Green tech finds (3/24/11)
Lots of solar this week… plus an app for Earth Hour, and lighter footprints for U.S. embassies.
- Water, water everywhere: It’s World Water Week, and this cool new interactive map and tool allows you to explore water supplies and consumption by country, and to see the embodied water in a wide range of products. (via @togethergreen)
- The Earth Hour app: Earth Hour 2011 is this Saturday… and this year, while the lights are off, you can check in on activities around the world with the Earth Hour iPhone app. (via The Alternative Consumer)
- Google testing plugless EV charging: The internet’s 800-lb gorilla is trying out Evatran LLC’s Plugless Power device for charging electric vehicles on the Google campus. The system works by using “electromagnetic fields to transfer electricity between two coils – one installed in the car and the other at the charging station.” (via Cleantechies)
- Solar panels as a standard feature: Homebuilder KB Home will be incorporating “small, 1.4 kilowatt, six-panel rooftop solar [arrays]” as a standard feature in homes in ten of its Southern California communities.
- Tokyo’s solar-powered stadium: That is, completely solar-powered… not just the scoreboard. The Tokyo Ito stadium features a “14,155 sq. meter saddle-shaped roof covered in photovoltaic panels.” (via Greenwala)
- U.S. embassy to install micro-wind: The US embassy in Helsinki will install WindStream Technologies TurboMill wind turbines as a part of the State Department’s League of Green Embassies initiative.
- Florida home to first hybrid solar power plant: Florida Power and Light’s Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center adds solar thermal capacity to an existing natural gas power plant… which will reduce the use of the fossil fuel by 41 million cubic feet. See how it works in the video above. (via Calfinder’s Residential Solar blog)
What did you find on the green tech front? Share it with us…
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