New Artificial "Tree" -- 1,000 Times the CO2 Absorption

Trees draw carbon dioxide out of the air and forests are considered an important part of the global warming solution. But a scientist as Columbia University has an idea for artifical structures ("trees) that would be 1,000 times more potent.

Sharon Vaknin at GreenTech reports:

"Klaus Lackner, a professor of geophysics at the university, has been working on the project since 1998, according to a CNN report, and is optimistic about a near-future application.
Modern improvements in coal-fired power plants have reduced carbon emissions, but Lackner is seeking a different function. The "tree" would be used to trap carbon that has already been emitted into the air by car gasoline or airplane fuel, CNN reports.

Unlike the real thing, the synthetic "tree" doesn't need direct sunlight, water, a trunk, or branches to function, as it looks more like a cylinder than a soaring Redwood. The concept, which Lackner says is flexible in size and can be placed nearly anywhere, works by collecting carbon dioxide on a sorbent, cleaning and pressurizing the gas, and releasing it. Similar to the way a sponge collects water, the sorbent would collect carbon dioxide." See full article.

Solar Sahara: Massive Solar Proposal Could Power Europe.

There is a serious proposal to build a massive-scale solar power farm in the Sahara. How big? Imagine a plant that covers an area the size of Massachusetts. (Phot0: Eco13.net)

Examiner.com reports:

"The project being proposed by Desertec would not all be situated in one location, but scattered throughout politically stable countries. Promoters of the project claim that it could satisfy as much as 15 percent of the European Union’s power needs. This project is the brain child of multinational partnership organizations in the likes of TREC-( Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation), Eumena(European Union),The Club of Rome, and The Mediterranean and North Africa ." See full article

The New Carbon "Clock" of New York City

If you are ever wondering how many tons of of greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere a new carbon counter in New York City will tell you.

Science Insider reports:

"A new attraction debuted outside Madison Square Garden.... : a 20-meter-tall billboard that flashes the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The current number is 3.6 trillion metric tons, and is rising by about 2 billion a month. The sign is run by Deutsche Bank, which manages $4 billion in investments related to climate change." See post.

If you are not going to be in NYC anytime soon -- check out the billboard website here -- Pretty startling.

Einstein's Refrigerator Making a Comeback

In 1930 the great theorist and scientist invented a refrigerator that never made it to market. Now that may change.

Physorg.com reports:

"While almost everybody knows how Einstein revolutionized physics with his theories of relativity, many people may not know that the great scientist had a domestic side, too. Well, sort of - in 1930, Einstein and his former student Leo Szilard designed a refrigerator that required no electricity and had no moving parts. However, as refrigerator technology became more efficient, Einstein's design was nearly forgotten.

Now, Malcolm McCulloch, an electrical engineer at Oxford, is trying to bring Einstein's refrigerator back. McCulloch explains that the design is environmentally friendly and could prove especially useful in developing countries, where demand for cooling appliances is quickly increasing. McCulloch's team has recently built a prototype of Einstein and Szilard's refrigerator. Instead of compressing man-made greenhouse gases called freons, as typical refrigerators do, the prototype uses pressurized gas to keep items cold. The refrigerator just requires a way to heat the liquids, and McCulloch has been working on developing a solar energy system to meet this requirement." See full article.

Highly Efficient Vertical Home Wind Turbine

A company in Taiwan has developed a wind turbine that could help power homes.

The green optimisitic reports:

"Vertical wind turbines proved to be more efficient and advantageous in comparison with the horizontal ones as they are more cheaper, smaller in size making them easier to mount at ground level, portable and also safe for the birds. Hi Energy Technology provides their wind turbines with the main rotor shaft running vertically in 50 x 50 x 150 cm packing. The power ranges vary from 400W, to 1500W and 3000W." See full article.

New Smaller WindCube Generator Can Fit On Buildings

Innovators continue to work on smaller-scale wind generators for use in urban areas. The WindCube, which can be aimed at prevailing winds, has real potential.

Alternative Energy News.info reports:

"Green Energy Technologies has developed a brand new wind power generator known as the WindCube. It is smaller compared to the normal wind generator. WindCube is specially designed to set up on the roof of a building in urban and rural areas. WindCube carries a 22 x 22 x 12 feet framework and its single unit can produce a maximum of 60kW of power. Mark L. Cironi, who is the president and founder of Green Energy Technologies, explains, “Building owners anywhere can consider being a part of the renewable energy picture. See full article.

