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Vatican Fights the 'Sin' of Pollution with $US1.5 Million Solar Panel Roof
Posted by Jack Loftus at 5:30 AM on October 6, 2008
As part of its continuing effort to fight the "sin" of pollution, the Vatican has revealed that the first few panels of its 2,400-strong solar panel roof project were installed this week. The $US1.5 million project will require minimal maintenance over the next 25 years, and is part of an ambitious environmental project that could see the tiny European state become the first carbon-neutral body in the world. "Those who destroy the environment are also big sinners", said Italian Cardinal Deacon Renato Raffaele Martino earlier this year. "It's a big insult to God." I see it as more of an insult to my lungs, Martino, but I hear you barking on that one anyway. Good form. [Treehugger]
The $US1.7-billion HiPER facility--High Power laser Energy Research--will kick off with a party this monday. Yes, the project that will hopefully give us a way to produce limitless clean energy and save humanity from self-destruction (or 
Looks like Samsung keeps pushing for green computing. These computers are Korea-only for now, but the MV100 Tower and MZ100 Slim Tower, running on the Intel G43 chipset, consume only sixty watts in "power saving mode" and one watt in stand-by mode. I only have one question for you: Do you really care about how much energy your computer really consumes or you are now just thinking that the Samsung ninjas really need to eat a few pizzas? [
This is the Electro DeLorean, a fully electric retrofit of the 1981 iconic Back to the Future car. It's also a completely wasted opportunity: If there's a DeLorean version that needed a lightning hook system, this is the one. Still, you can add it yourself, because it is for sale on eBay for $US100,000 right now, including the obligatory flux capacitator prop. According to the seller, this is the "fastest and longest range electric DeLorean" you can buy, capable of doing 88MPH:
Google, who in aggregate, effectively knows everything, unsurprisingly has a solution for our energy problems. The plan, called Clean Energy 2030 will cost $US4.4 trillion over its 22-year span, if we start on it right now. Google says it'll give us back a net of $US1 trillion, like half of which will be savings on Google's massive power bill 
University of Calgary scientists are working on a machine that would pull carbon dioxide from the air in an attempt to scrub out emissions from diffuse sources, such as car exhaust and home heating. These "diffuse emissions" account for roughly half of the CO2 that goes up into the sky every day, contributing to global warming.
Responding to criticism for its secrecy over its data centres, Google has lifted the veil a little on how much energy its information hotbeds use. The world's largest search engine insisted that Google-designed data centres used nearly five times less energy than conventional facilities, and 
Coin Lamp has its heart in the right place, but I'm afraid the inevitable path that each of these concept lamps will take, given enough time, is into a garbage can. In pieces. Because your retirement fund will tank, you'll get desperate, and you will need the $US2.35 in change this simple little lamp contains something fierce. So, it will be Coin Lamp meet hammer, and then you can afford your small latte at the expense of not being able to see that night. Kudos to designer Jethro Macey for thinking of it, as anything that keeps us mindful of our energy consumption is a welcome step forward. [
