Efficient things
Efficient things
One of the least expensive ways to increase the efficiency of your home is to install low-flow aerators on your faucets. These devices save water, and lower utility bills as well, because less hot water is used. Because of this, low-flow aerators will generally pay for themselves in only a few months.
The Best Kitchen Faucet Aerators Read More »
Ann Arbor is on its way to being the first U.S. city to light up its downtown with 100% LED-based streetlights. The city expects to install more than 1,000 LED streetlights beginning next month. The city anticipates a 3.8-year payback on its initial investment.
First U.S City To Be Lit With 100% LEDs: Ann Arbor Read More »
Varese Ligure, a town in Northern Italy, runs on 100% renewable power. The town uses a mix of wind, solar and small-scale hydropower. The town has reaped benefits from the energy network through added jobs, and an additional 350,000 euros [US $514,000] in revenues that are handed over to the council each year. Varese has
Italian Town Runs On 100% Renewable Power Read More »
Here’s another solar innovation that could reduce cost of solar energy by as much as 50%. A company in Japan has developed a novel way of making solar cells with arrays of thousands of tiny silicon spheres surrounded by hexagonal reflectors. The key advantage of the system is that it reduces the total amount of
Solar Beads Could Cut Costs By 50% Read More »
Today, I wrote a post for TreeHugger about a company that is proposing to build a colossal magnetic levitation wind turbine. Magnetic levitation (or maglev) is an interesting technology that has been around for a while.
Using Magnetic Levitation In Wind Turbines Read More »
Flow batteries are a unique kind of battery — they have tanks that hold hundreds of gallons of the chemicals, called electrolytes. Flow batteries just happen to be very good at storing solar or wind power. Renewable power sources suffer from being intermittent, and less reliable for continuous power supply than coal or gas. Neither
Storing Sunshine Using Flow Batteries Read More »
In Fukuoka City in Japan, they have an amazing building called “ACROS Fukuoka” with two very distinct sides: one side looks like a conventional office building with glass walls, but on the other side there is a huge terraced roof that merges with a park. The garden terraces, which reach up to about 60 meters
Amazing Green Building: The ACROS Fukuoka Read More »
A spin dryer is an appliance that can readily improve the energy efficiency in your laundry. A portable spin dryer like this one from Amazon, uses centrifugal force to dry clothes. The dryer was out of stock for a while, but it is now available again. Spin drying is much more efficient than electric tumble
Spin Dryer From Laundry Alternative Read More »
Not many print houses put much thought into making their production processes more efficient or non-toxic. Ecoprint, based in the Washington DC area, is different. They have developed their own “eco-inks”. These inks are specially formulated to be free from toxic metals like copper and barium. The Ecoprint shop also runs on 100% wind power,
MetaEfficient: Metal-Free Inks by Ecoprint Read More »
Woodstoves can indeed be a metaefficient way to heat your home. Modern woodstoves are an economical and environmentally sound choice for home heating. Wood has a much higher BTU capacity than gas, and wood is a renewable resource. Older, conventional woodstoves emitted between 30 and 80 grams of particulate matter (smoke) per hour, while the
Efficient Wood Burning Stoves Read More »