Tweet-A-Watt is a modified Kill-A-Watt that has been modified to use Twitter to publish its power consumption figures.

This DIY project can be found here:

Click Here

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has released the results of a study that found a number of cost-effective, naturally abundant materials that could be used instead of crystalline silicon in solar cells.

Iron sulfide and copper sulfide were clear winners in terms of cost and abundance, according to the report.

Current solar technology costs about $7 to $8 per watt, Wadia said. He said the new materials could potentially cut costs by “two orders of magnitude.”

Click Here to read the article

I found this article in the Mercury News.

Ed Snodgrass runs a 21st-century roofing business — one that is environmentally friendly and has nothing to do with slate, tin or asphalt. Snodgrass, 56, grows plants that make roofs green. In the past eight years, he has supplied colorful, resilient and fast-growing plants to cover nearly 2.5 million square feet of rooftops across the United States.

That’s right, a green, growing, living roof.

Click here to read the article

Click here to visit his website

Greg Peterson showed me this technique a few months ago for turning four old wooden pallets into a compost bin. Now Geeen Daily has an article about it:

Click Here to read it

WIND turbines typically spin from tall towers on hills and plains. But in these green times, some companies hope smaller turbines will soon rise above a more domestic spot: homes and garages.

The rooftop turbines send the electricity they generate straight on to the home’s circuit box. Then owners in a suitably wind-swept location can watch the needle on their electricity meter turn backward instead of forward, reducing their utility bills while using a renewable resource.

Click here to read the article.

San Francisco has announced that it will pilot a bike-sharing program similar to that currently in place in Paris, France.

The pilot program will include 50 bikes located at five stations on non-city property (as required by a Court injunction until environmental review of the City’s Bicycle Plan is complete). Each station will have either nine or 12 bikes and will provide approximately 50 percent more bicycle parking slots to help ensure proper distribution between available bikes and open, available drop-off spots. The stations will be in the Financial District, Mission Bay, the Presidio, Civic Center and the City College campus.

Click here to read the entire article on Treehugger.

This is aphoto of a former bank vault in Tokyo that has been converted into a semi-automated urban farm.

Click Here to read the story.

This week the online edition of the Coloradoan lists eleven ways to lower your energy bill: <a href=”http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090117/COLUMNISTS104/901170302/1024″>Click Here</a> to read the article

Need help deciding on a composter?

This article in the Philadelphia Enquirer covers several styles of commercially available composters.

According to this article in the Hybrid Car Blog, Toyota is “secretly” working on solar powered electric vehicles. To start, the vehicles might only be partially powered by solar power, while offering the ability to fully charge via roof top solar panels. The long term goal, however, is to have the solar cars achieve all of their power from the vehicle’s own solar cells.

“It’s hot in here. The A/C is off, and I’ve got the windows sealed tight to maximize my aerodynamic efficiency. I don’t think the radio reduces the output of my Honda Insight’s IMA system, but I have it off just in case. All I can hear is the quiet hum of the tires as I try to keep my speedo green and the gas engine from firing up.”

Click Here to read the article

I found this interesting video and more information on gather.com:

A great little article in Boing Boing brought me to this website that documents of our experiences and projects of a young couple living off the grid:

VelaCreations.com

I found these on ThnkGeek.com.

Captured inside the Sun and Moon Jars are a highly efficient solar cell, a rechargeable battery and low energy LED lamps. When the jar is placed in direct sunlight the solar cell creates an electrical current that charges the battery over a few hours. This energy is then used at night to power the three LED lamps inside the jar.

Click Here for form information

Watch this GE video about CFL with the form-factor of a a traditional incandescent bulb:

Bill and Monica Ball earn about $6000 – $7000 per year from their solar panels.

Click Here to find out how.

A group of electric vehicle enthusiasts in the St. Louis area aren’t willing to wait for the hybrid Volt’s 2010 roll-out… so they’ve built their own fully electric vehicles.

Sustainablog brings us the story of the Gateway Electric Vehicle Club, and a few of the EVs that members have built themselves. Retired college professor Charlton Jones (pictured above) bought a ‘74 Porsche 914 on Ebay, and with a little elbow grease and money (OK, a lot of money — $19,000) converted into a fully electric vehicle. On the Illinois side of the river, Ron Erb converted a ‘96 Ford Ranger to an EV (for a mere $7,500). Erb was able to offset some of his costs with a $4000 state tax rebate.

Click Here to read the whole story.

From The Alternative Consumer:

It was recently discovered that a fungus found in the Patagonian Rain Forest in South America could potentially be used to fuel vehicles in the future. Yes, you heard right – Patagonian fungus, the next biofuel.

Click here to read the entire article.

According to Ecotality Life California has unveiled plans for a network of electric car charging stations.

Click Here to read the article.

EcoGeek brings us news of a new billboard is going up in the middle of Times Square that will be powered with 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels instead of the usual electricity. When it’s windy and sunny, the billboard will be able to generate enough electricity to light up.

Click Here to read the article.