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TWICE, 3/30/2009 1:15:00 PM
Sunnyvale, Calif. – A consumer study conducted by the consumer electronics education Web site Retrevo indicates mistrust, lack of education and high prices are hindering the CE industry’s green efforts.
In the study, 75 percent of consumers polled said buying energy-efficient products was important to them, but less than half admitted to actually having bought a “green” electronics product.
In addition, some 35 percent of respondents said they would be unwilling to pay a premium for green products, even if those products are shown to require less electricity to operate.
“These results suggest that manufacturers and retailers need to better communicate the importance of buying green or else they will have to be more aggressive with pricing,” the company said in a statement on the study.
The study also revealed skepticism among consumers about the validity of green labels. Only 13 percent said they trusted green claims, while 40 percent felt that manufacturers and retailers use the term incongruously to capitalize on the trend without actually creating or selling energy efficient products.
Retrevo said it believes manufacturers will need to be more consistent in their claims and work hard to overcome consumers’ skepticism about energy ratings.
For full article see http://www.twice.com/article/CA6647731.html?nid=2402
March 31st, 2009 | Category: Energy Saving | Leave a comment
by Richard Cockle, The Oregonian
Thursday March 26, 2009, 9:00 PM
BOARDMAN — Dozens of wind turbines west of Boardman are so noisy, nearby homeowners say they’re keeping them awake at night and even making them ill.
“It’s not healthy for us,” Dan Williams said of the 240-foot-tall turbines he can see from his hilltop home. “It’s like a freight train that’s not coming or going.”
Williams is among neighbors along Oregon 74 demanding that Morrow County enforce state noise regulations on the Willow Creek Wind Energy Project or revoke its land-use permit. More »
March 29th, 2009 | Category: Green Power | Leave a comment
With its energy-gobbling casinos, Atlantic City, New Jersey, isn’t exactly known as a city that conserves electricity. Its motto: “Always turned on.”
This oceanside gambling mecca seems an unlikely place for a pioneering solar energy project. But at a ceremony scheduled for Thursday, city and state officials commemorated the city’s convention center, newly powered in part by the largest single-roof solar-panel array in the United States. More »
March 8th, 2009 | Category: Solar Energy | Leave a comment
George Leopold
EE Times
(02/17/2009 1:28 PM EST)
WASHINGTON — With energy efficiency emerging as the “bridge fuel” to renewable, clean energy sources, the power electronics industry is poised to step into the breach with software as well as hardware solutions needed to build intelligent power systems.
Energy efficiency has become so important to electronics manufacturers and consumers alike that an industry survey and roadmap found that consumers are now willing to pay a premium for electronic products that deliver energy efficiency. “There’s demand for power efficiency,” said Carl Blake, who helped compile the industry’s latest roadmap for the Power Supply Manufacturers’ Association. “Energy conservation is driving higher efficiency.” More »
February 18th, 2009 | Category: Energy Saving | Leave a comment
The company says plans to launch a chip that can extract and amplify ultra-low voltages, making it possible to charge devices with a single solar cell.
by: Ucilia Wang
February 16, 2009
Freescale Semiconductor has developed a chip that can harvest ultra-low voltages from solar cells, a technology that can make use of tiny amounts of energy that would otherwise go to waste.
The Austin-based chip company said Monday its DC-to-DC converter chip can work with voltages as low as 0.32 volts, compared with the 0.7 volts that are required to turn on a transistor in a chip today. The chip can amplify 0.32 volts into usable 4 volts. More »
February 16th, 2009 | Category: Solar Energy | Leave a comment
Washington Post Staff Writers
CHICAGO, Feb. 14 — The pace of global warming is likely to be much faster than recent predictions, because industrial greenhouse gas emissions have increased more quickly than expected and higher temperatures are triggering self-reinforcing feedback mechanisms in global ecosystems, scientists said Saturday. More »
February 14th, 2009 | Category: Climate Change | Leave a comment
By joining together to fight climate change, the United States and China have a historic opportunity to lead a global strategic transformation, write Banning Garrett and Jonathan Adams from ChinaDialogue, part of the Guardian Environment Network
In a new report released by the Asia Society’s Center on US-China Relations and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, a group of more than 50 experts on China, politics and business aim to provide Barack Obama’s new US administration with a policy roadmap for cooperation with China. Common Challenge, Collaborative Response: A Roadmap for US-China Cooperation on Energy and Climate Change was produced by the Initiative for US-China Cooperation on Energy and Climate Task Force, co-chaired by John L Thornton, professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and by Steven Chu, prior to his nomination as US secretary of energy. Here, Banning Garrett and Jonathan Adams introduce the report. The full document can be downloaded in both languages here. More »
February 13th, 2009 | Category: Climate Change | Leave a comment
Back in 1999, the editor of a prominent American car magazine told me with a straight face that the Toyota Prius, already a moderate hit in Japan then, would fail in America. It was too complicated, not big enough, and was clueless when it came to towing large recreational vehicles and big boats. Further, nobody cared about fuel economy.
Instead, the Prius, especially in its second-generation 2004-2009 version, caught on big time. Toyota has sold more than 600,000 Priuses in the U.S. since 2000. But sales are down now in the economic downturn, and into the teeth of the storm Toyota is introducing an all-new third-generation Prius. More »
February 13th, 2009 | Category: Hybrid Cars | Leave a comment
There’s cautious optimism about job creation
HERALD STAFF REPORT
Local businesses and consumers speculated Thursday about how the $789 billion economic stimulus recovery package might help Manatee County.
From health providers to non-profits and school administrators, all are cautiously hoping that funds reach here to create new jobs and reboot the economy.
More »
February 13th, 2009 | Category: Hybrid Cars | Leave a comment
People are apparently not renting cars as often as they used to. But while some car rental firms are closing up shop, others are taking those lemons and making “green lemonade”.
Enterprise rent-a-car just announced a massive expansion to their hybrid rental fleet.
For full article see
http://www.gadling.com/2009/02/12/enterprise-adds-5000-hybrid-cars-to-their-rental-fleet/
February 13th, 2009 | Category: Hybrid Cars | Leave a comment