A $5 Box to Save the World?

Sometimes the most important inventions are the simplest. An inexpensive and amazingly simple box could improve the lives on hundreds of millions and reduce wood burning and habitat loss.

Myra Per-Lee at InventorsSpot.com reports:

"The device, which cost Bøhner $5 to make, would decrease pollution, deforestation, energy costs, and about 1.3 million deaths a year in Africa alone caused by wood-burning related respiratory illnesses. The life-saving estimate does not even include the number of deaths resulting from contaminated water.

The Kyoto Box is targeted to the three billion people who use firewood to cook. Estimates are that each family that uses wood-burning methods of cooking releases almost 2 tons of carbon dioxide per year into the atmosphere. The Kyoto Box consists of two cardboard boxes, one inside the other, insulated with straw or newspaper between them. The inside of the box is painted in black and the flaps of the boxes are covered in aluminum foil. A transparent layer of acrylic then covers the box. The stove can boil water and bake, but not fry, according to Bøhmer, as the temperature required to fry would burn the box." See full article.

Montreal's Public Bicycle Program

In the world of good ideas, one city's public bike prgoram makes great sense. The hard part is getting people to use the bikes.

Time Magazine reports:

"....when the city of Montreal built its Public Bike System, nicknamed Bixi, the designers packed in all the technology they could find, in a desperate attempt to out-engineer human iniquity. The modular bike-rack stations are Web-enabled and solar-powered. The bicycles are designed with tons of sealed components to resist the savage beatings they will undoubtedly receive, and they're equipped with RFID tags so they're easily trackable." See full article.

Wind Power From On High

Suppose windmills floated high in the air?

Alexis Madrigal for WIRED Reports:

"The first rigorous, worldwide study of high-altitude wind power estimates that there is enough wind energy at altitudes of about 1,600 to 40,000 feet to meet global electricity demand a hundred times over. The very best ground-based wind sites have a wind-power density of less than 1 kilowatt per square meter of area swept. Up near the jet stream above New York, the wind power density can reach 16 kilowatts per square meter. The air up there is a vast potential reservoir of energy, if its intermittency can be overcome. Even better, the best high-altitude wind-power resources match up with highly populated areas including North America's Eastern Seaboard and China's coastline." See full article.

200 MPG Three-Wheeled Car Ready for Production

A new type of hybrid car is being made ready for production.

Kit Eaton and Fast Company.com reports:

"Robert Q. Riley's company offered the XR3 as a kit-car option last year, but work has continued behind the scenes, and it's nearly ready to hit the road as a serious production car. All that remains is some prototype testing, and some work at the Center for Automotive Research to optimize its drive-train system. The drive train is the core of the vehicle--it uses a patented three-wheel system, with the rear wheel being solely electric-powered, and the front two wheels deriving power from an efficient diesel engine that can burn eco-fuels. Working alone, the Li-ion powered electric motor can push you 40 miles, and the diesel engine can get 125 mpg by itself. Combined, the two give the car a ridiculous efficiency of 200 miles per gallon of fuel." See full article:

New Electric Vehicle Design Gets One Fourth More Power Channeling Wind

How about an electric car that runs well over 150 mph? Designers from California have a car that charges on solar power and gets a major energy boost by channeling wind into a turbine.

Alternative Energy News.Info reports.

"To achieve an acceleration of 0 to 60 mph this car will take less than four seconds. A full battery would empower the driver to travel more than 200 miles or to race around a track for an hour. Four tactically placed air intakes will be built discretely into the car’s bodywork. These air intakes will channel the airflow over the car’s body towards the turbine. There are two intakes on the front of the car and one on each side towards the rear. The turbine is concealed within the car body and will be connected to an alternator. This alternator will boost the amount of electricity available to the car by 20 to 25 per cent." See full article.

Colorful Glass Will Improve Solar Efficiency

Technical teams at MIT are working on ways to improve solar panel efficiency by as much as 1,000%. Colored glass may hold part of the answer.

Alternative Energy News.Info reports:

"Scholars at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way to trap maximum sunlight into solar panels and improve its much needed efficiency and take care of the esthetically inclined consumers who don’t want to see the same glass panel lining every rooftop in the area. This can be achieved by colored dyes mixed glass which can direct sunlight to the edge of the glass in a cost effective and practical way. The MIT researchers are using “solar concentrators” — an improved version over the 70s era. These solar concentrators can grab the solar light and keep it too. The concentrator can send the light at a much longer distance than past models have achieved, shooting the energy straight into solar cells along the glass’s edge. The solar concentrator can produce 10 times more energy than what current systems can provide — and, it can achieve it at a fraction of the price. The MIT team is optimistic that the products could become commercially available within the next three years." See full article.

