Come See the GreenHouse Gas Emissions With Google LatLong

GHG Emissions.
From dedicated scientists, governing bodies, media and everyday folks like us will be able to visualize how CHG emissions by industrialized nations.
The map takes one through from global view down to individual country level, and also different CHGs like CO2, CH4 etc.
One of the best visualization tools that I have seen a while.
The informative map was created by United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) in collaboration with several Googlers.

Google LatLong: Visualizing greenhouse gas emissions

Tags: Green house gas, CHG, CO2, CH4, UNFCCC, Google

Finger Paint Protest By Green Peace At HP Head Quarters In Protest Over "Hazardous Products" In HP Products.

After protesting at HP Offices in China and The Netherlands (Holland), the Green Peace have come to Bay area to protest over Hewlett Packard's backtracking on it's promise to eliminate "Hazardous Products" from it's production line.

Amsterdam, International — A Greenpeace action in the US today exposed Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) continuing contribution to the toxic electronic waste crisis. The peaceful protest is in response to HP backtracking on its commitments to phase out toxic chemicals from its products by the end of this year (1).

In California, USA, employees at the computer giant’s global headquarters were greeted with the message ‘HP = Hazardous Products’, painted on the roof in large yellow letters and automated phone calls from actor William Shatner, calling upon the company to phase out the toxic chemicals. This protest follows similar demonstrations against HP at its offices in China and Holland highlighting the continued presence of toxic chemicals in HP products.

Earlier this year, HP postponed its 2007 commitment to phase out dangerous substances such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic(2) from their computer products (excluding their server and printer lines) from 2009 to 2011.

“It’s shameful that HP is continuing to put hazardous products on the market, despite the promises it had made,” said Casey Harrell, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner. “Instead of going back on its commitments, HP should be following the lead of companies like Apple, which has led the sector in phasing out these toxic chemicals.”

Apple’s new computer lines, virtually free of PVC and completely BFR-free(4), demonstrate the technical feasibility and supply-chain readiness of producing alternatives to these hazardous substances. HP’s competitors, Dell, Lenovo and Acer have also stayed ahead of HP, putting models on the market that are free of, or at least significantly reduced in their use of, PVC and BFRs. HP now stands 14th on the quarterly Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics(3), having been penalised in the previous edition for backtracking on its PVC/BFR phase out.

“Greenpeace will continue to expose those companies who fail to implement their environmentally responsible commitments,” said Harrell. “As the number one seller of PCs worldwide(5), HP has both the responsibility and the ability to provide environmental responsibility and leadership.”
GreenPeace

Tags: Greenpeace, Hewlett-Packard, HP, HP Hazardous Products

City of Los Angeles and the Provincial Government of Jiangsu, China, Come Together To Promote Solar Energy.

The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) held a meeting of minds of solar industry leaders, policy, and solar technology researchers from Jiangsu province, China and California, The solar State of the USA. The summit brought together the largest ever delegation of Chinese solar industry representatives and the U.S. Representatives from such companies as, Canadian Solar Inc., Suntech, Best Solar, and Trina, were in attendance.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the City of Los Angeles and Jiangsu province of China was also signed at the summit. The City of Los Angeles and Jiangsu province agreed to further bilateral cooperation in the solar energy sector between the two political entities. This MOU is the first of its kind between the U.S. and China, bringing together two of the world’s largest energy consumers as well as Solar energy related manufactureres.
Following is the press release of the event;

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ACORE Contact: Jing Su

su@acore.org

(202) 393-0001 x7548

City of Los Angeles and the Provincial Government of Jiangsu, China, Announce Relationship to Promote Solar Technology Development

American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) Fosters This International Cooperation Through Its US-China Program

July 16, 2009—Today, the City of Los Angeles and the Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Jiangsu Provincial Government of the People’s Republic of China entered into an agreement focused on the promotion, expansion, and development of solar energy technology in both regions through new cooperative initiatives.

The new relationship will be inaugurated at the US-Jiangsu China Solar Business Summit 2009, to be held on July 17^th at the USC Davidson Executive Conference Center,

3415 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles. The event will host the largest Chinese solar delegation to visit the United States, comprised of top executives from twenty-five leading Jiangsu solar companies. Researchers and entrepreneurs from a number of prominent U.S. solar companies will also be in attendance.

