Recently in Green Category

Asus have been hyping their Ecobook bamboo covered green laptop for a while now but the final product has now been revealed and it is a lot less impressive than the concept designs suggested.

That's it? a little bit of bamboo below the keyboard and around the screen?

Not eco-friendly at all - just another example of fake-green marketing.

Asus Bamboo Laptop via ubergizmo

GM has announced that their Chevrolet volt electric car is on track for a 2010 launch.

The difference between the Chevy Volt and current hybrid cars is that the volt is powered predominantly from it's batteries and can be plugged into a standard electrical outlet to charge. The volt has a range of 40 miles on battery power and for longer journeys it uses a small (1 liter) gas engine to power a 53KW generator that keeps the batteries topped up once battery level gets down to 30%.

The volt seats 4, has a top speed of 120mph, and is expected to cost between $30,000 and $40,000.

via reuters

The legions of Toyota Prius fans will be disappointed to hear there is a car in the US that is greener than their own little eco-statement hybrid.

According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) who put out a list each year of the 12 greenest cars the Prius only comes in second!.

The winner: The Honda Civic GX which although it only gets 24mpg in the city is rated #1 due to being fueled by natural gas.

How many more years must we wait until the greenest car is one that is powered by a renewable resource instead of just swapping the juice from one kind of hole in the ground for another?

12 greenest cars at CNet

We are all waiting for the first fuel cell gadgets to come out but instead of a fuel cell powered phone or mini-pc the first fuel cell gadget many of us own will be something like the Angstrom G2 portable fuel cell.

It has 8 fuel cell modules that put out a total of 2W and it can be used to recharge any device that can be powered through USB.

No word on price but it is a safe bet to say we will see fuel cell rechargers like this sometime in 2009.

Angstrom G2 portable fuel cell via engadget

Here's an interesting concept: a fuel cell powered vacuum cleaner backpack.

I like the idea as cleaning the house gets really annoying when you have to keep dragging the power cord from room to room plugging in unplugging ad-infinitum.

The backpack part of it is a bit weird though: a single shoulder strap holding up a rapidly spinning motor, ethanol fuel cells, and a pile of dirt sounds like a recipe for back pain.

Fuel cell powered vacuum cleaner backpack via trendsnow

NEC has announced a new VersaPro VE laptop that comes with an "Eco Button".

Sounds great right? but what does it do?..... all it does is decrease energy consumption by 20% by reducing the CPU speed and screen brightness. Hello?? is that all. Isn't that what automatic power management software does? they are replacing an automatic system that works effectively with a manual system.

If you want to consume 20% less power just buy a different laptop, one with a less powerful processor... if you want to have a powerful laptop but consume less power when you don't need it then use the power management software properly.... if you really want to be green look for a laptop that maximizes the use of recycled materials and has a low power processor and small screen..... whatever you do just don't buy the VersaPro VE with the eco button because you think you will be helping the environment.

The NEC VersaPro VE seems to be just another marketing ploy by a company pretending to be green in order to get your greenbacks.

Specs: 15.1" 1280x800 lcd, 2Ghz Core 2 Duo T7250, 80GB HDD, 1GB RAM.

Price: Not known

Our interest level: Zero

NEC VersaPro VE via Akihibaranews

Solar panels that stick to your roof with adhesive? yep, that Lumeta Powerply from DRI Energy.

Each 8' x 4' panel puts out a peak power of 380w an weighs just 54lbs, so they can be fixed to many roofs without additional support or reinforcement. Of course that 380w output will be reduced depending on how much sun you get and if the panels are aligned directly towards the sun (i.e. not on a flat roof).

Here's a video showing the installation of 6 panels (2.28Kw) in just over 30 minutes.

Lumeta solar panels (via digg)

AMD is going greener with the release of 5 new 55w low-power processors in their Opteron HE line designed for blade and rack servers.

Press release after the jump.

Low power processors at AMD

Volkswagon CEO Martin Winterkorn has confirmed that their L1 concept car will be turned into a production car that will be available for purchase in 2010.

The L1 is designed to go 100 kilometers on 1 liter of gas (which equates to 235 miles per gallon) but are they sacrificing too much in search of fuel economy?

The car is a two seater but not side by side - the passenger sits behind the driver, max speed is 75mph, there is no storage space, and there is no information about the safety of this tiny vehicle that could be crushed like a bug by 75% of the vehicles on the typical US highway.

Realistically this will only be usable for trips in cities and on the back roads, and for those kind of trips why not just forego the car and ride a bicycle instead, not only is it green but it's healthy for you too.

source

Gizmag has taken a new look at the Rinspeed sQuba amphibious zero emission concept car that turned up at last year's Geneva Motor Show.