Nano Tech and Green Energy

Nano-technology will play a major role in alternative energy trechnology with many new applications:

RCS publishing reports:

"These include advanced thermal insulation materials for buildings and industrial processes, waste heat conversion into electrical power using thermoelectrics, and technologies such as solid-state lighting based on light-emitting diodes. In the mid-term (5-10 years), hydrogen fuel and devices such as fuel cells will reach the point of becoming competitive in the energy market, especially for transport. The long-term (>10 years) future will rely on solar fuels as truly sustainable energy carriers. These would, with solar energy, use only renewable feedstocks, such as water and carbon dioxide, to produce synthetic liquid fuels.

Nanotechnology research will play a critical part in these developments and will make the systems more efficient and cost effective." See full article.

Will Vehicles of the Future Supply Power to the Grid?

What if millions of cars and trucks had a two-way relationship with the power grid?

Alternantive Energy News.info reports:

"How about a vehicle that not only draws energy from an electric grid but also gives it back when there is surplus or unused energy in the vehicle? This is exactly the kind of car being developed by Willett Kempton, a renewable-energy professor at the University of Delaware.

This is a great concept, especially when 95% of the time the vehicles are just standing and their batteries remain unused. While it’s not being driven, an electric-drive motor vehicle can be plugged into a nearby grid and that grid can receive energy from the vehicle. When the battery needs to be charged it can be quickly done by drawing energy from the grid. According to some claims this can provide a utility value of $4000 per year to a vehicle owner." See full article.

Despite Bankruptcy, GM Opens $25 Million Battery Lab

Electric vehicles loomlarge in General Motor's future as evidenced by its opening a new technology lab in Michigan.

Johnathan Martinez at Examiner.com reports:

"The failing auto giant’s highly anticipated energy research lab officially opened up shop on Monday, despite filing chapter 11 bankruptcy. The new lab, located in Warren, Michigan, is touted as the world’s most leading-edge automotive technology research center. Chevrolet's electric car, the Volt, is the reason why GM went ahead with the facility. The laboratory has turned some heads, including those of the U.S. government, who have given GM billions as they continue to restructure and layoff workers. The battery research lab’s main goal is getting the Chevy Volt, the company’s first fully electric vehicle, off assembly lines by the scheduled 2010 deadline." See full article.

IBM Shoots for 500-Mile Electric Car Battery

Today's electric cars are fairly limited in how far they can go without being recharged. IBM's investment in a new battery technology may be changing that.

International Business Times reports:

"The company [IBM] will begin a project to develop lithium metal-air batteries that perform 10 times better, are lighter and more compact than today's lithium-ion batteries. For the project, IBM's Research unit will partner with U.S. laboratories to develop a technology that uses lithium metal to react with oxygen in the air, resulting in a storage capacity of more than 5,000 watt-hours per kilogram, more than ten times the capacity of today's lithium-ion batteries. A battery with this technology is expected to run for 500 miles, IBM said according to MIT." See full article.

New Heat Capture Technology for Gas Turbines

With the average industrial turbine operating at only about one third efficiency, a new GE technology can come close to doubling that.

Clay Dillow at Fast Company.com reports:

"General Electric has devised a way to generate energy from a unique kind of waste: the excess heat from its own gas turbines. An innovative system based on a process understood for decades but previously too expensive to implement can capture waste heat from any industrial gas turbine and return it to the energy cycle without any additional emissions or water consumption.
The Department of Energy recently granted GE and Idaho National Laboratory $2 million to further develop the technology, which could potentially increase the efficiency of industrial engines--which often run at only 35% efficiency--by 20% to 40%." See full article.

Phone Will Be Powered from Ambient Radio Waves

We have all heard about phones that can be powered from solar power or even manual cranks but how about an "energy harvesting" one that feeds on ambient radio waves?
Illustration: Nokia

CBR Online reports:

"Nokia is developing a mobile phone that would utilise the ambient radio waves to recharge itself.

The new technology would work on the same principles as the Radio frequency Identification (RFID) tags and would convert ambient electromagnetic waves into electrical signals.
The mobile phone will use the ambient electromagnetic radiation, emitted from Wi-Fi transmitters, cell-phone antennas, TV masts and other sources." See full article.

