8 Ways You Can Harness the Power of Technology to Green Your Home

Read the rest of 8 Ways You Can Harness the Power of Technology to Green Your Home Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: eco technology , energy-efficient homes , green home , green technology , green your home , healthy homes , home solar panels , LED bulbs , solar panels , ways to cut your energy bill , ways to green you home , ways to reduce energy use        

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8 Ways You Can Harness the Power of Technology to Green Your Home

HP’s New Z1 Workstation Pops Open for Easy DIY Upgrades and Repairs

While Apple may offer some of the most popular computers around, Hewlett Packard will soon have them beat in at least one area of user-friendliness. The new HP Z1 workstation balances form, function, and user accessibility by combining incredible graphics and speed with a unique pop-out display that allows users to check under the hood to replace and repair their computer’s vitals with their very own hands. Read the rest of HP’s New Z1 Workstation Pops Open for Easy DIY Upgrades and Repairs Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: “energy star” , computer news , computers , diy computer repair , diy computer service , eco computers , eco design , eco technology , green computers , green design , green technology , hewlett packard , hp , hp z1 , hp z1 workstation , news , sustainable computers , sustainable design , sustainable technology , z1 , z1 computer , z1 workstation

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HP’s New Z1 Workstation Pops Open for Easy DIY Upgrades and Repairs

Bridgestone Pavilion Showcases Innovative Eco Technologies at Green Fair in Bangkok

Read the rest of Bridgestone Pavilion Showcases Innovative Eco Technologies at Green Fair in Bangkok Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: “sustainable architecture” , architect kidd , architectkidd , Bangkok , Board of Investment Fair , BOI Fair , Bridgestone , bridgestone pavilion , eco design , eco pavilion , green architecture , Green Building , green design , green exhibit , high performance materials , Solar Power , Sustainable Building , sustainable design , temporary exhibit , temporary pavilion , Thailand

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Bridgestone Pavilion Showcases Innovative Eco Technologies at Green Fair in Bangkok

GM Encouraging Chevy Volt Drivers to Come in for Battery Work

The Chevy Volt has hit its first snag, but GM seems to be handling it in stride.  After some battery fire issues during crash testing, GM is taking steps to ensure that Volt drivers have a safe vehicle on their hands. According to the AP, GM is encouraging Volt drivers to bring their vehicle into a dealer where mechanics will “strengthen the structure around the batteries.”  Extra steel will be added to the plates that surround the batteries making them better protected during an impact and preventing any coolant leaks that were the cause of the crash test fires.  The fix has been confirmed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency. This isn’t a formal recall, but affects about 8,000 cars out on the road and another 4,400 for sale. Initially after the test fires, GM offered Volt drivers an opportunity to sell back their cars or to be provided a loaner replacement.  To prevent fires after any real-world crashes, GM has been sending out teams to drain batteries after being notified by the vehicles’ OnStar system. via AP  

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GM Encouraging Chevy Volt Drivers to Come in for Battery Work

Hailstorms and Tornadoes Thrive on Car Exhaust

If you wanted something else to blame on the internal combustion engine, you can now add tornadoes and hailstorms to the list.  Scientists have found that both weather events are more likely to occur during the week than the weekend due to the higher levels of pollution in the air from our workday commutes. The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres , looked at summer storm patterns in the eastern U.S. from 1995 to 2009 and found that hailstorms were occurring at a rate of about 20 percent above average midweek and about 20 percent below average on Saturday and Sunday. The team then looked at EPA records of summertime air pollution in the eastern U.S. and found that it peaks midweek. The reason is that water particles cling to pollutants in the air, floating up higher in the atmosphere where it’s colder and creating more hail.  Pollutants also create tornado-friendly conditions by making the air warmer. The western U.S. doesn’t experience this same phenomenon since the air is dryer and cloud masses are too high and cold for the air pollution to interfere with. via National Geographic

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Hailstorms and Tornadoes Thrive on Car Exhaust

