Author: dhiram

You probably have had your battery-powered remote-controlled monster truck drive up your street before. Well, some kids in the Long Beach area built their own toy emote-control vehicles and had them go solar powered instead, and lined them up for a race amidst cheers and applause at the Good Neighbor Park. The 5th District Solar and Sustainability Task Force and Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske came up with the idea of this race. These kids racked their brains and built the cars themselves, with parts and material provided.

Styrofoam, wood, plastic and aluminum cars with solar panels and motors were flagged off. Though the weather looked dull, and the sun tried to disappoint the crowd by hiding away behind the clouds, most of these cars crossed the finish line. Some of them didn’t manage to compete though. Wouldn’t it be nice to see Michael Schumacher drive a solar powered Ferrari?

Electricity grids of the future will see an overhaul in the way they work and function. The process by which electricity is transferred to our homes will soon see a change; future electricity grids will be smarter, save costs and reduce pollution levels too. Appliances in future will also turn off in time to save up energy. Renewable energy will satisfy around 20% of needs, using solar power and wind power.

Besides this, homes with solar panels will also be connected to the grid, to distribute additional energy produced. Smarter appliances connected to these future smart grids will automatically turn on and operate at times when the electricity cost is low. So, having your washing machine turn on automatically at midnight will not be so surprising at all. Smart meters will also charge different electricity rates depending on the time of the day. With grids like these, cities will save up astronomical amounts of energy and costs in future.

[Physorg]

The GM electric battery testing lab is bound to swell up soon, thanks to the company’s $8 million investment. The Global Battery Systems Lab is currently the largest battery testing factory for automobiles in US. A new structure will be built, increasing space from 30,000 square feet to 63,000 square feet. This testing unit will help increase the development of the electric vehicle sector. The facility will also be used to develop technology for use in long range vehicles.

The 1,000 engineers who currently work in the facility will have more hands to work soon since the new facility will require more man-power too. GM is undeniably working towards having more of those clean and green vehicles on our streets soon.

[Inhabitat]

You probably have heard of the tallest building in New York going green. The Empire State Building, with a $500 million renovation, will stand tall with a newly found pride and soon loom greener in the New York skyline. To help power up, the building will have its 6,500 windows retrofitted with an insulating glass. This insulation film developed by Southwall, traps and blocks the suns heat owing to the increased number of cavities within the double glazed windows.

This will help reduce the buildings energy consumption by a sweet 38% annually, saving up $4.4 million in energy bills. The energy saved will be due to a reduced use of cooling systems in the building. Besides this, tenants are also required to change floor plans to use more natural light. The Empire State Building will be a gigantic example to skyscrapers around, to go green.

[BusinessGreen]

You probably haven’t realized it, but moving your lawn does pollute air. They cause 5-10% of USA’s air pollution, due to petrol use. Petrol powered lawn movers also consume 2.2 billion liters of petrol annually. So to save up on energy, Colorado based Clean Air Lawn Care is using electric lawn movers, powered by solar panels. These solar powered lawn movers help the company save up around USD $10,000 annually on petrol, spending less than USD $500 to charge them up with. The company claims to have avoided 34 tons of air pollution in 2009.

[Image for representation only]

The next time you decide to move your lawn, give it a thought, and use an electric solar powered machine instead, and save up on your bucks while keeping the air clean.

[Energy Matters]