Electric car maker Tesla Motors is teaming up with the solar panel leasing company SolarCity to make what might be the first complete, packaged electrical system for an off-the-grid solar home.
Philips, the Netherlands-based lightbulb manufacturer that won a 2007 congressional contest to create an energy-saving replacement for the incandescent 60-watt bulb, plans to start selling their LED bulb (the “L bulb”) in stores just in time for Earth Day, this Sunday.
Research out of the University of Queensland suggests that the impact of the Carbon Tax won’t be as bad as imagined — but some states will do markedly better than others.
Wind blows stronger and more consistently as you rise above ground obstacles like buildings, trees and hills. This makes for a lucrative green energy source — assuming you can lift generators 300m in the air. This Airborne Wind Turbine could well become the first.
Imagine having jeans that charge your phone just by putting it in your pocket. That’s what this material — developed for the British Army — does. The fabric is made of yarn that conducts electricity, and while it needs a power source — say, a belt buckle — it has the potential to totally change the way we charge our gadgets.
We’ve been flooded with headlines saying that a new study demonstrates Australia has some of the most expensive electricity in the world. While power prices are a concern, the way in which that data has been compiled is also open to criticism.
It’s an age-old complaint that we pay too much for our gadgets here in Australia, but what about the electrons that power them? A new report — being widely quoted today — states that comparatively speaking, we’re paying way too much for power, although there’s an anti-carbon tax agenda chucked in there as well.
Last month, Sony announced its intentions to unleash two “smart outlets” on the world that would use NFC and RFID to authenticate users and monitor electricity consumption on a micro level. While it may someday be handy for charging up electric cars, in the near-term it’s more likely that in the near future, you’ll be paying hard cash to juice up your phone at the airport.
Even the most mundane objects and experiences seem to become totally amazing up in space. Like, say, this knitting needle that’s been charged with static electricity interacting with tiny droplets of water. Combine the electric charge with the velocity of the droplet, and the result is a gravity-like orbit of the water around the needle.
