AT&T has just announced a USB-based telephone charger that does not pull electricity from the wall when it's not charging a phone. I don't know about you, but my charger is plugged in 100% of the time. That charger pulls a tiny amount of energy from the wall 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Multipy that by 100 million chargers in America and there's probably at least one coal-fired power plant in America dedicated entirely to that wasted power.

AT&T's new charger, however, is a standardized USB charger that does not pull any power from the wall when there's nothing plugged into it. You wouldn't think this was a particularly complicated thing to do (especially since chargers routinely cost thirty FREAKING dollars.) But high-markup chargers are a big part of cell phone company's profit models, so they aren't generally interested in pulling R&D dollars from that big tasty pie.

But it works, and it will charge a variety of devices, even non-AT&T devices. It's great news for us all, and at the same cost as a regular (dramatically overpriced) cell phone charger.

Let's hope the technology makes its way into other vampire power culprits soon. Read the full press release from ATT here.

A Department of Energy report on light emitting diode (LED) technology has some pretty startling numbers to digest. First, 7% of America's electricity is used to light our homes and businesses. That number is down significantly in the last few years because of the adoption of efficient lighting. But there is still a great deal of ground to be gained. Indeed, as bright white LEDs begin to make their way to the market, the DOE expects their adoption to result in huge decreases in energy use.

The cumulative savings of widespread adoption of this technology over the next 20 years would be about 1.500 terawatt-hours the price of which, at today's energy prices, is around $120 billion. The savings would eliminate the need for 24 new large power plants, to say nothing of the decrease in carbon emissions.

The DOE has a host of programs to spur growth in the LED market, including a X-Prize style contest, R&D projects and market-baed projects. Of course, we have to do our part too. New technology relies on EcoGeeks to be the early adopters of LED technology. I've already got a few lighting up my house.

China's high-speed rail plans get more ambitious by the day.  Not satisfied with having the world's most advanced and extensive rail line in the world, China is now planning to connect its rail system to 17 other countries in Asia and Eastern Europe where it will join the European rail network.

China plans to have this massive project completed in 10 years.   The rail system will include three major continent-crossing lines running at 200 mph.  One line will connect London to Beijing in a two-day trip and continue on to Singapore.  Another will link Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and Malaysia.  The third will connect Germany to Russia, go across Siberia and back into China.

With travelers able to take major routes like these at high speeds, air travel may become a lot less necessary across Europe and Asia.

China will be financing the project in exchange for access to natural resources from the 17 countries the rail lines will run through.  As an example, Burma will provide China with lithium for its rail connection.

via Daily Telegraph

A new washing machine design uses 90 percent less water and reduces utility bills by 30 percent by cleaning clothes with tiny plastic beads.

The machine by UK company Xeros Ltd uses 3mm-long nylon beads that can get into all crevices and folds of clothing and absorb stains and dirt.  Stephen Burkinshaw, a polymer chemist at Leeds University, discovered that nylon beads at 100 percent humidity could attract stains away from clothing and into the center of the beads, preventing deposition back onto the clothes.

The machine uses a small amount of water to dampen the clothes and to reach the right humidity level, then the drum is flooded with the beads.  When the cycle is complete the beads drain away with the water to be reused hundreds of times.

I'm sure you've already started questioning what happens to these plastic beads once they're done scrubbing clothes.  The company wants to eventually create a closed loop where the saturated beads can be refreshed and reused in the machines, but for the time being they will be collected and recycled.

Xeros says that if all of the US used these machines instead of regular washing machines, it would save 1.2 billion tonnes of water per year and  the CO2 emissions saved would equal taking 5 million cars off the road.  The machine would also eliminate the need to dry clean many delicates, another environmental benefit.  The Xeros machine is expected to be available by the end of next year.

via Guardian

Usually when you read about concentrated solar power, it's referring to some large project destined for the Mojave Desert, but Syracuse's Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (SyracuseCoE) has set out to prove that this technology can be used in smaller, colder settings.

SyracuseCoE in Syracuse, NY is itself a LEED-platinum-certified, 55,000 square-foot building that serves as a testing ground for renewable energy and efficiency technologies.  The south wall of the building is home to a concentrated solar facade that, at first glance, resembles the frosted cube walls found in doctors' office waiting rooms.

This 8-foot by 8-foot facade houses several clear pyramid lenses that track the sun and concentrate the rays onto high-efficiency PV cells.  Extra energy not converted to electricity is used for heating water and radiant heat in the building.  And because it's made up of clear panels, it also adds natural lighting indoors.  You can watch a video of the system at work here.

Using a concentrated solar power system in an architectural application is a new concept, so the center will be monitoring and reporting on its performance.

The facade was designed by the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology and the company HeliOptix is licensed to market it.

via Jetson Green

Conventional gasoline engines are terribly inefficient things. Only 13% of the energy of the fuel actually moves the car. 62% is lost in the engine as waste heat, and driveline losses, accessories, and idling also reduce the efficiency.

Transonic Combustion is planning to build automobile engines with improved efficiency obtained through heating and pressurizing gasoline before injecting it into the combustion chamber. "This puts it into a supercritical state that allows for very fast and clean combustion, which in turn decreases the amount of fuel needed to propel a vehicle," according to MIT Technology Review. A transonic test vehicle achieved 64 MPG in highway driving, compared to a 48 MPG hybrid Prius, and running at a steady cruising speed of 50 mph, the test vehicle achieved 98 MPG.

Like diesel and HCCI, the Transonic Combustion technology operates without needing a spark plug. Timing software also further enhances the operating efficiency of the system. Transonic injection is being developed for use with gasoline engines at present, but will also be compatible with advanced low carbon footprint bio-fuels in the future. Transonic expects its system will be comparable in cost to other current high-end fuel injection systems.

Because of the higher operating pressure, the longevity and durability of the engine will be important considerations the company will need to address. The company plans to build its production facility in 2013 and expects to be building engines for production vehicles in 2014.

via: Inhabitat

Beginning today, Google has begun providing bicycle directions for its Google Maps service with directions for cyclists in 150 cities in the United States. Google already incorporates public-transit and walking directions in addition to automobile driving directions, and the bicycling community has been calling for Google to add bike routes for some time.

The routing suggested for cyclists is designed to avoid freeways and high-traffic areas, and to select gentler terrain by routing around hills. To make it even more useful for riders on the go, Google expects to have a mobile version available in the near future, as well.

Yesterday, Colorado's state legislature finalized a bill to increase the state's renewable energy standard to 30 percent by 2020.

Colorado was one of the first states to adopt a renewable energy standard at all, committing in 2004 to get 10 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2015 and increasing that to 20 percent by 2020 in 2006.  This latest measure puts the state right behind California, who has the highest standard at 33 percent by 2020.

The bill also requires utilities to get 3 percent of their electricity from distributed sources like rooftop solar and other smaller wind and solar installations in order to give a boost to local renewable energy and construction companies.  That requirement alone will be responsible for 1 GW of clean energy, save 6.8 billion gallons of water and reduce emissions by 30 million tons of CO2 a year.

via Climate Progress

Warren County Kentucky is building the first net-zero energy school in the country.  Richardsville Elementary School will operate free of the grid by generating its own renewable energy, incorporating smart architectural features and a major emphasis on efficiency.

The list of features for this school is mind-boggling.  The school will have thin-film PV roof arrays, solar water heating, geothermal HVAC, insulated concrete form walls, a rainwater collection system and energy-efficient lighting.  The building is designed to take full advantage of natural light and wind for cooling. The plot of land includes a reclaimed brownfield, preserved woodland, a protected stream and bioswales.