Google’s New Green Gadget: The PowerMeter

Whenever eco-pundits gather, the conversation focuses on one question: “Who is going to be the green Google?”

Now it turns out that the green Google just might be . . . Google.

Enter Google’s newest techno-innovation: The PowerMeter.

Currently in development, Google’s PowerMeter tool will soon help consumers monitor their personal energy expenditures in real-time. Once launched, not only will the tool help reduce carbon emissions by showing people where they can cut down on their individual power usage, but according to studies, it will also ultimately help save between 5-15% on one’s monthly energy bill.

Google’s reasoning is “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.”

So being the analytics kings that they are, Google’s new PowerMeter will help answer such pivotal questions as:

• How much does it cost to leave your TV on all day?
• What about turning your air conditioning 1 degree cooler?
• Which uses more power every month — your fridge or your dishwasher?
• Is your household more or less energy efficient than similar homes in your neighborhood?

Many thanks to TrendCentral.com.

Apple Reports $1.14 Billion Profit as Sales Jump 27%

TECHNOLOGY ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal.

Oct. 21, 2008

Apple reported a $1.14 billion profit as sales jumped 27% to $7.9 billion, as demand for the company’s premium products held up amid the souring economy. CEO Steve Jobs said he was unsure “how this economic downturn will affect Apple” and the company gave a wide range of financial targets for the holiday quarter. In the September quarter, unit shipments of Macintosh computers rose 21%, while iPod unit shipments rose 8%. The company also shipped 6.9 million iPhones.

Guru’s Note: My daughter just gave me a luscious new Nano Chromatic in Guru Orange. I think Apple will still shine during the holidays.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, go to: http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news-tech-technology.html?mod=djemalertTECH

Sunday is Eco-Design Day. Introducing the All Electric MINI.

As many readers already know, Sunday is Eco-Design Day at the Guru of New blog. With the frenzy of eco-innovation underway, it’s usually tough to choose the perfect example of breakthrough design + technology.

But not this Sunday. The world’s coolest, cutest car is going all-electric. 500 all-electric MINI E will be available to select corporate and private customers as part of a pilot project in California, New York and New Jersey starting sometime in 2009. The MINI E is powered by a 150 kW (204 hp) electric motor fed by a high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The wiz-car can hit 62 mph in 8.5 seconds, cover about 150 miles with a full charge on a current charging station in 2.5 hours. The MINI E may be available in Europe as well. You can see it at the Los Angeles Auto Show starting on Sneak Preview night November 20, 2008 and running through Thanksgiving.

Thanks to Likecool.com.

It’s Eco Design Day.

After the hellacious week we’ve had, don’t we deserve to spend a leisurely Sunday gawking at the latest cool green designs? Here are a few stand-outs chosen by eco-design expert Marcus Fair and featured in the UK’s Independent.

Silk Story. Designed by Elsbeth Joy Nielsen, Netherlands

Nielsen has discovered a way of producing silk without killing silkworms. Normally the worms die when their cocoons are boiled to loosen the silk; Nielsen’s technique allows them to create a patch of pure silk while crawling back and forth over a platter looking for a place to build their cocoons. Once the panel is complete, they are left to pupate naturally. The resulting scarf demonstrates the material’s exquisite beauty.

X

OXO laptop. Designed by Yves Behar, US

The follow-up to the One Laptop Per Child project, this is a bold humanitarian attempt to provide disadvantaged children around the world with internet access. The XOXO has two touch-screens and consumes less than a tenth of the power of a standard laptop. www.fuseproject.com

Solar tree, Designed by Ross Lovegrove, UK

Lovegrove is one of the very few superstar designers prepared to take a stand on environmental issues, producing conceptual products such as solar-powered cars and lowenergy houses that point to a greener future. This project, a solar-powered street-lighting system, has made it off the drawing board and is currently being showcased at design fairs around the world. www.rosslovegrove.com

Aquaduct bike, Designed by IDEO, US

While not the most beautiful design in this list, the Aquaduct bike is a rare example of designers attempting to improve the lives of people less fortunate than ourselves. Millions of people in the developing world have no access to clean water and often have to walk miles to collect contaminated water. This bike makes the journey easier and also contains a pedal-powered filtration system, giving the user a container full of clean water by the time they get home. www.ideo.com

Local River. Designed by Mathieu Lehanneur, France

This French designer addresses environmental concerns over industrial fishing methods and the wastefulness of transporting food vast distances by suggesting a way for people to farm fish at home. Fish waste is used to fertilise vegetables growing in pots that sit above the tanks, and there, after a little time, you have it: a meal of fish and veg in one, easy-to-reach corner of the room. The concept was inspired by Eastern farming methods, where fish waste has traditionally been used to fertilise rice paddies.www.mathieulehanneur.com

Cabbage chair. Designed by Nendo, Japan

Using a paper by-product of the fabric-pleating industry, the Japanese designers Nendo have managed to create a beautiful object that avoids the self-conscious “recycled” look of many of today’s green designs. Made simply from a thick roll of pleated paper, a small chair appears naturally as you peel away its outside layers, one at a time (pictured fully peeled). www.nendo.jp

Steve Jobs Presents Christmas 2008

This morning at Apple’s Let’s Rock event in San Francisco, a still-thin but always-cheeky Steve Jobs introduced what’s certain to be on everyone’s Christmas List this year. The no-brainer stocking stuffer is the juicy new fourth generation nano, hotter than ever in nine new neon colors. This thinnest iPod ever sports a sleek new design with a curved aluminum and glass enclosure. It also incorporates Genius technology and features a built-in accelerometer that automatically switches to Cover Flow when rotated and automatically goes into Shuffle mode when lightly shaken.

iPod nano (4th generation) comes in 8GB and 16GB models, starting at just $149.

Catch full liveblog coverage from Yerba Buena Center via Gizmodo.

Japan Goes Uber-Eco with New Zero Emissions House.

Is GW soaking his feet in a fuel-cell powered foot bath, as Honda’s Asimo humanoid robot serves him green tea?

With the eyes of the world on all things eco at the G8 Summit in northern Japan, this week is the perfect time for Japan’s tech innovators to dazzle us with their most droolworthy green gizmos. And droolworthy they absolutely are, ranging from Sanyo’s Aqua waterless washer to Sharp’s solar-powered TV to Mitsubishi’s human-sensing air conditioner to Honda’s gracious tea-bot. But stealing a bit of their thunder is where the eco-gadgets are displayed — in the new Zero Emissions House.

The 200 million yen, 2152 square foot, one-story house has been built near the Summit and will be moved to another area afterwards, where the general public can gawk at the high-priced, high tech appliances in the Japan-style uber-eco home. The house is powered by a wind-turbine generator and a photovoltaic generation system and sports a rooftop vegetation system plus solar panels.

Zero and low emission houses have been sprouting up around the world, including one in the UK, where the first one went up last June.