Solar Gadgets and Gizmos
Posted by tich on May 31, 2008
There are thousands of different solar powered gadgets available from solar mailboxes to solar watches and more. Solar powered gadgets are getting cheaper as the solar panel technology improves and gets less expensive to manufacture.
Heres a few of the innovative solar gadgets available on the market today and some examples of specific solar powered products to consider.
What about gadgets with built-in batteries? When it comes to charging your phone or iPod, the sun has been left you cold.
One innovative product, HYmini, is a universal power charger that uses wind and solar energy to top up most gadgets, and it comes with mini solar panels and extra batteries. Twenty minutes of wind power will provide 30 minutes of iPod time.
Solar Flashlights -
Hand-held solar flashlights operate for nearly three hours when fully charged, and can be mounted on a bicycle for nighttime rides. Some of the features for this cool gadget are AM FM reception — AM range: 525-1650 KHz, FM range: 88-108 MHz; Built-in dynamo generator with manual winding lever, Built-in flashlight (with clear, amber and red lenses); Hi-fi speaker and 3.5mm earphone jack.
A solar powered flashlight that can also charge your cell phone, MP3 player, or PDA is on useful and versatile solar powered gadget. The ultra-bright LED flashlight (65,000MCD) uses mono-crystalline silicon solar panels for power generation and recharging the built-in 700mAh/3.6v NI-MH battery.
Solar Tents -
Yes, it is a tent that comes with it’s own solar panel and integrated, interior LED lights. You can also use the solar panels independently to charge batteries. It’s approximately 4-6 hours of direct light to yield 2-4 hours tent light. The 7? (18 cm) solar panel is placed on the top of the tent’s hub and clicked into place. The fly is then placed on top of solar panel & tent, and sun will charge the panel through the clear PVC window at the top of the fly. The tent comes in as 4-person and a 6-person versions.
Solar Lighters -
This great solar fire starter is perfect for backpacking, boating, hiking and as a solar survival tool.
Solar Tombstones -
Vidstone developed the solar powered Serenity Panel, ‘Utilizing ground-breaking solar-powered technology, this weather-proof LCD panel provides families and friends with a timeless way to commemorate a life that’s passed at one’s final resting place.” It adds about two grand to the price of a conventional tombstone and has a waterproof 7? screen. Four hours of sunlight will play a ten minute video six times. Michael at Groovy Green notes that ‘There’s even a head-phone jack to limit your groove from beyond the grave to inquiring ears only.”
Solar Lighted Mailboxes -
Solar panels gathers the sun’s energy and charge the battery pack. At night, address panels automatically light up at dusk and go off at dawn.
Solar Powered Headset -
A solar-powered headset is a solar gadget perfectly suited for the environmentally-conscious outdoorsman who loves music. This headset is great for daytime jogging, or working in the yard.
Solar Radio -
You will be able to listen your favorite radio shows and if you need to see better in the dark the flashlight is included.
Solar Watches –
Swiss-made LeJour solar watches ($99.95), which run on either sunlight or ambient lighting, work for a month in total darkness.
Solar Backpacks and Bags -
Solar bags are some of the coolest green products out there, and they make a great gift, too! Compare and choose which one best meets your needs and your taste. The name says it all, the Voltaic Backpack Solar Powered Backpack is a daypack that host several small solar panels on the back of the bag.
The idea is that the Voltaic Backpack Solar Powered Backpack can charge your small electronics such as MP3 players, cameras, etc as you travel. You can also switch the sun jar completely off to save power. Keeping the lantern in bright sunlight for 8 hours you will supply it with power for 3 hours. If you need it fully charged then you should keep it in the sunlight for 30 hours.
Solar Power Chargers and Battery Packs -
Solar battery chargers bring a pair of nickel-cadmium batteries to life in less than seven hours. It’s not clear how long the panels need to soak in the sun’s rays, but Velleman claims this power brick’s good enough to charge laptops, electric hand tools, GPS systems and–we kid you not–caravans, yachts, and DC refrigerators.
The Solio will charge from 4 volt to 12 volt devices by doubling or tripling the power output using the adapters. There are four contacts in the adapter tip system cable and to get up to the higher 12 volts it just uses three of these outputs at 3.6 volts to get the 10.8 volts for these higher voltage charges.
Source: solar flashlights
BUZZ: Rooftop Greenhouses
Posted by tich on May 28, 2008
Transforming useless, black rooftops into prosperous, green gardens — that is the goal of Dr. Paul Mankiewicz.
