Ever wish you drove a hybrid, but can’t stomach paying a premium price for a new or even used model? …what if you could pay a lot less for a hybrid retrofit kit that could double your MPG’s? That’s what students from Middle Tennessee State University have been developing with help from their professor, and the results are promising to say the least.
Urban wind turbines face an up-hill battle, as many people feel they are too big, too expensive, and potential eyesores. However McCamley just unveiled a prototype for a new vertical-axis turbine with a revolutionary design that allows it to overcome many of the issues associated with large horizontal-axis turbines. The company just installed its first prototype of the McCamley MT01 Mk2 in the UK at Keele University.
As urban populations continue to grow so will the amount of waste produced by cities. But with landfills reaching capacity cities are looking for alternatives.
One solution that is becoming more popular with cities is a system to convert waste to energy. According to a new report from Pike Research, in 10 years cities will convert at least 260 million tons of waste to base load power or heat each year. That number could reach as much as 396 million tons per year or 429 terawatt-hours of power.
As we’ve written a lot about before (see links on the left), growing palm oil in the way that the biggest producers of it grow it right now – Indonesia and Malaysia – has huge social and environmental costs. That’s why I was so pleased to read that a campaign led by Rainforest Foundation Norway has led to a massive reduction in palm oil consumption in the scandinavia country. It’s an initiative that should be imitated around the world!
In 2009, Software Advice predicted that electricians would be one of the construction trades best-suited to capitalize on the growth of green construction. It appears that prediction is coming true. Since 2005, the green construction industry has grown from close to three billion dollar industry to one worth roughly $48 billion. And a recent report by McGraw-Hill Construction stated that electricians are among the trades in highest demand today.
If you’re interested in getting to know how to craft your own electronic devices using Arduino, here’s a great project from Instructables that will exercise your brain as well as your legs. It’s an Arduino bike speedometer that will calculate how fast you’re moving on your bike.