Photo via the New Republic It's a widely held notion that politicians have long been in the pocket of Big Oil. And there's good reason for that perception: oil companies' huge campaign donations, vast lobbying power, and close ties to politicians have ensured that their taxes remain low , that hidden subsidies are around to provide extra funding, and that they receive preferential treatment in US energy policy. But there could be a new, ... View original post here: The Next Big Oil: Big Smart Grid?
So there really isn't anything that deep to this image. It's just a (more or less) life-sized blue whale eye. And on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society site you can educate yourself/be mesmerized/ waste some time for a while staring at it while the entire life-sized animal scrolls across your browser window. Believe me, it's way cooler than you might think:... Read more from the original source: Ever See a Blue Whale Life-Sized on Your Computer? Now You Can
published September 20, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: Hello Electric Nice PR Coup! For a few years, BP (originally British Petroleum) has tried to rebrand itself as "Beyond Petroleum". The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has made obvious that BP was far from being beyond oil (though beyond the pale, at times), but it's never too late to start. A group called Hello Electric wants ...
Read more...published September 19, 2010 and has No Comments
Image Credit: Green Car Reports As the American market for electric cars grows, a new competitor is ready to enter the fray. It's the 2011 Coda Sedan, the opening bid from fledgling Coda Automotive , a company dedicated entirely to building electric cars. The sedan boasts a range of 120 miles, a top speed of 80 mph (hardly half ...
Read more...published September 14, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: A123 Systems A Shiny New 291,000-Square-Foot Factory A123 Systems, the makers of advanced lithium-ion batteries, have just opened a new battery factory in Livonia, Michigan. They claim that "based on available data" it is the largest battery plant in North-America (some manufacturer might be keeping their capacity secret). This new facility should increase A123's manufacturing capabilities by "up ...
Read more...published September 13, 2010 and has No Comments
It's rare that an advertisement gets deemed controversial because it plays into a cliche, but that's exactly what has happened with Nissan's new TV ad for it's all-electric LEAF: The spot has sent a ripple through blogosphere by featuring the (seemingly) age-old story about how polar bears are losing their habitat to a melting Arctic as a result of ...
Read more...published September 10, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: Peugeot Aimed Mostly at Fleet Buyers at First Peugeot has released some details on its iOn electric car, which is based on the Mitsubishi i MiEV . In France, the leasing price will be of €499 (about $643) for five years, and this includes: the vehicle and its battery, a 5-year warranty covering the battery and electric power ...
Read more...published September 1, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: Flickr , CC Should Access for Regular Hybrids be Phased Out? In California, vehicles that meet certain fuel economy and tailpipe emission criteria are granted special access to the high occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV, aka the carpool lane). In car-centric places like Los Angeles, it's a huge advantage. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill (SB 535) into ...
Read more...published September 1, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Fully Charged Robert Llewellyn has been busy once again. Having road tested of the BMW Mini-E , explored fast electric car charging , and reviewed the Nissan Leaf , the cult British TV presenter and comedy actor has also been trying out some more unusual EV's. From a fully electric Range Rover SUV, through... Read the full ...
Read more...published August 31, 2010 and has No Comments
Nissan LEAF batteries. Photo: Michael Graham Richard Copper and Aluminium Actually Worse than Lithium Speaking of lithium-ion batteries , a recent life-cycle analysis (a type of study that aims to find the complete environmental impact of something, taking into account manufacturing, usage, and disposal) of the lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars had some very interesting findings. It turns ...
Read more...published August 31, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: GM A Significant Drop Predicted It's all about supply and demand: According to Hideo Takeshita, an analyst at the Institute of Information Technology Ltd. in Tokyo, the price of lithium-ion batteries could drop by about 19% in 2010, while another analyst, Shiro Mikoshiba of Nomura Holdings, said that the worsening oversupply may push prices down as much as ...
Read more...published August 30, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: EPA Making Guzzlers Stand Out Even More One way to nudge people into making better decisions is to make it easier to compare different products and services. There are still many people out there who have no idea if 16 MPG is a good or bad, but if they saw a big red "D" on a sticker, they ...
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A Finnish designer has made a working surfboard from broken skateboards. Read the original here: Hollow Surfboard Is Made from Broken Skateboards
How to grow tastier tomatoes and how to make food taste sweeter without sugar: just two amazing discoveries from a study of the chemical interactions underlying tomato flavor preferences Read the rest here: The Secrets of Tasty Tomatoes Discovered - Can ...