As director of the Gaia Institute, an environmental research group in New York City, he has designed a unique greenhouse which solves the complexities of gardening on rooftops and will provide fresh produce for thousands of residents below.
By using a lightweight soil, a simple steel-frame structure wrapped in plastic, and a unique planting and harvesting system, this new greenhouse could add a new facet to agriculture. And that has the biologist excited.
“If we have a system that can purify the air and lower the amount of traffic needed to ship produce — and have that system in cities where pollution problems are serious — that is certainly a big improvement for society,” he said. “And by having a new center of economic activity right in the cities, it makes for a much greater increase in wealth for those urban areas.”
After seven years of research and development, Mankiewicz has applied for a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to build a prototype greenhouse on a building owned by the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City’s fifth most popular tourist attraction.
Tied to the grant is New York City’s Recycling Division, which will help supply the ton of solid waste the greenhouse will use every day. Food scraps and other waste material will be composted in large bins, Mankiewicz said, then slurried up to the roof where the material will be used in both the soil and the nutrient system.
The greenhouse’s soil is the unique feature that makes the system work. Most soils are too heavy to use on rooftops, he said, and building additional reinforcement is too expensive.
However, he has created a super lightweight soil by using both synthetic and organic materials, including recycled styrofoam. The styrofoam works as filler — the purpose sand and clay serve in most soils.
Feeding the crops involves a series of underground tubes linked to a controller, which delivers precise amounts of water, nutrients, microbes, carbon dioxide and oxygen to maximize plant growth.
Covering the plants will be a lightweight steel frame covered with a thin glazing of plastic. By his calculations, Mankiewicz said the amount of petroleum needed to produce all the plastic used in the greenhouse would get a truckload of produce only 300 miles down the road from California.
For planting and harvesting, a space-saving gantry system will span the garden and roll over the top of the growing space. Workers will be able to work from above, he said, eliminating the need for aisles and increasing crop yields by 30 to 90 percent.
On a larger scale, Mankiewicz envisions rooftop greenhouses eventually adorning the tops of shopping malls. With tens of thousands of square feet available, a shopping mall greenhouse could supply all the produce for an entire community. And by increasing the profits of both store and mall owners, he said the technology could leap ahead, becoming a new green layer of the urban environment.
(Tip/Stat ) Composting can reduce solid waste by more than 15 percent.
Technorati Tags: rooftop greenhouses, environmental protection, pollution, recycling, green houses, environmental issues, earth news, earth news media
Source: environmental protection
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BUZZ: Carbon Ration Cards
Posted by Laird on May 28, 2008
Carbon Ration Cards
Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry ‘carbon ration cards’,
Say A group of British MPs (Member of Parliament).
Every adult should be forced to use a ‘carbon ration card’ when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, the MPs say.
The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain’s CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.
Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.
Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven’t used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal done through a specialist company.
MPs, led by (conservative) Tim Yeo, say the scheme could be more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than green taxes.
But critics say the idea is costly, bureaucratic, intrusive and unworkable.
The Government says it supports the scheme in principle, but warns it is ‘ahead of its time’.
The idea of personal carbon trading is increasingly being promoted by environmentalists. In theory it could be used to cover all purchases from petrol to food.
For the scheme to work, the Government would need to give out 45million carbon cards - each one linked to a personal carbon account. Every year, the account would be credited with a notional amount of CO2 in kilograms.
Every time someone makes a purchase of petrol, energy or airline tickets, they would use up credits. A return flight from London to Rome would, for instance, use up 900kg of CO2 credits, while 10 litres of petrol would use up 23kg.
MP Tim Yeo , says the scheme could be more effective at cutting Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions
The committee said personal carbon trading rewarded those with
a low carbon footprint with cash.
‘We found that personal carbon trading has real potential to engage the population in the fight against climate change and to achieve significant emissions reductions in a progressive way,’ he said.
“The idea is a radical one. As such it inevitably faces some significant challenges in its development. But it is important to meet these challenges”.
How the Scheme Would Work
Every adult in the UK would be given an annual carbon dioxide allowance in kgs and a special carbon card.
The scheme would cover road fuel, flights and energy bills.
Every time someone paid for road fuel, flights or energy, their carbon account would be docked.
A litre of petrol would use up 2.3kg in carbon, while every 1.3 miles of airline flight would use another 1kg.