Commercial Airliners -- Fly in Formation to Save Fuel?

A university-based contest called "Fly Your Idea" is producing interesting ideas for more environmentally-sound flight including borrowing some ideas from geese.

Physorg.com reports:

"A team of five doctoral students from the Aeronautics and Astronautics program has conceptualized a way for commercial planes to save fuel by flying in formation. The concept of formation flight for drag reduction, which the team says can increase fuel efficiency and reduce harmful engine emissions, is borrowed from migratory birds.

The Stanford Aircraft Aerodynamics and Design Group will fly to France this June to pitch their vision as finalists in a design contest sponsored by aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The "Fly Your Ideas" contest, which serves as an international call for original concepts to make commercial flight more environmentally responsible, has inspired various possibilities, such as solar cells for aircraft, and planes with windowless cabins." See full article

New York City Icon Goes Green

The Empire State Building is going green. Energy retrofits are a major way to cut green house gases and save costs in older high-rises.

Reuters and MatteR Network report:

"Today the building is still iconic, but is has also become symbolic of New York City's unbelievable consumption of energy and the fact that buildings contribute almost 80% towards the city's total Greenhouse Gas emissions.

In April, the owners of the building announced a major undertaking- the Empire State Building is going green and earning back its previous reputation for modernity and technological progress. The project will cost $25 million, but the investment will be recouped by savings on energy bills within 5 years. The fifth floor of the building is being turned into an on-site "factory" where the original windows will be taken for thermal-resistant glazing. The radiators will all be altered to ensure that heat stays trapped in the building, rather than being released into NYC." See full article.

New Zero Emissions Mitsubishi Mini

Electric vehicles are appearing in all shapes and sizes.

Physorg.com reports:

"Japan's auto giant Mitsubishi Motors President Osamu Masuko introduces the company's first mass production electric vehicle "iMiEV" at the company's headquarters in Tokyo for the World Environment Day. The new "i-MiEV" -- short for Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle -- can seat four adults, emits no carbon dioxide and has a range of up to 160 kilometers (100 miles) on a fully-charged battery." See full article.

New Power Line Technology to Reduce "Leakage" 75%

A certain amount of generated electricity simply oozes out of power lines during transmission (about 8%) but a new technology may cut that by 75% or more and make a smart grid more lean too.

MorningStar.com reports:

"German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG (SI) expects new technology to reduce the amount of power lost in transmission grids to around 1%-2%, from an average of roughly 8% currently, [according to] Wolfgang Dehen, chief executive of Siemens' energy.

Traditional lines typically lose around 8% of power during transmission, leading to higher costs and weaker earnings potential for the energy companies. But with Siemens' new technology, called high-voltage direct current, the amount of power lost will shrink and the associated costs will be "significantly reduced," Dehen said at a climate and energy conference in Stockholm arranged by Swedish peer Vattenfall AB." See full article

A "Recharging" Road for Electric Cars

Maintaining a full charge in an electric car as it travels around is a real challenge. The approach of electrifying the actual roadway is being explored in Korea.

Physorg.com reports:

"In Daejeon, South Korea, the idea of a "recharging road" is being tested at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. If the tests show that the idea is feasible (right now it's being tested on golf carts), charging strips would be placed in strategic places around town, embedded into the road surface. Electromagnetic induction would be used to charge the batteries of cars that contain a special magnetic, sensor-driven device. Powering the strips themselves would simply require a hook up to a standard electric grid. But if renewable power is the goal, it would also be possible to use solar power to provide the electricity needed for the charging strips." See full article.

Electricity From a Hot Parking Lot

Get out of a car in a parking lot on a hot summer day and you will really feel the heat. A new approach to capturing this heat and turning it into power is showing promise.

PopSci.com reports:

"Rajib Mallick, an engineer at Worcester Polytechnic Institute who studies the effect of solar radiation on cities..... has devised a way to harness heat from baking blacktop and turn it into electricity. His system pumps water -- an excellent heat conductor -- through a network of copper pipes embedded in asphalt. As the water circulates, it pulls heat from the scorching surface and produces steam to drive a turbine that cranks out electricity. Mallick is partnering with the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and the optics firm Novotech to install a full-scale system beneath a 10,000-square-foot parking lot near Worcester, Massachusetts. See full article.

Hydrogen Car Storage Fill-up Breakthrough

Filling a car with enough hydrogen in five minutes to go 300 miles has recently become more possible.

