It’s no surprise we are big LEGO fans here at Inhabitat – the iconic building blocks can be used to create everything from cameras and furniture to apartments and massive cathedrals. Now the toy maker is making headlines again by investing $500 million into green energy. Denmark-based LEGO will buy almost a third of a brand new German offshore wind power project planned by DONG Energy company. The investment will account for 32% of the 277 megawatt Borkum Riffgund wind farm 35 miles off the Northwest coast of Germany. This pricey move will not only help power the German grid, but will hopefully supply nearly all of LEGO’s energy needs with wind power.

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Post tags: "wind power", dong energy, dong wind farm, eco news, Electricity, energy investment, germany, green energy, green news, green power, lego, lego energy, lego investment, lego wind farm, news, power, renewable electricity, renewable energy, renewable energy ivestment, sustainable news, wind energy

Bacteria and microbes have long been discussed as potential renewable power sources, like microbial fuel cells using bacteria to convert organic compounds directly into electricity by a process known as bio-catalytic oxidation. Now a team in the UK from the University of Newcastle believes they can double the output of such electrical generation with the help of extraterrestrial bacteria.

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Post tags: Bacillus stratosphericu, bacteria, bacteria battery, biofilm, Electricity, MFC', microbial fuel cell, newcastle university, newcastle university space microbe batteries, power, space bacteria batteries

If any other country in the world was to announce plans to get 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015, it would be a massive environmental victory — except in China. Despite the Chinese government’s major EV drive (no pun intended), it is expected to barely make a dent in the nation’s CO2 emissions due to the fact that China’s grid is largely powered by coal burning plants. China is infamous for the smog that surrounds many of its major cities, and while it is hoped that the electric cars (and use of bicycles) will reduce it over time, the country’s reliance on fossil fuels is likely to cancel out any impact.

Read the rest of China’s Coal-Powered Grid Negates the Green Benefits of Electric Vehicles

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Post tags: china, china 2015 electric car initiative, china coal electric vehicles, china electric car intiative, china electric vehicles, Climate Change, CO2, coal, coal power china, electric car, Electricity, ev, ev china, global warming, green transportation, greenhouse gases, Lucia Green-Weiskel, your dot

Read the rest of Pylon of the Future: 6 Designs for an Advanced Electrical Grid

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Design Competition, eco design, Electricity, green architecture, green design, national grid, pylon, pylon design competition, pylons of the future, renewable energy, RIBA, sustainable design, transmission, transmission grid, transmission line

The labs at MIT are shaking things up – literally – as they just unveiled a tiny device that harvests energy from everyday, low-frequency vibrations. The breakthrough gizmo generates 100 times more power than other devices like it, and it can harvest electricity from a wide range of sources including footsteps, auto traffic, and even swaying bridges. Aimed primarily at supporting wireless sensor networks, the device could be used to create an ambient energy harvesting system right under our feet.

Read the rest of MIT’s Tiny Kinetic Generator Produces 100 Times More Power from Small Vibrations

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Post tags: Electricity, green electricity, low frequency vibrations, MEMS, micro-electromechanical system, MIT, peizoelectric energy, PZT, renewable energy, science, vibrations, wireless power sensors

Plants have long harnessed sunlight to create ‘food’ for themselves, and now a joint American and Swiss team have created a device that can duplicate the process! The team recently unveiled their prototype, which uses captured sunlight and a metal oxide called ceria to break down CO2 and water and create fuels which can be stored, used or transported to those who do need them.

Read the rest of Solar Machine Mimics Plants to Transform CO2 Into Fuel

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Post tags: Ceria, eco-friendly, Electricity, fuel, green, hydrogen, photovoltaic, power, prototype, PS10, reactor, renewable energy, research, science, solar, Solar Power, SolarPower, sunlight, syngas

Adobe, the company behind Flash Player and Adobe Reader, has always been a supporter of renewable energy – remember when they installed a wind farm at their headquarters in San Jose? Well now they’ve taken another huge sustainable step by installing a dozen 100kw Bloom Energy Servers (aka ‘Bloom boxes’) to handle up to one-third of the entire electricity consumption of the their headquarters, which includes three high-rises and a parking structure.

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Post tags: "wind power", adobe systems, alternative energy, bloom energy, business, Electricity, fossil fuel emissions, fuel cells, greenhouse gases, hydrogen, landfills, Living, methane gas, natural gas, oxide fuel cell, renewable energy, san jose, silicon valley, Windspire Energy

While it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as alternative energy sources like solar or wind power, flywheel storage technology is definitely worth looking into. A kinetic energy-based technology that stems from the same elementary movement that potters and spinners have been using for centuries, the power storage tech will soon be harnessed at the world’s first grid-scale flywheel-based energy storage plant in New York. The $69 million plant will go online later this year and will be a force to be reckoned with – Beacon Power, the company behind the operation, estimates that it will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 82 per cent over its 20-year life and provide about 10 per cent of the state’s energy frequency regulation needs.

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Post tags: alternative energy, beacon power, clean power, Electricity, flywheel energy, green technology, kinetic energy, New York., power grid, renewable energy

Potatoes are good for more than just filling up your stomach on the quick; they’re also potential sources of electricity, according to Yissum Research Development Company Ltd. The company, which is an arm of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has developed a “solid organic electric battery based upon treated potatoes” that is five to fifty times cheaper than commercial 1.5 volt D cells and Energizer e91 cell batteries. The light generated from the potato battery is also at least 6 times more economical than kerosene lamps.