When paying for petrol, the card would need to swiped at the till. It would be a legal offence to buy petrol without using a card.
When paying online, or by direct debit, the carbon account would be debited directly.
Anyone who doesn’t use up their credits in a year can sell them to someone who wants more credits. Trading would be done through specialist companies.
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BUZZ: The Plastic Potato
Posted by tich on May 27, 2008
A potato that produces natural plastic may soon be a reality. But unlike the original plastic potato, Mr. Potato Head, this new plant will have profound impacts on the nature of plastic and its ability to exist in harmony with the environment.
Scientists now are perfecting a system of growing organic plastics rather than manufacturing them. Unlike typical plastics in use today, these new plastics are not petroleum-based and will biodegrade.
“It’s a new wave in the life sciences,” said Clinton Fuller, a biochemist and professor at the University of Massachusetts. “It will give us whole new parameters to solve problems.”
Fuller, who has been researching natural plastics for five years, said the work has broad scientific support because of its potential long-range practicality.
The idea is to manipulate certain types of bacteria to produce natural polymers in a process similar to brewing beer. When key nutrients are withheld, the bacteria produce the ..
Source: waste reduction
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Algae Oil can Provide Power
Posted by tich on May 27, 2008
I just heard (for the first time) of algae oil, having power producing capabilities. I was watching the news Sunday morning, and saw a story about a guy named Glenn Kurtz in El Paso Tx.
He says that he can produce 100,000 gallons of fuel per acre per year. Compare that to corn at only 20 to 30 gallons of fuel per acre per year!
Moving our country towards corn for fuel is just plain stupid, and most rational people already know that corn is not the answer, but this sounds like it has real potential.
Even better, you can ..
Source: Biofuel
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Making Solar Power Portable
Posted by Laird on May 27, 2008
Solar energy is a clean and efficient for of energy. The demand for it is greater than the supply. The cost of supplying electricity to remote locations is expensive and time consuming. Solar power is an excellent alternative. Portable solar power has been referred to as packaging sunlight. The concept is using an adapter to allow you to use solar power that has been accumulated during times when you do not have enough solar energy. They are mainly used at night.
Battery chargers with solar power are very popular. They simply plug into your cigarette lighter and charge your car ..
Source: alternative energy
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Transportation And Alternative Fuel Sources
Posted by tich on May 27, 2008
Using alternative fuel sources is not just a matter of environmental responsibility. It is not just about assuaging your conscience. It is good sense, and sound planning. Although most of us are in denial, the fossil fuels which form the backbone of our world economy are dwindling quite rapidly, even as we go about our daily business in our cars.
Although few Americans use an alternative fuel source to commute, those who do are soon going to be at an advantage. If your alternative fuel source is your feet, whether through walking or bike riding, you are already at an advantage, ..
Source: transportation
THE PROS AND CONS OF BIOFUELS
Posted by tich on May 27, 2008
For the last few years, and especially recently, the production of biofuels has been on the rise and it doesn’t seem like it will curb at any time soon. However, the question of whether this is ecologically best choice remains to be answered. Personally, I think there are more negatives than positives for these resources to be our best bet. So inspired by and article in “Fortune”, I decided to put forward a list of most popular biofuels and their pros and cons for you to decide it for yourself.
CORN ETHANOL
Pros:
Compared with oil it may help decrease the gas emissions ..
Source: Reviews
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Bio-Fuels = Good or Bad?
Posted by Laird on May 27, 2008
Bio-Fuels = Good or Bad?
Bio fuels are produced domestically, which is a great first step towards energy independence. Bio fuels are solids, liquids and gases derived from living organisms and used as fuel. Unlike petrol, coal and nuclear fuels, it is environmentally-friendly and a renewable fuel based on carbon cycle. Bio Fuels are all over the news these days. Farmers are falling over each other to plant corn for ethanol plants, the Federal government is investing in the industry as part of its environmental strategy, institutions from public transit to delivery companies are looking at biodesiel conversion, and the auto industry is pinning its hopes on the promise of biofuels.
Bio fuels are realistic contenders as major low carbon fuel sources for the future. Ethanol from food crops and bio-diesel from plant oils serve as an entry point but have limited potential for further cost reduction.
