Who would have thought Sputnik could go solar? Well, we are not talking about the satellite that burned in the orbit; we are talking about a solar lamp created by IDEA, Japan that looks exactly like Sputnik. This solar light ball is 30Cm tall and has integrated sensors to turn on the lights. There are no buttons or cords on this lamp and its pretty self sufficient to do its own thing. A charge of 2-5 hours is enough for 8 hours of operation. The design is waterproof, which means you can place it in your lawn for charging during the day and use it to light the lawn or your house during the night. The quirky design of this lamp will certainly appeal to a lot of sci-fi geeks. This solar light ball is available for $16 in a variety of colors.

[Engadget]

Now you can mow your lawn without coughing up or waking up your neighbors. The Recharge Mower is a rechargeable electric ride mover that makes 50% less sound and has no emission unlike conventional mowers. It can be charged using any normal wall socket and an overnight charge of 10-12 hours can run this mower for 3 hours. Recharge Mower uses three electric motors with a drive motor of 900 watts. It also has three sealed battery placed at the center of the unit for added stability. The mower’s 27” dual cutting blades have five cutting height.

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Come 2020 and we will see about 10 to 25 percent of Ford’s fleet turn green. Since an electric car is the viable answer for a clean drive , the automaker understands the need to convince motorists to plug in. Ford’s estimate proves that EVs are going to rule the roads in the near future. However the company also believes that they alone cannot make a significant change and need the support of other automakers too to boost the trend. Also support from utility companies is anticipated. Utility companies will install millions of smart meters in the coming years, along with the help of companies like Coulomb Technologies who are expected to install millions of chargers in public areas, and provide power to charge EVs throughout the country. As consumers, we too need to support such projects and moves that will not only render gasoline-free drive but also help to reduce our carbon footprints.

[AllCarsElectric]

If you intend to step out in vibrant garden after dusk then Gaston Zahr & Merav Eitan have designed a NightGraden just for you. Powered by the rays of Sun, you can appreciate a range of flowers that come to life only at night. Since most of us are busy with our work schedules through the day and can find time for flora only after sunset, such a green patch can serve as an alternative for the otherwise green, grassy gardens or parks. Manufactured by O*GE Interactive Gallery, it features Giant Lotus Flowers that intermittently open and close and also change colors at a subtle pace. The delicate tulips are illuminated by one color of varying intensities. Masses of gently glowing dewdrop flowers create a poetic ambience of tranquility, sensual beauty & pure serenit. Inspired by nature, the green nigthgarden is shaped out of metal mesh, laser-cut panels and glass spheres. Illuminated with LEDs, the beautiful flora in this garden also solely feeds on solar energy only.

[Designspotter]

These days there are so many products being introduced that sometimes it makes you stop and wonder, do we really need these things? One of them is the air freshener jazz. There are so many of them that it’s like choosing a perfume for your walls. And most of them are poisonous anyway, so this little GreenAir purifier can be a solution. It is an ecological air purifier concept that uses an innovative idea of purifying the indoor environment with living plants. The concept uses the idea of plants that can effectively purify air in a natural way.

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After hybrid cars being the talk of the town, now mobile companies are getting interested. Nokia has launched a green phone concept that will be made of recycled aluminum. Engineered by Luis Barcelo the phone is called Nokia Ink 01 and has a very futuristic appeal to it. Idea behind this is to reduce the energy consumption wherever you use your cell phone. A special feature is that it carries an extra low power consumption E-Ink digital display. All parts of the cell phone structure are constructed from recycled aluminum being capable to be constantly recycled while using low energy consumption. The Nokia Inc 01 has its main key pad coming with a capacitive sensor which appears to reduce the amount of separate parts. It is equipped with a mini OLED display that makes it possible for the user to take pictures and revise them while consuming little energy.

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Imagine that you make a perfect home setting and so very cozy but every time you have to leave it and go, your heart just aches. Now, you can celebrate. This is the Homestead House, an off-grid prefab concept made from recycled steel by designer Michael Jantzen. It uses prefabricated, commercially available steel which is cheap and also extremely modular. The best news? It is fully recyclable as it can be easily dismantled and resurrected back in another location.

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Ester Co Ltd which is a venture team of Panasonic is testing a Waste Heat Recovery Stirring Engine which will generate electricity from waste heat in a plant at the Nara plant in Japan. The company will be testing the reliability of the engine at the plant in operation in the aim of commercializing the engine by 2011. This engine is being developed in collaboration with National Maritime Research Institute since 2005. It has achieved an efficiency of 15% with the heat generated from industrial furnaces such as drying, blast and heat-treating furnaces, power generating facilities and the like. This time the company is planning to attach the engine to the chimney flue of the high-pressure air distribution equipment in Panasonic Nara Plant. If this test results are reliable, then it is planning to develop a power generating engine with a capacity of about 5 to 10Kw within 2009 in the prospect of commercialization and aims to release the same by 201

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Alcatel-Lucent launched a very innovative high-capacity and eco-efficient digital subscriber line platform which enables service providers to deliver tomorrow's applications over their installed copper base, all while consuming up to 25% less power compared to conventional DSL solutions. This is achieved by leveraging the reduced power consumption of its latest generation of DSL line cards. Alcatel-Lucent's green DSL provides operators with a unique, end-to-end solution, enabling a significant reduction of the modems' power consumption across a service provider's subscriber base without causing any line stability issues. This launch supports Alcatel-Lucent's comprehensive eco-sustainability program that includes using innovation to build smarter, eco-sustainable networks at all layers with a framework that addresses hardware, software, and network and site innovation.

