Category — Energy savers

Microsoft has been touting Vista’s new power saving features, saying that upgrading to Vista could easily save consumers and corporations $50 to $75 per computer per year in energy costs.

The question, though, is what marvelous new code makes this miracle possible. The answer? They fixed three stupid mistakes that have cost the world billions of dollars and millions of tons of CO2 in the past five years.
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Solar panels are now compulsory on all new and renovated buildings in Spain as part of the country’s efforts to bring its building rules up to date and curb growing demand for energy, ministers said on this week.

Until now Spain’s building standards have done little in seeking to improve energy efficiency.“We have to make up the time we have lost,” Environment Minister Cristina Narbona said, inaugurating a seminar on the new technical building code

The code will come into force fully next March.

This means new homes have to be equipped with solar panels to provide between 30 and 70 percent of their hot water, depending on where the building is located and on its expected water usage.

New non-residential buildings, such as shopping centers and hospitals, now have to have photovoltaic panels to generate a proportion of their electricity.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard says he is to propose a new strategy to tackle global warming at the Asia Pacific Economic Council (Apec) forum.

In an apparent major change in policy, Mr Howard said he would propose a new international carbon trading scheme - an idea he has rejected in the past.

Australia, the world’s largest coal exporter, refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, along with the US.

Mr Howard now says he is setting up a task force to look at carbon trading.

He is set to hold talks with coal producers on Wednesday to discuss ways of cleaning up the industry.

But critics say he is responding to electoral pressures rather than genuine concern for the environment.

“Those who are genuinely interested in moving forward on climate change have already ratified the Kyoto Protocol,” says Christine Milne, Greens party spokeswoman.

If former Random House editorial director Jason Epstein has his way, as early as next year people will be able to order books online in just about any language.

And faster than you can say “Grande Caramel Macchiato,” they will be able to be pick up the finished product at a nearby bookstore, coffee shop or copy shop.

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The Venturi Eclectic, touted as an “autonomous energy vehicle,” gets its charge from wind and a roof of solar panels.

The four-person ‘car’ boasts a 22-horsepower electric engine, powered by liquid-cooled NiMH batteries, and can reach a top-end speed of nearly 52kmh.

Range is only 50km but that should be ideal for most town runs, and if its sunny you could park and charge.

The car does sport an option to recharge via AC power.

Scheduled for production in June 2007 it is expected to sell for $US30,500, but don’t hold your breath for one, the first 200 have already been sold.

If you can read German there’s lots more information here.

Cobbers has just been introduced to a new source that will benefit our eclectic audience — the unlikely CNNMoney.com site’s Business 2.0 section.

There’s a story, for example, about the need for cellphone companies to go green, to get green [as in dollars], Richard Branson, entrepreneurial icon, shares his freshest ideas - like a Virgin superfuel that will let us jet around the world guilt-free, Down under, they’re all over alternative energy - starting with a 1600-foot tall “solar tower” that can power a small city, and how Daimler’s Smart car lives up to its name — it’s 8 feet long, gets 60 mpg and is surprisingly roomy and sufficiently nimble.

The stories are well-researched and much longer than the normal blog post — which bodes well.

At the upcoming Paris Motor Show, PSA Peugeot Citroën will unveil the 207 Epure Coupé / Cabriolet concept car—a new fuel-cell hybrid using a PSA-developed fuel-cell stack. The 207 Epure is an application of the development work PSA has undertaken with the French CEA (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique—Atomic Energy Commission) on a new design of compact fuel cell that offers improved power output, energy efficiency and packaging: the GENEPAC. [Read more →]

Phoenix Motorcars, based in Ojal, California, is a small entrepreneurial company dedicated to manufacturing emission free automobiles and trucks.

Besides their good science and research, they also know how to tease their potential investors and vehicle purchasers if the prototype shown above is any indication. [Read more →]