InCharge Battery Station

The Greener Gadgets Design Competition is on in anticipation of Greener Gadgets Conference to be held in New York City on February 25. You can make your voice heard by voting for the gadget you find more eco-friendly.

Consider, for instance, the BuLogics Smart Grid Home Controller. It’s billed as the world’s first smart grid-compatible wireless controller. By installing the Z-Wave HAN in your home, you can automatically shut down appliances and electronics that are not being used during peak electricity demand times. This occurs when your local utility grid sends a demand change request and allows you to reduce your monthly power costs. You can also monitor how much you’re using and saving using a wireless computer or cell phone. It’s a great way to really get a handle on when and how much energy you use in order to save power as much as possible.

Another option is the InCharge Battery Station by Pensa. We all know that using rechargeable batteries is not only cost-effective, it’s more environmentally-friendly than disposable batteries. But it can be a pain to plug in the charger and hook up the batteries. With the InCharge Battery Station, simply drop the batteries into the base—it automatically sorts them and begins charging. The LED light indicates the relative charge in each individual battery, holding charged batteries until you need them so that you always have batteries at the ready.

And if you want to produce your own power to charge your electronic devices, check out the RollerGen. As you cycle, the RollerGen will automatically charge two devices—cell phone, mp3 player, and so on—simultaneously. In fact, a 2-mile ride can charge a smartphone!

Or how about the Turbine Light? It’s a renewable energy harvesting device that doubles as a renewable energy system. As the wind turns the turbine, energy is created, which can be used to power the lighting at night. The wind is generated by weather or by passing vehicles.

So don’t miss out on your opportunity to vote for the greenest gadget (deadline February 25)!

RollerGen bicycle powering device

Turbine Light

Obama administration recently announced a new clean energy REDI program

The Obama administration announced a new program on December 14: The Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative (REDI), which will offer $350 million in funds to accelerate the development of clean energy technologies. As both a domestic and global initiative, some of the funds ($85 million) will go into a joint coffer (supported by other countries such as Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, the UK, and France) to be used to develop and deploy clean energy tech around the world.

The program will operate in several industries, including advanced vehicles, bioenergy, building and industrial efficiencies, smart grid technologies, carbon capture, high-efficiency coal,  and of course, solar, wind, and marine energy. The official REDI website outlines the following programs that will receive this funding:

• The Solar and LED Energy Access Program will accelerate deployment of affordable solar home systems and LED lanterns to those without access to electricity.  This program will yield immediate economic and public health benefits by providing households with low-cost and quality-assured solar alternatives to expensive and polluting kerosene.
• The Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment Program will harness the market and convening power of MEF countries to improve efficiency for appliances traded throughout the world.  A number of MEF countries have implemented, or are exploring, incentive programs for energy-efficient appliances. Coordinating incentives, standards and labeling systems can create unprecedented economies of scale for these appliances.

• The Clean Energy Information Platform will establish an online platform for MEF countries to exchange technical resources, policy experience and the infrastructure to coordinate various activities in deploying clean energy technologies, and share this information with the world.

• The Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program (S-REP), under the World Bank’s Strategic Climate Fund, will provide policy support and technical assistance to low-income countries developing national renewable energy strategies and underwrite additional capital costs associated with renewable energy investments.  Funding through Climate REDI will accelerate the launch of S-REP.

Further, it states that REDI will use the following tools to disseminate the new technologies:

1. Quality assurance to guard developing country consumers against sub-standard renewable energy products;
2. Minimum efficiency standards to remove the lowest efficiency appliances from the market;
3. Labeling to guide consumers to quality-assured and high-efficiency products;
4. Financing for scale up of early-stage low-carbon products, to bring down costs and remove barriers to deployment and to catalyze investment by the private sector;
5. Information sharing that enables all energy stakeholders to access state-of-the art information on technology and best practices.

Sopogy, a company specializing in solar technologies for industrial, commercial, and utility sectors on a smaller scale, has recently introduced their new Sopogy® “SopoFlare™” and it’s pretty cool. This scaled-down version of a concentrating solar power system (CSP) using parabolic designs is the first commercially available concentrating system designed for rooftops.

Using the parabolic structure of the concentrating solar system, this new MicroCSP can be used to provide a building with a variety of services, including air conditioning, drying, dehumidification, desalination, steam, and hot water.  It’s both lightweight and more rugged (so they say) than traditional solar PV systems, making it simple and easy to mount and fasten to almost any rooftop. It is then integrated into existing natural gas systems.

Sopogy has a proprietary integrated tracker technology to boost its efficiency and has priced the new system 30% cheaper than other rooftop solar technologies (such as solar photovoltaics, according to the company). They also tout a 3-year payback on the system when energy savings are taken into consideration.

“Sopogy has incorporated our unique frame, ready-to-assemble manufacturing and automated controls into a new compact product designed for rooftop installation. This brings concentrating solar power to the commercial and industrial facility in a cost effective, space efficient and contractor friendly solution. All combined our customers receive the fastest paybacks available in solar helping them save money and fight global warming” – Darren T. Kimura, President and CEO, Sopogy, Inc.

