Just like the Th!nk OX that we covered a few days back, Toyota is planning to put solar panels on the roof of the high-end version of the Prius when it redesigns the gasoline-electric hybrid car early next year. The power generated by the system would be used for the air conditioning. Toyota plans to use solar panels made by Kyocera Corp, it has remodeled the Prius with an improved hybrid system in 2003 and is expected to launch a third-generation version by next year.
We had mentioned about it last month and now Samsung has gone ahead and launched the Eco Phone (aka SCH-W510) a “green” HSDPA phone made from natural corn in its construction and does not use lead, mercury, or any such harmful materials. The phone comes with all the standard features in a modern day mobile device like a 3MP camera, Bluetooth, multimedia player and the sorts.
Some people simply rest on a futile argument; others travel the world to prove a point. A 69-year-old Japanese sailor Ken’ichi Horie has made a 6,400-kilometer (nearly 4,000 mi) journey from Hawaii to Japan in his wave-powered Suntory Mermaid II boat. The Suntory Mermaid II, a 9.5 meter (31 ft) long x 3.5 meter (11 ft) wide, 3-ton vessel made of recycled aluminum, does not use an engine for propulsion. Instead, it relies on a pair of fins under the bow that move up and down as the waves come in, propelling the boat forward.
During the Hokkaido Toyako Summit (July 7-9, 2008), Sharp will exhibit its environmentally conscious products and advanced environmental technologies, specifically, LCD TVs and solar cells and modules. One of the exhibit is the 26V-inch Low Power Consumption LCD TV (Prototype) which approximately uses one-fourth power of a 28-inch CRT TV having nearly the same screen area. Even compared to existing LCD TVs, the low power consuming design uses about one-third the power and has around one-half the annual energy consumption.
The recent oil price surge has got the automobile manufacturers in a jiffy, GM has almost stopped production of its Hummer brand and is reworking on a new breed of vehicle. GM is thinking hard about bringing this 40mpg car on our roads as soon as possible. Looking slightly like the Daimler AG Smart car, The ‘Beat’ would come in at about 138 inches, 11.5 feet in length it would be longer than the smart and boast a mileage of 40Mpg without using hybrid engines.
Seems someone from apple read our blog on the 3G iPhone and other products as being harmful to the environment according to Greenpeace. News that the new iPhone 3G will come in packaging made from potato starch. Dutch company PaperFoam, maker of carbon-friendly packaging, is providing millions of paperfoam packages to Apple.
In order to reduce its 90% reliance on imported fossil fuel Hawaii has proposed a new bill that does not allow new housing licenses to single-family homes without solar water heaters installed. Some exceptions will be allowed, such as forested areas where there are low amounts of sunshine. The bill was signed into law by Governor Linda Lingle, a Republican. It requires the energy-saving systems in homes starting in 2010. State Sen. Gary Hooser, vice chairman of the Energy and Environment Committee, first introduced the measure five years ago when he said a barrel of oil cost just $40.
According to a recent repost, chemical used to make LCD televisions and semiconductors could cause more global warming than coal-fired power plants. Nitrogen trifluoride is a “missing greenhouse gas,” and is used in chemical vapor deposition, which makes liquid crystal displays, semiconductors, and synthetic diamond. This chemical’s globe-warming effect could be 17,000 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide. What’s alarming is that the production of this chemical can double up to 8,000 metric tons in 2009, however this gas is not among the six gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol international climate change agreement. This year alone, its production would release the equivalent of the global-warming emissions from Austria, totaling some 67 million metric tons. This spells doom, because it amounts to more global-warming pollution than all the industrialized world’s emissions of perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and of sulfur hexafluoride that are considered more intoxicating.
Time Square in the dark is now impossible to imagine, with its Las Vegas like lights flashing with adverts, it makes it an overwhelming sight for the first time tourist. Yes looking at that makes us wonder as to how much power is being consumed and in turn wasted when the street is desolate. Japanese electronics maker Ricoh has decided to do something radical in spirit of the environment. It is erecting a 47 x 126-foot billboard at Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street that will be completely powered by the sun and wind. Fueled by 45 solar panels and four wind turbines, the billboard won’t even need a backup electric generator.
This year let’s hope our Independence Day celebrations are more eco friendly than ever. Although the celebratory fireworks are meant to paint the sky with light, they however fill the sky with smoke, lead and mercury since they are always in the mix. Among the toxic culprits being addressed lately, potassium perchlorate is a reliable and inexpensive oxidizer, but it has been connected to cancers and thyroid problems. The technologies behind fireworks have changed little through the ages. Today’s fireworks products may be able to last longer and burn brighter, they essentially contain a form of gun powder used in wars fought in China some 800 years ago. Strontium and lithium may be used for red, barium and copper lead for green, and sodium glows golden. Calcium deepens colors. Zinc makes smoke clouds, aluminum sparkles, and antimony adds glitter. Scientists in Germany and at Los Alamos National Laboratory have explored reducing perchlorate, smoke, and carbon by using substances rich in nitrogen. Los Alamos researchers responded to complaints some 10 years ago from Anaheim, Calif., residents about pollution from fireworks shows every night at Disneyland. The theme park in 2004 announced it was adopting safer air cannons that use compressed air instead of a chemical propellant, eliminating black smoke.
