Today is National Bike to Work Day, and all across America, people are ditching their cars and trucks for a cleaner, healthier journey via bicycle. Our friends at Voltaic Systems joined in the fun to support NYC’s Bike to Work Day, and it’s no surprise that they added their own solar-powered flair to the day’s festivities. Company staffers decked out a commuter bicycle and with a custom-built bike trailer carrying 60+ Watts of portable solar panels, 180 Watt hours of charging capacity, and lots of connectors to charge up smartphones, tablets and even a MacBook, in an effort to show New Yorkers how much fun can be had when human and solar power are combined.

Read the rest of Voltaic Celebrates Bike to Work Day with Portable Solar-Charging Trailer You Can Rent!

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Post tags: bike commuting, bike to work day, bike trailer, solar charger, solar panels, Solar Power, voltaic systems

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Post tags: bayfront park, caribbean, Casino, everglades, florida, half sphere, hotel, landmark, Miami, monofrequency light, moon, observation deck, solar panel, sunshine state, tropical, visiondivision, water park

In the developing world, mortality rates for expectant mothers total over 300,000 deaths each year. The WE CARE Solar Suitcase is a brilliant new device that aims to reduce this figure by providing hospitals in off-grid areas with access to a steady source of energy and light. Designed by Dr. Laura Stachel and her husband Hal Aronson, the system includes high-efficiency LED lights, a universal cellphone charger, 12V DC outlets, a set of 40 or 80 watt solar panels, and a 12 amp-hour sealed lead-acid battery.

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Post tags: birth, clean tech, Design for Health, developing nations, dr. laura stachel, green design, hal aronson, health technology, Light, photovoltaic light, renewable energy, Solar Power, solar suitcase, solar-powered light, sustainable design, wecare solar

Contemporary Energy’s Solar Kettle uses the sun’s rays to boil water on the go. The lightweight thermos-like device is perfect for camping or picnics, allowing users to make hot beverages or sterilize water without electricity. Using fold out reflectors, it channels solar power to the container, boiling the water inside.


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Post tags: Contemporary Energy, eco design, green design, Solar Kettle, solar kitchen, Solar powered water purifier, sustainable design

Read the rest of Spain’s Earthy Espai Ridaura Cultural Center is Topped With a Luscious Green Roof

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Architecture, Capella Garcia Arquitectura, cultural activities, earth building, eco-tourism, Espai Ridaura, girona, green materials, green roof, multipurpose, natural pigments, Spain, stage, thermal solar panels

An incredible new printer at the University of Melbourne has allowed researchers to print solar cells up to the size of an A3 sheet of paper. Developed in collaboration between the Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium (VICOSC), CSIRO, and the University of Melbourne, the solar cell printer makes renewable energy even easier to source.

Read the rest of Australia’s Largest Solar Cell Printer Can Spit Out a Photovoltaic Panel Every Two Seconds

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Post tags: CSIRO, eco design, green design, largest solar cell printer, solar cell printer, sustainable design, university of melbourne, Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium

Read the rest of Mod Cott is a Low-Energy Guest House on Lake Buchanan in Texas

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", eco design, eco house, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green house, guest house, lake buchanan, low energy house, mell lawrence architects, mod cott, rainwater collection, solar house, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, texas, vacation house

A team from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have broken their own record after flying their hydrogen fuel cell powered-Ion Tiger UAV for an astonishing 48 hours and 1 minute last month. The UAV, which used liquid hydrogen fuel in its  new, NRL-developed, cryogenic fuel storage tank and delivery system, broke its previous record of 26 hours and 2 minutes which it set in 2009.

Read the rest of Naval Research Laboratory Flies Their Hydrogen-Powered Ion Tiger UAV for Over 48 Hours

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Post tags: fuel cell, hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen power, Ion Tiger UAV, liquid hydrogen, Naval Research Laboratory, NRL, UAV

Alternative energy company Urban Green Energy (UGE) has announced the launch of its new vertical axis wind turbine, the VisionAIR. The turbine was the result of over a year of dedicated testing at UGE’s research and development facility and according to the company, and it could be used in distributed energy applications, which are typically located near the point of energy consumption. The VisionAIR will debut at the Beijing International Garden Expo next week.

Read the rest of New VisionAIR Vertical Axis Wind Turbine to Debut at Beijing International Garden Expo

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Post tags: "wind power", "wind turbine", Seamless Grid, UGE, urban green energy, vertical axis wind turbine, VisionAir, wind energy

Can technology save the world? In short: No, not by itself. A sweeping set of changes in the way we interact with the planet is needed to stabilize our rapidly deteriorating biosphere and avert a bleak future. Technology is simply a tool to help us achieve these changes. A dangerous argument, however, is when decision-makers and influencers say our impact on the planet is not a concern, and changes in our behavior are not needed in the near future, or ever, because technology will save us. Sounds ridiculous, but various forms of this argument are commonly invoked in government and international forums, particularly when profits and votes come into play.

Read the rest of Can Technology Save the World?

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Post tags: can tech save the world, drones, eco-innovations, environmental damage, genetic engineering, global issues, life saving inventions, recycling, tech solutions for a changing world, technology and climate change, technology and global warming, water issues

Researchers at SUNY Buffalo are working on a new generation of liquid solar cells that may one day be as cheap as paint. Although they would be significantly less efficient than conventional solar cells made with either amorphous silicon or cadmium telluride, these new plasmonic-enhanced photovoltaic solar cells containing metal nanoparticles are less costly to produce and can be applied to much bigger surfaces.

