Every kid who’s ever played with slot cars had the dream that one day they could get inside one and whizz around a race track. Of course getting inside a regular petrol-driven car would probably give the desired effect, but the guys at a British electric motorsports company is working on an idea that would create life-size, electric-powered slot cars (minus the slots and the pins). In partnership with New Zealand’s Halo IPT, Drayson Racing, owned by former British Minister of Science Lord Paul Drayson, is installing wireless electric vehicle charging stations in pit allies as a test platform for automotive inductive charging.

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Post tags: automotive inductive charging, daniel c jones, drayson racing, electric vehicle, electric vehicle charging, halo ipt, wireless ev charging

Los Angeles is a crowded city, which makes finding the space to build your dream home pretty tricky. Sitting on the steep, steep hillside of the Crestwood Hills neighbourhood, the 3,700 sq. ft. Jovanovic residence renovated an existing structure by applying a series of progressive and sustainable building strategies.

Read the rest of LA’s Amazing Jovanovic Residence Keeps its Cool With a Perforated Facade

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Post tags: architects, daniel c jones, dr sascha jovanovic, jovanovic residence, lorcan o'herlihy, Sustainable

One of the major concerns over the current crop of renewable energy technologies is that they’re pretty expensive compared to dirtier, more conventional fossil fuels. However researchers at Boston University and the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation think they’ve found a way of producing cleaner, cheaper wave generated energy on demand. Their idea would send a fleet of wave-powered ships out into the middle of the ocean, where they would drop anchor and start gathering energy from the movement of the surrounding waves. This energy would then be stored in on-board batteries, and once fully charged the ships would return to shore where the energy could be distributed into the grid.

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Post tags: "solar energy", Boston University, Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation, green design, Offshore Wind Energy, renewable energy, sustainable design, wave power, wave-powered ship, wave-powered ships

Shale gas is viewed as a cleaner, cheaper alternative to conventional fossil fuels. Granted, unconventional gas burns 30% more efficiently than coal, but the process used to get it out of the ground is far from clean. Hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’ has been causing quite a stir in the US in recent years, particularly in north-eastern states such as Pennsylvania as the dangers related to the exploration and development of shale gas have made their way into mainstream consciousness. Perhaps this is what prompted the $25 billion Canadian global oil and gas company, Talisman Energy to publish a 24-page coloring book for kids explaining the merits of shale gas extraction. Talisman is hoping to ‘educate’ kids on the fun and exciting world of fracking by introducing them to ‘Talisman Terry, your friendly Fracosaurus’.

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Post tags: coal, fossil fuels, fracking, green design, hydraulic fracturing, oil and gas, renewable energy, shale gas, sustainable design, talisman energy

El Hierro, the smallest and southern-most island of the Canaries, made headlines recently after it announced plans to become the world’s first island to eradicate its carbon footprint and run completely off 100% renewable energy sources. The Huffington Post reported how El Hierro will be powered by an 11.5 MW wind farm, 11.3 MW of hydroelectric power and a whole bunch of solar thermal collectors and grid-connected photovoltaics. The fact that oil will no longer be transported to this remote location will offset 18,200 tons of carbon dioxide alone. These are undeniably impressive statistics and the project represents a wonderful opportunity for Swiss-Swedish power giant, ABB. Plans call for this ambitious project to be completed by the end of 2011 and will cost $87 million. However there is one problem with the claim that El Hierro is “the world’s first renewable energy island” – it isn’t.

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Post tags: "wind power", alternative energy, carbon footprint, el hierro, green design, photovoltaics, renewable energy, renewable energy island, samso, self-sufficient island, Solar Power, solar thermal, sustainable design, world's first green energy island

Companies like Coca-Cola are constantly running new promotions, pushing new products and tapping into new markets. Unfortunately, with all their new initiatives comes continually changing store displays that are needed to keep the brand fresh. With the constant renewal and disposal, these temporary store display create a real waste management headache for retailers and the earth. To help remedy the problem, Coca-Cola is taking an unusual step by asking US retailers to give back the shelves that hold its products. In fact, Coca-Cola is now developing a family of 100% recyclable merchandise display racks for use in US grocery and convenience stores they’ve dubbed the GIVE IT BACK racks.

