Wall guards and corner guards don’t make for particularly compelling
architecture by themselves. Most people don’t pay attention to them.
They are an element in hospitals and offices, particularly where there is
high traffic, to protect the walls from damage. And they are often made
of PVC plastics.

Rather than being manufactured with PVC plastic, Arden Architectural
Specialties has introduced a line of wall-and
corner-guards that is made from corn-based biopolymers. Not only does
this reduce the toxic byproducts of vinyl manufacture, and require less
energy overall for the manufacture, but the end product is also stronger
and more damage resistant, and is easy to recycle at the end of it’s life.

Finding yet another non-food use for corn is not without its drawbacks.
But finding a substitute for PVC and helping to reduce dioxin pollution
are a positive step that EcoGeeks are in favor of. We’re hoping this is just the beginning of this trend. Bio-plastics should be showing up in everything from pipes to food packaging in the near future.

via: Architectural
Products magazine

It’s pretty convenient that many of the world’s major cities happen to be fairly near to renewable energy sources. Two of America’s largest cities, New York and San Francisco, happen to have extremely strong tidal currents. And while we’ve previously reported that New York is working on some tidal infrastructure, today we’re excited to announce that San Francisco is looking to up the ante.

The City of San Francisco and PG&E (their electric utility) are partnering to study where and how to build the most effective tidal power plant in the bay. The force of the water is, of course, tremendous, and it’s been estimated that tidal turbines in the bay could produce as much as 400 megawatts of power.

Of course, getting at real numbers is precisely why this $1.5 million study is being done. Depending on the results of the study and the level of cooperation between utilities, state governments and the federal government, the bay could be producing power in as little as five years. But we’ll have to wait and see, this is only the first step on an unfortunately long road.

Via SFGate and Green Wombat

See also:
–In Stream Tidal–
–Giant Shark Fin?–

It’s wonderful to see that environmental issues are reaching the emo sect as well. It is worth mentioning that, obviously, emo kids do use less electricity than normal kids.

For one thing, they don’t need to actually go anywhere in order to listen to music and be sad, so you don’t need a car at all. And, of course, as lighting uses 20% of the world’s energy, wouldn’t we all be better off with our blue-black hair hanging down over our eyes in the eternal darkness of a zero-watt light.

Via Digg

It’s pretty convenient that many of the world’s major cities happen to be fairly near to renewable energy sources. Two of America’s largest cities, New York and San Francisco, happen to have extremely strong tidal currents. And while we’ve previously reported that New York is working on some tidal infrastructure, today we’re excited to announce that San Francisco is looking to up the ante.

The City of San Francisco and PG&E (their electric utility) are partnering to study where and how to build the most effective tidal power plant in the bay. The force of the water is, of course, tremendous, and it’s been estimated that tidal turbines in the bay could produce as much as 400 megawatts of power.

Of course, getting at real numbers is precisely why this $1.5 million study is being done. Depending on the results of the study and the level of cooperation between utilities, state governments and the federal government, the bay could be producing power in as little as five years. But we’ll have to wait and see, this is only the first step on an unfortunately long road.

Via SFGate and Green Wombat

See also:
–In Stream Tidal–
–Giant Shark Fin?–

Could photovoltaics hit 50% efficiency? Spectrolab in Sylmar, CA is
gunning for it with a record high 40.7% conversion rate from their
latest solar cell. Spectrolab’s solar panels are similar to those from Soliant Energy, concentrating light onto solar cells using mirrors and lenses. However, Spectrolab goes beyond the typical
silicon based solar cell: theirs have three layers of semiconductors, each
capturing different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Though
this idea is not completely new – layered solar cells are used in space
already – in the past these layers could only be made using a limited
number of semiconductor materials. Now, Spectrolab has developed the
use of "metamorphic" materials, allowing them to explore new structural
possibilities and ramp up the efficiency of their cells.

…device designers have until recently employed only a limited repertoire of semiconductors, such as germanium and gallium arsenide, which form similar crystal structures. Metamorphic materials provide flexibility by throwing off this structural constraint, employing a wide range of materials, including those with mismatched structures. "The parameter space you can explore using mismatch opens up a whole world of possibilities," says NREL principal scientist Sarah Kurtz.