Progression of US Cities Reaching Solar Grid Parity

Grid parity in cost between solar power and grid-supplied electricity is likely to begin being reached in the US in as little as 2 years, and within the next 25 years, many of the largest metropolitan areas will reach the point where solar is less expensive. An animated map from Energy Self Reliant States shows the picture. This timeline includes no government subsidies in the calculations. It uses a baseine cost of solar power in 2011 at $4.00 per watt, installed. Using the average residential grid supplied electricity price for each metro area, it makes the two assumptions based on present trends to determine when the price of solar drops below grid: the cost of solar decreases by 7% per year, and the grid electricity price increases by 2% per year. Based on these assumptions, the San Diego CA metropolitan area will be at solar parity in 2013, and within the next 25 years, many of the largest metropolitan areas will reach the point where solar is less expensive. via: BoingBoing

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Progression of US Cities Reaching Solar Grid Parity

Turn the Eiffel Tower Green?

A concept to turn the Eiffel Tower into a giant green wall has been proposed as a symbolic statement of “the reconciliation of nature and mankind.”The plan calls for 600,000 plants to be attached to the structure using hemp sacks filled with soil as the growth media. An irrigation system comprising 12 tons of tubing would be used to provide water for the plants. The installation would not be permanent, and would be removed after a few years. But, once in place, the installation would help remove an estimated 87.8 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. “Should it not be the duty of engineers to imagine a new future where nature is brought back into the heart of the city,” said a statement from Ginger, the company behind the proposal. With an estimated cost of nearly 100 million dollars for the project, that’s more than a million dollars per ton of CO2. Hardly the most cost effective carbon sequestration, but certainly a visible one. image: CC-BY 3.0 by Taxiarchos228 via: Sustainablog

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Turn the Eiffel Tower Green?

Using Light to Make Solar Panels

A new optical furnace that uses intense light rather than a conventional furnace to heat the silicon to make solar cells saves about half the energy needed . The process uses a furnace with “highly reflective and heat-resistant ceramics to ensure that the light is absorbed only by a silicon wafer, not by the walls inside the furnace.” The process was developed by scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). In addition to providing improved efficiency in the production of the cells, the optical furnace also does a better job at removing some impurities, which makes for better output from the finished panels. Eventually, researchers on the project believe that this could provide a four percentage point increase in the efficiency of the solar cells produced with this method. image credit: NREL/Dennis Schroeder via: Treehugger

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Using Light to Make Solar Panels

Inhabitat’s Top 6 Green Science and Technology Stories of 2011 – Vote for Your Favorite!

2011 was an exciting year for green technology as researchers and innovators around the world broke ground on high-tech gadgets and systems that will help combat global warming, preserve the environment, and improve quality of life. From svelte urban beehives to carbon-scrubbing artificial trees and burgers made from human feces , read on for our most amazing, inspiring, and just plain weird green science and technology posts from 2011! Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll. Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: “sustainable energy” , Eco Tech , eco technology , green design , green gadgets , green power , green technology , renewable energy , sustainable design , sustainable technology , Top 6 Green Science and Technology Stories of 2011

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Inhabitat’s Top 6 Green Science and Technology Stories of 2011 – Vote for Your Favorite!

Higher Efficiency with Quantum Dot Solar Cells

Photovoltaic technology has taken another step forward as researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have demonstrated a photocell with an external quantum efficiency over 100 percent using quantum dots . The new cell uses a process called Multiple Exciton Generation (MEG) that produces more than one electron-hole pair per absorbed photon, and reached a level of 114 percent. This development offers the possibility of increased efficiency in solar panels, and the technology is able to be manufactured using high-throughput roll-to-roll manufacturing. With the use of quantum dots, photocells could theoretically see as much as a 35 percent increase in power conversion efficiency above contemporary cells. The research cell was constructed as a “layered cell consisting of antireflection-coated glass with a thin layer of a transparent conductor, a nanostructured zinc oxide layer, a quantum dot layer of lead selenide treated with ethanedithol and hydrazine, and a thin layer of gold for the top electrode.” Note that this does not mean that the entire panel would have a total efficiency above 100% (which would be thermodynamically impossible). The quantum efficiency means only that the number of electron-hole pairs created in the cell is greater than the number of photons that are absorbed. Nonetheless, the advance provided by MEG could lead to the next generation of even more efficient solar energy collectors. image: Lawrence Berkeley Lab and CC-BY-SA 3.0 by Opticks3

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Higher Efficiency with Quantum Dot Solar Cells

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