Read the rest of Liquid Solar Cells Could One Day be as Cheap as Paint

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Post tags: clean tech, green technology, liquid solar cells, liquid solar cells as cheap as paint, more efficient liquid solar cells, Plasmonics, pv cells, Solar Power, SUNY Buffalo, university at buffalo

Many people around the world rely on cash crops to create extra income for their families. During the dry season, shallow wells and drought are challenges that reduce crop yield – and extra income. In order to produce a bountiful harvest during this season, farmers rely on pump irrigation to keep the water flowing. The only problem is that pumps can be costly to buy and to maintain – so the folks at International Development Enterprises (iDE) developed SunWater, an affordable water pump system that uses the power of the sun.

Read the rest of SunWater Gives Farmers an Affordable Way to Pump Water Using Solar Power

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Post tags: green energy ideas, green power, Indiegogo projects, International Development Enterprises, irrigation for poor areas, irrigation for poor farmers, solar power applications, solar power technology, solar water pump, SunWater, third world irrigation, water pump for irrigation

When architect Ed Mazria announced that buildings account for nearly 50% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, the building industry was taken aback. After a long career in passive solar architecture, he has taken on the goal of steeply reducing the carbon footprint of architecture – most notably with his 2030 Challenge, which aims to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in new construction, and to cut the use of fossil fuels in existing buildings by 50% by 2030. To help hit those targets, Mazria is launching a new initiative called the 2030 Palette—a robust, visually oriented online design tool which strives to help produce low-impact, people friendly projects. We recently visited Mazria’s offices in Santa Fe, where we spoke to the architect in-depth about his work and how sustainable development can save us from the worst climate change has to offer.

Read the rest of INTERVIEW: Ed Mazria, Founder of Architecture 2030 Introduces the 2030 Palette

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Post tags: 2030 Palette, Architecture 2030, carbon neutral architecture, Ed Mazria, global warming, green architecture, green construction, Sustainable Building

Offshore wind farms and tidal energy facilities harness the power of the wind and the ocean – but why should we have separate turbines for each task? Offshore technology company Mitsui is developing a hybrid wind-current power generating system that combines a floating vertical-axis wind turbine with an underwater turbine that generates power from ocean currents. The clever apparatus would cut down on material waste, and it could produce twice as much energy as a conventional wind turbine.

Read the rest of World’s First Floating Wind-Current Turbine to be Installed Off Japanese Coast

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Post tags: floating wind turbine, Hybrid wind and ocean current turbines, Japan, Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company, MODEC, ocean currents, ocean power, offshore wind, renewable energy, tidal turbines, vertical axis wind turbine

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Post tags: Architecture, beach house, Bossley Architects, landscape, New Zealand, sustainable home, Thorne Bay House, treehouse

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Post tags: "natural materials", clean tech, Daylighting, eco design, green design, iPhone, Justin Capra Foundation for Investments and Sustainable Technologies, modular design, natural light, Prefab, remote controlled, renewable energy, romania, smart energy, Soleta zeroEnergy One, sustainable design, tiny home

Hyundai isn’t joking when it claims it wants to fight global warming. The car manufacturer just announced that it plans to install what will be South Korea’s largest solar photovoltaic system on the rooftops of its plant in Asan. Working with thermal power company Korea Midland Power Ltd. (KOMIPO), Hyundai plans to install 40,000 solar photovoltaic modules on the rooftops of the plant’s press, welding, assembly and engine buildings by the end of the year. The giant rooftop solar plant will curb 5,600 tons of CO2 emissions – the equivalent of planting 1.12 million pine trees.

Read the rest of Hyundai Unveils Plans to Install South Korea’s Largest Solar Power Plant

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Post tags: car manufacturing plant, HYUNDAI, hyundai asan plant, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, korea electric power corporation, korea midland power, multiple green benefits, rooftop solar power plant, solar panels on car manufacturing plant, south korea's largest solar power plant

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Post tags: energy efficient stadium, evaporative cooling, natural ventilation stadium, Nigel Eckersall, passive cooling system, Qatar 2022 World Cup, Qatar FIFA Stadium, sports architecture, stadium passive cooling, sustainable stadium Qatar, Tangram Qatar Stadium, world cup 2022

The Window Socket is an idea so fabulously simple, it’s slightly amazing that we haven’t seen one before. Designed by Kyuho Song & Boa Oh, the charger sticks to a window and draws solar power to an internal battery, which enables one to either plug in small devices to the outlet right there and then, or save the stored power for use during night time hours.

Read the rest of Window Socket: Portable Solar-Powered Outlet Sticks to Windows, Charges Small Electronics

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Post tags: Boa Oh, green energy, Kyuho Song, off grid charger, off grid living, portable outlet, portable socket, portable solar, solar battery, solar charger, solar devices, window socket

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", "solar energy", eco design, green design, green roof home in Scotland, sheep's wool insulation, stone farmhouse in scotland, sustainable design, sustainable scottish farmhouse, triple glazing, UK energy standards, wind energy, wind-powered home in scotland