Copper end use trends

Global warming can get some people great real estate bargains. Ernen, Switzerland could not afford to renew its ski lift licenses after several seasons of meager snowfall and were desperate to find someone to save them, since the whole town (pop. 560) depends on tourism. So desperate, they were willing to give the entire ski operation away for one Swiss franc (90 cents) to the person with the best rescue plan. One fine day Bruno Prior, a British entrepreneur, was sipping coffee and looking through the newspaper in London and saw Ernen’s

What can you say about an MP4 player that will never run out of power and will recharge your cell phone and much more? The imaginatively named “Solar Powered MP4 Player 2GB - Mobile Power Station” is an electronic Swiss Army knife.

Virgin Galactic has released the final design of the launch system that will take fare-paying passengers into space.

A technology that would allow a computer chip to change the electrical resistance of some of its own wiring could lead to more-powerful reconfigurable microchips that can quickly adapt themselves to new tasks, researchers at IBM say.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's lamp and electricity producers joined forces with the retail sector on Monday to encourage consumers to buy more energy-efficient light bulbs and help the European Union in its fight against climate change. An agreement signed by three pan-European industry associations aims to promote and support the distribution of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) as an alternative to conventional incandescent lamps -- so consuming far less energy.

regulatory and compliance risk is the greatest strategic challenge facing global businesses in 2008.

the San Alfonso pool is 1km in length. The revolutionary clear water artificial lagoons, transparent to a depth of 35 meters and unprecedented in design and construction methods

Nearly nine in 10 of them do not rate it as a priority, says the study, which canvassed more than 500 big businesses in Britain, the US, Germany, Japan, India and China. Nearly twice as many see climate change as imposing costs on their business as those who believe it presents an opportunity to make money. And the report's publishers believe that big business will concentrate even less on climate change as the world economy deteriorates. . . . more

In the future, utilities will pay you to plug-in your vehicle. Millions will plug-in their electric vehicles (EV), plug-in hybrids (PHEV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCV) at night when electricity is cheap, then plug-in during the day when energy is expensive and sell those extra electrons at a profit. Vehicle to Grid (V2G) technology is a bi-directional electric grid interface that allows a plug-in to take energy from the grid or put it back on the grid.

Desalination uses a lot of electricity, which makes desalinated water expensive and means that the process damages the environment. Furthermore, the article notes that the Metropolitan Water Agency, a Southern California water authority, will subsidize the consumption of desalinated water. The environmental issues and subsidizes lead to good questions about whether government authorities should subsidize the production of a commodity that damages the environment.

The World Energy Council, whose members include energy companies and government bodies in 90 countries, said a study it commissioned showed the long-standing trend of countries using less energy to generate each dollar of GDP had accelerated in the period 2000 to 2006, when oil prices hit new highs.

In the 21st century we have seen numerous ways to create alternative energies. Some are much more popular than others (Eco Football), but throughout the thought process there seems to be a unique pattern in the sources of renewable energy, most of which are inspired by mother nature. Piezoelectric is a science that produces energy as an object is bent, deformed, or stressed. According to Groovy Green “Scientists at the CEA/Leti-Minatec in Grenoble are looking at this technology as a way to harness the vibrations caused by falling raindrops. According to the article, the system works with raindrops ranging in diameter from 1 to 5 mm, and simulations show that it’s possible to recover up to 12 milliwatts from one of the larger ‘downpour’ drops

Designing for Louis Vuitton, he walked down the catwalk with the new LCD screen mini trunk playing Sponge Bob Square pants. It was that handbags were a fashion statements. Soon it will be what’s playing on your handbag that will be making the statement. 

It's been awhile since we heard anything about the HumanCar, but it looks like the Flintstones-inspired vehicle is now rapidly becoming a reality, with it finally getting a price, release date and a even slightly sleeker new look. Apparently now more specifically known as the Imagine LMV, the vehicle will appropriately be available this coming Earth Day (April 22nd), when it'll set you back a hefty $15,000 for the "base" model. For that price you'll apparently get a top speed of 30 mph from the vehicle's dual electric motors and, most importantly, "variable human power input," which should soon make you the most popular member of your car pool group. If that's not enough luxury for you, you'll also apparently be add various navigation and internet options, iPod connectivity, and various biometric devices to see just how much of a workout you're getting.

We just wrote about the new LED streelights in Ann Arbor. Now we find these self-contained streetlights that generate 100% of their power from the sun and the wind. During the day, solar power is stored in a battery at the base of the light pole. At night, they illuminate while continuing to generate power via a small vertical-axis wind turbine. The streetlights, dubbed “seagulls”, were spotted in Tokyo outside the Panasonic Center by Hyperexperience. Here’s a video clip of the wind turbine in action:

Weeks after Tata Motors Ltd. launched its Nano model for domestic sale for just one lakh ($2,500 US), South Korea's Hyundai Motor Company today announced plans to produce a minicar of its own in India by 2011.

Once again, it's time for the latest wave and tidal round up in the United States.

With such a map at their disposal, researchers are a big step closer to making artificial limbs that patients can not only control but feel as well.

Just like expected, Acer has formally bought into Packard Bell, snapping up 75% of PB Holdings, Packard Bell's parent company.

LEDs desk lamps are also efficient, because they do not get hot, so there’s no risk of burns, or excess heat in the summer. Because LED light is so focused, a 100 lumen LED desk lamp will seem quite bright. Let’s take a survey of what’s currently available: