy tip is to plug them all into a single surge protector. Then in the evening, after you turn everything off, switch off the surge protector. This prevents electronic vampires, machines that use energy even when they’re turned off. It’s more common than you think, and it can really add up. I just reach down with my toe and hit the switch before going to bed.

For a quick glance at your PC energy needs, take this quiz.

RIP, The End for Your PC
Despite our best design, usage, prevention and repair efforts, there will come a day when your computer, cell phone or electronic gadget will die. It might legitimately die - the way my brother’s cell phone met its end in the toilet - or maybe you need to upgrade. I still have two old computers I need to recycle. Where I can take these beasts to greener pastures? Where can you donate or recycle an old electronic device?

• If there’s a used computer store in town, they might buy it from you, even if it doesn’t work. Check the phone book.

• Find local and national donation or recycling resources from the EPA.

• Go through Earth 911, Computers With Causes or United Way to donate.
  

• If you work with a large business that regularly disposes of e-waste, try a disposal service.

• You can also take old phones, electronics and batteries to any Staples store, and Best Buy has a less-direct service.

• You can also recycle your used batteries at some big retail stores.

(Image courtesy of addison.l.s.)

So what makes Zenn Cars special among the EV contenders? They’ve thrown their money behind a different kind of battery. Solid-state super capacitors (not technically batteries) supposedly last longer, store more energy, and cause less ecological harm than lithium-ion or lead-based batteries. This is where the story gets interesting.

EEstor is the secret behind this promising promise, and the operative word here is “secret”. EEstor shuns publicity, refuses to give interviews, and certainly hasn’t been showing off their product. Everyone’s trying to learn more about this company and its technology, but I can’t seem to find their web page - if they have one. Yet EEstor (if that’s their real name) has already raised a few brows by signing a deal with Lockheed Martin for defense and homeland security applications (details not disclosed). If they can deliver what they promise it will change everything. We’re talking batteries that are lighter, stronger, faster, cheaper, and they never lose their charge capacity. The possibilities for everything from autos to cell phones are exciting to put it mildly. Imagine buying one rechargeable battery for every cell phone, laptop, gadget, appliance, etc. you’ll ever use. Ever. Imagine car batteries that never go to the landfill and eliminate the need for gasoline. Exciting? You bet. But only if EEstor can walk the walk, after trying their hardest to avoid the talk.

On top of all this, it seems like everyone is coming out with electric vehicles in the near future. Tesla’s Roadster is already under production and promises to come out later this year. Aptera’s futuristic Typ1 could also come out at the end of this year or in 2009. In 2010 GM swears they’ll roll out the much-awaited Volt. The Zenn Citycar could be available in Fall of 2009, which would put it right in the middle of the hot new EV market. It’ll be fun to see who, if any, come out on top with the “Prius” of electric vehicles.

Sources: Zenn Car

www.redferret.net

www.Ecogeek.org

Media.CleanTech.com

www.technologyreview.com

Sources: EEstor

Money.CNN.com

www.News.com

www.TreeHugger.com (EEstor intro)

www.TreeHugger.com (EEstor press release)

TheFraserDomain.typepad.com

Wikipedia

Sources: Electric Vehicle Release Dates:

Gas 2.0

(image courtesy of ZennCar)

First let’s talk about how to improve a water heater that you already have. For less than $20, you can hit your local DIY hub/ home improvement store and buy a water heater blanket with quick and easy assembly instructions. If Internet testimonials are true, it will probably take more time to drive to the store and buy one, than it will to install it. If your water heater already has a blanket, bravo! Just keep in mind that the big sticker on the front of your water heater has some important information. You might want to tape it to the blanket for easy reference. While you’re at it, you could also consider insulating some of your pipes or ducts (see first link in this paragraph) for even more savings.

As for the yawn-factor on water heater tanks, check out my favorite Myth Busters episode from the Discovery Channel. (Please don’t try at home, duh)

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/JmJoyuUJj2Q" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

If you’re renovating your house, or if your water heater recently died, consider an upgrade. The D.O.E. just posted new Energy Star ratings for water heaters, so read the stats on a new tank to get the best value. If you want to join millions of people in other countries, you could consider getting a tankless water heater. Instead of heating a large volume of water and storing it, a tankless water heater works on demand, heating water as it’s used. They generally use 10% to 20% less energy than a standard 40 gallon tank heater, and they come in both electric and natural gas varieties.

