Energie, EU, Klimaschutz, Konsum

Energy news leaping forward


European research for alternative energies is booming.Treasores is an EU-project that deals with cheaper production of large area organic electronics, such as solar cells. AMON-RA will develop one-dimensional nanowires for photovoltaic.
The electree from Vivien Muller is a modern sculpture imitating a bonsai and the leaves are small photovoltaic panels. Suitable to charge mobile devices.  Ecological design may also be of interest with garbage upcycling design.
Redox-flow-batteries may safe future energy at interesting scales and prices.
LED lamps are getting cheaper and more popular, through led24.de one can buy all kinds of different lights.

The 5th Cool IT-Ranking from Greenpeace is online, Google, Cisco and Ericsson are in best position, although there is still a long way to reach real green solutions. On marktcheck one can find the Austrian version.

All these devices use rare earth elements (REE), which arei ncreasingly problematic with recycling quota under 1% and Chinese monopolies. Within this framework urban mining seems to reach new height, especially if planned obsolescence is still state of the art in consumer goods. The Konsumet asks the public for their opinion with a current poll.