If thinking out of the box is your cup of tea then Japan is the land for you. People there surely think out of the box even when they do not need to and ‘tea’ is pretty much all you will get their to drink. Japan is a land that has been known for its amazing new creations and amalgamation of electronic perfection with spectacular new gadgets. But here is an idea by the Japanese that is both needed and welcome. The spectacular Eco-Rigs to adorn Japan’s Coastline would soon make a mighty power source of free energy.

Huge Village-sized floating Eco-Rigs would soon float close to the Japanese shore to generate clean power for the country. These humongous structures would be fitted with both wind turbines and wide solar panels to produce energy in more ways than just one. While the 2 km by 800 meters solar base would be busy turning the power of the sun in to electricity, the wind turbine blades would be swirling around to power up Japan further.

So what about the ocean eco-system in all this? It gets better actually with some of that solar and wind energy to be used to power banks of underwater LED lights. They’re intended to be the source of light for nurseries of seaweeds to encourage the growth of fish and plankton population. That is indeed king-sized eco-revolution.

Via TimesOnline

This really is nothing beyond a symbolic way of saying that France intends to go green and that the French government is ready to embrace eco-friendly technology. But the good thing about cutting the sizzle off of the Eiffel Tower is that it is actually being acknowledged as just a ‘symbolic gesture’ and no one is trying to make a big deal out of it in terms of energy saving. While many might welcome the move, one could surely save plenty of power somewhere else rather than dim the lights on Paris’ most striking monuments.

Since January 1, 2000, every hour after dusk, the 20,000 bulbs twinkle brilliantly for ten minutes in what has become a tourist hit. But starting next month, Sete, the company subcontracted by Paris to run the tower, has decided to half the time the bulbs are on, cutting illumination from 400 to 200 hours per year. The decision is part of a plan to make the Eiffel tower and other monuments more environmentally friendly.

Tickets and documents in the tower are made of recycled paper, and management claims that all the electricity used comes from renewable sources. It is currently studying a plan to put solar panels on the roof of its restaurants. This latest green initiative comes just after the “city of light” completed a massive five-year energy saving plan to replace the standard incandescent light bulbs with metal iodide light bulbs on 125 of its monuments.

Now you could still use solar power of even tiny windmills to power the lights on the Eiffel rather than cut the time in half. The tourists are surely not going to take to it all too well and while it is for a wonderful green cause, there are surely other ways of awareness than taking the sheen of France’s eternal symbol of lights and love.

Via Telegraph

When God said, “Let there be Light”, we are all pretty sure he did not mean it in as sophisticated fashion as this one. But with changing times and even the apparent changing persona of ‘God’, from wearing a crown in the 1940’s to sporting a pristine white Tuxedo in the form of Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty, it is time to get modern and flashy with stuff. But the cool gadgets are all about carrying style with substance and this LED Light Glove carries with it a green message in sleek ergonomic design.

The new conceptual torchlight designed by Slovenian designer Tilen Sepic, is something that has been picked straight out of the Matrix. The whole idea of the concept as per the designer is to produce a working light without the hassle of shadows being reflected in the object. The device is supposed to be worn like a glove around the wrist and the light is emitted through the white LED, which is a part of the device. The device also includes a battery pack with the light being transferred through the attached optical fibers to a specified location.

This surely is one blingy toy that will blind you with its shining spotlight and while the designer might not have visualized the Light Glove in this form, one feels that it still makes for a great security device. If you ever happen to be in danger, just point your finger straight at the bad guy and the blurring brilliance of LED light will blind him for a few seconds giving you time to make a run. (Make sure he is not wearing shades though) Now that is indeed cool!

Via Designergallery / Tuvie

Toshiba-one of the famous names in home-use lighting equipment industry has released two nouveau LED lights for commercial purposes. These are shaped like midget reflector and beam lamps. These were designed in a manner that they can be easily used with current sockets used for existing lights in your house (because these lights have the E26 base).

The 2 light sources which come in two types/models use Nichia Corp’s LED. While one is incandescent and the other is of white variety. The bulbs are specially designed for signboards, shops & other facilities. The 2 lamps are: midget reflector lamp and beam lamp-shaped LED light.

Midget reflector lamp:-
• Equipped with five LEDs
• Has a power of a 60W incandescent bulb
• Consumes only 5.3W electricity
• Luminance is 50lm/W (incandescent type) and 68lm/W (white type)
Beam lamp-shaped LED lamp:-
• Equipped with eight LEDs
• Equivalent to a 75-100W incandescent bulb
• Consumes mere 9W electricity!
• Luminance is 66lm/W (white type) and 48lm/W (incandescent type).
Both the lamps have a lifespan of 20,000 hours and the price tag for both is between $100- $140. All I can say is it’s a cheap price for super-efficient lights!

Source: goodcleantech