I’ve always enjoyed the antics of Jesse James, the motorcycle mogul who owns the custom bike shop West Coast Customs. He was the star of Monster Garage, where him and a team of equally-eccentric characters were challanged with creating oddball rides, such as an ambulance that does wheelies. That is one trip to the hospital I wouldn’t mind. But he isn’t exactly what I would call an “enviromentally concious” person, especially after last week’s episode of Jesse James Is A Dead Man, where Mr. James was tearing across through housing projects and golf courses in a nitrous-injected Camaro.
But apparently the idea of breaking the land speed record for hydrogen cars has been on his mind for some time now. Last Wednesday, Jesse blew past the current record of 185 mph and set a new record of 199.7 mph
By Andrew Williams •
March 4, 2009
Rock legend Neil Young has never made a secret of his radical eco-credentials. Now it seems he’s putting his (non-fossil fuel based) creative juices to good use by releasing an entire concept album about … electric cars.
The album, called Fork in the Road, focuses on the singer’s most recent obsession - a retooled 1959 Lincoln Continental that runs entirely on alternative energy. Its main themes are inspired by Young’s involvement with the Lincvolt Project, a collaboration between the singer and biodiesel innovator Johnathan Goodwin to develop a commercially viable electric power system for automobiles.
Following the earlier release of a single, also called Fork in the Road (video), Young’s label Warner Reprise have announced that the album will be available on April 7, and revealed the full tracklist (after the jump).
By Matthew Phelan •
February 20, 2009
According to a new study conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, The average installed costs for photovoltaic cells (in real 2007 dollars) went down from $10.50-per-watt in 1998, to $7.60-per-watt in 2007.
What’s most amazing about this report is that it appears to validate a whole slew of state and local solar initiatives. The researchers found that—despite the many, many reported advances to solar cell efficiency—most of the savings during this nine year period came from reductions to installation and external hardware costs.
By Matthew Phelan •
February 20, 2009
Sun Well Solar—a subsidiary of the notoriously poor CD and DVD manufacturer, CMC Magnetics—has announced today that it is one month ahead of schedule in the ramp-up of its new photovoltaic production line.
By Andrew Williams •
December 8, 2008
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that, as a result of its enforcement actions, U.S. companies will spend a record-breaking $11.8 billion on pollution control and projects to clean up the environment this year.
By Andrew Williams •
November 14, 2008
Solar PV manufacturer Oerlikon Solar has pioneered a new thin film solar technology process, which it claims has made its solar cells 7 per cent efficient - a 16 per cent energy improvement over its previous technology. The advance has led to a 50 per cent increase in the capacity of its thin film solar fabrication plant.
So, why is this important? Well, thin film cells are typically a lot cheaper to produce than more common silicon solar cells, but often suffer from significantly lower conversion efficiencies. Oerlikon’s breakthrough moves us a lot closer to the day when thin film becomes more cost-effective than silicon-based panels - which could mean a dramatic rise in the adoption of solar power in homes and businesses.
By Andrew Williams •
October 26, 2008
Scientists at the University of New South Wales have set a new world record by creating the first silicon solar cell to achieve 25% efficiency.
Team leader, Prof. Martin Green of the university’s ARC Photovoltaic Centre of Excellence, says their world-beating solar cell is now a massive six percent more efficient than the next best technology. The record edges the current generation of solar cell technology closer to the theoretical limit of 29% efficiency.
By Andrew Williams •
September 11, 2008
The general reaction to Sarah Palin’s energy policy seems to have been that she’s a staunch supporter of the ‘drill, baby drill’ school of thought, with little real analysis beyond that.
By Juliet Ames •
January 7, 2008
According to The Environmental Literacy Council, plastics make up 25% of all waste in landfills when buried. It is a good thing that crafters are finding ways to appropriate this versitale and plentiful material into their creations.
Take, for example, these adorable bird coin purses from Etsy seller Bird Versus Bird which are made from vinyl scraps from a sign shop. Imagine how many vinyl banners from State Fair corndog stands are [...]
By Rebecca Carter •
February 28, 2007
On March 6, Earthrace - a powerboat run on biodiesel - will set off from Barbados on a trip to attempt to break the world record on circumnavigating the globe in a powerboat. However, the true Earthrace journey started over three years ago. Run by Pete Bethune of New Zealand, this Captain has a background in the oil industry. Truly on a mission to promote the use of alternative fuels, he and his crew (all
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