The “smart grid” is a catch-all term to describe a next-generation power distribution system, with two-way communication, on demand features, and much, much more intelligence than the “dumb” system we currently employ. And everyone’s getting into it, even Google, which announced it’s PowerMeter entry into the smart grid market back in February.  The application, which lives as a secure widget on iGoogle, communicates with smart meters–40 million of which are deployed worldwide at the moment. and that number is expected to jump by 100 million in the next few years. Google PowerMeter will show consumers their electricity consumption in near real-time, and should offer “more useful and actionable feedback than complicated monthly paper bills that provide little detail on consumption or how to save energy.”

And guess what? It’s finally available! GoodCleanTech reports that Ted 5000, a PDA-like gizmo from Energy Inc., goes on sale today. The website reports that “it will include the Google PowerMeter software tool, which will provide personal home energy data from anywhere you can access the Internet, including the iGoogle for mobile phones. With the TED 5000, users will no longer have to have a smart meter installed by your utility in order to access PowerMeter. For those who already have a TED device (short for “the energy detective”), a free firmware upgrade will enable the PowerMeter functionality.”

Good news indeed! Smart grid technology is clearly a boon both to consumers–who doesn’t want to schedule appliances to run when power is cheaper?–and our aging, overtaxed power grid. You can read more about the Ted 5000 and Google’s PowerMeter at GoodCleanTech.com.

A new technology from Panasonic aims to green the electric car. The Japanese electronics giant announced a technology that binds together the ordinary lithium ion batteries you’d find in your laptop in order to power an entire car. According to the Reuters story, the new technology should enable Panasonic to make electric car batteries at half the cost of specially designed lithium-ion batteries, since it can use existing battery plants and production expertise, the company said.

While there has been much enthusiasm and interest surrounding electric cars, developing a system to power them has been a tremendous engineering challenge. Some companies have developed massive battery packs with hundreds of smaller sized batteries. Other businesses have focused on smaller, easily replaceable batteries; Better Place has one such concept, which calls for multiple service stations that can swap out a battery in minutes. The company recently announced with Renault an expanded commitment to a volume of at least 100,000 electric automobiles in Israel and Denmark by 2016.

Whichever technology takes off, there’s clearly public demand for electric cars. The race is on!

Can a lifestyle double as college credit, even a certificate?

The University of Iowa is offering a certificate in sustainability this fall, and one person has signed up so far.

But recent UI graduate Eric Holthaus has dedicated his job, apartment, and habits to being environmentally friendly.

“The idea is being aware and learning a formalized way to show a lifestyle,” said Holthaus.

He is an intern in the UI Office of Sustainability, created last December as an effort to bring green to a solidly black-and-gold campus.

On July 10, Holthaus manned a table at the information fair at freshman Orientation.

Approximately 40 students signed up, expressing interest in the new certificate. Only one person enrolled, but Holthaus said the program is valuable to students in all majors.
Read More…

There were many successes throughout my month of green living. My compost pile, above, was not one of them. Photo by Andy Kroll

So this is it. My final post for “Going Green: Cutting Environmental Impact on Campus,” this fascinating, frustrating, peculiar, enjoyable and enlightening month-long project to live as sustainably and “green” as possible.

No more blogging and writing and filming about solar-powered vibrators or Zipcars or “green” grocery shopping or unsatisfying Wendy’s salads or phantom energy. (At least for UWireGreen.com) In that sense, this post is an ending of sorts.

But it’s a beginning, too. The question I’ve been asked most often by friends, family and other journalists is whether I’ll keep up with my new green lifestyle.

To be honest, I didn’t think twice in responding. With all this knowledge about sustainability and eco-friendly consumption, I fully intend to keep living as “green” as I can from now on.

I may not be writing about it (as much), but that doesn’t mean I’m going to leave all of my appliances plugged in, indulge in 30-minute showers and eat steaks and pork each night of the week. Read More…

The Chevy Volt: the great hope for the future—and viability—of General Motors. Photo courtesy of General Motors.

Last summer’s record spike in oil prices, which shot gas prices up to $4 a gallon or more, may have subsided for now, but the memory of painful prices at the pump still resonates with consumers and automakers.

Add to that the rising tide of legislators, policymakers and environmentalists calling for cleaner cars on the road, and the result is the one of the largest pushes for increased fuel efficiency in U.S. history.

The gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks that once ruled the road during the era of cheap gas are now looked at with derision. In their place are smaller, more efficient compacts and mid-size vehicles like the Chevy Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.

Emerging technologies like hybrid engines, combining electric power with combustion engines, advance fuel efficiency technologies even further, as seen in Toyota’s Prius (the “icon of green automobiles,” according to U.S. News and World Report), or Ford’s upcoming Fusion Hybrid model.

At the federal government level, vastly improved fuel efficiency is a priority, as seen in legislation passed by Congress in 2007 mandating that fuel efficiency for cars and trucks meet or exceed 35 mpg by 2020.

On Friday, the Department of Transportation announced that the combined fuel efficiency of 2011 model cars and trucks must be 27.3 mpg, a 2 mpg jump from the existing standard.

“These standards are important steps in the nation’s quest to achieve energy independence and bring more fuel efficient vehicles to American families,” transportation secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. Read More…