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Posts Tagged “

green tech

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where's my allen wrench

Ikea To Sell Flatpack Solar Panels Soon?

That's what the Cleantech Group is reporting, based on details of a recent €50 million investment into Ikea's GreenTech fund, used to finance research into consumer solar panels, green building materials, alternative light sources, etc. In the same way that Wal-Mart can basically fart one night and wake up the next morning having changed the face of massive globalized retail, Ikea moving to sell presumably affordable solar gear for everyday users could be a big push to the industry. There's a reason why your Ikea is usually next to a shipping port—these Swedes move serious weight. But the question is, what will they be called? SØLECKK? SUNGLYÄSS? Hit the name generator and let's figure this one out. [Cleantech via CNET]

11:00 AM on Thu Aug 7 2008
By John Mahoney
11,119 views, 54 comments

Latest by kathartik: @Geisrud: yeah... it's blocked on my by "blog" somehow gizmodo manages to get through, thankfully, otherwise I'd go crazy more »

best buy

Best Buy Testing Free E-Waste Recycling Program (No Catches, So Far)

It's rare we get to write something positive about Best Buy, but here goes! It's testing a free e-waste recycling program in 117 stores in eight states (Update: Here's the detailed list, thanks Loop!). You can bring in two items a day, like computers, monitors, TVs up to 32 inches, etc., even if it didn't originally come from Best Buy. They'll also take away your junk if you have a shiny new thing delivered. Okay, two gripes. More »

12:40 PM on Mon Jun 2 2008
By matt buchanan
8,839 views, 42 comments

gadgets

Jacket Powers Gadgets With Your Hot Body

You know how in the Matrix humans were grown in farms to harvest bodies to power machines? The kids at Berkeley Lab (Giz trivia: Chen's a Berkeley grad) are making a jacket that does the same thing, but it powers gadgets like laptops and cellphones instead of futile resistance to Keanu Reeves. Basically they're going to interlace thermo-electric silicon nanowires with the fabric, and they'll transform excess hotness into energy. Send these to Adam Frucci, and our energy problems are over. [Rich Media Info via New Launches]

1:50 PM on Thu Mar 27 2008
By matt buchanan
2,565 views, 15 comments

Latest by n/a: dang that would be crazy more »

green goodness

Hands On Batman Retrofuturetastic H2Go Fuel Cell-Powered RC Car

I always wanted an RC car that didn't eat batteries like Tom Cruise devours babies there's no tomorrow. Corgi's H2Go is fuel-cell powered RC car that just needs water and light—a solar panel powers its hydrogen station, which karate chops water into oxygen and hydrogen. The station tank takes about 2 minutes to refill, and a full charge (which takes seconds) nets you about 10 minutes of zoom zooming. And the design? By Luigi Colani, famous for his work with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. I think it actually looks more like something out of The Big O than Batman, though Big O borrows heavily from the former. Either way, it's pure plastic art. More importantly, they work—some of the hand-built prototypes were a bit twitchy, but most of them were zipping around the track with no problems. More »

12:13 PM on Sun Feb 17 2008
By matt buchanan
5,353 views, 15 comments

Latest by TorkLugnutz: Does it go fast? Can it turn? Gimme one in a dunebuggy frame a la early 90's Tyco, and I'm all over it. more »

green tech

Best iPhone App Ever: Current State Makes You Mini-Captain Planet

Unfortunately, it's still a concept, but Current State is amazing—behind its glowing, sexy UI, it's a real-time power management app that monitors consumption and lets you play with your power from anywhere. Devices are jacked in through plug-ends that bridge the plug and power socket, and after you sync everything, you can turn gear off and on or activate shutdown timers remotely. The monitoring app is pretty sophisticated too, showing you "hotspots" of suckage—I don't think there's an adapter for the Patriots yet, though. [The Greener Grass via Uberphones]

