TreeHugger Roundup  

TreeHugger always does a great job of collecting news on alternative energy and energy efficient ways to do things - and they've been particularly busy this week.

First off is Bouncing Buoys, which is another scheme for generating energy from wave power.

[This is] a permanent magnet linear generator buoy. An electric coil surrounds a magnetic shaft inside the buoy, and while coil is secured directly to the buoy, the magnetic shaft is anchored to the sea floor. When waves cause the coil to move up and down relative to the fixed magnetic shaft, voltage is induced and electricity is generated." 200 of them could power downtown Portland.

Next up they discuss replacing wheat cultivation with spelt, which is apparently hardier and doesn't require fertiliser.

[Spelt] actually has a superior flavor to common bread wheats, and it was the most popular grain in the U.S. until early last century. It fell out of flavor due mass agricultural practices because it needs to be dehulled and has a lower grain yield. Yet spelt (Triticum spelta) actually hardier than wheat and does not require fertilizers, so it is more amenable to organic farming.

They also have a number of transport related posts - "How Green is your hybrid" which looks at emissions and fuel efficiency, "Hybrid Camrys" on Toyota's hybrid version of the Camry, "Electric Scooters" which looks at yet another energy efficient bike and lastly "Car free cities" which extols the benefits of pedestrian oriented cities.

There is also have a brief note on a seminar discussing where to next after the Kyoto treaty expires in 2012.

As a side note, having linked to their "LED Traffic lights" article not that long ago, I was more than a bit surprised today to see a set of these has appeared right outside my office. Cool.

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