The Jellyfish is a 36 inch vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) that can be plugged in directly into your electrical sockets and can generate roughly 40kWh a month on a moderately windy day. There is no fancy setup necessary and with only one moving part, maintaining the turbine is easy enough for regular home owners. It is also comes equipped with WiFi and WiMax in order to create a point-to-grid system.

The power that these small turbines generate is not much (40kWh a month can power a room that contains CFL bulbs), but harnessed collectively and tied interactively with the local utility grid there can be significant environmental and system reliability benefits. Chad Maglaque, the creative genius behind Jellyfish, states that these turbines are the PC of renewable energy stating “We could have 10,000 of these sitting in a city, networked—it’s like a virtual utility…”

Unfortunately, the Jellyfish cannot be used on its own. Should there be a power outage, the turbine will not provide energy due to safety features built in that prohibits the turbines from operating on their own nor can it be used to charge battery banks for off-grid systems. In fact, the product is more of a way to supplement your existing power grid and eventually, with enough of these little guys, create a virtual utility network.

The turbines is currently not ready for distribution, but it is expected to retail at $400 eventually reducing to $199 at higher production volumes  with rebates, discounts or tax credits available from your local power utility. It will typically cost 7 years to recoup the cost of the Jellyfish.

[via Clarian]

The MetalCell is a unlike other rechargeable batteries in that it is: 1. refuelable 2. takes seconds to recharge. According to a S.E.G. Inc. report, The battery contains either magnesium or aluminum plates. Addition of salt water, creates a chemical reaction and generates electricity. Adding extra salt water will recharge the battery until the magnesium dissipates. The battery can charge anything from flashlights to night vision goggles to laptops. While saltwater creates the preferred chemical reaction, addition of urine can also help charge and power the cells.

These battery cells may not take the place of wind or solar in terms of generating mass amounts of energy, but it begin invading our household. Japan has created urine powered batteries for public use. Currently available in AAA and AA size, these batteries (NoPoPo) produces 500 milliamps/hr and can last up to ten years. Like it’s larger brother, MetalCell, the NoPoPo contains magnesium (and carbon) which reacts with various liquids [Source: Reg Hardware]. Unfortunately the batteries are only available in Japan.

So the next time you’re going to the bathroom, remember that your pee also has its place in saving the environment.

As of 2009, Suzuki has created a working prototype running off of electricity. The bike features thin-section tires are for low rolling resistance, an innovative flip-up action seat, allowing the hydrogen tank to be refilled, and a full digital dash atop the bars including a tachometer and speedometer.

The most recent fuel cells produce about 1.8kw of energy, enough to actually recharge the lithium battery packs to keep up with demand during use. Max speed is around 50-60mph and the bike can travel around 215 miles per tank of hydrogen.

While there is no set release date, Suzuki and Intelligent Designs have made an agreement with British Olympic organizers for the 2012 games in London. The two companies also hope to get the tank approved for use on a motorcycle along with other tests to increase approval and boost eventual sales in Europe and Japan. The price tag is set to be around 8,000 euros or 11,000USD.

We are used to seeing the Rastaman’s face emblazoned on T-shirts, college walls and weed paraphernalia worldwide. Now, Marley will soon grace a line of consumer products made by HoMedics.

The venture is a HoMedics/Marley family joint (no pun intended) titled The House of Marley. The initial products will include boomboxes, docking stations, ear buds and headphones, with the intent to develop other categories in the future.

The House of Marley’s motto is about developing products that feature the Marley family values — as well as developing a controlled brand for the reggae legend. They are planning to feature eco-friendly products, using woods, bamboo, recycled materials, and even less-waste packaging. We can’t wait for the Bob Marley bamboo boombox.

“We are excited to announce this partnership with Marley & Co.,” says Alon Kaufman, CEO of HoMedics. “We translated family values into the design DNA of our products, focusing on details that portray unity, peace and equality.”

The company says that it will also set up “an affinity program,” which will involve charities around the world that deal with “youth, planet and peace.” Jeez, couldn’t they spread it out a bit? For now, how that will work and with what charities still seems a bit up in the air.

HoMedics is pretty well known for making products that massage, lull, sooth and loofah. If you’ve ever used a white noise machine with sounds of the rainforest and birds chirping, most likely, it had the HoMedics stamp on it.

Expect HoMedics to start selling its first House of Marley products in October 2010.

