In the home

Need some ideas on how to have a more eco-friendly lifestyle? Take a look at CNET's Living with Technology feature, which is focused on green tech this month.

The top story and photo gallery are about cars. With all the talk about electric cars like the Tesla Roadster and plug-in hybrids, you would think that the dealer lots are full of them. They're not.

But automakers, eager to appeal to consumers looking for more fuel-efficient cars, are pushing to make production plug-in hybrids available within two or three years. The dates are shifting as results from battery tests … Read more

M2E Power, a company formed last year to charge electronic gadgets with human motion, has reported back that its system actually works.

Next year it expects to release a charger that can harvest enough motion from walking to replenish cell phones or other small gadgets, like GPS devices.

It says that six hours of cumulative motion can add 30 to 60 minutes of talk time to a cell phone.

The idea is to place the charger inside a purse or backpack and let it charge in the background, said Regan Rowe, director of business development at the company. When fully … Read more

IKEA plans to pour $77 million into clean-technology start-ups within the next five years and could add "green" goods such as solar panels to its inventory, according to Cleantech Group.

The four-person, 50 million euro IKEA GreenTech fund has been operating for eight months, the report said. And it could invest in up to 10 fledgling companies in the next few years, perhaps first in Europe, where IKEA rings up about 82 percent of its sales.

Efforts to commercialize new and affordable green technologies within several years could lead to IKEA selling the resulting products among its growing … Read more

Is the nascent LED market already going through a consolidation phase?

Lamina Lighting, a seven-year-old LED lighting company, on Tuesday said that it is selling its assets to Lighting Science Group Corporation (LSG), which makes customized LED lighting fixtures.

Lighting Science Group is paying $4.5 million in cash for Lamina's assets, but the total could go up another $10.5 million based on Lamina's sales in 2009. LSG will take out a $20 million line of credit to finance the deal.

Lamina itself has raised at least $16 million, including a round in 2005 and one last … Read more

Start-up Tendril Networks on Tuesday announced the details of its networked in-home energy displays, a sign that smart grid technology is crawling into the marketplace.

Basic in-home displays show consumers how much electricity they are consuming at a given moment. More sophisticated systems, as Tendril Networks has developed, are designed to give consumers more options to save energy by collecting information over time and to communicate with the utility through networked meters.

The company's product, called Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem (TREE), is a combination of software that works with utilities' back-office systems and a line of devices that use … Read more

Car interiors and car seats are becoming less toxic, although "new car smell" continues to carry poisons linked to allergies and cancer, according to a report last week by the Ecology Center.

The Ann Arbor, Mich., group found that General Motors made the most progress in reducing potentially harmful materials, followed by Mazda and Nissan, since the nonprofit's initial Healthy Car report last year.

The ingredients in question include lead, chlorine, and phthalates from plastics, as well as brominated flame retardants from cushions and padding.

The car with the best marks was the Acura RDX SH sport-utility … Read more

One thing's for sure: Glam Media isn't letting that $85 million funding round sit around and ferment.

The latest of many announcements from the don't-call-it-an-ad-network media firm is that it has launched a "Wellness" division, opening up its ad services to sites in the health, fitness, and "green" niches.

With hippie food brand SoyJoy as a sponsor, Glam's Wellness channel has already ushered in about 20 sites that deal with "mind-body-spirit, empowerment, and a healthy planet," according to a release Monday. Among them are BeThree, Conscious Living TV, Ecofabulous, Low Impact Living, … Read more

If you are a San Francisco resident considering solar panels, now is the time for action, says Lyndon Rive, CEO of SolarCity, a start-up that leases panels to homeowners.

Since the city solar-incentive program came into effect in July, it has become financially viable for even small energy consumers to install solar-power systems.

The San Francisco incentive covers between $3,000 to $6,000 for homeowners to install solar panels, as well as $10,000 for businesses and nonprofits, and $30,000 for nonprofit affordable housing. The program runs for a decade.

This initiative, together with a state rebate program … Read more

At 26 inches for an LCD TV, you might sniff at its puny dimensions. But Sharp's shining some light on this particular flat panel, literally.

Its 26-inch LCD TV, showcased at this week's G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, is powered by solar energy. The set was designed specifically for developing nations where the nearest AC mains are probably a town away. Sharp claims its experimental eco outing guzzles 30 percent less power than its low-power rival, though no names were mentioned.

While the TV is intended for those earning less than $2 a day, its specs are far from … Read more