pedal-power / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Drumi the foot pedalled washing machine that makes laundry off-grid oh
Appliances

This foot pedalled washing machine doesn't need electricity and uses very little water.

A typical washing machine can use up to 87 litres of water per load, not to mention its ability to eat up electricity. An efficient Energy Star machine can cut water usage to about 49 litres per load and significantly cut energy usage, but this, the Drumi, will not only wash your clothes without using electricty, it al...

Decentralized Energy Generation for LEED, Passive House & Green Homes
Renewable energy

Which is the Best Type of Home Energy Generation for Green Homes?

Home Energy Generation, which option is best? How the electrical grid is fed near you will be a huge factor in determining the carbon footprint of your home, with or without your own renewable power generation such as having solar panels on your roof. If you live near a windfarm, that's where most of your power comes f...

Trinity portable wind turbine for charging devices
Wind power

The Trinity portable wind turbine will charge your gadgets on the go.

...pedal-powered Bicycle Generator, and its rather lofty claims that one hour of riding can power a house for a day, which simply is not the case. However, with homes that are designed with the goal of reducing energy consumption, small devices like the portable wind turbine or pedal-powered washing machine, pedal-powered...

60 Minutes On This Bicycle Can Power Your Home For 24 Hours (In Theory Anyhow)
Renewable energy

Can you really power your home with a bicycle generator?

...pedal-powered washing machine, the Trinity portable wind turbine, the pedal-powered Fun Box tiny house, or the Stirling coaster phone charger that uses the heat or cold from your coffee or beer to charge your device... How cool is that?  

Are Small Wind Turbines for Homes Any Good?
Wind power

Is this the safest and most powerful small home wind turbine yet?

Countless inventors are stepping up to the plate with the latest and greatest green technologies that will save the planet. This is great to see, but the waters of sensible change will no doubt be muddied along the way by some failed attempts, some questionable claims, and perhaps even a little snake oil!  We found the...

The Zoetrope DIY Vertical Wind Turbine Design
Wind power

The Zoetrope: Open Source DIY Vertical Wind Turbine Design

The Zoetrope is a vertical-axis wind turbine made from common materials. Many of the materials can be found at your local hardware store and the rest can purchased online or made at home, for the truly industrious amongst us.  The Zoetrope was conceived when renewable energy advocate, Mike Marohn commissioned Applied S...

Wind farm
Wind power

Storing power from wind farms

One of the biggest drawbacks to renewable energies like wind and solar, is that it is unpredictable. This presents a challenge to grid operators, as they struggle to meet demand while compensating for calm winds or clouds. One method of balancing supply and demand that is garnering some attention lately, is pumped stor...

tidal power generators
Renewable energy

Tidal generators offer a predictable supply of renewable energy

A project started in 2002 by Verdant Power Inc. saw tidal turbines placed 10 metres deep in the East River of New York, taking advantage of the reliable tidal surge of Long Island Sound.  Spinning silently at 35-40 rpms for 18 hours a day in a 4 knot current, tidal turbines eliminate two of the more common complaints a...

Flexible 'solar glitter' from Mpower Technologies
Solar photovoltaic

Flexible PV 'solar glitter' panels coming soon

Standard solar panels are rigid, relatively heavy and fragile. A new product on the market called Microsystems Enabled Photovoltaics (MEPV) from mPower Technology may change that. The cells in these pliable sheets are made from high-efficiency silicon, and if one cell is damaged or loses power, the rest will continue t...

the installation of a LucidPipe power generator via Lucid Energy
Micro-hydroelectric

Portland, Oregon will Soon Generate Hydroelectric Power in Water Pipes Under City Streets.

Hydroelectric power generation is definitely renewable but not always 'green' when you consider all the side effects, especially when it comes to large hydroelectric dams. In the quest to find alternative power sources to replace fossil fuels, the energy that can be harnessed from moving water is leading to some impres...

Transparent solar power producing windows
Renewable energy

transparent solar panels

When considering solar cells as thin as laminate and completely transparent, the possibilities seem endless. Imagine every glass or laminant surface in our built environment and all of our devices, large and small, harvesting solar energy. In a world of passive, self-sustaining mini-power stations, would the need for f...