One of the major drawbacks of solar power apart from efficiency is the one-time expensive investment, installation and maintenance of the solar power plant and this makes it unpopular compared to buying electricity from some utility. But a New Jersey based company Sunergy has come up with innovative plan to make solar electricity as any other utility with monthly billing and no credit check. The solar panels will be owned by Sunergy but they will be installed on your rooftop and one has to pay the monthly bills under the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). What more does one need to switch to solar power? The company claims solar bills are not going to be higher than the ever inflating conventional utility bills and in fact may even work out cheaper

One just hopes Synergy manages to reach out more globally and other companies follow their demonstration. It would be dream come true if everyone with or without green conscience can install green solar power plant on the roof without paying extra. Kudos to sun power which will never perish!
Via Cleantechnica

Well, Copenhagen Summit is throwing up lot of surprises but the only gloom lifting ones are the new green designs and products that are being unveiled while the debate rages on. Norway for instance has unveiled a complete energy-efficient office building concept and design. It is very high on innovation from very exterior to the interiors. There are operable shutters on the exterior façade which can be operated to adjust window areas according to the need of sunlight, heat during different seasons and inside of the shutters have been fitted with energy efficient LED lights. Since its sea facing, sea water has been optimally used for different water and energy needs. Also building has wind turbines for generating electricity and a green roof with rain water harvesting channels for recycling water.

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The most important event of the year, Copenhagen Climate Change Summit has already begun and there are many earthlings who still are in dark about the entire climate change debate, Kyoto Protocol, role of their nation, green technology and all other green basics and jargons. WWF (World Wild Life Fund) has decided to keep the world abreast of all that is happening inside the close door meetings and all agendas that are emerging or getting sabotaged on its very interesting site Inside COP15 blog. Apart from updating their blog with all latest news, WWF will be actively answering queries online on Guardian’s “You ask, they answer” page.

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New Yorkers it seems are divided in opinion about new line of electric buses that have been introduced in the city. But the new fleet of silent electric buses which will grow in numbers in next couple of years will eventually silent the skeptics too because that’s what most of congested modern cities need – a clean green public transport and a quiet ride home. The new DesignLine buses have been fitted with turbines which charge lithium-ion battery and there is no internal combustion that creates usual noise. It has 37 comfortable seats and it is only the streets that make the ride bumpy and long.

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Much of fragile planet Earth’s future is hinged on outcome of International Climate Change Summit at Copenhagen. Some world leaders are already pledging more emission cut downs and some are mulling to go back on their words. It’s a conflict between climate change believers and skeptics where once again economics will cast a shadow on real facts. Artists Alfio Bonanno and Christophe Cornubert have created a huge 27 foot cubic installation at the venue, the cube represents one ton CO2, the amount that is emitted by an individual in a developed industrial country in fifteen days (in case of US) to one month. Hope Barrack Obama, who is expected to attend end of the summit and other leaders will catch glimpse of this huge carbon foot print!

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Refrigerators and air conditioners have always been seen as main culprit for depletion of ozone layer and energy consumption. But with green technology now things may change, fridges have already become "smart fridges" by cutting down power use of freezers during peak demand hours. New smart fridge technology will be assessed in a ‘smart grid’ trial throughout next year. Some 3,000 customers of nPower will take part in this monitoring beginning at the end of this month. It is estimated that ‘smart fridges” will reduce CO2 emissions by whopping 2 million tonnes and grid balancing cost will be cut by £220m per year.

UK is making all efforts to cut down emission and this initiative will pay off well because many other nations will follow their ways to become green. Eco conscious people and environmentalists will be relieved if ‘smart fridges’ are proved to be green for it will lot of energy and reduce carbon footprint.

Via Business Green

LCD monitors are becoming greener by integrating best of available technology. NEC’s recently launched LED-backlit desktop monitor incorporates LED technology which reduces power consumption by great amount and gives same brightness as other LCD panels. The added green features of new 22-inch MultiSyncEA222WMe are - it radiates less heat, monitor complies with ENERGY STAR 5.0, TCO 5.0 and EPEAT Gold standards and is made of recycled plastic, bio plastic bag and paper filter and has done away with toxic materials like mercury, halogen and arsenic (so it weighs less too). Best part is it displays with pride how environment friendly it is with a resettable carbon footprint meter and cost meter to calculate precise reduction of greenhouse emission and user’s electricity saving respectively.

