Though Apple typically lauds itself for being green, it has decided to stop adhering to environmentally friendly standards. According to the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), the standard for green consumer electronics, Apple has pulled all 39 of its computers from being certified green by EPEAT. More »
It was a big week for superlatives in clean tech and green architecture — particularly in Europe. First, construction on The Shard, architect Renzo Piano‘s shimmering, 72-story skyscraper, wrapped up in London, making it the tallest building in Europe. A nighttime celebration, complete with a laser light show accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra was held. Just about a mile down the river, construction is moving forward on Blackfriars Station, the world’s largest solar bridge. The historic bridge is being fitted with a solar array that will produce 900,000 kWh of clean electricity per year. And in Germany, solar producers have set a new world record, pumping an astounding 14.7 TWh of electricity into the grid during the first six months of 2012 — 4.5 percent of the country’s total power production during that period.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: rise of solar power, cardboard forts and a Death Star ping pong ball originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Jul 2012 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This week it’s been revealed that Apple has requested that all of its products be removed from the national registry of environmentally sound products listed by EPEAT. This registry covers desktops, notebooks, and displays, and assures the public that every device with its seal of approval is environmentally sound. The EPEAT group is (as far as we know at the moment) still funded by the EPA, Apple, and a set of manufacturers across the USA.
EPEAT stands for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool and Apple has pulled a total of 39 products (every Apple product registered there) within the past month. The EPEAT seal of approval considers energy consumption, recyclability, upgradeability, and the processes involved in producing the product.
This information comes straight from EPEAT where the seal-distributing group has little to say outside the fact that Apple has withdrawn all of its products from their big list. According to EPEAT, Apple has also been clear about their future together: Apple will no longer be submitting its products to EPEAT for environmental rating.
We’ll leave it up to you to decide why all of this is going down for the moment – stay tuned!
[via EPEAT]
Apple breaks ties with EPEAT environmental group is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
We have published about the Nest Learning Thermostat created when it was announced in October 2011, since then, the device has been updated with an iPhone app that allows remote controlling the Nest’s settings while on-the-go.
Today, a new comer in that space is made available in the UK, through the AlertMe platform in partnership with British Gas. Remote Heating Control is one of the various services delivered over the AlertMe platform that allows British Gas customers to monitor, control and automate various compatible devices in the home via a digital user interface and a personal log in.
Remote Heating Control only requires a home fixed broadband connection and is priced at £149 when purchased with a new central heating installation. It will cost £199 for other existing British Gas customers, £229 for new customers, and cost includes installation.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: M_A_C_H_I_N_A MIDI controller jacket, National Day of Unpluggging starts today,
Apple has withdrawn all its laptop and desktop computers from the EPEAT environmental rating system, including older MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models. According to iFixit, who recently tore down a MacBook Pro and its retina screen, that’s likely related to a design direction favoring smaller, lighter notebooks and longer battery life. Doing so required them to glue the cells to the aluminum shell, making it impossible to recycle the case and other parts — iFixit couldn’t pull the batteries out without spilling the (highly toxic) battery guts all over. Cupertino’s decision means that many federal agencies might not be able to buy those products, since 95 percent of its electronics purchasing must conform to the EPEAT standard. On top of that, many educational institutions that require the certification would also need to opt out of Mac purchases, as well as large corporations like HSBC and Ford. Currently, iPhones and iPads are exempt from that certification, but considering recent ads from Apple specifically touting its conformance to EPEAT, the company might have some ‘splaining to do.
[Image credit: iFixit]
Apple pulls out of EPEAT green registration, may not be able to sell computers to federal agencies originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 02:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Today is a big day for renewable energy in the UK. The British government has given the green light to fund two large offshore wind farms off of the Norfolk Coast. The combined investment for the project is around 3 billion pounds(about $4.66 billion USD).
The 580-megawatt Race Banks offshore wind farm will be developed by Centriica, while the 560 megawatt Dudgeon project will be developed by Warwick Energy. UK Energy Minister Charles Hendry made a statement on the announcement of the two projects: “These two projects will not only bring us considerable amounts of clean energy, but significant investment and jobs too.” Longterm, Britain hopes to have nearly 18 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2020. Currently, they only have 2 GW. Hopefully other countries will follow Britain’s example and invest into more renewable energy.
Photo Via Freephotobank
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Solar Impulse successfully lands in Europe after flight from Morocco , Airborne wind-power systems developed by NASA generates more electricity,
The world is a better place if it’s greener. It looks better, too. So as part of a campaign by Greenaid, Seedbomb vending machines are being rolled out where anyone can become a green agent of change for the world.
But first, what’s a seedbomb? Well, it’s a mixture of clay and compost with native California grass and wildflower seeds that has been rolled up into a ball. So all the person needs to do is toss it onto a patch of earth and let nature take its course.
They’re cheap, too. The vending machine dispenses the seedbombs at just $0.50 each, so for less than a dollar, you can now be a part of the green revolution.
And if you’re looking to add some more greenery to your arsenal, don’t forget to pick up some flower grenades to go with.
[via Like Cool]
Toyota has been at the forefront of hybrid vehicles for some years now, with their Prius range being top sellers in most countries where it has appeared in. Well, we now have another green ride from Toyota of Japan, known as Coms, and this is a little bit more selfish in nature compared to the Prius. Allow me to elaborate – the Toyota Coms is an extremely small single-seater electric vehicle that has a wheelbase of just 1,530mm. Both front and rear treads measure 930mm and 920mm, respectively, and it tips the scales at less than half a ton – 400 to 420kg, to be exact. The minimum turning radius is just 3.2m, and it requires no automobile safety inspection, certification of parking space, weight tax or automobile acquisition tax, now how about that?
The Toyota Coms falls under the first-class motorized four-wheeled vehicle under Japan’s Road Traffic Law, where a normal driver’s license is still required if you were to get behind the wheel of this puppy, but at least there is no need to wear a helmet. Seems to be the ideal ride to take into the middle of a busy city where parking is nearly impossible to find.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Toyota Prius cooks dinner for you, Vais brings Android integration to Lexus and Toyota vehicles,
Land-based tower wind turbines are pretty much the gold standard of wind power today. But the engineers from NASA are working on an ingenious alternative – airborne wind-power systems. NASA is focusing on two aspects of the technology – one is the set of turbines built into the kite, which generates electricity, and the other is the ground-based generator that is tethered to the kite and is powered by the kite’s reeling motion as it catches the wind. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Wind turbines to power BMW factory, Tang wind-powered catamaran,
Most solar panels today generate electricity by directly facing the sun. While these panels definitely reap the benefits of the direct sunlight, they are missing out on the reflected sunlight. Bsolar, an Israeli startup, plans on fixing this problem with its bifacial solar panels. Bsolar first showed off their product in a German trade show last month and has announced a 730W project in Japan that it will get involved in.
While bifacial solar cell research has been around for a while, bifacial solar panels are quite new on the market as it has been very difficult to find a cheap way to produce a double-sided solar panel, let alone a regular solar panel. Bsolar took the silicon wafers, which have decreased in price over the years, and engineered into the wafers the ability to collect reflected light on either side. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Scientists develop solar-panels thinner than a thread of spider’s silk, Blackfriars Bridge solar panel installation to be completed in 2012,
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