A typical desktop computer uses about 65 to 250 watts. This one, dreamed up by design student Ben Chase, is therefore pretty exceptional, in that it runs on just 27.
Like most of the best eco-friendly gadgets, the 'modular PC' is still in prototype form. But it's impressive to know that a computer can function on so little energy, and with any luck, it'll attract some money-shaped attention from the big computer boys soon. [Via Engadget]
The London Transport Museum and Orange are asking the public what urban life will be like in the year 2055 with the Future Generator game.
The site runs parallel to an interactive exhibition at the museum and attempts to collate the results of as many people as possible to paint a realistic picture of how our cities might look in 50 years time. It's all done by some simple and seemingly rather obvious two-option, eco questions akin to "Would you rather blow up the planet or recycle things?" and I suppose the idea is to assess attitude, rather than behaviour, in the most universal way possible. It's worth a go. [Via Tech Digest]
Continue reading >>
From the people who brought us the Juice Bag solar beach tote, comes the Profolio, a solar powered bag made from recycled material. Like the majority of solar powered gadgets out there, the bag will save your dying/dead batteries and will give your gadgets power when they're in desperate need, providing it has stacked up enough juice to do so. Simply plug your gadget into the included socket inside the bag and off you go.
Reware
[via Shiny Shiny]
Continue reading >>
Remember this thing? That was the mock-up. The dream. The reality, as ever, is much more disappointing than the original crazed fantasy. The final Asus U6 now just comes with a small strip of bamboo surrounding the keyboard and screen, no doubt to stop warping and to help it pass stringent modern fire regulations.
So it's not really an "eco-friendly" laptop any more. It's now just a regular notebook with a bit of wood stuck on the front of it. It's more of a design statement than a planet-saving option. Fail. [Via Tech Digest]
Apple may be doing its best to get in on the solar-powered bandwagon, but it looks like they've already been beaten to it, by the ever tech-savvy Japanese.
The device, made by a company called Thanko, has a mini solar panel that flips out to catch the sun, and will take standard, mini-SD cards like you may have in your mobile phone. It has an additional 4GB internal memory, plays most audio and video files, and charges via its integrated solar panel or a USB port. I think it looks pretty cute too.
[Via Alternative Consumer]
I'm not convinced I need a solar powered lawnmower. It's not the energy side of mowing that bothers me, unless we're talking about the energy needed to get my arse up off the sofa and out to push the thing around.
However, I do like to give a hearty round of applause to the hackers with enough intelligence and modding cojones to come up with these contraptions.The starting materials aren't that hard to get hold of - a battery operated lawnmower, a 12V charger and a solar cell; ok, so that last one's not so easy - but the real trouble for folk like me is the easy to follow steps, which begin with "Just simply" and end with a pile of useless wires in shed for five years and a broken lawnmower - not worth the trouble.
Now, if I could apply it to a robotic mower then that would be a winner. [Via Tech Digest]
No, you haven't stumbled on to a PC review on Tech Digest by mistake; you're actually looking at the latest bit of kit in composting technology.
The Naturemill Pro makes the whole messy business of composting food waste a lot less icky by coming equipped with a neat, press-and-flip lid. It holds up to 120 lbs of food, seals everything away odourlessly and lets you know when its done turning your scraps into top quality fertilizer with a red LED light. This typically takes two weeks. And if all that's not enough, it's also available in six lovely colours! The bad news? It's on sale at $399
A typical desktop computer uses about 65 to 250 watts. This one, dreamed up by design student Ben Chase, is therefore pretty exceptional, in that it runs on just 27. 
digg this | del.icio.us this
| 
Stumble It!