The sQuba is designed to go 75mph on land and about 2mph in the water, it is powered by a single 54 kW motor plus a four additional engines for underwater:2 x 800W units drive the twin stern propellers and up front, 2 x 3.6kW Seabob jet drives for steering.

The open top combined with going underwater is a bit strange though: do you wear a wetsuit all day in case you need to go underwater or do you just get your clothes wet and keep some spare clothes in the truck?

(more at gizmag)

Next week the Tesla Roadster electric car will move from development to market with the opening of their first showroom in Los Angeles.

The Tesla is no souped-up gold cart, it is a $109,000 electric powered sports car that does 0-60mph in under 4 seconds, has a top speed of 125mph, and a range of 225mph. Once the battery runs out of oomph you just plug it in and it recharges in 3.5hrs.

This takes a lot of battery power: the lithium-ion batteries account for 1,000lb of the Tesla's 2,700lb weight and they have an expected lifespan of 100,000 miles.

Don;t expect to walk into the showroom and buy one though - there is a current wait of 15 months to get one, but if you see one driving down the street take a look at the driver - Arnold Schwartenegger, George Clooney, and Kelsey Grammer have all ordered one.

Everyone is showing off their fuel cells today.

This is a prototype from Sony, a 2" x 1.2" methanol hybrid fuel cell that can put out up to 3W and can power a video phone long enough to watch 14hrs of movies while only using 10ml of methanol fuel.

Enough with the prototypes, give us a working product!

MTI MicroFuel Cells has shown a prototype GPS that is powered by their mobion methanol fuel cell.

The fuel cell powers the GPS for 60 hours of continuous use and be can be refuelled. The GPS also includes a USB port to recharge other gadgets too.

No news on pricing or availability, but I can't wait for all out gadgets to me fuel cell powered.

New from Devotec is this inexpensive ($40) solar charger with an 1800mAh battery.

It takes 12 hours of good sunshine to charge the battery or you can charge it by AC or USB in 4 hours, and it comes with charging tips for Nokia old, Nokia new/N series, Sony Ericsson, Motorola/Blackberry/mini USB and Samsung phones as well as a DC 5V tip for PSPs and many digital cameras, an Ipod tip, and one for female USB.

(devotec, via engadget)

Now this is a smart idea for those people who feel that their hybrid car lifestyle just isn't good enough for the environment.

The SEV solar module for 2004-2006 Toyota Prius cars generates 215 watts of power which the makers claim provides up to an extra 20 miles of gas-free travel a day and a 29% better fuel economy overall.

They claim it will pay for itself in 2 to 3 years, but only if you take liberties with a Federal energy tax credit by buying it at the same time as a residential solar system and conveniently include the price in with your residential system.

(via redferret)

Falx Air Vehicles are preparing a prototype of a single or twin-seat hybrid-electric VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft that uses a combination of a 100hp engine and solar panels to achieve fuel economy of about 2.5 gallons per hour of flying.

They hope to have the prototype up by this summer but I expect they have a long way to go to achieve anything more than a simple mock-up.

(more at gizmag)

The Truth About Cars has posted some rumors about the next generation Toyota Prius that is likely to debut at the 2009 Detriot Motor Show.

The next-gen hybrid is likely to be 3 to 4 inches longer, boast 50 more horses under the hood, and get better fuel economy than the current prius.

(autoobserver via thetruthaboutcars)

The power goes out, it is 100 degrees outside, your weird neighbor is already outside on the porch in his underwear while his wife tries to cool him with a newspaper, how do you stay cool?

With your solar powered fan of course!

The $70 portable solar fan from Maplin not only operates a 4W fan for 6 to 8 hours on full power it doubles as a lantern, alarm clock, and phone/mp3 charger.

(maplin via ubergizmo)

These days more and more gadgets are using a USB connection for charging, which makes emergency recharging extremely convenient.

The hand crank USB power charger from National Geographic allows you to recharge your phone or other USB charged gadgets anywhere there isn't power, and if power is available you can plug it in with it's AC adapter so you don't need to carry multiple chargers.

It is small (2.5" x 4" x 1.5"), light (6oz) and includes adapters for most Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, and LG phones.

(buy for $40 at national geographic)

We used to think that electric bikes were just for lazy people who wanted to pretend they were exercising, but with the cost of gas these days an electric bike is starting to look like an economical alternative for short trips*.

The E+ ebike from Electric Motion Systems will get you to the grocery store and back easily at 20mph (30mph allowed off road) with a range of 20 miles of you are lazy or up to 40 miles if you actually do a little work and pedal occasionally.

* although for it to be economical at a cost of $3,495 you would need to ride over 30,000 miles to save money over the cost of buying gas at $3.50/gal for a car that gets 30mpg.

(electric motion systems via autobloggreen)