MIT unveils plane that uses 70 percent less fuel

Their D-series plane, nicknamed the “double bubble”, is a possible replacement for the 737. They designed it for NASA, who wants much higher efficiency airplanes by 2035.

Conventional airplanes utilize a single fuselage design, while the D-series uses two partial tubular shapes placed beside each other — which accounts for the bubble nickname. [...]

Philips’ new 12 watt LED directly replaces 60 watt incandescents

The Philips 12 watt LED screws into ordinary light bulb sockets, is a mere 12 watts, glows in soft white (unlike CFLs), and has a lifetime of 25,000 hours.

The future of lighting is LEDs, CFLs are a transitional product.

We went green for money, not altruism, Wal-Mart ex-CEO

“What Wal-Mart has done is approach this from a business stand point and not from a point of altruism. If we as a company focus on waste, we can make Wal-Mart a better company and at the same time, become a better citizen.”

Because of their huge volume, Wal-Mart has forced suppliers to cut packaging [...]

Flywheel power storage connected to California wind farm

The primary goal of the project is to demonstrate that advanced control technology with energy storage can help expand the delivery of wind energy by effectively increasing the capacity of constrained transmission facilities in the area.

Power generated by the turbines will be stored for future use in the flywheels. IN addition, they flywheels [...]

AT&T New ZERO Charger stops vampire power drain

This is a seriously big deal. It’s A USB compatible universal charger that shuts off the power when the device is charged, saving huge amounts of energy.

It’s the eco-friendly charging solution for your mobile phone. Conventional chargers left plugged in – even when not actively charging – can draw as much as 5 [...]

Cleantech and renewable energy links

First Solar joins Desertec Initiative, a gigantic solar and wind power project in the Sahara to power Africa and Europe.

Comprehensive article on LEDs.

Overview of geothermal energy.

Solar water heaters.

Microbes that eat pollution.

Energy-generating self-heating roadway.

Surplus heat from underground server farms will soon warm Helsinki

The data centre will be cooled using seawater from the Baltic, which falls below 8C from November to May, with the excess heat pumped back into the city’s heating system.

Helsinki already has the infrastructure to handle this. Hot water is heated at central locations then pumped along a 850 mile network to users. [...]

Why we need distributed energy and smart grids

After Gutenberg explores this and more in an article focusing on Texas and its huge and expanding amount of wind power. We have technology now that uses heat produced in creating electricity to create more even electricity. Why waste it?

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Reviving nuclear power

Wiki photo: Open pit uranium mine in Wyoming.

President Obama this week announced a revival of the nuclear power industry with the first new planned new nuke plant in more than 30 years.  Obama promised loan guarantees of more than $8 billion.

Why can’t a nuclear power plant get built without the taxpayers promising [...]

Smart windows save energy

NREL color changing window

Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are working on “dynamic windows” that change shadings so as to better regulate energy and efficiency.

Buildings consume 40 percent of the nearly 100 quadrillion Btus (quads) of energy the United States consumes annually. Conventional clear windows account for about one-tenth of the [...]