Jan 23 2009

The Green Seen

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy caught our attention this week:

• The Presidential Inaugural Parade in Washington this week didn't have room for electric car group Plug In America so the organization put on a parade of 74 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in Santa Monica under the banner "greenest procession of its kind." The parade included Toyota RAV4 EVs, Tesla Roadsters, Zero Motorcycles, Chevy 2-10s, a Solectria, a school bus, and a Hummer converted to batteries and displaying a "Hope" poster of President Obama.
• Planning to move? Think green. More moving companies are using plastic crates and other reusable containers to transport household goods, but if you can't find one here are a few  tips from Green Inc. Pack with previously used boxes; ask the moving company to return to pick up boxes and clean wrapping paper or put the wrapping paper in recycling bins; substitute kitchen towels for wrapping paper; and use string or bungee cords instead of packing tape.
• A German research institute has developed a robot to carry out damage inspections of onshore or offshore wind power turbine blades. The robot pulls itself up a rope system on turbines of any size to discover damage too small to be seen by the human eye. Developed by Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation, the robot includes high-resolution cameras to detect flaws in the turbine blades.

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