The OLEV is an answer to the problem of recharging electric vehicles. While the technology is currently in testing phase at the Seoul amusement park, widespread application is not far off. The city government of Seoul and KAIST signed a Memorandum of Understating (MOU) on the development of the online electric vehicle. With increasing concern about the environment, both organizations agreed to introduce eco-friendly vehicles to the city’s public transportation system, beginning with a bus route in Seoul [Source: KAIST].The OLEV system receives it’s power from non-contact magnetic transmissions from recharging strips in the road.

The vehicles receive “micro-charges” each time they pass over these strips. These micro-charges are extremely efficient, only only 20% of the total bus route would need to contain recharging strips, and only at places like bus stops, parking lots, and intersections [Source: KAIST]. This allows for smaller battery size and better range. Not only that, the no contact power transmission reduces hazards associated with electric vehicles, such as electric shock.

While the OLEV will help to reduce emissions from the public transportation vehicles, the energy they are receiving is still from fossil fuels. Korea is the fifth largest importer of oil in the world with oil supplying 50% of its energy demands and coal supplying 24% [Source: US Energy Information Administration]. Using electric vehicles might help in the short term, but without a real source of renewable energy to power the energy grid, these small changes will not make much of an impact since the vehicles will still be running off of oil.

Although there are still many improvements necessary in South Korea, the OLEV offers a newer and easier method of charging electrical cars. The batteries in the vehicle are five times smaller than for conventional electric vehicles [Source: Engadget]. As the technology improves, it seems likely that this could become accessible to civilian transportation as well.

The SUNNAN lamp, designed by Nicolas Cortolezzis, is IKEA’s first solar cell work lamp and it has a built-in rechargeable solar panel embedded in the base. What I want to know though is how do you go about charging a desk lamp via solar power? Do you move your desk over to the window? Do you set the lamp outside on your lunch hour? Maybe you move your whole desk outside (awesome, but not very practical)?

Apparently, the charge time is about 9-12 hours in direct sunlight. When fully charged, the lamp stays lit for about 4 hours, dimming slightly after about 3 hours. This is a cool, novelty item for someone who’s into solar energy and its applications or who wants to spend a few weeks off the grid, but it’s not very practical for everyday use. Twelve hours of charging for 4 hours of use just doesn’t cut it.

[ Via Ikea ]

Of course, fuzzy green feelings aside, there are definitely some other products on the short list that could have a far further-reaching impact than a coffee-powered printer.

Like a power socket that offers 5V, 16V and standard 120V to cut down on the need for power transformers and the use of disposable batteries in our electronics. Or Blink, an affordable attachment that uses a photo-sensitive cell to turn off lights when they’re not needed.

I was also intrigued by Eco-Neighbuzz, an internal telecom system that lets residents of a housing development or building exchange messages quickly. What kind of messages? Well, ones about needing to borrow a tool, giving away something, wanting to share a ride, etc. At first I was blown away by this one, but then I remembered that I’ve been a member of my neighborhood email listserv for years and it serves the same purpose, but without the need for a dedicated communications device in every home.

You can’t buy the coffee-ink printer yet, but we’ll keep you posted on the status.

The lightweight aluminum FreeLoader unfolds to reveal two solar panels and comes with a USB charging cable, plus eleven standard adapters for your major cell phone, digital camera, PDA, GPS, and MP3 gadgets — and if the standard set doesn’t fit your device, there are extra accessories available to fill out your set (like an iPod adapter — now you can take long roadtrips and not worry about running out of tunes after 8 hours). Available for $49.95 from firebox.com, the FreeLoader is a great add to your power arsenal without breaking the bank.

The Wellness Shower Filter is touting itself as an “anti-aging shower system”, but that’s not the real selling point: it’s that the same sort of system you’ve got hanging from your kitchen sink can now take out all of the harsh toxins from your shower, too — the chlorine, harsh metals and free radicals that dry out your skin and can even cause breakouts. The filter even goes one better by putting a little love back IN to the water — utilizing rare volcanic minerals, water is effectively “softened” and can help contribute to a more hydrating experience by increasing the residual moisture content of your skin and hair. Plus this purified water contributes to reducing the bacteria and fungal growth in your shower, so it may even speed up your bathroom cleaning. At $249 it’s a bit of an investment, but for healthy skin — and maybe a few less bottles of moisturizing lotion in your lifetime — it seems a decent trade off.