Bio fuels, hydrogen fuel cells, and pure electric cars are all aimed in the right direction however some attempts are ultimately not as significant. Biofuels are increasingly used in many countries for environmental and economic reasons. Two of the more popular bio-fuels are ethanol and biodiesel for gasoline and diesel engines, respectively. Biofuels were all the buzz at the biotech industry’s most recent mega-convention in April 2006 . Syngenta (the world’s largest herbicide manufacturer and number three, after Monsanto and DuPont, in seeds) is developing a GE corn variety that contains one of the enzymes needed to convert corn starch into sugar before it can be fermented into ethanol.
Although Bio-fuels are fuels that can be used to replace polluting fuels such as petrol, without damaging the environment. A fuel such as ?willow? is a good example. Bio-fuels are being touted as the new panacea for global warming. But, because this fuel from plants is being introduced without much thought about wider implications; it is becoming a good idea practised badly.
Environmental impacts from utilizing agricultural products and/or wastes may also be explored. Environmentally, bio-fuels are a “good thing”, but then comes an economic struggle for agricultural planning - is it more profitable to grow food or energy ?
Support to bio-fuel production displaces food production in some areas and leads to higher food prices. There are no criteria presented to ban bio-fuels that do compete with food production in developing countries. Supporters of biofuels argue that they can be “carbon neutral” because the CO2 released from burning them is taken up again by the next crop. Interest is greatest for diesel engines, which can run unmodified on vegetable oil, and in Germany bio-diesel production has doubled since 2003.
Biomass is today the largest non-hydroelectric renewable source for electricity in the U.S. Most of this is produced in pulp and paper mills, which often generate electricity by burning wood chips, bark or the sludges and “liquors” that are byproducts of the paper-making process.[1] Biomass is plant matter such as trees, grasses, agricultural crops or other biological material. It can be used as a solid fuel, or converted into liquid or gaseous forms, for the production of electric power, heat, chemicals, or fuels.[2]
[1] http://www.wapa.gov/es/pubs/esb/2007/dec/dec074.htm
[2] http://www.nrel.gov/biomass/
Bio-fuel crops, such as corn and rape-seed are internationally traded commodities which means as demand increases the price goes up. This has a direct impact on food prices as well as the price of bio-fuel.[3] Bio-fuels are energy sources from matter that was living only months or a few years before use as fuel. [4] Bio-fuels are agri-produce, dictated by weather and crop cycles. So the risks of short supply and price swings are much higher.[5]
[3] http://www.boilerjuice.com/blog/6/have+you+ever+considered+using+bio-fuel%3f.html
[4] http://www.chemecol.net/faq3.html
[5] http://www.kavitachhibber.com/main/main.jsp?id=business_related-may2006
Bio-fuels have huge potential to serve up to some 30 per cent of the global energy consumption in the near future (when taking into account the vast potentials of energy efficiency in the transport sector). Bio-fuels are not renewable. Water supplies are depleted. Bio-fuels development is just one aspect of a sustainable energy policy. Other alternative sources like biogas, solar and wind should likewise be explored.
And of course!
Bio-fuels are poised to get some of the largest tax breaks, subsidies, and kickbacks, and user surcharges of any renewable.
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Solar-powered bra ‘able to charge an iPod’
Posted by Laird on May 27, 2008
“Photovoltaic-Powered Bra”
Eco-chic may have a long way to go before it dominates the catwalks of Milan, but at least women will now be able to keep green issues close to their bosoms after the unveiling of the solar-powered bra.
The bra comes with a detachable solar panel, worn around the stomach, which can produce enough energy to power an iPod or mobile phone as the wearer lazes on the beach, the makers claim.
It is also equipped with plastic pouches that can be filled with water, allowing wearers to quench their thirst without having to buy and then throw away hard-to-recycle drinks bottles.
And the bra itself is made of high quality organic cotton, to ensure its production has the smallest possible impact on the environment.
One small question, however: how is the solar panel exposed to sunlight without compromising the bra wearer’s modesty?
Yoshiko Masuda, of manufacturers Triumph International Japan Ltd, conceded: “It might be difficult to put it to practical use considering people usually cannot go outside without wearing clothes over it, and there may be few places like a balcony or a garden in your house where you can use it outside.”
Pragmatic details aside, the carbon neutral undergarment is capable of charging more than excitement. According to Triumph, the bra produces enough power to boost up the bars on a mobile phone or an iPod.
This not the first time Triumph have released an innovative set of pragmatic lady smalls, having previously launched the chopstick bra and a ‘No Shopping Bag’ bra.
See the climate-friendly fashion accessory, as well as Triumph’s other unconventional underwear.
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