http://www.unfillthelandfill.com Providing green technology and environmentally friendly news. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:44:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Conventional gasoline engines are terribly inefficient things. Only 13% of the energy of the fuel actually moves the car. 62% is lost in the engine as waste heat, and driveline losses, accessories, and idling also reduce the efficiency. Transonic Combustion is planning to build automobile engines with improved efficiency ... http://www.unfillthelandfill.com/transonic-combustion-improves-gas-engine-efficiency-over-50 Beginning today, Google has begun providing bicycle directions for its Google Maps service with directions for cyclists in 150 cities in the United States. Google already incorporates public-transit and walking directions in addition to automobile driving directions, and the bicycling community has been calling for Google to add bike ... http://www.unfillthelandfill.com/google-maps-adds-bicycle-information Eco Factor: Sustainable architecture designed to have minimal impact on the environment. Designed by Coolie Calihan and Charles Johnson, the Cidade Suspensa (Suspended City in Brazilian Portuguese), aims to refine urban architecture and bring it in harmony with nature and the environment. The site of this proposal is located on the ... http://www.unfillthelandfill.com/suspended-city-aims-to-bring-rio-de-janeiro-in-harmony-with-nature Warren County Kentucky is building the first net-zero energy school in the country.  Richardsville Elementary School will operate free of the grid by generating its own renewable energy, incorporating smart architectural features and a major emphasis on efficiency. The list of features for this school is mind-boggling.  The school will have ... http://www.unfillthelandfill.com/nations-first-net-zero-school-coming-to-kentucky A new report from technology research corporation iSuppli warns that we're facing a global LED shortage in 2010.  Hooray! Why am I cheering?  Because the reason for this shortage is a huge surge in demand for the energy-efficient lighting in the electronics industry.  Yes, it's bad that the supply is low, ... http://www.unfillthelandfill.com/report-says-leds-in-short-supply A new study from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies has identified on-road transportation as the most significant overall source contributing to global warming. Power generation, while having the greatest total impact, also includes a large number of compounds that increase cloud reflectivity and provide other effects to offset ... http://www.unfillthelandfill.com/road-transportation-is-the-greatest-culprit-in-global-warming Eco Factor: Energy-saving playhouse harvests solar energy. Designed by C. F. Møller for Saint-Gobain Isover the Saint-Gobain Playhouse is conceived as a sustainable playhouse for children and adults. According to the designers the house is so well insulated that the even a few candles suffice for heating even during the cold ... http://www.unfillthelandfill.com/saint-gobain-playhouse-by-c-f-m%c3%b8ller-can-be-heated-with-candles A recent article from Lawrence Berkely Laboratory suggests that readers should 'Pull the plug. Your battery will thank you.' Researcher Venkat Srinivasan writes about batteries and battery chemistry rather specifically, but without becoming overwhelmingly technical. He explains how batteries begin to fail, and suggests keeping your computer unplugged ... http://www.unfillthelandfill.com/save-your-battery-unplug-your-laptop The news from Iceland has been all about its economic meltdown, but there's other seismic activity going on there, too. Will Iceland roll with hydrogen vehicles or, as it looks increasingly likely, plug-in battery ones? Despite the delivery, during the Copenhagen climate talks, of 10 new Ford Focus FCV fuel-cell vehicles ... http://www.unfillthelandfill.com/despite-economic-collapse-the-greenest-country-on-earth-innovates It's official: I've become my grandmother. I realized it the other morning when I opened the door to our freezer. That icy vault was packed to the brim. But -- in the finest tradition of my Grandma Yeager -- it wasn't filled so much with ... http://www.unfillthelandfill.com/freezer-freaks-10-weird-things-i-freeze-to-save-money