Organized with the assistance of the Washington D.C.-based American Council On Renewable Energy, the Summit will facilitate an exchange of information on solar technology and respective market access and conditions in Jiangsu and Southern California, encourage researchers and entrepreneurs to exchange their expertise and the innovations required for a thriving solar technology sector in both regions, and promote dialogue on business expansion in solar technology and manufacturing between regions. “ACORE recognizes that the climate challenges we face are global challenges and will require global solutions,” said Michael Eckhart, President of ACORE. “Our US-China Program was created to build new collaborations between our two countries and to encourage the deployment of solar and other renewable technology as a real answer to the growing global demand for energy.”

“Because the City of Los Angeles plans to eliminate the use of coal-fired power plants and generate 40 percent of the city's electricity from renewable resources-- including 1,280 MW of solar power--by 2020, we felt this kind of knowledge exchange was particularly useful,” said David Freeman, the Deputy Mayor of Energy and Environment.

Jiangsu Province is known worldwide as an innovative leader in solar technology development, operates over 500 solar companies, and has exported $6.5 billion in photovoltaic products to the world market. “We believe that both Jiangsu and Los Angeles need an aggressive renewable energy development strategy to strengthen our economic futures and to encourage the growth of clean technology in both countries,” said Shaoyun Fei, Deputy Director General of Department of Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation of Jiangsu Province (DOFTEC).

Speakers at the one-day Summit will include: Linda Adams, Secretary, Cal EPA; Cecilia Aguillon, Board Member, CalSEIA; Feng An, Founder, President and Executive Director,

Innovation Center for Energy & Transportation; Michael Eckhart, President, American Council On Renewable Energy; Shaoyun Fei, Deputy Director General, Department of Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation of Jiangsu Province; David Freeman, Deputy Mayor of Energy and Environment,City of Los Angeles; Polly Shaw, Director of External Relationship, Suntech; Terry Tamminen, Former Chief Policy Advisor to the Governor, State of California; and Huijuan Xu, Chair, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Wuxi Branch.

More information can be found at: http://www.jiangsu-us.com/home/index.html

About ACORE

ACORE, a 501(c)(3) membership nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to bringing renewable energy into the mainstream of the US economy and lifestyle through research and communications programs and membership committees. ACORE’s membership works in all sectors of the renewable energy industries including wind power, solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower,ocean energy, biomass, biofuels, and waste energy. ACORE provides a common platform for the wide range of interests in the renewable energy community including end users, technology companies,manufacturers, utilities, professional service firms, financial institutions, colleges and universities, associations, nonprofit organizations and government agencies. ACORE serves as a forum through which these parties work together on common interests. ACORE co-organizes the REFF-Wall Street and REFF-West Finance Conferences, the RETECH All-Renewable Energy Conference & Exhibition, the Phase II National Policy Forum in Washington, DC, and hosts both domestic and global policy events furthering the mission of renewable energy. Additional information is available at www.acore.org.

About ACORE’s US-China Program

To strengthen renewable energy deployment efforts in China and the US, ACORE facilitates cooperation by linking policymakers and renewable energy enterprises across the Pacific. ACORE’s US-China Program (USCP) provides a platform for businesses to interact with one another and pursue collaboration. Additionally, USCP convenes government leaders to forge the policy tools that will drive forward the scale-up of renewable energy in the United States and China. More information about the ACORE US-China Program can be found at www.acorechina.org

.

Tags: American Council On Renewable Energy, Acore, Provincial Government of Jiangsu, City of Los Angeles, solar delegation, DOFTEC

Solar Impulse HB-SIA, 100% Solar Powered Airplane Gets Ready To Take Off

Solar Impulse HB-SIA, the world’s first aircraft designed to fly around the clock completely with solar power was unveiled last week in Switzerland.
Four elecric motors will power this air plane and the motors get their juice from an array of lithium polymer battery cells which are charged by the high efficiency solar cells on the wings and stabilizer. The cells can turn about 22% of the total solar energy falling on the cell into electricity. These four solar powered electric motors produce power equivalent to a small motor scooter or the Wright brothers’ first air plane engine. I am really amazed as a Solar Energy buff and and an Air Plane buff. What a long way since Wright Brothers!
Omega, which designed the instrumentation panel for Concord was the creator of the instrumentation panel for the Solar Impulse HB-SIA.

