• Web to go green in energy generation

    Posted in Gadgets and Tech on May 14, 2008

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    What do you think are the big internet companies doing when they say they are going green? One single Google search query consumes 2 to 8 watt-hours of energy. To put this on a scale, Google processes petabytes of information on a daily basis while indexing the web and doing other various things. If we average this out to 4.5 watt hours per query, and consider Google is easily handling 400 million queries a day based on comScore metrics, then we can see 1,800,000,000 (1.8 billion) watt-hours of energy being used daily just for basic search queries. When a big company like Intel or Google refers to “greening” or “going green” with their server technologies the first step is finding a renewable or more efficient power source. Generally wind-power and biomass come to mind, but we’re going to need more than that to power the web as you can already see. You have to remember that a website like Youtube doesnt just rely on some hard disks spinning in some guys dorm. The amount of heat produced by these data centers is another intimidating issue we have to face… With the currently technology available we’re forced to use AC units and massive cooling centers to keep all of the servers at around 70 degrees or less. The hot air gets pumped out of the centers and usually outside, although some companies are finally using this excess heat to power office buildings and heat up pools in surrounding areas.

  • Solar Brasserie from Japan

    Posted in Alternative Energy on May 14, 2008

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    Triumph International a leading lingerie manufacturer from Japan has produced the Solar Brasserie. The Bra has a solar panel which generates electricity and is in turned wired to a mini electric bulletin board for displaying messages. In addition to this the bra padding can be used to store water or vodka and to drink it a straw needs to be inserted into the brasserie cup. The brasseries is made using organic cloth (cotton grown without fertilizers and pesticides). Triumph International will not be selling this product anytime soon, thankfully.
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    Volkswagen and Sanyo join hands to develop new lighter batteries

    Posted in Transport on May 13, 2008

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    Volkswagen AG along with Japan’s Sanyo Electric is in the process of developing a lithium-ion battery, a key component of hybrid and electric cars. Sanyo is going through a restructuring and believes its battery business is key to its turnaround. Sanyo is currently manufacturing nickel-hydrogen batteries that can be recharged repeatedly and supplying them to Honda Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co. Volkswagen and subsidiary Audi AG will also adopt Sanyo-made nickel-hydrogen batteries for use in the Volkswagen group’s first hybrid model, to be rolled out as early as next year. Toyota, which has enjoyed enormous successes with Prius hybrid model, has worked with Matsushita Electric Industrial, known for its Panasonic brand, to start mass-production of a lithium-ion battery for use in Toyota’s hybrid models by 2010.

    EFuel100 MicroFueler – Get your car high on tequila or sugar

    Posted in Alternative Energy on May 10, 2008

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    Finding an ethanol gas station may become a thing of the past since most of us can easily make it in our back yards. E-Fuel founder and CEO Thomas Quinn thinks that such a day is soon to be. It looks like a cross between a gas pump and an old-fashioned refrigerator, but in reality it’s a home ethanol refinery. Connect it to a power source and a water source, add sugar “feedstock” and yeast or discarded alcohol (yes, that could mean last week’s tequila) and in a week it can produce 35 gallons of ethanol that Quinn said any car can run on.