Science Daily reports:

"The system uses a fine powder called metal hydride to absorb hydrogen gas. The researchers have created the system's heat exchanger, which circulates coolant through tubes and uses fins to remove heat generated as the hydrogen is absorbed by the powder. The heat exchanger is critical because the system stops absorbing hydrogen effectively if it overheats, said Issam Mudawar, a professor of mechanical engineering who is leading the research. 'The hydride produces an enormous amount of heat,' Mudawar said. 'It would take a minimum of 40 minutes to fill the tank without cooling, and that would be entirely impractical.'" See full article.

"Skyscraper" Greenhouses in Cities -- Low Carbon Fresh Veggies

The energy impact of providing food to cities is often at most evidence in the transportation footprint. A company from Sweden is looking at a closer-to-home alternative.

Physorg.com reports:

"Vertical greenhouses that grow organic fruit and vegetables smack in the middle of crowded cities where land is scarce may soon be a reality, a Swedish company developing the project said..

'A tomato seed is planted on the ground floor on a rotating spiral and when it arrives at the top, 30 days later, you pick the fruit,' the vice president of Plantagon, Hans Hassle, told AFP.
In a few decades, 80 percent of the global population will live in cities, increasing the need 'to grow fruits and vegetables in an urban environment due to the lack of land,' he said.
With a vertical greenhouse, 'we could have fresh organic produce every day and sell it directly to consumers in the city,' Hassle said.

That way, 'we would save 70 percent on the cost of fresh produce because right now 70 percent of the price is transport and storage costs,' he said. See full article.

Vertical-Axis Wind Power Could Cut Offshore Installation Costs

The use of horizontal-axis wind power mills is easier on land than at sea due to their large average size. A new, smaller and easier, 10 megwatt design may help.

New Energy Focus.com reports:

"British company VertAx Wind Ltd has appointed marine engineering specialists SeaRoc to devise a safe way to install the machines, as the technology enters its second phase of development. Wind turbines used in offshore wind farms are currently based on horizontal axis designs, but making them bigger to make maximum use of the high winds out to sea is physically difficult. VertAx believes its vertical axis design offers a much easier way to scale up wind generation machines - and will also see them requiring less maintenance, another key issue for wind farms installed in the open ocean." See full article.

Smart Grid Vision Catching On With Power Companies

Electric utilities are welcoming the smart grid as a technological breakthrough in energy management.

The Associated Press reports:

"The "smart grid" has become the buzz of the electric power industry, at the White House and among members of Congress. President Barack Obama says it's essential to boost development wind and solar power, get people to use less energy and tackle climate change. What smart grid visionaries see coming are home thermostats and individual appliances that adjust automatically based on the cost of power, and water heaters that can draw power from a neighbor's rooftop solar panel. They see a time when, on a scorching hot day, a plug-in hybrid electric car charges one minute and a few moments later sends electricity back into the grid to help avert a brownout.

Also coming are utilities that get instant feedback on a transformer outage or shift easily among energy sources from wind turbines to coal-burning power plants and back to the turbines when the wind begins to blow again." See full article.

New Module Concentrates Solar Power to "10 Suns"

A team has developed a module for homes and buildings that intensifies the power of the sun as a source of power.

Science Daily reports:

"This system has been developed by Daniel Chemisana, member of the research group in Agrometeorology and Energy for Environment, leaded by UdL lecturers Manel Ibáñez and Joan Ignasi Rosell.

This thermal-photovoltaic modular system has a solar concentration of 10 suns, that is, it only needs a tenth part of a standard system’s active surface to produce the same energy, be it electricity, heat, or both simultaneously. Besides the reduction in the surface of used solar cells and the cost reduction this implies, this new technology can generate cold by connecting a heat pump to the system." See full article.

Dashboard Device Cuts Fuel Use -- Improves Driver Safety

A GreenRoad device tells drivers if they are driving too abruptly and wasting fuel. It saves 10% on fuel consumption for the average fleet driver.

Business Green.com reports:

"U.S. start-up GreenRoad could soon accelerate the rollout of its fuel-saving dashboard traffic light technology after the company secured $15m (£9.4m) in additional investment to help fund its growth plans. The firm has developed a driver warning device that measures the G-force in a vehicle and immediately notifies motorists if they are not driving smoothly enough, using a traffic light-style dashboard interface. Tests have shown that the system can help cut accidents by up to 50 per cent and reduce fuel use by 10 per cent, and after securing a number of high-profile customers in the form of London bus operator Metroline and coach operator Stagecoach, the company is now planning to use the new funding to help expand its customer base among fleet operators." See full article.

