energy consumption

Nokia is working with its partners to develop a smart home platform that will enable any mobile device equipped with a Web browser to serve as the remote control for household security, monitoring and energy-management systems.

Nokia's research has determined that consumers want control of home systems whether they are at home or on the go. With mobile devices ubiquitous, they are an ideal interface to home systems -- especially when the user is not at home, said Nokia Vice President Teppo Paavola.

There's good news for The New York Times, at least about their building. The New York Times Building was designed to use 1.28 watts per square foot of lighting, but with the installation of a lighting management system, they've actually only used .38 watts per square foot, a 70 percent savings. That reduction in energy use translates into savings of $315,000 and 1,250 metric tons of CO2 a year for the building.

Companies like Google are trying to come up with creative ways to use renewable energy, like tidal power, to power energy-sucking data storage centers. But while they're coming up with ways to float their servers in the middle of the ocean, Sun Microsystems has come up with a way to cut how much energy servers use in the first place.

Last Thursday was the California Clean Tech Open in which 6 winners were each given an entrepreneur’s dream package: a crash course in how to run a business, raise money and market a product… oh yeah, and $100,000 – half of it cash, half of it in useful services such as legal, accounting, etc.
Let’s meet the winners:
Over the Moon Diapers (Category: Air, Water & Waste)

Green is no longer just for hippies. Over the past couple of years, mainstream companies have started to realize that they need to fundamentally rethink their environmental policies, and while some still see the issues in terms of compliance, risk management or marketing, others see business opportunity.

Companies in the latter category have been appointing high-level executives as corporate sustainability officers and giving their managers financial incentives to meet environmental targets.

Green is no longer just for hippies. Over the past couple of years, mainstream companies have started to realize that they need to fundamentally rethink their environmental policies, and while some still see the issues in terms of compliance, risk management or marketing, others see business opportunity.

Companies in the latter category have been appointing high-level executives as corporate sustainability officers and giving their managers financial incentives to meet environmental targets.

The end is near for incandescent bulbs in Europe.  The year 2010 to be exact. 

I am a nerd. I used to be an engineer and so I like calculating stuff in my head. I hardly ever use electronic calculators, even when exact calculations of something are needed, preferring to do them by hand (try it, it can be a soothing thing) on chit’s of paper, backs-of-the-proverbial envelopes, etc.

Sweden plans to have future homes come equipped with smart meters. But some folks want to know what’s up with their energy consumption now, and without having to look online all the time. Enter the concept Spark Lamp.

Hewlett-Packard, responding to a challenge by Wal-Mart Stores to offer more ecologically friendly products, said Wednesday that it was selling a new notebook computer in a fabric messenger bag instead of packaging it in a box.

The change reduced by 97 percent the foam, cardboard and plastic used in packaging, Hewlett-Packard, which is based in Palo Alto, California, said in a statement.

The new computer, the Pavilion PC, went on sale for $798 Wednesday at almost 1,700 Wal-Mart outlets and 594 Sam's Club stores in the United States.