Feature

6:30 PM on Mon Feb 4 2008
By matt buchanan
20,595 views, 25 comments

Latest by n/a: @uberfu: Hmmm... tricorder... I wish. more »

that's pretty dark

Darkest Material Ever Is Almost Blacker Than Karl Rove's Soul

Is there anything you can't do with the wonderful stuff that is nanotubes? A scientist at Rice University has created the world's darkest material ever with pure carbon nanotubes, reflecting only .045 percent of all light shined on it. To put that in perspective, it's 100 times darker than the paint on a black Corvette, or roughly 27 percent as dark as the viscous substance running through Karl Rove's veins. But this stuff is useful, since its ridiculous light absorption would be great for solar panels. [Houston Chronicle via MAKE]

8:35 AM on Wed Jan 16 2008
By matt buchanan
11,629 views, 84 comments

Latest by puttputt: I read this because it puts down Carl Rove. more »

green tech

Cheap, Solar-Power-Everywhere Nanosolar PowerSheets Go On Sale, Really Are Cheap

Unlike a lot of other energy-crisis solving tech that bursts into vapor at the last minute, the award-winning and groundbreaking Nanosolar PowerSheets are actually on sale today. They're super cheap, ultra-adaptable solar panels that can be printed on the side of pretty much anything, promising solar power anywhere you want it. At today's launch, they still slide under coal's $2.1-a-watt energy cost, though they're not mass produced at the scale needed to bring it to the 30-cents-a-watt level they're aiming for yet. But if they prove themselves on the field, the clamoring demand would quickly materialize for that kind of output. [NYT]

8:00 AM on Tue Dec 18 2007
By matt buchanan
13,680 views, 46 comments

Latest by n/a: From data released by Nanosolar, the flagship consumer model SolarPly is about 12% efficient. That's significantly less than traditional silicon based material but it's made up for by it's area effectiveness. For example, a 2ft x 2ft square of SolarPly more »

green tech

Green Plug Is Promiscuous and Energy Efficient Like a Lady of the Night

As much as we loathe the thought of yet another kind of plug, we do like the idea of a universal one that'll hook up with anything like Paris Hilton but is energy efficient like Nicole Ritchie. The idea behind the green plug's a lot like the energy-saving chip Marvell showed us. Green plug hubs—which can have multiple gadgets jacked into it—have a microcontroller chip that chats up devices with the green talk protocol to intelligently deliver juice so none's wasted. More »

12:00 PM on Fri Dec 14 2007
By matt buchanan
3,580 views, 8 comments

Latest by Maxwells_Nylon_Hammer: Considering it's taken this long to get all the phone makers to agree to microUSB chargers, this kind of thing should be ready by 2020. Sigh. more »

green goblin

Greenpeace Clash of the Consoles: Corny, Vaguely Informative and Pointless

Never one to take a PR opportunity lying down, Greenpeace is fashioning the hooplah over its goose-eggs for Nintendo on its green company survey into even more media fodder. (And we're covering it!) Its latest gamer attention-grabber is Clash of the Consoles, a site that ranks the big three on their greenness with hokey, popcorn-y copy ("Master Chief won't be winning any green battles with lame recycling and big power use sucking down his energy score") and pretty much rehashed info from the green company survey. But, they've got fun form letters for you to send your company of choice begging them to go green! More »

8:00 PM on Tue Dec 11 2007
By matt buchanan
3,145 views, 14 comments

Latest by AlfaSpider: @novacthall: But who gets to wear the monkey suit? more »

green tech

Four-Minute Hourglass Shower Timer for Drought-Stricken Georgia Folks, Smelly Hippies

Unlike the rest of the Giz crew (especially Chen), I shower daily. But I'm also currently located at ground zero for god's wrath. Despite the governor's public missive for divine relief, Georgia's still got less moisture than scarecrow, which is really the only reason this four-minute shower timer in hourglass form interests me. It's only three bucks, and I'd probably mostly ignore its silent screaming, but I feel like I might shower just a little bit faster. Every drop counts right? [Envirosax via Green Deals Daily via Crave]

6:10 PM on Wed Dec 5 2007
By Matt Buchanan
2,827 views, 21 comments

Latest by xenti: I usually take a 40 minute shower in the morning. I'm in there for 20 minutes, sitting on the tub floor, before I even reach for the soap or shampoo. I love my long hot showers. more »

green with envy?

