green Archive

  • Greenpeace will be at CES cutting a promo on anti-green companies

    Greenpeace will be at CES cutting a promo on anti-green companies

    Posted on December 18, 2009 | No Comments
    I've inexplicably become CrunchGear's go-to green writer. If there's a “green” tech story out there, I'm on the scene. Why, I don't know, especially because my attitude toward the environment is, “Meh, I'm lucky if I hit 70 years old, what do I care?” Don't tell that to Greenpeace though. The activists made famous by that Seinfeld episode will be at next month's CES (as will all of your friendly neighborhood CrunchGear writers) to give the lowdown on what companies are green and what companies are a bunch of jerks.

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  • Hybrid garbage truck picking up trash in NYC

    Hybrid garbage truck picking up trash in NYC

    Posted on December 3, 2009 | No Comments
    Hybrid commercial vehicles are the answer to the environmental crisis, not passenger vehicles. Sure, your Prius is greener than, say, a Suburban, but even the large GM SUV has a lot smaller carbon footprint than full-size commercial vehicles. But slowly hybrid powertrains are being tested for commercial applications. NYC is currently testing a garbage truck that [...]

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  • Solar energy and lithium-ion batteries: Sanyo now builds “green” homes in Japan

    Solar energy and lithium-ion batteries: Sanyo now builds “green” homes in Japan

    Posted on November 19, 2009 | 1 Comment
    Sanyo is already being considered Japan's "greenest" brand in the consumer electronics field (which is the main reason Panasonic is about to acquire the company), but them building complete, eco-friendly buildings is certainly new. Sanyo Homes [JP], a wholly-owned subsidiary, will start marketing all-electric homes with lithium ion batteries providing back up power to Japanese customers as early as tomorrow. (Sorry for the tiny picture, which shows a CGI-model of how these houses look like.)

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  • Ford’s using wheat straw in a 2010 Flex component

    Ford’s using wheat straw in a 2010 Flex component

    Posted on November 12, 2009 | No Comments
    Here's a little known fact: Henry Ford used natural material like hemp and stray to reinforce plastic components in his cars. Now, Ford is at it again with a small quarter trim bin found in the third row of the Ford Flex made out of wheat straw bio-filled polypropylene. Wheat straw!

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  • IBM developing zero-emission data center technology

    IBM developing zero-emission data center technology

    Posted on November 9, 2009 | No Comments
    We've already established that your favorite tech company, from Apple to HP to Nintendo, and everyone in between, is being pressured to go green. While some of the tactics may be a bit silly, I think it's safe to say that you'd rather see these companies green than not green, right? It makes us feel good about ourselves, that even though we're buying hunks of plastic and metal—Lord knows what chemicals are in these things—the company in question is trying to make everything as environmentally friendly as possible. In the spotlight today is IBM, which continues to develop technology that could, one day, lead to zero-emission data centers.

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  • Green: California getting closer to banning power-hungry TVs

    Green: California getting closer to banning power-hungry TVs

    Posted on October 15, 2009 | No Comments
    Uh oh, another vaguely political post on CrunchGear. As you already know, the Consumer Electronics Association, the trade group that organizes CES, is fighting tooth and nail against possible regulations that would see California essentially ban the sale of power-hungry HDTVs. This mostly affects plasmas because they consume the most electricity of the different types of TVs out there.

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  • California Cool Cars regs put the kibosh on radio, cellphone, and GPS reception

    California Cool Cars regs put the kibosh on radio, cellphone, and GPS reception

    Posted on October 13, 2009 | No Comments

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    We've seen plenty of tech over the years meant to mitigate our destruction of the environment -- from greener autos to Grateful Dead-themed cellphones -- most of which don't really ask us to tone down our consumer impulses all that much. But how about these new "Cool Cars" regulations recently adopted by the California Air Resources Board? By the year 2016, all autos sold in the state must have windows that prevent 60 percent of the sun's energy from entering the vehicle. To achieve this, windows are given a coat of glazing that contains microscopic specs of reflective metal oxide -- which will seriously hamper reception for your GPS, cellphone, and (this is of special interest to Engadget readers) white collar criminal-style work release ankle bracelet. As you can imagine, companies like Garmin are fuming -- although we suppose that if they play this right they can make a killing in the external car antenna business. It just goes to show you -- when it comes to environmental catastrophe, everyone's a victim.

    [Via AutoBlog]

    California Cool Cars regs put the kibosh on radio, cellphone, and GPS reception originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Iomega announces new StorCenter ix2-200

    Iomega announces new StorCenter ix2-200

    Posted on October 8, 2009 | No Comments
    Iomega just announced the latest addition to their rapidly growing NAS line, the ix2-200. This is the latest iteration in the line is focused on being easy to set up, something that is fairly uncommon in the small business storage market. The new model also includes a new "Green desktop" mode, which allows the NAS to spin down the drives when not in use, thereby reducing power consumption.

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  • Apple quits U.S. Chamber of Commerce over environmental policy

    Apple quits U.S. Chamber of Commerce over environmental policy

    Posted on October 6, 2009 | No Comments
    Seemingly overnight, Apple has become the poster child of the responsible, Green company. (Apple recently posted all the details of its efforts; Greenpeace is now BFFs with Apple.) In fact, it's so pro-enviroment (as if anyone is anti-environment!) that it just quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is a huge organization that represents business interests to the various powers that be. The USCC, however, is all up in arms about all this “nonsense” about new laws designed to protect the environment and whatnot, so it's doing its damnedest to ensure that those laws don't get passed. That's what has upset Apple.

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  • Greenpeace hates Apple, HP a little bit less today

    Greenpeace hates Apple, HP a little bit less today

    Posted on September 30, 2009 | No Comments
    Like many of you, my knowledge of Greenpeace begins and ends with that one Seinfeld episode, the one where the NBC executive, so in love with Elaine, freaks out and joins the organization in order to impress her. That is to say I don't really understand the “point” of the organization, or who appointed it the protector of the environment. But, it is, somehow, so let's roll with it. Good news for HP and Apple: Greenpeace hates you two a little bit less today! Break out the champagne!

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  • Apple to Greenpeace: Look, we’re trying our best, ok!

    Apple to Greenpeace: Look, we’re trying our best, ok!

    Posted on September 25, 2009 | No Comments
    It looks like all of Greenpeace's needling of Apple over the past few years has paid off, as the house that Jobs built is about to announce its successes in becoming a more green company. Think carbon emissions data,all that jazz. Even though Apple is trying plenty hard to assuage the Green Brigade, it thinks it's being treated rather unfairly.

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