Solar Impulse HB-SIA,
Images from Computerweek

Tags: Solar Impulse HB-SIA, Solar powerd air plane, HIT solar cell, high efficiency solar cells, omega instrumentation

Sharp Corp's Solar Powered Cell Phone

Sharp Corp has produced a solar powerd cell phone Solar Phone SH002 fro KDDI of Japan. The phone was released as a part of KDDI's summer 2009 line up.
Sharp Corp's "Solar Phone SH002" | VOIP IP Telephony
Tags: Solar Phone SH002, Nikkei Electronics Teardown Squad, KDDI Corp, Sharp

Tags: Solar Phone SH002, Nikkei Electronics Teardown Squad, KDDI Corp, Sharp

Powering The Internet

There was too much talk about how much energy is used (wasted) using google search engine. Of course everyone wanted to use the internet without having to spend any energy. SO google has written a very nice article on the subject and now you know where to save energy for your Google Searches.
The table below computes average daily events in terms of Google Searches.

Activity	Google Searches
CO2 emissions of an average daily newspaper (PDF) (100% recycled paper)	850
A glass of orange juice	1,050
One load of dishes in an EnergyStar dishwasher (PDF)	5,100
A five mile trip in the average U.S. automobile	10,000
A cheeseburger	15,000
Electricity consumed by the average U.S. household in one month	3,100,000

Official Google Blog: Energy and the Internet

Tags: google search, internet, alternative energy, green internet

Happy EarthDay 2009

Call the Capitol switchboard at 202 224-3121 and tell your member of Congress to support the Markey climate bill
Get involved at Earth Day Network and make everyday an Earthday!
Earthrise

Fast forward to 2:00 mark to see earth rise in HD

Tags: Earthday, Markey climate bill, earthrise in HD

200MPG With Segway / GM Puma

Travel up to 35MPH and getting about 200MPG in a secure and well balanced vehicle on two wheels! (It has two tiny wheels in front and another in the back in case the balancing mechanism fails.
If you have seen those Segway i2 PT, ride abouts (I rode one at Angel Island!) and once you get used to it, it is zippy!

Tags: Segway, GM, fuel efficiency, Segway / GM Puma

Give An hour for the Earth

Earth hour
People from all over the world, who has electricity (There are people without such amenities, you Know) will turn off lights for one hour tomorrow. Just to show the awareness to enery conservation and the troubles our earth is facing. Earthhour 2008 was a success and a lot of people had positive outlook on the results and the process. Even Google went Black.
But I am sure we would have saved much more on a weekday but loose a lot in these economically hard times. But a Weekend is still fine and it will be easier for you to turn off lights and for for awalk or bike ride with the family.
So think of our earth, think of people, and turn the lights off for an hour. You can watch the progress before and after that hour, how our fellow citizens do at Earthhour.org

Official Google Blog: An hour for the Earth

Tags: Earth Hour, Earthhour

Have A Carbon Neutral Holiday In Maldives.

Have a Carbon Neutral Future in Maldives, Yes the country most threatened by global warming, (facing the possibility of disappearing under water as the sea level rises) has declared that it is going to be carbon neutral within a decade.
The guardian posted that the president of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, will unearth his plans to try and save his country today.
"The president will formally announce the scheme - and make a plea for other countries to follow the Maldives' lead - this evening, following the world premiere of The Age of Stupid, a major new climate change film in which a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055 looks at old footage from 2008 and asks why people didn't stop climate change when they had the chance."
In the Maldives case, the man might be on a boat.
Guardian

Tags: Carbon Neutrality, Maldives.Carbon Neutral future

Saving The Planet With Your Computers Power Switch.

I have a few computers running at the same time and yes some of them could not be powered down and some could. Like my notebook had "do nothing" when the lid is closed ;( . But I have changed over the years.
The computers that run all the time have become better by using power efficient components. For an example, one computer that provided DNS and Simple web services have gone down from 400 Watt to 60 Watt and being better in processor, memory and storage (Now uses flash drive). My notebook, whch is more powerfull than most desktops, now hibernates the moment the lid is closed or been left unattended and not being used for more than 5 minutes. Yes little things like this can save our planet and we should kick ourselves, for not doing it earlier.
But there are thousands of other small things that we could do to help and save our planet.