Another Reason Mac Users Are Snobby: They're Greener Than You

According to Forrester Research, while 53 percent of US adults are concerned about the environment, only 12 percent are willing (or can afford) to pay more for green products. We don't have access to the full report—it costs $279, which we need to buy green gear, natch—but the excerpt notes (ironically?) that among major computer companies, Apple's customers are the "greenest," with 17 percent willing to pay more to go green. More »

7:20 PM on Tue Dec 4 2007
By Matt Buchanan
5,282 views, 36 comments

green tech

Sony Ericsson and Samsung Top Greenpeace Green List; Nintendo Worse Than Exxon on Crack?

For consumer electronics companies, going green (and vocally so) is the new going Apple white, though Apple's only halfway on the train. Greepeace's sixth guide to greener electronics tells us just how well they're doing. They're a bit nutty, but they are using definite criteria in this survey. Topping the list are Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Sony—not so surprising. Shocking: Nintendo's dead last, the first "global brand" to net zeros across the board. Does Greenpeace hate Nintendo more than Apple or something? No, Nintendo just gives out zero information about any of their policies or practices with toxic chemicals or green plans. Hence, FAIL. More »

Feature

7:00 PM on Tue Nov 27 2007
By Matt Buchanan
6,093 views, 36 comments

Latest by Robin Hood: The greenpeace hating on this site is really going over the top. Seriously folks, its safe to assume that we all like cool hardware gadgets, we all want there to be more and better and cooler stuff in the future, more »

not so green

"Recycled" Electronics from U.S. Poisoning Workers Abroad

We ship 50 to 80 percent of the 300k to 400k tons of electronics that actually make it to recycling each year—out of 2 million tons tossed—overseas. The "recycling" part happens when workers in places China, Nigeria and India bust up old gear with hammers, gas burners or their bare hands to pull out metals, glass and "other recyclables," taking a toxic shower in the process. And the most likely stuff to make its way over there is what's collected at free drives. More »

6:00 PM on Sun Nov 18 2007
By Matt Buchanan
5,495 views, 24 comments

Latest by SalParadise: We've got so many problems here at home: trade and budget deficits that keep growing without any sign of stopping; a huge health care crisis looming as the Baby Boomers hit their golden years and no money in Medicare; oops! more »

al gore is ecstatic

Nanosolar PowerSheets Promise Cheap Solar Power Everywhere, Unlimited Gadget Energy

Winning the Green Tech Grand Award and "Innovation of the Year" nods from Pop Sci, Nanosolar PowerSheets pack a whole lot of potential into their Paris Hilton-cheap, Nicole Richie-thin panels—we're talking solar power for 30 cents a watt, compared to the $3 it costs now, without silicon or laying the panels on glass. "You're talking about printing rolls of the stuff—printing it on the roofs of 18-wheeler trailers, printing it on garages, printing it wherever you want it." If you wanna know more about the black magic coating the panels, check out Pop Sci's spectacularly detailed coverage. [Pop Sci via BBG]

7:00 PM on Thu Nov 15 2007
By matt buchanan
17,877 views, 25 comments

Latest by n/a: Actually I have seen a thin about this about a year ago on the science channel and a scientist already did all this research on it and found all these different "dyes" ,as they described them, to soak up different more »

gross

Hippies Using Human Hair to Soak Up Oil Spills


If you've given more than a second glance to your greasy IT guy's matted, oily hair—or just don't wash your own that often, you might pick up that our hair holds onto oil like gas'll hit $100/gallon tomorrow. Gross, yeah, but apparently useful! Some hippies are taking mats made of human hair to mop up oil on SF beaches, which are then packed with oil-eating shrooms that turn the pads into compost for lovely landscaping. See, Exxon helps the environment! [Pop Sci]

7:00 PM on Wed Nov 14 2007
By Matt Buchanan
2,294 views, 18 comments

Latest by n/a: $100/gallon ? A more realistic number would be $100/barrel. 1 barrel= 42 gallons more »

pcs

Marvell Power Supply Chip Shrinks Power Bricks, Energy Use

Marvell's launching a new chip for more efficient power supplies that cuts down energy use by automatically adjusting the amount of juice drawn by a computer depending on what it actually needs, slashing waste—it can chop peak energy use by up to 50 percent, according to Marvell. More »

8:59 AM on Mon Nov 5 2007
By Matt Buchanan
3,823 views, 11 comments