With the IT industry going greener by the day, big shots in the industry, IBM are here with an eco-friendly chip. Companies like Microsoft and IBM are striving hard to attain that green factor since they use a whole lot of equipment that creates a carbon imprint on the company itself. To reduce carbon emissions and other pollutions, IBM is going Eco-friendly and has launched the Power 7 chips. They use a quarter of the energy that the Power 6 chips use and deliver double the amount of performance. Using the Smarter Planet strategy, IBM will build lower power energy efficient processors. The company also announced the birth of four new mid-range servers that will use the Power 7, while low end and high end severs will be released later this year. IBM has got its green ideas straight with the Power 7.

[Thestreet]

No, this is not a reflection of a skyscraper. This building that you see is the Gyre, an inverted underwater skyscraper. This sea bed scraper is 400 meters deep (around 1,312 feet). Four arms 1.25km in diameter extend from the center spire and act as buoys and also function as inner harbors and ports that can play host to huge ships. Starting off at 30,000 sq meters of space with each floor getting smaller down to 600 sq meters, the total floor area of the entire structure is 212,000sq meters. Designed by a Victoria BC based firm, the structure will be a recreation center boasting hotels, restaurants, gardens and shops. It will use alternative energy sources like the sun, wind and the ocean itself. Turbines will be mounted on the radial arms and semi transparent solar windows will be used to glaze the structure. Underwater generators will harvest energy from water currents.

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The world’s first hybrid water heater that uses a gas water heater and an air-to-water heat pump is here. This innovation is Rinnai Corp’s baby and uses the “Eco Jyouzu” gas water heater which enables it to perform functions like floor heating and bathroom heating, besides water heating. According to the amount of water and temperature, the heater switches between the two sources and has an energy efficiency increased by 24% due to this. CO2 emissions have been reduced by 20% annually using the Eco Jyouzu gas water heater, whereas the Eco Cute heat pump-based water heater (460L model) reduces carbon emission by 30%.

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Energy harvesting technology gets smaller and tinier with this miniscule energy-harvesting sensor system developed at the University of Michigan. This system is 1000 times smaller than the ones that we use commercially today. It measures around 2.5 to 3.5 by 1 millimeters and has its solar cells, battery and processor all contained in that tiny frame. These sensors are highly efficient, performance wise and cost wise and will find their places in homes, office buildings and bridge monitoring devices. Using the ARM Cortex-M3 processor, this system uses 2,000 times less power in sleep mode than the commercial; ones used today.

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The Abu Dhabi Yacht Show 2010 Is determined to make an effort to help turn the boating industry a shade greener. The show will feature luxury super yachts and mega yachts and will be held between the 25 – 27 February at the Yas Marina. The show is committed to its green ideology and will be eco friendly which will help the country reduce its carbon footprint. The leading emissions reductions firm, EcoVentures will conduct an assessment for greenhouse gas emissions of the show which aims at 100% reduction by 2012. Emission regulations are being made stricter with the rise of bigger and faster yachts. The ADYS is serious about its green image, so serious that the guys running the show are planning to buy carbon credits that will offset the shows carbon footprint.

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BenQ, the world’s leading LED monitor brand, has just moved forward with the introduction of the perfect LED display for every application, lifestyle, and budget with the launch today of 9 new V Series models spanning HD to Full HD, 18.5”W to 24”W, bringing the company’s total LED lineup to 23 models. Distinguishing BenQ’s new V Series from the competition are class-leading slimness (14mm and 15mm^), extreme energy efficiency, and unbeatable dynamic contrast ratio (10M:1 DCR). The V Series is further set apart by Eco feature (ideal in darker settings, saving up to 65.6%^ energy consumption without compromising visuals).

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Times Square has another feather to its cap when it comes to promoting green features. It is now sporting a new billboard promoting Best Buys electronic recycling program.

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Remember the small little dynamo powered lights on the bike as kids? They would work great for as long as you were moving, and fast. High Tide Associates has upgraded this simple technology to generate power that can be stored to charge the portable electronics. RollerGen is a bike mounted generator that generates power as you pedal. Yes, thus it uses the principle of kinetic energy and stores and then charges your devices. It can spit out a whopping 30 watts that gets stored in a small battery called BOS (Bar of Soap). Priced at $495, personally I feel it is a tad too expensive, but useful nonetheless.

