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
Our friends over at Tech Digest have heard a rumour from the very heart of Mac Towers, where one observant soul has caught a glimpse of the latest Apple patents being registered. And on that list was...a solar panel-backed LCD screen!
What this means is that Apple has devised a clever little way to power your iWhateverYou've Got while you're on the move using the sun or any ambient light with which your handheld comes into contact. With the current state of solar capture technology, it's unlikely that it'll free your pod, phone or touch from the wall completely but it will be a very useful top up method and you'll feel greener than Alan Titchmarsh's fingers.
MacRumors (via Electric Pig)
Related posts: Solar power for your gadgets | Solio Magnesium
Generating your own energy with solar panels used to be the preserve of only the darkest greens and most hardcore environmentalists, but a new type of lightweight 'sticky-back' solar panel could soon open up self sufficient living to the Blue Peter generation.
A company called Lumeta has developed a "peel and stick" design that should be much cheaper and easier to apply than the standard rack-mounted solar panel design. Lumeta's panels are apparently half as heavy as concrete roofing tiles and can be tailored to fit on most types of roofs.
[Via Popgadget]
Electronic waste is notoriously difficult to dispose of responsibly, so if you've got an old blender that's made its last smoothie and you feel like a challenge, why not follow these instructions on how to turn it into a smart, contemporary lamp?
This is a surprisingly easy project, that requires no more than a screwdriver, basic light socket (available from most DIY stores) and an energy-saving lightbulb. The result will be a genuinely useful conversation piece that will have your friends gazing in awe at your creative ingenuity!
Yes that's right; it's another device that alleges to give you the power to switch off climate change using a hand-held remote control. But let's hear out the claims...
The One For All Energy Saver works roughly on the same principles as Bye Bye standby and EcoElectricals' auto switch off lead, i.e. by appealing to the laziness of the user. It basically allows you to switch off a number of appliances from standby with a single button press, so you don't have to root around under the sofa or behind the TV turning off gadgets individually. So how does it compare?
Related: Hippyshopper's guide to saying goodbye to standby
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Launched in the States last week, Efuel 100's new 'Microfueler' is a handy device that allows motorists to address and effectively bypass the whole biofuels dilemma without even leaving the house.
Any vehicle that runs on petrol can run on ethanol, and the Microfueler lets you make gallons of your own out of water, sugar, and yeast. It's not cheap, at $9995, but its makers say it will pay for itself in about a year and a half. Shipping at the end of the year, the machine is available to pre order now. There's no word of when it'll be available outside the US, but it'll be interesting to see how many Americans choose to take the hotldy debated fuel issue into their own hands. [Via Gizmodo]
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.
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