The green solar fever has caught up all over the world. We at Greenlaunches also cover almost everything vital that comes with a solar tag. Right from solar powered gadgets, chargers, architectural structures, accessories to toys, almost everything can be found in the market. But we are not harping about some ultra-modern technology. It is time to appreciate that about 25 years ago Greg Johanson and Joel Davidson set a Guinness world record for the fastest "Solely Solar Powered Vehicle." On the first day of the month of July, 1984, the vehicle dubbed Sunrunner achieved 24.7 mph in Bellflower California, and a final top speed of 41 mph in the Mojave Desert. Though the figures may not sound very impressive today, but it is certainly a noteworthy record for a day that existed a quarter of a decade ago. One of the inventors, Greg Johanson is still in the solar vehicle business, making solar roofs for hybrid cars. Today he drives a solar powered Plug-In Prius that is powered by the solar system on him residence. It nice to know that his green fever is still not cured!

Press Release

If three/four wheelers refuse to pump up your adrenaline and if you feel that open air two-wheelers don’t render the protection from unruly weather then I suggest the cabin motorcycles. And Peraves, the maker of such vehicles earns green points for offering eco-friendly enclosed two-wheelers. The makers of Ecomobile and Monotracer will soon roll out two more vehicles for mean yet green driving. First one, the E-Tracer, is an all electric version. Peraves maintains that it is much faster than the BMW powered version. We certainly will watch out for this Beamer competitor. The second in line is the X-Tracer, an official contender for the X-Prize. Using their latest SuperBallMotor, this version is certainly show true colors at the 100+ mpg competition. Watch out for more about them soon as they are set to hit the roads sometime this year.

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Sony is continuously working to increase energy efficiency in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As part of this effort, Sony is actively promoting the use of renewable energy. By implementing initiatives such as the Green Power Certification System and the introduction of solar power generation systems, Sony reduced its global CO2 emissions by approximately 100,000 tons in fiscal year 2008. Sony Europe has achieved independent certification that every facility with over 100 employees is powered by 100% renewable energy amounting to 190 million kWh or approximately 55,000 tons worth of CO2 emissions. Sony today purchased Green Power Certificates equivalent to approximately 50% of the electricity to be used at Sony City (Sony's Headquarters building in Tokyo) beginning October 1, 2009. This represents the entire daytime electricity usage at the building, and is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 4,400 households.

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The architects, Gray Organschi Architecture have found an awesome way to make raw material look good. They converted a site, once home to a scrap lumber yard to a fully functional solar powered barn. The structure has rectangular cube holes to store lumber in an organized manner and it creates a beautiful mosaic with the stone structure. The structure looks breath taking from the outside and offers functionality on the inside. The architects have used translucent polycarbonate panels for the walls to facilitate day-lighting. The roof also has solar panels to power the lighting and ground source pumps to heat the building geo-thermally. The solar panels generate excess electricity for the barn and the owner sells this electricity to a local utility company.

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Charles Guan, a 20-year-old MIT student got inspired with the classic Mario Kart series of games from Nintendo and came up with the LOLrioKart. Guan normally spends his time building competition-spec battle robots but he extended his creativity to come up with a drivable shopping cart. He used an old NiCad battery pack and using some leftover lithium nanophosphate cells from A123 that was donated to the University. This battery pack is capable of sending 48 volts to a Briggs and Stratton ETEK DC pancake electric motor, which operates through a DIY rear differential and to the tiny tires at the back of the cart. Kids will not be the only one’s hitching a ride in shopping carts after this. It certainly looks hilarious, check out some videos after the jump.

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One more electric car drives down the red carpet today. Coming from the house of T3 Motion, this latest electric vehicle is christened as CT3. The three-wheeled CT3 is based on T3 Motion’s LSV/NEV, the CT Micro Car. Sporting a ‘Made in the USA’ tag, the CT3 is touted to be T3 Motion's first true consumer level vehicle. Designed with company’s Power Management System, it features all-wheel drive, full front and rear suspension, full front and rear independent hydraulic disc brakes and a compact, light weight body that is apt for zipping past urban roads. Other notable feature of this zero gas emission vehicle includes regenerative braking. Such a vehicle will help people to break free from the clutches of ever-rising gasoline prices and move about their city without staining the planet.

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