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Post tags: batteries, Electricity, food, green design, potato battery, potatoes, renewable energy, sustainable design

Designer Mike Thompson has created an incredible living lamp that is powered by algae! Spotted over at Designboom, the Latro Lamp derives energy from an algae chamber that requires just sunlight, CO2, and water to operate. Stick the lamp outside, breathe into it, and voila, you’ve created your own bio battery-powered living lamp.

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Post tags: algae, Electricity, green design, latro lamp, mike thompson, power

Though the Dutch are known for their windmills, they may be looking to underwater turbines for energy in the near future. In 1953 a massive flood decimated a large part of The Netherlands, killing 1,800 people on the south-west coast of the country. Dikes were devised and installed along the coastline to prevent future flooding. In their wake they left a host of man-made freshwater lakes — now stagnant and home to unpleasant algae — and shut the tides out of the large estuaries. A group of engineers is now proposing a plan to cut a few holes in the structures to allow the saltwater to return. The revised dikes would reinstate natural habitat and could create a network of tidal power plants that would provide electricity to the region.

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Post tags: dikes, dutch, Electricity, estuary, natural habitat, Netherlands, power, renewable energy, tidal power

Scientists at Stanford have just discovered the greenest source of energy yet — harvesting electricity directly from plants! They’ve successfully collected energy from photosynthetic processes in algae by tapping straight into currents of electrons generated at the cellular level. We know that cars can run on bio-fuel made from algae, but imagine if our power grid could run on pond water in its natural state. No refinement is necessary – all you need is a pool of water, a bunch of the green stuff and a high-tech gold electrode. Best of all, the only by-products are protons and oxygen!

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Post tags: algae, algae power, Electricity, green power, renewable energy, scientists, stanford, sustainable power

In the poorest regions of the world, exposure to kerosene kills one person every 20 seconds. That’s why we’re really impressed with the folks over at Plus Minus Solar who’ve designed their Solar Pebble to replace kerosene lamps which are widely used in rural Africa. Kerosene is expensive and highly toxic and eliminating the use of it is a huge mission for humanitarian designers. This little solar wonder is a great alternative. Its small, portable, inexpensive and can provide light as well as charge small electronic devices.

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Post tags: Africa, design for the developing world, developing world, Electricity, humanitarian design, Light, power, solar, solar pebble, sun, sunlight

Read the rest of Philips Lumiblade Reflections OLED Mirrorwall Now Available

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Post tags: Eco, efficient, Electricity, green, green lighting, lumiblade, mirror, mirrorwall, OLED, Philips, pholed, reflection, renewable energy, Sustainable

Not only are these gold nanoparticles gorgeous to look at – they may one day act as microscopic powerhouses for molecular machines. Researchers at the Nano/Bio Interface Center at the University of Pennsylvania recently discovered a novel to way to generate solar power by shining light onto gold nanoparticles. The discovery has far-reaching implications in the realm of nanotechnology, and may open the door for everything from self-powering molecular circuits to super-efficient data storage.

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Post tags: Electricity, gold nanoparticles, green design, Nano/Bio Interface Center, Plasmon-Induced Electrical Conduction, renewable energy, Solar Power, sustainable design, University of Pennsylvania

Take 100 billion pounds, a plan to create 60,000 jobs, and the urgent need to end an addition to fossil fuels, and what do you get? The first steps in Britain’s plan to develop its offshore wind farm capabilities. The UK recently announced plans for two massive turbine farms, and has set a target of producing 33 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2020 – a 3000% increase over current capacity.

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Post tags: "wind power", alternative energy, Electricity, England, green design, norsk, off shore, power, renewable energy, sustainable design, turbines

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show is over, but there are still a number of nifty devices trickling into our inboxes. One of our favorites is the RCA Airnergy, a USB-connected device that converts Wi-Fi antenna signals into usable power for your gadgets. The device is completely self-sustaining — it automatically charges whenever a Wi-Fi signal is close by and stores the power in a lithium-ion battery.

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Post tags: airnergy, Electricity, green design, power, RCA, renewable energy, sustainable design, wifi, wireless charging

If you only made between $400 and $4,000 a year in income and didn’t have easy access to electricity, what would you do? For many rural Indians, the answer is the Duron, a $130 solar home power system that allows users to generate and store solar energy, charge gadgets and appliances, and run LED lights.

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Post tags: "solar energy", duron, Electricity, India, solar electricity, Solar Power

Instead of acting as one of the most bland parts of city landscapes, what if manholes served a purpose? That’s what designers Cheolyeon Jo and Youngsun Lee propose with their “Eco Sign“, an electronic manhole cover that gives directions to the closest train or bus stop.

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Post tags: bus, Electricity, green design, hydroelectric, kinetic energy, manhole, rainwater, renewable energy, sustainable design, train

We often just assume that energy to power our TVs, computers, cell phones, and other electronics will always be readily available. But the earth’s resources are scarce – a reality that designer Mike Thompson wants to illustrate (somewhat painfully) with his blood-powered lamp. The single-use lamp forces users to think about where every drop of their energy is coming from–literally.

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Post tags: blood lamp, blood power, Electricity, mike thompson, Renewable Energy