Affordable Renewal Energy

Author Archives for Hybrid Living

Christmas Trees Made With Recycled Bottles


These two fair impressive Christmas trees were made of recycled bottles. Nice use of all those empties! The one of the left was made with 1050 beer bottles by Paul Deakin, a student at the University of Southampton (the south coast on England). The tree on the right was made with Grolsch beer bottles. Feeling [...]

Optimal Gift Wrapping


Optimal gift wrapping comes from renewable sources and does not contain toxic substances. Virgin forest fiber, bleach and heavy-metal inks need not be a part of gift giving. What are some of the better choices? One of the more optimal ways to wrap gifts is Furoshiki, a traditional Japanese technique of wrapping gifts using cloth. [...]

HP To Install 1 Megawatt Solar Rooftop


Hewlett-Packard has announced it will install a 1-megawatt solar array in its San Diego facility. The installation will be made up of 5,000 panels on seven buildings. It’s a large solar array, but smaller than Google’s 1.6-megawatt solar array, which is thought to be the largest corporate installation to date in the United States.

First Biomethane Gas Station Opens In Austria!


This is highly optimal. In Austria, cars can now fill up on a sustainable, locally-produced renewable fuel. The fuel is called “biomethane”, and it’s created by fermenting meadow grass (Poa pratensis). The grass is grown without the input of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

Extreme Folding: MIT’s Bike Folds To Become Suitcase-Sized


A group at MIT has unveiled a scooter that folds in half, and collapses to the size of a suitcase. The low-cost bike could be carried on a bus or stored under your desk at work. A prototype of the new design was recently unveiled at the Milan Auto Show. According to William J. Mitchell [...]

Throttle-Free Electric Bike To Be Introduced In 2008


Scheduled for release in early 2008, the iZip Express is an electric bike that will operate without a throttle. Instead, the bike has a special torque sensor that applies power as the rider requires it. Basically, the harder you pedal, the more the motor assists you. Test drivers have said that this automatic drive system [...]

The Wind Shade Roof


Personally, I find combination of clean energy and art to be compelling.  Michael Jantzen’s designs certainly embody both ideas. Pictured above is his “Wind Shade Roof” concept – it’s a swimming pool complex with wind turbines integrated into the roof. The turbines would provide power for night lighting, pool heating and pumps. I’m sure the design [...]

Solar Beads Could Cut Costs By 50%


Here’s another solar innovation that could possibly reduce cost of solar energy. A company in Japan has developed a novel way of making solar cells that cuts production costs by as much as 50 percent. The photovoltaic cells are made up of arrays of thousands of tiny silicon spheres surrounded by hexagonal reflectors. The key [...]

Google Wants To Make Clean Energy Cheaper Than Coal


eSolar is one of the early-stage companies Google is working with.
Google has announced a plan to develop sources of renewable energy that will be cheaper than coal. The new initiative, RE<C, (renewable energy is cheaper than coal) will begin by focusing on solar power technology, and will also encompass geothermal energy production.
According to the [...]

Brammo Electric Motorcycle To Debut


Brammo Motorsports, a company based in Oregon, will be debut their Enertia Bike at the EVS-23 Show in Anaheim California (it’s an electric vehicle show). The Enertia Bike was designed from the ground up to be a fully electric bike. It has a top speed of 50 mph, range of 45 miles, and can fully [...]

Hybrid Living