Vertical Vegetation
Someone needs to use these as pixels and make this wall display information!
More great buildings with vertical vegetation over at WebEcoist
green Category
First Augmented Reality Marketing Campaign
(apologies for the lowfi video quality!)
I’m not sure if this is the first augmented reality marketing campaign ever but it’s the first I’ve seen. The folks at GE obviously want a slice of the ’smart grid’ action. This campaign is super slick and has an incredible website. It’s worth checking out so follow the links below:
Eric Schmidt walks you through our energy future
Eric Schmidt speaks at the Natural Resources Defense Council event held at Google NYC. The topic of discussion for the evening was “Partnership for the Earth: Strategies and Solutions for Energy Security.
Eric’s speech was followed by a panel with Frances Beinecke, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Ralph Cavanaugh, co-director of NRDC’s energy program and Dan Reicher, Director, Climate Change and Energy Initiatives at Google.org.
Eric Schmidt on What’s Ahead at New America Foundation
Eric Schmidt / Google / energy / environment / green / solar / talks / videos / wind
November 19, 2008 0Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the New America Foundation, and a member of President-Elect Barack Obama’s Transition Economic Advisory Board, addressed a packed auditorium at the Ronald Reagan Building on Tuesday, November 18th.
Schmidt provided insight into the junction of technology and government, stressing that solid infrastructure is the key to an efficient and effective government, and using the internet as the model for how government should approach the current fiscal crisis facing our nation and the world. He also pressed the need for open networks and systems as a foundation for innovation.
The Google CEO also emphasized that engagement is the fundamental component in finding solutions to our countrys current economic woes, and used President-elect Obamas addresses on YouTube as an example of the way government should enlist modernization and embrace the voices of all as it contemplates solving the financial and social ills of our society.
Schmidt concluded that while there is no silver bullet, but he remains optimistic in our countrys future and its prosperity.
Cargo Ships: Now With Kites, Solar Sails, and Less Fail!
It’s fascinating to see environmental technologies advacing in places you wouldn’t expect to find them. Like cargo ships…
Solar Sails:
Ben Cubby writes:
Solar-powered sails the size of a jumbo jet’s wings will be fitted to cargo ships, after a Sydney renewable energy company signed a deal with China’s biggest shipping line.
The Chatswood-based Solar Sailor group has designed the sails, which can be retro-fitted to existing tankers.
The aluminium sails, 30 metres long and covered with photovolatic panels, harness the wind to cut fuel costs by between 20 and 40 per cent, and use the sun to meet five per cent of a ship’s energy needs.
China’s COSCO bulk carrier will fit the wings to a tanker ship and a bulker ship under a memorandum of understanding with the Australian company, which demonstrates the technology on a Sydney Harbour cruise boat.
“It’s hard to predict a time line but at some point in the future, I can see all ships using solar sails – it’s inevitable,” said the company’s chief executive, Dr Robert Dane.
Once fitted, the sails can pay for themselves in fuel savings within four years, Dr Dane said. They don’t require special training to operate, with a computer linked in to a ship’s existing navigation system, and sensors automatically angling the sails to catch a breeze and help vessels along.
The company is supported by NSW Government’s Australian Technology Showcase program.
“This is a breakthrough opportunity for Solar Sailor to play a leading role in the future of international shipping design during a period when rising fuel costs and environmental concerns have taken centre stage,” said the NSW Minister for Primary Industry, Ian Macdonald.
“This is a case of back to the future – back to the days of sailing ships but to the future in terms of high technology solar and wind sails operated by computer rather than sailcloth and rigging manned by crew.”
Sky Sails:
skysails.info:
It is a simple fact: wind is cheaper than oil and the most economic and environmentally sound source of energy on the high seas. And yet, shipping companies are not taking advantage of this attractive savings potential at present – for a simple reason: So far no sail system has been able to meet the requirements of today’s maritime shipping industry.
Now for the first time, SkySails is offering a wind propulsion system based on large towing kites, which meets all these requirements.
Depending on the prevailing wind conditions, a ship’s average annual fuel costs can be reduced by 10 to 35% by using the SkySails-System. Under optimal wind conditions, fuel consumption can temporarily be cut by up to 50%.
The first pilot systems are in operation on board of cargo vessels. Currently, SkySails is offering towing kite propulsion systems for cargo vessels with an effective load* of between 8 and 32 tons. The planned product program comprises towing kite propulsion systems with an effective load* of up to 130 tons.
Virtually all existing cargo vessels and new builds can be retro- or outfitted with the SkySails auxiliary wind propulsion system.
Fish trawlers and super yachts of over 30 meters in length can be retro- or outfitted with the SkySails auxiliary wind propulsion system as well.
[smh | solar sailor | skysails]
Pharos Green Labelling System
The Pharos Lens
Drawn from the lighthouse metaphor, the Pharos lens offers a point of reference. It signals and documents the environmental and social performance of products in the marketplace. The Pharos Label will accompany the lens and offer more information than any other green label in the market, including the ability to compare the actual ingredients and attributes of products that bear the label.Lens Description
The Lens is comprised of a series of wedges that are each assigned a different social or environmental issue. The number of current wedges was determined through a consensus process amongst the Pharos Project team reflecting their vision and expertise. The wedges are not arbitrarily capped at a certain number. This preliminary list of issues is meant to start the discussions on the Pharos Wiki.The overall intent of the tool will be to organize a vast amount of important environmental and social information into a format that is easily grasped by the consumer. Color is used to set the tool apart with shades of red, yellow, and green graphically showing relative performance on the scale.
Organized around the lens are a series of concentric circles creating the evaluation scale for any particular issue/wedge. The scales are not intended to be the same for each issue – in fact, each will have to reflect the particular set of issues that govern it.The wedges are grouped into three sectors that serve as organizing elements within the Pharos tool:
The lens demonstrates the ultimate complexity of material evaluations by highlighting all the issues at once showing that some products may do well in some categories, but poorly in others. It also allows for organizations and individuals to focus in on specific issues in more detail, or to consider a broad range of issues in its selection of materials.
Greener Cell Phone Lifecycle Concept
“LINC is leased to the user as a service, not a product.”
It’s like netflix but for cell phones. You hold onto it for a year then it gets shipped back to the factory to be disassembled. They send you a newer phone with the latest hardware.
[Read More | via Kitsune Noir]