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Depleting natural fuel resources, climate change and other environmental issues have turned everyone’s attention to the different sources of energy. Well, we have already heard about tapping energy from other natural sources like Sun, Wind or even the heat energy that gets lost by gadgets but designers Choi-Hyung-Suk and Yun Jung-Sik have come up with design concept that can tap human energy that gets lost in different activities through the day. Isn’t this concept geekiest of all? They have come up “with wearable contraptions” that can be worn on wrists or fingers which taps human energy that is released. These are “Solution Units” with battery to store energy which can be later used to recharge cell phones or MP3 players.

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Automobile industry seems to be busy developing different kinds of small electric vehicles for fuel crunched future. JARI (Japan Automobile Research Institute) has launched “C-ta” which is a 3-seater electric vehicle and is extremely light weight. There is no mention of much ‘green’ technology such as solar panels to charge the batteries but electric vehicles themselves are quite green because they are not fuel guzzlers and carbon emitters. They mention body is made from carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) which explains light weight and can run 125 km when fully charged. This could be ideal to drive around within city.

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Chinese geeks seem to have done it; they have designed solar battery charger which is both affordable and portable. It is encased in tough molded clamshell and consists of two large solar panels and built-in rechargeable battery of fairly high capacity along with 16 adapter configurations and 8 kinds of voltage settings. It can quickly recharge all your gadgets like cell phone, laptop and MP4 players. In short it takes care of all charging woes using only solar energy. Best part of this green gadget is it is highly portable and affordable. It costs only $196.25 and one can carry it along on long journeys and leave it to the sun to keep your gadgets going.

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Climate Change, global warming is our immediate concern and future predictions are very grim. Designers are already gearing up by coming up with futuristic designs. Urban Concept Vehicle is one such design and it is designed for urban poor of the third world in 2030. Designer Nicholàs Chacana has envisioned massive relocation, scarcity of drinking and food. So this vehicle is fitted with water purification system which can recycle water from any resource such as lakes and ponds and makes it fit for drinking. The vehicle is also fitted with hydroponic modules which will help people grow their own food in nutrient dissolved water.

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‘Freegans’ have become talk of the town in Bristol and elsewhere. They are people who promote alternate living strategies such as not being part of the capitalist and consumer oriented society. In a nutshell they shun the money oriented world and promote sustainable living by recycling wasted food and discarded household items. For instance, Freegan Mark Boyle managed to live an entire year without cash by surviving on food foraged from different supermarkets, shops etc. Their philosophy of recycling makes sense, because in market oriented economy production is in bulk and there is much wastage.

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Dallas is going green in a total planned way. Recently a competition was held to redesign a rundown block in downtown Dallas and among all the architects, designers who submitted their plans, Forwarding Dallas, a Portuguese based architectural firm was picked as a winner. Their design is high both on eco-sustainability and aesthetics. The residential blocks have a typical hill-side structure which will be used to grow plants and it incorporates renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines to supply power. There are plans in place for rain-water harvesting as well. So this community housing will be sustainable and green all the way.

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UK’s largest data centre will be coming up in Dumfries and Galloway and according to the plans announced renewable energy sources will power the new facility. Once again integrated alternative energy plans are being mulled which include localized gas production and even tapping of heat energy that will be generated by hi-tech IT equipment. Keysource, which designs and builds data centre have already announced their plans.

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Designer Flavio Adriani calls his new creation a tribute to Countach Lamborghini by Marcello Gandhi since the design is inspired by it and is essentially a redesigned electric version of the car. This redesigned version looks extremely elegant and luxurious, so it is kind of reassuring for luxury brand fans that ‘green’ version of cars and accessories will definitely not be drab and boring. The concept design is awesome because it integrates all solar panel, wind turbine and batteries. Integrating alternate energy sources seems to be the best way ahead to convert the world into greener one.

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