Ventus Folding Wind Power Station To Meet Your Camping Needs – Ecofriend.

Electricity 2.0: Using the Lessons of the Web to Improve Our EnergyNetworks
Speakers: Tom Raftery, James Governor
Date: Thursday, October 23 Time: 2:35 – 3:25PM
Location: C1

For too long, power distribution has been a top down, subscribe only model, but the electricity grids of tomorrow will be read/write, just like the Web. It’s a commonplace to talk about how IT should be delivered as a utility, but what about delivering a utility the same way the Web works? Utilities need to become more like the Internet: disparate, disconnected electrical grids will be joined up to give us one global electricity super-grid. Imagine the resilience: electricity that can route around problems. Think about how much more stable the super-grid would be if the excess energy produced by, for instance, Scandinavian wind farms on windy nights could simply be sold to meet capacity shortages in the U.S. as people arrive home from work, or in Japan as they start to wake up. What if the grid were smart, publishing prices in real time, based on supply and demand fluctuations? And further, what if smart meters in homes and businesses could adjust appliances based on the real-time pricing thermostats up/down, devices on/off, etc. And what if, again like the Internet, the super-grid were read/write, i.e., if you could be a producer as well as a consumer? In this talk Tom Raftery will explain how this vision will be realized, which companies and geographies are leading the charge, and what you should to do to encourage the change.
Web 2.0 Expo Berlin – CrowdVine

greenpix zero-energy massive LED display

the largest color LED display worldwide, & the first photo-voltaic system integrated into a glass curtain wall in China. the display requires zero external energy, as the facade harvests solar energy by day & uses it to illuminate the screen after dark. the display comprises of 2,292 color (RGB) LED’s light points comparable to a 24,000 sq. ft. (2.200 m2) monitor screen for dynamic content display.

the polycrystalline photovoltaic cells are laminated within the glass of the curtain wall & placed with changing density on the entire building’s skin. the density pattern increases building’s performance, allowing natural light when required by interior program, while reducing heat gain & transforming excessive solar radiation into energy for the media wall.

you can play with the online simulator, or watch a movie after the break.

[link: greenpix.org|via engadget.com]

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(via information aesthetics.)

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DIY Blubber Bot: ”

Part of a family of ‘Transitional Species,’ Blubber Bots are Do-It-Yourself robotic inflatables that navigate autonomously and intelligently. They are light-seeking helium-filled balloons that graze the landscape in search of light and cellphone signals.

I totally want an army of these I can control with my Wii-mote.

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(Via electro^plankton.)

Botanicalls Twitter DIY: “By Brady Forrest

Botanicalls, the project that lets your plants let you know when they need water (Radar post), has expanded beyond their Asterisk-based voice system. Now you can learn how your plants are doing with a DIY kit that lets them Twitter you. The system uses Arduino, the open-source board featured in Making Things Talk. The instructions they’ve included are very detailed; this looks like a great starter project if you’ve been thinking about experimenting with Arduino.

You’ll be able to see the project in person at ETech during our Wednesday evening ArtsFest.

DIY mobile multi-charger: “

Mark and Juliette McLean bicycled there way from Liverpool to Australia. The trip took almost 2 1/2 years to complete and they traveled over 24,000 km. During the trip Mark charged his laptop and batteries via his bicycle. It is a great solution for his mobile power needs.

To keep the lights on and the camera going I have a multi-purpose battery charger. This contains around 24Wh of energy storage in eleven NiMh AA cells and circuitry to charge my laptop, satellite phone, mobile phone, camera battery and a PP3 for Ju’s Dog Dazer. It can also power a white LED tent light that sheds just about enough light to cook by. A cunning design means that some of the AA cells can be removed from the internal battery stack and exchanged with flat ones from a torch or whatever.

Make you own Multi-Charger

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(Via MAKE Magazine.)

Tiny Specimens: “

The ‘nature expedition’ is a tried and true exercise in elementary school science class. Assuming the identities of junior scientists, students embark into nature to collect samples of bugs, plants, twigs and sundry living things for study. The artists Pascal Glissmann and Martina Hofflin, working in conjunction with the Academy of Media Art, Cologne, have updated this model, but with a distinct twist: their samples are solar-powered Electronic Life Forms (2004-2007) or ‘elfs’. According to the artists, ‘elfs are small, analog creatures reacting to light, calling the attention of the observer with their delicate sounds and movements.’ Isolated in glass Mason jars and accompanied by photographic documentation of the machines inhabiting their ‘natural’ environment, the artists present elf ‘specimens’ in the gallery much like exotic fauna. The set-up falsely attributes these simple robotic creatures with the characteristics of a living being, thus enduing the elfs with an endearing quality. Glissmann and Hofflin explain the underlying motivation for the project as a questioning of ‘the relationship between technology, nature and humans.’ The elf installation is currently on view in the ‘Urban Living’ exhibition at Pittsburgh’s Wood Street Galleries. – Gene McHugh

[LINK]“

(Via http://rhizome.org/syndicate/fp.rss.)

Plans for Foster’s Masdar Carbon Neutral City Debut: “

Norman Foster’s Masdar City is poised to become world’s most sustainable, zero-waste, car-free, carbon neutral city. The model for the city was formally unveiled on 21st January at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. We’ve talked about the grand scheme before, but the official debut deserves some new attention, given its viewing and support from everyone from General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and even President George W. Bush. The construction would start the next month, and the city is likely to open in late 2009.

(more…)

Originally posted by Mahesh Basantani from INHABITAT, ReBlogged by Leah Gauthier on Feb 6, 2008 at 09:22 AM

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(Via Eyebeam reBlog.)

Tiny generator turns vibrations into electricity: “

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

We’ve seen a couple interesting attempts to convert vibrations and sound into electricity, but the latest design from a team at the University of Southampton is the first we’ve come across that’s designed to be attached to bridges, large buildings, and other structures. The sugar cube-sized generator, a smaller version of a design already commercially available, uses cantilever-mounted magnets to induce a current in a copper coil — a use of magnets to generate electricity that doesn’t violate any laws of thermodynamics, which is always appreciated. The team has successfully used the generator to power an accelerometer (pictured), and tests indicate that the unit can put out up to 46 microwatts of power — enough to run a pacemaker off the vibrations of the heart itself. No word on commercial availability, but the team seems like they’re ready to get shaking fairly soon.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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(Via Engadget.)

Field Study: “

This phenomena is both mesmerizing and incredibly scary. I mean, sure it looks rad to have fluorescent tubes light up but that sort of electromagnetic power can’t be good for you. This particular pic reminds me of the BATTLES video for Tonto. Link via Blankenship.”

(Via yewknee.com.)