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Post tags: 100% recycled cardboard, cardboard shelving, Coca Cola, Coke, daniel c jones, gary wygant, recyclable shelving, recycled shelving, sustainable business, sustainable shelving displays, waste management

Read the rest of Solaleya’s Shell-Shaped Solar “Pearl” House is a Breezy Green Retreat

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Post tags: "solar energy", 'the pearl', daniel c jones, david fanchon, domespace house, fsc certified, geothermal, green design, green housing, heating system, passive solar design, rainwater storage system, solar technology

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Post tags: dam energy, evolvo 2011 skyscraper competition, green energy, hoover dam, hydroelectric power, lake mead, man-made structures, super structure, water energy

Danish wind power manufacturer Vestas has announced the launch of the world’s most efficient wind turbine, the V163-7.0MW. This huge windmill boasts a 7 megawatt (MW) capacity and a rotor diameter of 164 meters. Improving the commercial viability of renewable energy sources is central to pushing them up the energy supply chain and ultimately reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and offshore wind power projects in particular require substantial investment. The trick is to get as much bang for your buck as possible, and the V163-7.0MW does exactly that as each blade is as long as nine double-decker buses!

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Post tags: "wind power", cost of energy, daniel c jones, efficient wind power, offshore wind, offshore wind power, renewable energy, v163-7.0mw, vestas, wind energy, wind power manufacturer

When we’re told about newly released satellite images of our Earth, we imagine beautiful swathes of green and blue with the occasional white of swirling storm clouds or snow-topped mountain ranges. But rarely do we picture a multi-colored root vegetable. ‘Potato Earth’ is the name being given to the new images of the globe as created by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) incredibly sleek GOCE satellite. The new map, known as a ‘geoid,’ traces the varying degrees of influence that the pull of gravity from the mass of rock under our feet has on the earth’s surface with unrivaled precision.

Read the rest of The Geoid: New Gravity Map of the Earth Helps Us Understand the World’s Climate

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Post tags: Climate Change, daniel c jones, earthquakes, esa goce, esa goce satellite, european space agency, goce geoid, goce satellite, gravitational pull, ocean currents, potato earth

One of the major issues with renewable energy technologies like solar and wind power is that energy generation tends to be intermittent — i.e. the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. Therefore, in order for such technologies to be capable of meeting our needs without the support of fossil fuels, we need to find effective and commercially viable ways to store energy. That’s why the guys at Highview Power Storage are getting particularly excited about their most recent technology – the CryoEnergy System (CES). CES takes excess energy generated and uses it to run refrigeration units which cool air down to a temperature of -196C (-320.8F), at which point it liquefies. The liquid air, also known as cryogen, can be stored in an insulated tank, and at times of peak-demand, when the direst output of existing energy sources cannot meet the demands of a power grid, this liquid air is released to generate energy.

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Post tags: "wind power", ces process, cryoenergy systems, daniel c jones, emission-free power generation, energy storage, highview power storage, power generation, regasification process, solar

Wave power generators generally take the form of sea snake-like designs that sit atop rolling waves, gathering kinetic energy and turning it into power. However a new idea combines the worlds of wind power and wave power to create underwater kite-turbines. Designed by Swedish renewable energy company Minesto, each underwater kite spans 8-14 meters and features a turbine attached to its underbelly. Each kit is tethered to the sea floor and it can “fly” with the tidal stream in a figure-8 motion.

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Post tags: "wind power", dan jones, minesto, minesto underwater kite turbine, ocean power, renewable energy, seagen, seagen kite turbine, underwater kite turbine, wave energy, wave power

With social unrest in the Middle East and North Africa raising more concerns over our reliance on fossil fuels, and the horrific earthquake in Japan underscoring the dangers of nuclear power, we are reminded once again of the need to diversify our energy sources. Hydrogen has been touted as one of the most promising replacements for conventional transport fuels for many years, but the logistics involved in storing and transporting the gas have presented numerous barriers – until now. Fresh from winning $64,000 worth of funding from Shell’s low-carbon technology contest, UK-based Cella Energy recently revealed an innovative, inexpensive and safe method for storing hydrogen. Using nanotechnology, Cella has developed ‘micro beads’ – 30 times smaller than a grain of sand – that can trap and release hydrogen when heated. And because the beads are small enough to flow like liquid, refuelling could even be done at any gas station.

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Post tags: alternative fuels, automotive, cella energy, dan jones, green transportation, hydrogen micro beads, hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, nuclear power, oil companies, oil reserves