CleanTechnica

Just on the heels of Apple’s Smart Home Energy Management System, Apple has gone and filed for a patent to reinvent their ubiquitous iPod line using solar cell technology.

Transparent, or semi-transparent, solar panels would partially cover the device. If one or more of the solar cells are obstructed from light, other panels on the device will kick in to ensure a constant source of power. The device also have a standard battery in times of complete darkness. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple has filed for two patents using powerline networking and the HomePlug standard so that users can manage the energy consumption of their home electronics.

While other companies–Google and Microsoft–are focusing on a whole-home solution, Apple’s patent focuses on the consumption by gadgets and computers. The device would make every power outlet in your home a conduit for audio, video and data. Goodbye wifi dead-spots! Any device could have access to high speed internet.

A hardware device would control the amount of power used by the various electronics within a household. Using the HomePlug Powerline Alliance’s communications protocol, devices would share data over a building’s existing wiring. Outlets and junction boxes would also have power-enabled data ports.

Read the rest of this entry »

NASA has announced a plan to develop next-gen intelligent, automated monitoring systems for both offices and research environments.

Collaborating with Integrated Building Solutions (IBS), the system will enhance energy efficiency, reduce consumption and provide a more comfortable workspace. The system will be tested at NASA’s Sustainability Base after its completion in 2010. The base is being built at the Ames Research Center.

Read the rest of this entry »

New Energy Technologies–who introduced us to harvesting energy from roadways–has developed transparent solar cells which can be sprayed onto any glass surface.

How? They successfully removed all metals from the solar cell. A huge challenge as the metal component in the cells act as a negative ‘polar contact.’ And they replaced those metals with an eco-friendly compound: one you can see through!

Read the rest of this entry »

According to a new study, solar-powered irrigation systems have significantly enhanced both the household incomes and the nutritional intake of villagers in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Significant fractions of sub-Saharan Africa’s population are considered food insecure,” wrote Jennifer Burney, a scholar with the Program on Food Security and the Environment and the Department of Environmental Earth System Science at Stanford. “They frequently survive on less than $1 per person per day, and … they still spend 50 to 80 percent of their income on food”

The two-year study found the pumps installed in the West African nation of Benin were a cost effective way to deliver water, especially during the dry season. Only 4-percent of the cropland in sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated, most communities rely on rain-fed agriculture. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s an odd week for fuel sources. On the heels of a Mountain Dew powered engine, UK supermarket Tesco is getting flack for turning meat into energy–yah, you read that right.

The food chain is burning 5,000 tons of inedible meat for fuel. The biomass processing is being handled by the Cheshire-based PDM Group. The meat-energy is then used to power UK homes via the National Grid.

In fact, Tesco says they dispose of enough old meat to power 600 homes a year! Read the rest of this entry »