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With the sudden focus on e-waste this year, with people suddenly realizing the importance of disposing the electronics properly, we have just learnt that in the past year-2009, computers were the things that were most recycled around the globe. Surprised? Earth911.com is an environmental services company and the provider of the nation's leading Local Recycling and Disposal Directory, released the results of its 2009 Annual Recycling Report. The top of the lists are products such as computers, batteries and television. Apparently, ‘computers’ was also the highest searched item on the site for recycling purposes. This only goes to prove that when the environment is spoken of seriously, people do listen. That sure is good news, isn’t it?

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I prefer smart casuals to a rugged and tattered look. So I prefer washing my jeans once a week, but that in turn means that they have a life shorter than what I would like. So a Brazilian fashion label called TriStar has come up with an innovative idea to help me save my blue jeans in a green way or at least retain a bit of their original color. And if you decide to heed their advice your jeans will go inside cold storage, that too quite literally! The recent denim collection from the label comes with direction to freeze-clean your jeans! The label CEO quotes ' After use, just put them inside a plastic or cloth bag and leave them in the freezer for 24 hours to kill the bacteria'.

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The blockbuster 3D animation film of the year, Avatar has sure left a train of thrown away 3D glasses behind. Laid end to end, these glasses will cover a whopping 3,987 miles, the distance between Los Angeles to Angmagssalik, Greenland. This is around 42.1 million pairs of glasses worn, or 935,834 a day. Now disposing off all these glasses is sure to create a mountain of plastic. To prevent these, companies providing 3D systems like IMAX, Dolby Laboratories, Real-D and XpanD have cracked their brains and put forth a recycling program. IMAX claims that its glasses can be washed 500 times using a glass cleaning machine. Glasses by Dolby and XpanD are also reusable. The companies claim that there is no use of throwing them away since they can be easily cleaned and made sterile.

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Apple notebooks are now seeing a new after-life and are being recycled into – watch out for this – wall clocks. It may sound weird to have a wall clock shaped like an Apple notebook, but then again, it looks cool! Made from a recycled iBook G4 case, the Apple iBook G4 Clock uses a mouse for a pendulum. Powered by two AA batteries, the clock measures around 14 inches wide by 18 inches in height and boasts a quartz clock movement, and pendulum movement. The clock is customized to its core and can also be tweaked and modified further according to the buyer’s specifications.

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Well here’s a chance you have to do your bit for the environment. You can vote on a sustainable solution for greener gadgets that can help reduce carbon footprint and emissions on a large scale. If you’re confused where to start, here’s a product that deserves a vote for its innovation and sheer awesomeness. A contraption known as the Go Mechanical Charger by Elephant is the newest innovation on the block that is sure to help change the world and the way we communicate. We all face the irritable and frustrating situation of having our cell phone batteries run dry during use. The Go charger is an answer to your problems and will charge your phone’s batteries on the go! Equipped with a dual charging system that involves a roll-on or hand crank, this portable charging device is environment friendly and uses human power to charge up our batteries.

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Shipping containers are finding more uses nowadays than just ferrying things around on sea. This time, shipping containers will provide shelter and a place to rest and live for Boy Scouts. Contributed by Richard Hammond and Gensler's Santa Monica for a Boy Scouts’ playground in Emerald Bay, this cabin was made out of a recycled shipping container and boasts a whole load of features that makes it livable in. Using reclaimed lumber, durable rubber flooring, solar photovoltaic’ cells to power it up and LED lighting, this shipping container is sure to bring a sparkle in those Boy Scouts’ eyes. The roof of this camp house is made of a stretched silicone-coated fiberglass material. 20 cabins like these will be built for Camp Emerald Bay. Let’s hope the Scouts love this idea as much as we do!

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Now lighting up highways that pass through deserts, mountains and other far of locations can be a pain, considering the fact that they need to be constantly maintained, powered and burn up a whole lot of energy from the grid. Well here’s an awesome and innovative solution to power up those lights that help us see those long miles ahead. The guys at TAK Studios came up with the Turbine Light. As the name suggests, these wind powered lights use the air produced by the cars zipping by to make their individual turbines turn and produce energy. Though critics are skeptical that the energy produced will be enough to spark the lights on, cities can also switch on to solar powered lighting! Hopefully cars on highways zip around fast enough and get these cool streetlights up and running.

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