I had one while I was living in South Korea and loved it. The water was hotter than I needed, and it never ran out, not even when I had company.

If you’re ready for a new water heater and you also have all the hook-ups for a tank, fear not. General Electric is capitalizing on the infrastructure built into most homes to replace old water heater tanks with their upcoming hybrid-electric water heater tank. Yes that’s right, it’s the hybrid of water heaters. GE claims this electric water heater tank will use less than half of the energy a standard one requires. And even more cool, it absorbs heat from the air and transfers it into the water. Forgive me, but that tickles every nerdy bone in my body! The electric water heater tank will be available in 2009, and EcoGeek claims the energy savings could have huge implications.

Also, let’s not forget solar-thermal water heaters. As with investing in solar energy, this will return your investment fastest: better yet, it’s a renewable source.

So are water heaters sexy? Maybe if they’re tankless, but generally not. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t save some money by increasing your home’s energy efficiency. In fact, many groups suggest that increasing the energy efficiency of existing buildings is the cheapest and easiest way to combat climate change right now. It’s something most people can do to take action with minimal investment or effort. So take a look at your water heater and see what you can do. Once our water’s energy use is efficient, maybe we can move on to making our use of water more efficient, too.

Similar articles:

GroovyGreen.com

TreeHugger.com

Water Saving Technology Around the House

Reducing the amount of water you use is good for the environment, and good for your wallet. Better yet, you don’t have to sacrifice water pressure to do it. Check out the best water faucet aerators of 2008.

Source: MetaEfficient.com

Video Courtesy of Google Videos

An announcement made this week is stirring excitement in the aviation industry as a scientist turned inventor claims he can dramatically reduce or perhaps remove fossil fuels from modern flight. His innovative design employs wind power to make an airplane version of popular hybrid cars. He claims his prototype is cheap and scaleable–and it can easily be added to existing aircraft. The implications are far reaching as the aviation industry comes under increasing pressure to reduce their green house gas emissions.According to inventor Dr. Josef Popf, “The idea struck me as I was driving through a wind farm in Kentucky. Why not strap one of those puppies to an airplane? When I first started doing the math, it was really just for fun. I expected the wind turbine to slow down the airplane. But the deeper I delved into the problem, the more plausible it started to appear. Then, after about two solid months, I found the answers I needed and filed for a patent.”

Essentially, it’s not so different from the hybrid systems employed by hybrid cars. As an airplane cruises or comes in to land, the turbine super-charges high-capacity batteries. That energy can then be used during future take-offs and landings. The trick, according to Popf, is to use the wind turbine at high altitudes, where the thinner atmosphere puts less stress on the airplane, preventing excessive drag. Then, during landing, the wind turbine helps to slow the plane, saving even more fuel. Popf estimates airlines could increase fuel efficiency by 50%-70%, depending on the craft. And with biofuels already undergoing tests in the industry, carbon-based jet fuel could be a thing of the past.

“I was surprised to discover that the technology and parts are already available, you just have to rearrange some of the components. Existing manufacturing and assembly plants could start making and outfitting them tomorrow with minimal investment,” said an airline executive. “We’re very excited, and Dr. Popf is working with us to make this technology readily available around the world.”

Dr. Josef Popf is a physicist better known for his work with the U.S. Navy–some of which is still top-secret. His experience with fluid dynamics helped him innovate his wind turbine design. He claims that the application of his invention is not only limited to aviation; he’s working on designs for cars, buildings, boats, and even submarines.

References:

U.S. Patent Office

Video of Press Conference

Scientific Data

(Cloud-plane courtesy of p.j.maracle via Flickr)

** This post was written exclusively for April Fools Day **

Silicon Solar Panels

Silicon panels are the most recognizable form of solar, in part because they’ve been around the longest. Unfortunately, until the end of 2007, they’ve always had some issues with cost. Popular Mechanic summarizes this much better than I could:

“Traditional solar cells require silicon, and silicon is an expensive commodity (exacerbated currently by a global silicon shortage). What’s more, says Peter Harrop, chairman of electronics consulting firm IDTechEx, “it has to be put on glass, so it’s heavy, dangerous, expensive to ship and expensive to install because it has to be mounted.” And up to 70 percent of the silicon gets wasted in the manufacturing process. That means even the cheapest solar panels cost about $3 per watt of energy they go on to produce. To compete with coal, that figure has to shrink to just $1 per watt.” - courtesy of