A 102 MPH Plug-In Bike

A group of engineering students at Kingston University have designed a high perfomance plug-in motorcycle.

Science Daily reports:

"Work on the bike began last October, under the guidance of course director for motorsport and motorcycle engineering Paul Brandon. The motorbike, which has gone through many designs, will run on non-fossil fuel but will still be able to clock-up an average 70 mph around the course. “Being green doesn’t have to mean slow,” Mr Brandon said. “There are too many sceptics when it comes to electric vehicles but we all need to reduce our CO2 output and this initiative is taking a huge leap in that direction." See full article.

Cold Fusion -- 20 Years Later

The world sat up and noticed when scientists thought they had found fusion power in a room temperature experiment. But where are we today?

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports:

"There’s mounting evidence that nuclear fusion can be created at room temperature, and if that energy can be harnessed, it has the power to change the world, scientists and researchers agreed yesterday at a University of Missouri seminar. It will take significantly more experiments, though, to fully understand how cold fusion works, said Vice Chancellor of Research Robert Duncan.... he doesn’t know whether cold fusion will lead to energy production but that’s precisely the reason it should continue to be pursued. 'It’s simply too convenient to dismiss it as junk science,' he said. 'As scientists, we should go after what we don’t understand.'

The fusion of atoms is a high-energy process that powers the sun and other stars. To replicate nuclear fusion in hydrogen bombs takes an enormous amount of heat. Experts believe the ability to create nuclear fusion without high levels of energy would allow for the generation of clean power, reduce nuclear waste and potentially eliminate the country’s dependence of foreign oil." See full article.

Better Than Switchgrass Biofuel?-- Miscanthus Is Looking Good

Researchers at the University of Illinois are hoping they have found a higher yeild grass for biofuel production.

PopSci.com reports:

"Move over, switchgrass. There's a new miracle crop on the horizon. Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign indicates that a perennial grass named Miscanthus x giganteus can produce about two and a half times more ethanol per acre than either corn or switchgrass. Switchgrass has previously been heralded as a promising feedstock for making ethanol because it's a perennial plant, whereas corn must be replanted every year. But when researchers led by Stephen P. Long grew all three crops in field trials across Illinois, they found that Miscanthus leafed out earlier in the spring than corn or switchgrass, and stayed green well into the autumn. What's more, Miscanthus grew well in poor soils" See full article.

Check Out the 330 MPG Hybrid

A promising new car design could increase mileage tenfold.

Forums.nasioc.com reports:

Accelerated Composites, LLC, has designed a two-seat passenger car that will achieve up to 330 MPG and sell for under $20,000. The lightweight composite, hybrid car will post this fuel efficiency in normal city and highway driving and demonstrate acceleration and handling similar to that of a Honda Insight. Dubbed the Aptera(C), the vehicle achieves these remarkable numbers through the use of cutting-edge materials, manufacturing methods, and a maverick design mantra.

'It looks like nothing you've ever seen because it performs like nothing you've ever seen," says Accelerated Composites founder and CEO, Steve Fambro. 'What we've done is changed the way cars are thought of and designed. Rather than designing to a styling aesthetic, like the big auto makers do, we hew to an efficiency and safety aesthetic. When you do that, math and physics mostly dictate the shape of the car, and in this case, math and physics look awesome.'" See full article.

Low-Cost Solar-Powered Mobile Phone

This new solar powered phone is low-cost and will let people who lack electricity make calls. It could eventually lead to our taking all those energy-sapping chargers out of the wall. As much as 95% of electricity consumed by cell phones is due to their chargers being plugged in while not being used.

WA Today.com reports:

"Chinese group ZTE unveiled the world's first low-cost solar-powered mobile phone targeted at the world's poor on Wednesday, which is to go on sale in June for under $US40 ($A62.70).
ZTE has partnered with emerging market network operator Digicel, which is to launch the device in Haiti, Samoa and Papua New Guinea ... The handset, called Coral-200-Solar, uses Dutch technology to boost the current from a single mini solar panel, which is located on the back of the phone and measures 3cm by 7cm. A charge of one hour in full sunlight would offer 15 minutes of talk time, the companies said, adding that the phone could be charged normally with an electricity supply." See full article.