Sopogy MicroCSP

Wind turbine Via Flickr - greenforall.org

Many have argued that switching to a renewable energy structure in the short term would really put the economy on the rocks. But a new report put out by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) called Working for the Climate shows that moving to a renewable energy economy while phasing out dirty energies like coal would create 2.7 million new jobs!

Perhaps more surprising than the statistics pointing to new jobs with a renewable energy push (are we surprised?) is the conclusion that continuing with business as usual could actually lead to additional job losses.

We found that under the Energy [R]evolution scenario, there would be an overall increase of around 2 million power sector jobs over 20 years. But if we carry on without measures to make the shift to clean energy, we will see sector-wide job losses – half a million energy supply jobs would disappear between 2010 and 2030.

As one way of proving the stability of the renewable sector, they cite these statistics:

According to the UNEP Report “Global Trends in sustainable Energy Investment 2009”, investment in the sustainable energy market has in some ways defied the global recession growing by around 5%—from  $148 billion in 2007 to around $155 billion in 2008.

These kinds of reports fly in the fact of clean energy deniers who purport that injecting funds into renewable energy will destabilize the economy even more than it already was. In fact, those who have claimed that for every green job created two jobs will be lost, the NREL has this to say:

The analysis by the authors from King Juan Carlos University represents a significant divergence from traditional methodologies used to estimate employment impacts from renewable energy. In fact, the methodology does not reflect an employment impact analysis. Accordingly, the primary conclusion made by the authors – policy support of renewable energy results in net jobs losses – is not supported by their work.

In combination with emissions-savings projects, such as improving building efficiencies and planting forests, the renewable energy sector has tremendous potential to re-employ America and get the country thriving again. And healthier in the process.

Installing solar PV panels Via Flickr - bkusler

Recycling pick-up Via Flickr - vict0r ram0s

Brown Station Road Sanitaroy Landfill Via Flickr - Steve Snodgrass

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Stimulus Bill, as it is commonly known) now includes consumer rebates for ENERGY STAR qualified appliances. Much like the Cash for Clunkers program, this green stimulus program will encourage consumers to trade their old, inefficient appliances in for newer, more energy-saving models. Appliances that will be included in the program are as follows:

• central air conditioners
• heat pumps (air source and geothermal)
• boilers
• furnaces (oil and gas)
• room air conditioners
• clothes washers
• dishwashers
• refrigerators/freezers
• water heaters

The program will be rolled out fully this fall (October 15, 2009) by the Obama administration and will involve $300 million that will be doled out to states that will then devise their own incentive programs for their residents. Rebates for upgrading to more efficient appliances will range anywhere between $50 and $200. It is unknown yet whether these incentives will be made available retroactively for previous purchases.

People are calling this a much-needed shot-in-the-arm for the appliance industry in the US since sales for that sector have flagged over the past year. Business Week put it this way:

The money can’t come soon enough for the home appliance industry, which is mired in an unprecedented sales slump that began when the housing market cooled in 2006. Since then that slump has worsened considerably. Shipments of washers, dryers, refrigerators, and ovens dropped 10% in 2008 and are down 15% through July, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.

According to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, if every California household upgraded to ENERGY STAR appliances with the rebate program, it would result in utility savings upwards of $1.2 billion annually.

WEEE Man in Cornwall Via Flickr - law_keven

Appliance Recycling in Leiston Via Flickr - Adam Tinworth

Air conditioner Via Flickr - jeffk

Americans spend an enormous amount of money on cooling their homes every year. To be precise, air conditioners consume more energy than any other appliance in the average American home, accounting for about 16 percent of residential electricity use annually. Finding ways to reduce your cooling energy consumption is therefore a great way to cut energy bills and reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, too.

Go AC Green’s Cool-N-Save can purportedly cut your air conditioning bill down by 30 percent and has been featured on sites like Treehugger and shows like Living with Ed. It works by adding mist to the air. Here’s how they describe the process:

Hot air from the condenser unit’s fan raises the flap on the patented Cool-n-Save™ control valve allowing water to flow to the misters that surround the AC unit. When the ultra-fine mist is released into the air, it evaporates almost instantly creating what is known as a “Flash Evaporation,” which literally sucks heat out of the air as water absorbs the energy it needs to evaporate. The result of the immediate evaporation constitutes a substantial drop in ambient temperature without wetness—up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

The patented system is supposed to install without tools in five minutes to virtually any regular home air conditioning system. The system can be purchased for about $100, although you may have to also purchase the Cool-N-Save Water Expansion Kit if you have a larger condenser (in excess of 3.5 tons) for an additional $15. Filters are also available to ensure there’s no build-up from hard water.

Starting today, Europeans will have a near impossible time finding incandescent light bulbs in the local grocery, drug store, or home improvement store. That’s because today is the day the European Union put their incandescent light bulb ban into action. Although retailers are permitted to sell what remaining incandescent bulbs they have in stock until they’re all gone, they are no longer to purchase incandescents to put on sale in their stores. read more +