green

It's a gas: Hydrogen cars rally in Canada

Biofuel. Hybrid cars. Electric cars. Hydrogen. Those are some of the bright ideas in the future of car tech. Many proponents of the hydrogen fuel cell gathered in Vancouver, Canada, recently to discuss their problems and the promises.

This video from that conference shows hydrogen cars on the road. Models from four manufacturers made a 150-mile round trip during the meeting. DaimlerChrysler predicts that by 2015 there'll be millions of hydrogen cars on the road. The company claims that's not just a lot of hot air.

The math on turning algae into fuel

Half Moon Bay, Calif--A number of companies have sketched out plans to convert algae into a feedstock for transportation fuel, but GreenFuel Technologies is farther along in bringing the concept to market than most.

And the Cambridge, Mass.-based company trotted out numbers at the Think Tomorrow Today conference sponsored by ThinkEquity Partners here (say that three times fast) to illuminate why the idea is getting so much attention.

First off, algae grows rapidly and grows constantly, which means that algae ponds can produce more oil per hectare in a year than traditional plant crops, said GreenFuel CFO Guillermo Espiga. … Read more

Tesla talks sedan prices, in case you missed it

If you want an all-electric sedan, start saving now.

Tesla Motors has more fully discussed its price goals for WhiteStar, an all-electric passenger sedan coming in late 2009 or 2010. The premium model will cost between $65,000 and $70,000, a company representative said, while the standard model will cost closer to $50,000.

The cars will differ by more than fancy seats. The company has said that the premium version will go from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than 6 seconds and go about 200 miles before needing a charge. The standard version will accelerate … Read more

Rule the swamp with a scary, solar-powered alligator

When I was a kid, my family put a life-size plastic owl near our house to keep birds and squirrels away from the porch. (At least, I think that's why they had a life-size plastic owl near our house.) Unfortunately, I don't think it worked all that well, because last I heard, the cat had mauled it and thrown it into the hedge. I suppose it really wasn't that scary.

Consequently, the next time I'm desperate to scare away animals, small children, or the IRS, I'm going to get one of these instead. Because this … Read more

Growing green friends

Many green products and services sprout on Earth Day only to wither the rest of the year. Hoping to maintain the momentum year-round, many geeks are nurturing social-networking sites for the nature-loving set.

Online communities built to help you take baby steps to green your life include Riverwired--where you can keep a blog, upload videos, and mingle with other members--and Be Green Now, a project of Green Mountain Energy. And in addition to the many green car-sharing, rental, and limo services out there, the new GoLoco site might help you find carpooling pals.

Internet services that encourage users to … Read more

Philips helps buyers pick green gadgets

Philips Electronics has come up with a new logo to help consumers identify environmentally friendly and safe products.

The new "Green Tick" logo will label gadgets with "significantly better energy efficiency than the nearest competitor products in the same category as well as having other environmental benefits such as the use of flame-retardant materials," the company said.

Products bearing the logo have been certified by external auditors as being 10 percent more energy-efficient than other products on the market within a given consumer electronics category, according to Philips.

Currently, 7 of Philips' flat TVs carry the … Read more

Headphones that worship the sun

The idea of solar-powered headphones is certainly a worthy one, but we're not sure how well products like this will fare in hotter climes. The "Soltronix Headphone Radio" looks a little bulky for summertime wear and, as we've noted many times in this space, we're morally opposed to anything that might draw perspiration.

And as Ubergizmo notes, plastic tends to warp and crack if left in the sun too long. But if they do hold up, this $50 headset can get 19 hours of playback time on a four-hour charge.

Just remember, unless you've … Read more

Back to the (post-war French) future

Alternative forms of eco-friendly personal transportation have been appearing on drawing boards and wacky-tech Web sites for quite some time now, and in most cases they don't actually gain much traction. And many are painfully awkward despite a seemingly 'streamlined,' 'futuristic' design (we're talking about you, Segway). So maybe it's time that personal-transportation visionaries actually looked to the past for inspiration.

Like this one, a new take on the classic VeloSolex motorized bicycle. The VeloSolex, according to oO's Very Eclectic, was originally introduced in 1946 as a low-cost transportation solution for post-war France. The funky little … Read more

Crave Podcast: How green is your PC?

Is your computer a little metal hippie or a horrible, belching mass of arsenic and lead? Only we in the Crave Podcast can decide, as self-appointed bastions of all that is environmentally good and true.

Other treats include the news that Digg has had its stoner-hacker users up in arms because it censored stories that linked to HD DVD encryption codes.

If that's not enough to tickle your turnip, we also take a look at Apple's new green image, pick apart the BBC iPlayer announcement and try our luck at staying upright on the gymnastically challenging BT Balance. … Read more