green

In 2012, 100-watt incandescent bulbs will be a thing of the past, but fear not, as there's some great energy-efficient lightbulb tech to illuminate the way. It ranges from compact fluorescent lights to LEDs to halogen bulbs, and, if Philips has anything to do with it, bacteria-powered lights.

As part of its Microbial Home project, which also birthed the urban beehive, Philips set about designing a natural lighting system based on biological processes. The result? The Bio-light concept. … Read more

There are innumerable media players out there, and when it comes down to it, most of them do the same thing: play media files. It takes something special to set a media player apart from the crowd. GreenForce-Player does indeed have some special features, mostly in the form of DRM protections, but it has some room for improvement when it comes to some of the basics.

The program's interface is plain, with the typical media player buttons and a few menus across the top. GreenForce-Player can play files from a variety of sources, including those stored on your hard … Read more

LOS ANGELES--The 2012 Green Car of the Year was announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show today. It's a 2012 Honda Civic, but it's not the hybrid model.

When the curtain dropped on the stage where the 2012 Green Car of the Year was announced this morning, it was the oft-overlooked 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas that stood before the room full of journalists.

Green Car Journal cites natural gases abundance in the United States, low tailpipe emissions, and lower fuel cost (by about 30 percent) than gasoline among its reasons for selecting the Civic Natural Gas as … Read more

Apple isn't the most popular company among environmental groups in China, but the iPhone maker is willing to extend an olive branch.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Chinese environmental leaders said that Apple is starting to "meet their concerns" over the impact its supply chain is having on the environment. The company has reportedly agreed to audit 15 of its component suppliers that have been accused of pollution, and engage in more oversight to ensure the environment is being preserved around supplier facilities.

"This is a major step forward," Ma Jun, a top … Read more

SANTA FE, N.M.--The community college here is bringing environmental sustainability into the classroom for plumbers and electricians.

I visited the Santa Fe Community College on Saturday as part of a fellowship organized by the Institutes for Journalism & Natural Resources, which leads groups of journalists on expeditions meant to deepen their understanding of environmental issues.

The first stop on our weeklong trip through northern New Mexico and southern Colorado was to visit a new green building on the grounds of Santa Fe Community College. The building itself includes some cutting-edge features, including a solar-powered cooling system, and houses … Read more

The 2012 Ford Focus Electric, 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas, 2012 Mitsubishi i, 2012 Toyota Prius v, and 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI are all finalists for 2012 Green Car of the Year, Green Car Journal announced today in a press release.

The winner will be announced during a press conference at a Los Angeles Auto Show press day on November 17. This marks the seventh consecutive year the award has been given out.

Green Car Journal editors considered dozens of models that were designed to reduce their environmental impact and be more energy-efficient. According to the press release, the cars … Read more

If you had a Green Machine tricycle as a youngster in the 1970s, then you were automatically the coolest kid on the block.

You may be all grown up now, but you can still make your friends green with envy with the Lean Mean Green Machine for adults.

The $75,000 trike is 9 feet long and features a 45-inch diameter front wheel. Hammacher Schlemmer (who else would sell such a thing) claims it as the world's largest front motorcycle wheel. The back wheels look they came off of a race car.… Read more

Political furor over the Solyndra bankruptcy has dealt a body blow to the idea that the government should try to help clean tech start-ups through the costly "valley of death" to commercial viability.

The capital needed to commercialize cutting-edge, renewable energy technology is seen as too risky for both venture capitalists and for the banks.

Until the fossil fuel industry has to pay for the carbon it emits, renewables such as solar and wind are unlikely to attain the scale needed to compete with cheaper coal, oil and natural gas, and will depend on government support.

The Obama … Read more