Since
the use of metamorphic materials is new, there still is a lot of
potential left. Let’s hope we see those results soon, so that we can
all enjoy more energy and smaller solar panels.

via Technology Review

See Also:
–Half Price Solar–
–New High-Efficiency Solar Panel–

Really, why should I spend tons of money on a laptop bag that has likely been shipped from china, when I could create a low-impact, high-strength, water-proof laptop bag out of shipping materials already arriving on my front doorstep?

Instructables has an awesome tutorial on how to turn three laptop bags a little bit of felt into an awesome, camouflaged, protective case for your laptop. You will, however, need a sewing machine…or just lots of time to sew by hand. So the project is a bit out of reach for me. But I’d almost pay for one of these things. It looks surprisingly cool. Just don’t get it confused with the rest of your shipping.

via LifeHacker and Instructables

See Also
–Bagel Spindle–

Ben Storan just won first prize in BSI’s 2007 Sustainability awards for his design for a shape-shifting, vertical axis personal wind turbine.

The device works very much like the Quiet Revolution wind turbines. The design is less efficient than Quiet Revolution turbines, but much more efficient than other turbines marketed toward homeowners. Plus, this new way of building turbines has other advantages as well.

First, the simplicity of Storan’s design will bring down the costs significantly from other similar personal turbines. Though, were still looking at a fairly expensive energy appliance.

Second, Storan’s turbine can change shape, much like an umbrella, so that it produces the maximum amount of electricity at a wide range of wind speeds and can also be folded up, much like an umbrella, during extremely strong winds. Other turbines have to be locked in place, or even taken down during severe storms.

Beyond Ben’s £3,000 award, we can hope that he’ll begin marketing and selling the design for big bucks in the near future.

Via TreeHugger and BSI

See Also:
–Loopwing Personal Wind Turbine–
–Big Ideas in Small Wind–

Thirty percent corporate computers are not swtiched off at night. Or so says  a study from 1E, a power management software company.

And the cost of that over-night computing? 14.4 million metric tons of CO2 and $1.72 Billion.

Now, we should keep in mind that this study was done by a company trying to sell power management software, but these numbers are real, and so is the problem. Though, I will say that, in most places in America, there is excess power being produced at night anyhow, so saying that this resulted in an increase in greenhouse gasses is ultimately incorrect.

However, it has resulted in an almost 2 billion dollar gift to the fossil fuel-based power generation industry.

People see shutting down the PCs, or even putting them into sleep mode, as simply too much trouble. This was something that Vista was supposed to tackle, but it unclear what kind of impact Vista’s new power management features have had.

Of course, 1E also calculated the massive energy savings that could be achieved by installing their software…Up to $75 per PC. We wish that people weren’t so lazy, and that they could hibernate their own machines, but if it takes proprietary power management software to get companies to stop wasting all this energy, then I’m behind 1E in their efforts.

And if you want to save that $75 with some free software, check out CO2Saver.

Via Greener Computing

See Also:
–Local Cooling–
–Snap CO2 Saver–

Looking for some fun in the sun, but can’t bear to leave your Treo behind? The Juice Bag Solar Beach Tote
will soak in the rays and charge your phone, camera, iPod or other
electronic device while you ironically administer your sunscreen. Utilizing the removable 12" x 12" (30 x 30 cm) flexible solar panel will power up any device that can charge through a
"Universal CLA/Car Charger Female Socket" – those things we used to
call "cigarette lighters".

 Power Rating Specifications:

• Power 6.3 Watts
• Voltage, 16.6 Volts
• Current, 0.325 Amps
• Solar Panel Weight 0.45 lb.
• Solar Panel Size 12 x 12 x 0.1 inches

Don’t start dreaming about taking your laptop to the beach just
yet – they need about four times as much output to work reliably. If
you’re brilliantly light skinned like most geeks, you might be able to run a 6 watt Linutop by laying next to the bag and using your body as a solar reflector…maybe.

