OSU Invents "World's First Solar Battery" to Run on Light and Air
Is it a solar cell? Or a rechargeable battery? Actually, the patent-pending device is both. The inventors at Ohio State University call it the world's first solar battery.
Recent Posts
New Technology Turns Garbage Into Gold
Imagine a machine that can turn almost anything into oil. Imagine that it uses natural processes like heat and pressure, and produces no pollution. Imagine recycling waste from landfills, refuse from poultry factories, sludge from city sewage, or even infectious medical waste. We now know it can be done.
Biofuel Powers Two European Airlines
In two recent feasibility experiments, European airlines KLM and Thompson Airlines have integrated cooking oil-based biofuels into their passenger routes, in a 50-50 mixture with jet fuel.
New Technology Creates Solar-Powered Landfills
Landfills are a constant reminder of the waste we produce, but a new innovation could throw out the notion of a "dump" by turning them into productive solar power dynamos. In Georgia, a landfill generates renewable energy while covering nine million cubic yards of municipal solid waste with solar panels.
Kohl's Department Stores Honored as Green Power Partner of the Year
Kohl's Department Stores has won its third Green Power Partner of the Year Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy for its extensive efforts at creating Earth-friendly stores and operations that focus on energy efficiency, renewable power, and LEED building standards.
Green Schoolhouse Project Breaks Ground on First LEED School Built by Volunteers
An innovative project called The Green Schoolhouse Series is on a mission -- with the help of volunteers, school officials, community members, and corporations -- to build healthy and efficient green schoolhouses on existing, low-income, public school campuses.
Bright Is The New Black: NYC White Roofs Bringing Down Summer Temps
On the hottest day of the summer last year in New York City, a white roof was measured to be 42 degrees (F) cooler than the traditional black roof it was being compared to by NASA scientists studying the city's unprecedented effort to brighten rooftops and cool down the city.
Slowly, Asia's Factories Begin to Turn Green
Intel's new $1 billion chip factory in Vietnam, about 10 miles from downtown Ho Chi Minh City, embraces environmental and sustainability measures far beyond those required by Vietnam's laws. Intel didn't have to go to these lengths, but the motivation for these measures is simple, said the complex's general manager: "It turns out, what's good for the environment is also good for business."
Skyscrapers Designed To Make You Happy If You Work In Them
The definition of what it means to be sustainable in the 21st century needs to be broadened to include a skyscraper's ability to sustain the human spirit, says a design director at Gensler. Imagine energy efficient towers whose walls might slide open, allowing office workers to step outside, into the sky, for a breath of fresh air. Towers where seasonal gardens grow vertically and where friends might meet by a kumquat tree on the 68th floor for a cup of coffee on a beautiful spring day.
Start-Up Wins $630,000 for Making Bio-Plastic Out of Greenhouse Gas
A young start-up called Mango Materials has won a Green Challenge prize of $630,000 for its plan to use bacteria to turn the most abundant organic compound on earth, methane, into a biodegradable material that would be a low cost substitute for plastic.
Postal Service Reduces Energy Use by 26%
Since 2003, the United States Postal Service has reduced its energy use by 26 percent. Energy efficiency improvements at the USPS's 33,000 buildings have saved enough energy to meet the power needs of 90,000 households for a year. In 2011, alone, the USPS saved $22 million with its 1 trillion BTU reduction in energy use.
China Airline Hails First Flight Powered by Discarded Cooking Oil
In a milestone Saturday for sustainable aviation, China became the latest nation to transport passengers on a commercial airline flight powered by used cooking oil.
Higgs Boson Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Physics
Two theoretical physicists who suggested that an invisible ocean of energy suffusing space is responsible for the mass and diversity of the particles in the universe won the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday morning. The theory, elucidated in 1964 by Peter Higgs, 84, of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and François Englert, 80, of the University Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, sent physicists on a generation-long search for the Higgs boson (also referred to as the God particle).
Students and Post-it Notes Help Schools Cut Their Energy Bills
Simple yellow Post-it notes with the message "When not in use, turn off the juice," pointedly left on classroom computers, printers and air-conditioners, have helped New York public schools save $350,000 annually on utility bills. Other ideas have also achieved greater and greater energy savings.
Londoners Earn Rewards for Recycling and Being More Physically Active
Would you bike to work or recycle more often if it meant you got free stuff at stores? Recyclebank offers rewards for recycling, and gives London commuters fresh incentives to walk or ride. Recyclebank has reached millions of people with its environmental social platform, awarding points that can be exchanged for deals and discounts at nearby stores.
Thriving North American Start-up Turns Trash into Source of Power
An powerhouse alternative energy start-up is transforming the way North America manages organic materials, turning food and animal waste into renewable energy and other useful products at its plants in British Columbia, Ontario, California and throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Northeastern states.
Oslo Turns Food Waste into Fuel for Buses
A plant in Oslo, Norway began converting household food waste into liquid biogas last week, enough fuel to run a clean fleet of 135 city buses. As a result, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will be reduced by some 10,000 tons each year, and particulate matter cut as well.
Paris Restaurants Turn Food Scraps into Biogas
A group of Paris restaurants is turning food scraps into biogas and compost ahead of a new law that will force thousands of French food outlets to recycle their organic waste.
Swedish Energy Company Offers Light Therapy in Bus Shelters
To help combat the mild depression commuters may experience when the sun only rises for five hours per day in one northern Swedish town, a local energy company has installed ultra-violet lamps at about 30 bus stops.
GM Teams Up With Hawaii to Push Hydrogen Cars
With the new Hawaii Hydrogen Initiative, that state may be the first in the US to successfully build a fueling infrastructure that will support thousands of hydrogen fuel cell cars. expected to come on the market in 2015.
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A Heartfelt Reminder to Appreciate the Ones We Love
Cherish the Woman Who Stands by You
Breaking Generational Cycles of Pain
Living by Your Own Values, Not Others' Approval
When Life Brings Rain, It’s Okay to Rest
Before You Judge Someone's Life, Take a Moment to Walk in Their Shoes.
A Friend Who Spreads Gossip is Not a True Friend at All
The Value of Human Connection Over Digital Convenience
The Quiet Kind of Love
One Day, Your Mom Won’t Call You Anymore
I’ve reached a point in my life...
Happiness is a mindset, a conscious choice we make every day