I want this car. Really.

Toyota to launch solar-powered Prius | Crave, the gadget blog – CNET

I’ve been aching to have a Prius ever since they came out. I had to get a new car when the first model came out but it had a small trunk (boot) so it was out of the question. The hatch is great but I can’t justify a new car for a few more years. I hope that by the time I’m ready, they will have the solar stuff doing more than running the AC but I’ll take that, too. Heck, i live in DC – I really need my AC!

Tags: car, solar-powered, Toyota, environment, greentech, transportation, crave, Prius

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The Huge Hybrid – Few Takers for a New S.U.V. Twist – NYTimes.com

The Huge Hybrid – Few Takers for a New S.U.V. Twist – NYTimes.com

General Motors and Chrysler are betting that their 5,500-pound, eight-seat S.U.V.’s — long the scourge of environmentalists — can be reformed as hybrid models, albeit ones getting 20 miles to the gallon.

Consumers have been slow to embrace the first two models from G.M., which are relatively new to the market.

G.M. has sold about 1,100 of its Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon hybrids since their introduction in January, according to company sales briefings. That pace is well behind its goal of 12,000 sales a year, and a fraction of the more than 100,000 hybrids sold so far in the United States this year.

“To this point, the G.M. hybrids aren’t getting any traction at all,” said Mike Omotoso, a senior manager with the research firm J. D. Power & Associates.

Giving a four-wheel drive Tahoe a gas-electric hybrid engine raises fuel economy for city driving to 20 miles a gallon from 14.

Okay—am I the only one who thinks this is stupid? Can someone just give the Detroit automakers a kick in the head and a boot in the ass? It’s a hybrid and it gets 20 MPG instead of 14MPG. What a waste of $53,000!

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Tags: enviroment, automakers, Detroit, hybrid, car, green, fake, economy, gas

 

Why isn’t this technology used in more buildings?

Wired News – AP News – System Relies on Ice to Chill Buildings

It also cuts down on pollution. An ice-cooling system in the Credit Suisse offices at the historic Metropolitan Life tower in Manhattan is as good for the environment as taking 223 cars off the streets or planting 1.9 million acres of trees to absorb the carbon dioxide caused by electrical usage for one year.

Such a reduction in pollution is valuable in a city where the majority of emissions come from the operation of buildings. State officials say there are at least 3,000 ice-cooling systems worldwide.

“It is worth it to do in New York City,” said William Beck, the head of critical engineering systems for Credit Suisse. “If you take the time to look, you can find innovative ways to be energy efficient, be environmental and sustainable.”

Because electricity is needed to make the ice, water is frozen in large silver tanks at night when power demands are low. The cool air emanating from the ice blocks is then piped throughout the building more or less like traditional air conditioning. At night the water is frozen again and the cycle repeats.

Ice storage can be used as the sole cooling system, or it can be combined with traditional systems to help ease the power demands during peak hours. At Credit  Suisse, for example, the company must cool 1.9 million square feet of office space at the Met Life tower, a historic building that was New York’s tallest in the days before the Empire State Building.

Read the entire article for all the info. It’s fascinating.

technorati tags:energy, money, clean, air-conditioning, ice, skyscrapers, energy-saving, water

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