For
all you early adopters out there, nothing says "Geek Cred" quite like
producing your own electricity while communing with nature. Look for
these to become wildly popular when they cost a lot less than $250.

via BoingBoing

See Also
–Solar Powered Back Pack–
–Solar Powered Briefcase–
–Solar Messenger Bag–

Dear EcoGeek
I did a survey and I have 33 recessed
bulbs in the house (120W)!  I’ve switched all my non-recessed bulbs with CFLs, but I need something for our recessed lighting. So my question is why aren’t these ultra-efficient LED lights being produced
in greater quantities (and this bringing the costs down)?

 – David

David,
Thirty
three 120 watt bulbs will keep your house competing with a small star
for both power consumption and light intensity, but I’m not here to
judge. If you’ve got the sockets, they should have high-efficiency bulbs in them.

The good news is
two-fold. First, you don’t have to wait for LED bulbs to show up at
Wal-Mart to find a high efficiency alternative because they’ve started
selling excellent recessed CFLs. I’ve actually got one shooting down on
me right now! To match a 120 watt incandescent, you should look for a
23 to 26 watt CFL.

The bad news is that
LED bulbs would likely be a better choice for you, but a good one won’t
be easy to find. LED lighting is facing a few barriers that will take
some time to overcome. First, LEDs are currently fairly expensive to
manufacture, and while their extreme long life and efficiency will
eventually pay for the extra
cost, it’s hard to get folks to cough up 30 bucks for a bulb when
they’re so used to paying 30 cents. You might be able to find a good
one somewhere like Ace Hardware or specialty stores online, but be
ready to cough up some change.

Continue Reading

Ah ah aaah ah ah aahhh…*ahem*…sorry…this kind of  stuff gets me excited.

Ceravision has just announced that they have developed a lightbulb that is 50% efficient (more than twice the efficiency of CFLs) and will last…um…forever?

No, that can’t be right, but a very very long time anyhow. They say they expect their new lamp to outlast whatever device they put it in, so apparently your lamp will break before the bulb does.

The device doesn’t use any fascinating new technology, which is really good news as it can be built from parts already in mass production. It’s a new sort of metal halide lamp (a tube of gas inside a lump of a metal oxide.) When the lamp is put in the presence of a microwave emitter (just like the one in your kitchen, but much smaller) a concentrated electric field forms in the tube of gas which promptly turns into plasma. More than 50% of the energy is emitted as light, which is 2x more than ordinary metal halide lamps, and four times more than ordinary fluorescents.

The device is so long lived because there is no connection between the electricity source and the bulb itself. As long as the microwave emitter keeps emitting, and the glass tube never breaks, the device will last forever.
This new, as-yet-unnamed sort of lamp will be somewhat expensive in the beginning. And it will likely not produce the highest-quality light until it gets a good deal of tweaking. But if you were wondering what kind of point-light could possibly be better than LEDs, this is it.

No toxics, unsurpassed efficiency, extremely bright, relatively small and ultra-long lived. I’m pretty excited about this one.

Via The Economist

See also:
–One Watt Light Bulbs–
–Quick OLED Review–
–EcoGeek Newsletter–

The tech
industry
has been on the cutting edge of green initiatives lately, with Dell,
HP, Google and others
all claiming different environmental achievements. Now, they’re banding
together to make a bigger impact: the
aforementioned companies, along with a laundry list of other top tech
firms including Intel, IBM, Microsoft, AMD, Sun Microsystems, Lenovo,
and others – are partnering with The World Wildlife Fund and
the Environmental Protection Agency to encourage efficient computer
energy use.

The Climate Savers Computing Initiative
is nothing if not ambitious in its goals. Pat Gelsinger, a senior VP at
Intel, says that they are aiming to reduce annual computer power
consumption 50% by 2010, the equivalent of taking 11 million cars off
the
road. Their website asks consumers and
businesses to participate, and informs them about steps they can take to reduce
their computer energy use. The group currently endorses Energy Star and the 80 Plus Program as labels to look for when
buying computer parts, and they are also planning to roll out their own Climate
Savers standards in the future.

It is great that
these companies are coming together, though I am not sure how much of an impact they
will have by only promoting going green. There are not a lot of new ideas being brought to the table
here,
but perhaps the brand exposure will encourage consumers and businesses
to think about the environment when purchasing their next PC.

via ars
technica

See Also
–HP Gets Gold for Going Green–
–Google Registers ClimateSaverPC.com–