You can pay a visit to Google co-founded Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) to learn about promoting a smarter, greener computing future. Simple things I mentioned and many more around the house can help to reach the goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 54 million tons per year by 2010 — the equivalent of taking 11 million cars off the road.

So Google blog posted about the following contest, go join and help to powerdown the planet.
"The biggest obstacle we face is not technological, it's awareness. That's why we're excited that CSCI has launched the Power Down for the Planet video contest, a challenge to you and your friends to develop original and creative videos that educate, entertain, and inform others about the importance of energy efficient computing."


Official Google Blog: Power down for the planet

Tags: Climate Savers Computing Initiative, CSCI, save our planet, Power Down for the Planet

Low Cost Solar Cells From Unconventional Material Is The Key To Solar Future

When we think about solar cells we tend to think about silicon and other semi conductor based instruments that translate in to high cost. But the adaptation of solar power as a major component of making our earth a better place and to combat climate change is forcing us to look in to better and cheaper solar photovoltaics. That is exactly the information, what a group of researchers at the Energy and Resources Group and the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) released in a form of study.

The study states that these materials are abundant and could expand the use of solar cells as a significant source of low-carbon energy.

Following is an abstract of information released by University of Berkeley (A link to the article at the end of this post);

The work provides a roadmap for research into novel solar cell types precisely when the U. S. Department of Energy and other funders plan to expand their efforts to link new basic research to deployment efforts as part of a national effort to greatly expand the use of clean energy, according to Daniel Kammen, UC Berkeley professor of energy and resources and director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory.

“The reason we started looking at new materials is because people often assume solar will be the dominant energy source of the future,” said Wadia, a post-doctoral researcher who spearheaded the research. “Because the sun is the Earth’s most reliable and plentiful resource, solar definitely has that potential, but current solar technology may not get us there in a timeframe that is meaningful, if at all. It’s important to be optimistic, but when considering the practicalities of a solar-dominated energy system, we must turn our attention back to basic science research if we are to solve the problem.”

The most popular solar materials in use today are silicon and thin films made of CdTe (cadmium telluride) and CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide). While these materials have helped elevate solar to a major player in renewable energy markets, they are still limited by manufacturing challenges. Silicon is expensive to process and mass produce. Furthermore, it has become increasingly difficult to mine enough silicon to meet ever-growing consumer demand.

Thin films, while significantly less costly than silicon and easier to mass produce, would rapidly deplete our natural resources if these technologies were to scale to terawatt hours of annual manufacturing production. A terawatt hour is a billion kilowatt hours.

“We believe in a portfolio of technologies and therefore continue to support the commercial development of all photovoltaic technologies,” Kammen said. “Yet, what we’ve found is that some leading thin films may be difficult to scale as high as global electricity consumption.”
“It's not to say that these materials won't play a significant role,” Wadia added, “but rather, if our objective is to supply the majority of electricity in this way, we must quickly consider alternative materials that are Earth-abundant, non-toxic and cheap. These are the materials that can get us to our goals more rapidly.”

Finding an affordable electricity supply is essential for meeting basic human needs, Kammen said, yet 30 percent of the world’s population remains without reliable or sufficient electrical energy. Scientific forecasts predict that to meet the world’s energy demands by 2050, global carbon emissions would have to grow to levels of irreversible consequences.

"As the U.S. envisions a clean energy future consistent with the vision outlined by President Obama, it is exciting that the range of promising solar cell materials is expanding, ideally just as a national renewable energy strategy takes shape," said Kammen, who is co-director of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment and UC Berkeley's Class of 1935 Distinguished Chair of Energy.

The study by Wadia, Kammen and Alivisatos, available online at http://pubs.acs.org, will appear in the March print issue of Environmental Science & Technology. Wadia will discuss the report on April 14 at the upcoming spring meeting of the Materials Research Society, to be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The work was supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Foundation, the Karsten Family Foundation Endowment of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory and the Class of 1935.

