Unlike its conventional counterpart, the free-piston engine doesn't have a mechanical connect between the piston and a crankshaft. Instead, magnets at the center of the piston's rod move past metal coils to create an electrical current. The engine's configuration allows it to combust fuel quicker, improving efficiency, emissions and easily optimized for different fuels.

The bad news: they're hard to control (variations in combustion cycles can cause poor performance) and they're incredibly loud (the quick explosions need to be muffled somehow). But automakers such as GM and Volvo are already investigating putting the engines in future vehicles. Lets hope their forays into this don't take as long as their exploration of fuel cell options. [Technology Review via Treehugger]

The move is important since data centers are becoming an ever-increasing drain on the energy grid, accounting for about 1.5 percent of all electricity consumed in the U.S. in 2006 (expected to rise to 2.5 percent in three years). While the efficiency levels Google touted are admirable, data center trackers cautioned that the test results hadn't been verified by a third party. [NYTimes]

If this method of powdering methane gets commercialized, other gases may also get similar treatment. For instance, storing CO2 as a powder could finally make carbon sequestration viable and hydrogen as a powder would do wonders for fuel cell technology. [Discovery]

Rohm estimates that around 15 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, roughly the output capacity of two nuclear reactors, are consumed every year in Japan by devices on standby. In the U.S., vampire power is estimated to cost consumers $3 billion annually.

Experiments have already shown that an average game console could cut its power use by roughly 70% if it adopts circuits incorporating the new technology—exciting news for people like me, who tend to forget to power off their Wiis at night. Rohm says it'll start producing the circuits on a commercial basis within a year or so. [Japan Today]

You can get these in Australia, but expect this technology to spread far and wide before too long. Someday all fan blades will be made this way. Hey, somebody, pick up this blade design for a PC case fan, and then half the RPMs will equal half the noise. – Charlie White

Product Page [Sycamore Ceiling Fan, via Treehugger]

This car is more of a tech demonstration built to win an eco-marathon miles-per-gallon contest than a practical automobile (a similarly built car was capable of 131 mpg last year), and Axon plans to build a more practical and affordable hatchback to be released next year. Yeah, a car with a windshield would be nice, Axon.

We say, lash up this carbon fiber technology with some of the latest electric motors and battery technology, and our dependence on foreign oil could be over quicker than you can say "peace in the Middle East." – Charlie White

100+ MPG Sports Car: Caterham Seven Roadsport [Treehugger]

It's an efficient way to save energy from those power-sucking wall warts, trickling veritable kilowatts down the drain while you sleep. If only we'd wire up our houses for DC, none of those bulky bricks would even be necessary. Nice try, Mr. Edison.

This model is set up for use in the UK, but we're thinking this is such a painless energy saver that someone might want to bring this idea to these shores. While you're at it, make it cost less than $60. – Charlie White

Product Page [Nigel's Eco Store, via Oh Gizmo]

"I'm going to just plead with all of you, let's get the power supply problems fixed, or let's get all these devices talking together."

Google is pushing for a standard where nearly everything runs on 12-volt power. See how cool this could be, after the jump.

A great side effect of this push from the "don't be evil" Google guru would be the elimination of annoying wall warts, instead distributing power inside homes and businesses at 12 volts. That would bring plenty of power for everything but amp-sucking appliances in the kitchen and laundry room, and pave the way for lots of reasonably-priced, easier-to-install and way-cool low-voltage lighting. Another upside would be a savings of 40 billion kilowatt hours over three years, worth $5 billion. It would be safer, too. Yeah, Larry, let's don't be evil. – Charlie White

Google Pushes for PC Electrical Efficiency; Side Effect: No More Wall-Warts [treehugger]

This feat leapfrogs Japan-based Nichia Corp., which in March of this year announced a white LED capable of 100 lumens per watt. All this remarkable efficiency is a far cry from everyday incandescent bulbs which suck up gobs of energy and create lots of heat, all the while only giving up 10 to 20 lumens per watt. Heck, even compact fluorescents can only do 50 to 60 lumens per watt.

These ultra high-efficiency LEDs will prove themselves to be valuable not only in solar lighting fixtures, but in everyday uses around the home and everywhere else, too. Now if they can just get the cost of manufacturing these LEDs down to a reasonable level, the energy savings could be world-changing. – Charlie White

New Record for LED Lumens-per-watt. The End is Near! [Dvorak Uncensored]

LED-Flex [Transmaterial, via Treehugger]

Mule Lighting