Posts for News

Is Energy Harvesting Moving Into the Smart Home?

Earth2Tech, 07 July 2009 Energy harvesting — technology that can capture and store energy from external sources like the sun and movement — first took hold in wireless sensor networks in industrial settings. Picture a massive factory that uses a wireless sensor network to monitor…

eBook readers or eInk

I recently stumbled across eBook readers, the first time actually on Amazon, the Kindle. Amazon has just anounced the second generation, the Kindle2. And while I am writing this, I noticed that they yet again have relesed a newer version, the KindleDX with a battery…

Is Green Really Green? – Material Selection In The Context Of Sustainable Buildings

Most modern designs consider energy as the most important factor in the sustainability of buildings; however, it is not only the energy a building consumes that impacts on its overall sustainability. Materials form a very important factor when analyzing their embodied energy, reusability, recyclability, and…

Sharp LED Lamp with Adjustable Color Function

GoodCleanTech, 17 June 2009 Sharp is releasing nine new LED lamp models for the Japanese market which are all deemed highly-efficient, are mercury-free, and boast a long (40,000 hours) service life. These LED lamps have the same screw base as conventional incandescent lighting, making them…

San Francisco Brings Recycling to the iPhone

GoodCleanTech, 19 June 2009 Outspoken San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom continues to keep his city on the cutting edge of what’s eco friendly and what technology can do. After the collapse of US support for the Kyoto protocol, he created a local global climate action…

Clean green New Zealand….. yeah right.

Original Plans Earlier this year [February 2007] the Prime Minister [Helen Clark] has set for us the target of becoming the first country to be truly sustainable, and even to be a carbon neutral nation. (from nzembassy.com)  

Red light for schools’ green projects

New Zealand Herald, 15 June 2009 Teacher aides who help children learn about recycling, saving water and growing their own food have been scrapped by the Education Ministry because those are not considered “core” skills for children to learn.

Air-quality deadlines may be extended

New Zealand Herald, 11 June 2009 The Government may extend its deadline to meet air quality guidelines because cities and towns are cutting pollution too slowly. Environment Minister Nick Smith has announced a review of rules requiring cities to clean up the air by 2013…

Green Building Materials Market to Jump to $571B by 2013

From Earth2Tech, Justin Moresco, 10 June 2009 Cement and lumber will never be as sexy as an electric sports car, but there are still plenty of business opportunities in developing innovative materials for the growing green building market. A report published this week by NextGen…

Toxic dumping probe after playground scare

New Zealand Herald, 10 June 2009 Environment Minister Nick Smith is promising another look into where toxic chemicals might have been dumped around New Plymouth. The spectre of chemical contamination from the former Ivon Watkins-Dow chemical factory has again been raised when at least nine…