Cheaper materials could be key to low-cost solar cells

Tags: Solar Cell Research, Materials Research Society, EPA, UC Berkeley, photovoltaic technologies, CdTe, cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium selenide, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, EPA, DOE, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Rinspeed iChange, Shape Shifting iPhone Controlled Electric Car

Jalopnik has a report on a new concept electric car by Rinspeed that is shape shifting as in converting from single seater to three seater with a single button, or an icon on the iPhone!. The 0-62 MPH in four seconds car is a total electric car and except the driving portion, everything is controlled by an iPhone.
The car is powered by a stack of Lithium Ion batteries which comes in two configurations, short and long distance driving capabilities. The car is capable of reaching 137MPH with those batteries and who wants to go that fast? You might be able to see the car at Geneva Motor Show March 5-15th.
Jalopnik report

Tags: Rinspeed, iChange, Electric Car, iPhone

Cisco Energywire Makes Networked Devices Green

Cisco announced today that the Energywise, available across the entire Cisco Catalyst switching portfolio, is set to save energy used by networked devices in a massive scale. The networked devices are always on and consumes large chunks of energy from hidden clossets.
Cisco also provides you with a tool, green calculator, to estimate your potential savings with enegywise.

> Launch Calculator (Flash)
Cisco also acquired Richards-Zeta's intelligent middleware to provide simplified and cost-effective interoperability and integration between building infrastructure, IT applications and Cisco EnergyWise.

Following is a portion of the press release from Cisco on Energywise;

Everything Connected to the Network Can Be Greener with Cisco EnergyWise

Cross-Industry Effort Enables Companies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Across Entire Organization

BARCELONA Spain (Cisco Networkers 2009) - January 27, 2009 - Cisco today introduced the innovative Cisco EnergyWise technology for Cisco Catalyst® switches that measures, reports and reduces the energy consumption of Internet Protocol (IP) devices such as phones, laptops and access points. Cisco also announced industry partner solutions along with an intelligent middleware acquisition that will ultimately enable the management of power consumption for entire building systems such as lights, elevators, and air conditioning and heating.

Facts:

• Cisco EnergyWise was purpose-built in alignment with Cisco's vision of how networking technology can support a low-carbon economy, cut energy use and promote overall environmental sustainability.
• Cisco EnergyWise is part of the company's technology roadmap for changing the value-chain of information technology (IT) by placing the intelligent network squarely at the center of how companies reduce greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions across their entire organization.
• Cisco EnergyWise will roll out in three phases to improve IT and building system energy utilization:
• In the first phase (February 2009), Network Control, Cisco EnergyWise will be supported on Catalyst switches and manage the energy consumption of IP devices such as phones, video surveillance cameras and wireless access points.
• In the next phase (Summer 2009), IT Control, there will be expanded industry support of EnergyWise on devices such as personal computers (PCs), laptops and printers.
• In the final phase (Early 2010), Building Control, Cisco EnergyWise will be extended to the management of building system assets such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), elevators, lights, employee badge access systems, fire alarm systems and security systems.
• Cisco EnergyWise provides real-time, granular measurement capabilities to give chief information officers better visibility into energy savings across an entire organization as well as specific places in the network such as the campus, branch office and data center .
• Cisco EnergyWise supports currently deployed Catalyst switches worldwide with a free software upgrade and new Catalyst switches beginning in February 2009.
• Cisco is working with Schneider Electric for building utility management, SolarWinds for network monitoring, and Verdiem for monitoring PC power in order to extend EnergyWise as a platform for power management across IT and the building systems of an organization by early 2010.
• Cisco also announced the acquisition of Richards-Zeta's intelligent middleware to provide simplified and cost-effective interoperability and integration between building infrastructure, IT applications and Cisco EnergyWise.
• The new Cisco Green Business Value Calculator provides customers with projected cost and GhG emission-saving results from adopting Cisco EnergyWise and other green technologies such as Cisco TelePresence^TM, Cisco WebEx^TM and Cisco Unified Communications.
• Cisco also introduced adaptive power management functionality in the Cisco Wireless Control System to save power by enabling customers to turn off redundant radios during off hours.

Tags: Cisco EnergyWise, Cisco Catalyst® switches, IP devices, intelligent network, Richards-Zeta's

Google Takes You To Road Not Taken. (Energy Initiatives By President Jimmy Carter)

Google Travels Back To The Future, To Bring President Jimmy Carters Solar Panels From 1979!. This shows what a vision the former president had. Had we taken the roads introduced at that time, we would have been far ahead in saving the planet. Ten years later, my father installed our first solar water heater. I hope that all the solar panels that we install, live their life time.
This is what President Jimmy Carter said at the dedication of the Solar Water Heater Panels at the White House;
"This dependence on foreign sources of oil is of great concern to all of us. In the year 2000, this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people."
(To watch video of the dedication, check out this trailer for a movie about the panels).


