Hasta La Gadget!

During his State of the Union speech, President Obama announced a goal to make high speed rail transportation available to 80 percent of the country over the next 25 years. And now we know just how he’ll do it: with billions of dollars.

Vice President Biden has announced that over the next six years, a total of $53 billion will be invested in high speed rail infrastructure, starting with $8 billion over the next fiscal year, which will be used to get the nation’s current system up to speed.

“As President Obama said in his State of the Union, there are key places where we cannot afford to sacrifice as a nation — one of which is infrastructure,” Biden said in the announcement. “As a long time Amtrak rider and advocate, I understand the need to invest in a modern rail system that will help connect communities, reduce congestion and create quality, skilled manufacturing jobs that cannot be outsourced.

“This plan will help us to do that, while also increasing access to convenient high speed rail for more Americans.”

Princeton University has announced plans to set-up what will be one of the largest solar panel installations on a college campus.

It will include more than 16,000 panels, which will provide around five percent of the school’s total energy, and is expected to cut costs by around eight percent. The installation is expected to be ready by around next summer, and is being paid for partly by New Jersey’s solar certificate program.

“The fact that a solar energy project like this can be done on a scale where it’s not just tokenism is important,” University Vice President for Facilities Michael McKay said. “Being able to demonstrate that you can do something cost effectively with renewable energy is extremely important.”

Officials expect the installation to last for around three decades.

Via Ecogeek

The Amazon rainforest isn’t just home to some of the most amazing creatures in the world, it’s also a valuable tool for fighting off climate change, as the forest can absorb harmful carbon emissions. But when the forest goes through a drought, like the one that happened last year, it can actually be very harmful to the environment.

In 2010 the Amazon went through a severe drought, which caused a good deal of vegetation to die. And when those plants die, all of the harmful emissions they absorbed gets released back into the air.

“If events like this happen more often, the Amazon rain forest would reach a point where it shifts from being a valuable carbon sink slowing climate change to a major source of greenhouse gases that could speed it up,” said Simon Lewis, a researcher from the University of Leeds.

The Amazon usually absorbs around 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, but because of the drought this didn’t happen last year. In fact, it ended up releasing around five billion metric tons,which is almost the same as what the United States produces in a year.

Via The Huffington Post

Hybrid bikes — bikes that supplement human power with an electric engine — are nothing new, but you’ve probably never seen anything like M55’s line-up. Handmade with names like the Beast and the Daemon, they may change the way you look at e-bikes.

The flagship model is the Beast, which features a max speed of 40 miles per hour, a range of around 60 miles on a single charge, a maximum torque of 84 Nm, a BrushLess DC motor, and a battery with Tenergy Polimer Li-Ion cells. The frame features aluminum and carbon fibre plates.

M55 is hoping to launch the luxury bike this spring for $35,300. “It is a collector’s item built for those who are only pleased with the vary best,” M55’s Daniel Farkas told GearLog. “A treasure for the wealthy, environmentally conscious pioneers who care about nature.”

For those who aren’t quite so wealthy but still care about nature, there’s the Daemon. This bike is much lighter than the Beast, and designed more for urban biking with fat tires and a rigid frame. It, too, wil be launching in spring, but will also be a much more affordable $13,300.

You can get some more details on M55’s site, and be sure to hit the jump for a better look at these impressive e-bikes.

After a successful pilot program, convenience store chain 7-Eleven has announced that it wil be opening 100 environmentally friendly stores…in Japan.

The stores will feature roof-mounted solar panels that will provide around a third of their energy, as well as sensors to automatically adjust in-store lighting based on the conditions outside. And that indoor lighting will be LED, and is being coupled with reflective flooring that reduces the need for intense amounts of light.

In addition to the 100 new stores, 100 existing stores will also be renovated with similar, eco-friendly changes.

Via Inhabitat