    Urban mining – more profitable than assumed

    Posted in Other Stuff on May 8, 2008

    cell_phones.jpg The demand for precious metals never will diminish; neither will the amount of people who hunt for these precious metals. There are a new breed of treasure hunters who hunt for precious metals in dumpsters and other wastelands; they are called the urban miners. Urban mining simply means scavenging through the scrap metal in old electronic products in search of such gems as iridium and gold, and it is a growth industry around the world as metal prices skyrocket. A ton of ore from a gold mine produces just 5 grams (0.18 ounce) of gold on average, whereas a ton of discarded mobile phones can yield 150 grams (5.3 ounce) or more, according to a study by Yokohama Metal Co Ltd, another recycling firm. The same volume of discarded mobile phones also contains around 100 kg (220 lb) of copper and 3 kg (6.6 lb) of silver, among other metals. Recycling has gained in importance as metals prices hit record highs. Gold is trading at around $890 an ounce, after hitting a historic high of $1,030.80 in March. The materials recovered are reused in new electronics parts and the gold and other precious metals are melted down and sold as ingots to jewelers and investors as well as back to manufacturers who use gold in the circuit boards of mobile phones because gold conducts electricity even better than copper. Japan’s 128 million populations use their cell phones for an average of two years and eight months. That’s a lot of cell phone phones discarded every year, yet only 10-20 percent are recycled as people often opt to store them in their cupboards due to concerns about the personal data on their phones , said Yoshinori Yajima, a director at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Just 558 tons of old phones were collected for recycling in the year to March 2007, down a third from three years earlier, industry figures show.

    Singapore’s green skyscrapers

    Posted in Architecture on May 7, 2008

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    Singapore is gearing up to build the ultimate green city block. The design of the structure maximizes the amount of natural light that filters throughout the building, and is studded with solar panels to help power elevators, lights and other amenities. Its slanted facades are designed to help airflow by catching and directing the wind, which will also keep things cool. . Foster + Partners has plans for an over-1,600,000-square-foot (filling an entire city block), mixed-use structure that’s completely decked out with green-friendly tech.

    Singapore launches new scheme to encourage using solar technologies

    Posted in Alternative Energy on May 7, 2008

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    The Singaporean government launched a new Solar Capability Scheme on Tuesday to encourage the private sector to install solar technologies in new building projects, local media reported. The new scheme, announced by Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB), was the Clean Energy Program Office’s latest program. The scheme encourages innovative design and integration of solar technologies into energy efficient buildings. It applies to new building developments in the private sector which meet the required standard. The private sector can get total about 14.7 million U.S. dollars to offset part of the capital costs of installing solar energy technologies.

    Smith Edison electric van selected by CitySprint for its London fleet

    Posted in Transport on May 7, 2008

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    After satisfactory road testing, CitySprint has concluded that the greater capital cost of the Smith Edison electric van would be offset by potential cost savings in fuel and maintenance. CitySprint is the UK’s leading courier network offering Same Day Courier, Next Day Courier, International Courier, and Specialist Services on a 24/7 basis. Commenting on the driving experience CitySprint’s Fleet & Specialist Services Director said that the electric van is a superb drive; smooth, surprisingly quick and, with no need to change gears and without the noise, rattle and emissions of a typical diesel, very courier friendly.

    MSI N9600GT Hybrid Freezer- The Most Eco-friendly Graphics Card

    Posted in Gadgets and Tech on May 6, 2008

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    The Eco-friendly MSI N9600GT Hybrid Freezer Graphics comes with the Hybrid Freezer cooling technology that boasts the most power-saving environmental protection and the most efficient Hybrid Freezer cooling radiators. Utilizing the Hybrid Freezer technology, users can strictly monitor the temperature and control the ventilation for a more silent operation, high computing performance and effective heat dissipation. MSI N9600GT Hybrid Freezer Graphics Card is based on 65nm G94 GPU and includes 64 stream processors, and DDR memory on 256-bit memory interface. MSI N9600GT Hybrid Freezer Graphics Card also supports the latest technology such as NVIDIA SLI Technology with PCI-Express 2.0 interface for blistering graphics performance.

    GreenPix – Zero Energy giant billboard

    Posted in Architecture on May 5, 2008

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    The really amazing thing about the enormous wall of light is that it’s completely self-sustaining. That is, the light panels themselves harness the energy of the sun during the day to power a colorful light show at night. GreenPix was designed and implemented by New York architecture firm Simone Giostra & Partners, along with global design and engineering firm Arup. GreenPix – Zero Energy Media Wall uses thousands solar photovoltaic capture cells attached to a grid of glass panels, each of which conceals an array of computer-controlled LEDs. The wall was constructed for visitors attending the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and located in the Xicui entertainment complex, near the site of the games.