Wanted: car designers with X-factor

Big prize promotes practical progress on green cars

Green and squeaky clean

Eco cleaners bust limescale best, says

China goes car-free…

...for a day

Water from the air

Drinking water award goes to water vapour collector

Disposable camping

Recycleable cardboard tent

Gallic twists on tomorrow’s transport

PV good to go

Solar technology breaks new ground on cheap and durable chargers

A Cardiff-based company is about to ship the first of a new kind of solar charger, more durable than the conventional silicon cell type. The technology it uses has been a long time coming to market, but promises to be well suited to the needs of the developing world

Risky business

Insurers act on climate change

Insurers are responding to the threat of climate change by offering a whole host of incentives for their customers to go green, according to a new report.

Plug and go

In a big boost for all-electric cars (and the
new breed of plug-in hybrids), energy company EDF and charge-point manufacturer Elecktromotive are to help local councils install 250 recharging stations.

GM puts fuel cell cars to the test

General Motors is testing the waters of the hydrogen car market by sending over 100 fuel cell versions of its Chevrolet Equinox out for public test drives.

Three wheels good

This space-age Aptera could take some beating in the green car stakes. And it’s on sale already in California – if not actually on the road quite yet. Even before Christmas, 400 people had put down a $500 deposit for one of these goody-goody bad-boys.

Second life for old chips

Big Blue makes breakthrough on recycling semiconductors

IT giant IBM has a new technique for cleaning data off wafer disks, and it’s secure enough that the wafers can be sent back to work – taking some of the pressure off silicon supplies in computing and the fast-growing solar sector.
Made from silicon, about 250,000 wafer disks are produced every day worldwide.

New energy for old Edinburgh

Scottish capital’s redevelopment scheme features ground source heating

Controversial plans for a major redevelopment in part of Edinburgh’s historic old town are set to include one of the UK’s largest ground source heat pumps.