You can find more information and photos from this Google Blog Post;
Official Google Blog: Back to the energy future

Tags: Solar Panels, Solar Water Heater Panels at the White House, solar water heater, energy conservation

We Got To Do This Someday Soon

Click to enlarge

Metric measurements has been staple of the whole world except us Americans. I learned hard way when I had to attend universities in Japan and Europe. But ever since I am stuck on metrics. I even sleep in metrics. But XKCD had put some humor on the subject with the following cartoon. If you did not know XKCD, think this as an initiation. I am sure you find in amusing!

Tags: Metric System, XXCD

Solar Powered Car From Toyota.

Either to bring itself up in this struggling financial world, Toyota is said to be planning, working on a solar powered car. I assume more like plugin electric car with Solar panel option! I can think of a flattened solar cell wrapped Prius.
The Nikkei newspaper, which published the news about this futuristic car, however, said it will be years before the planned vehicle will be available on the market. No one has been able to contact Toyota regarding the news.

Toyota is already using solar power at its Tsutsumi plant in central Japan to generate part of the electricity used by the plant. This small solar power will reduces 740 tons a year of carbon dioxide emissions and is equal to using 1,500 barrels of crude oil.

Another push that Toyota might receive in solar energy and battery related technology will be coming along when its partner in developing and producing hybrid batteries, Panasonic Corp., takes over Japanese rival Sanyo Electric Co.

Tags: Sanyo Electric, Panasonic, hybrid batteries, Nikkei newspaper, Toyota, Toyota Prius, carbon dioxide emissions, solar cell, Solar Powered Car

Happy Sunny 2009!

May the new year be full of energy! Think. Happy Sunny 2009!

Tags: 2009, empoweringsolar.com

BIPV, Integrated Solar Roofing Materials Atracts Manufacturers And Builders.

MIT Technology Review has published a very nice article on Integrated solar roofing material that will make life easier for home owners. A technology partnership have produced metal roofing system with integrated solar generator that generate 3 to 120 KW while being sturdy enough to withstand 160 miles per hour winds. Wind resistance and aesthetic problems of protruding solar panels have both been removed from the scene.
Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) are not new technologically but they are to the commercial arena and now more and more companies coming together to offer the services and materials.
But the article also mentions that BIPV is more popular and in demand in Europe. "There are very high incentives for BIPV in Italy and France." For instance, United Solar currently sells its solar laminates to a large asphalt-shingle manufacturer in Italy that supplies residential clients with solar shingles.
With the housing markets lying low and and builders looking for niches might find this interesting. Also solar tax credits that are set to expire in the USA, need to be reviewed and reinstated.
You can find the article here!
Integrated Solar Roofing Materials Attracks Manufacturers And Builders.

Tags: Integrated Solar Roofing, Building-integrated photovoltaics, BIPV

First Mass Produced Hybrid Plugin Electric Car Hit The Market

F3E

In China that is. While big auto makers are planing and designing the plugin vehicles, BYD Auto. a rechargeable cell phone battery manufacturer is selling a hybrid plugin in China,the car is known as F3DM is on sale for $22,000. The company has set sights in being the leader in fuel efficient auto production.
"Through the F3DM dual-mode electric vehicle, BYD will grab a head-start in the new energy automobile market," he said at the launch in the southern city of Shenzhen, according to Auto 18, an online platform for China's auto industry.
Should not be a hard task as even Warren Buffet got his hand in the company by investing and owning 9.9% of the company.
The company has not released much information on the vehicle itself but I found this information on their F3E;
The quality of the F3e assures excellent performance:The cost of electric power is only 1/3 of that of gasoline consumption;Top speed is over 150km/h;it takes less than 13.5s to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h;The maximum gradeability is more than 30%;The electric power consumption is less than 12kwh per 100km;The car can travel over 300km / per charge;Meanwhile, the battery's life-cycle is about 2000 times/ 600,000km for a complete vehicle.
BYD Press Release

Tags: hybrid Plugin auto, fuel efficiency, BYD, BYD F3DM, F3DM, F3e