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Inhabitat's Week in Green: electric cars compared, molten salt solar, and a renewable Merry Christmas!
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Electric vehicles took the country by storm this week as both the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt were officially released to eager customers - if you're still trying to decide between the two, check out our electric vehicle smackdown, which compares the two EVs based on their most important features. We also took a spin inside Honda's electric Fit, and we showcased a futuristic home decked out with enough solar panels to completely charge an EV. The Sonex airplane also signaled bright horizons for electric aviation as it completed its maiden flight. Meanwhile California lit up the newswires by giving the green light for the state's first molten salt solar energy project, and San Francisco announced a plan to generate 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. We also saw ten European countries forge a plan to build a massive renewable energy supergrid in the North Sea, and we showcased two hot examples of wearable teach that harness body heat - Fujitsu's solar-thermal power band and a band-aid styled mp3 player. Finally, this week Inhabitat geared up for the holidays by showcasing 6 brands of dazzling LED christmas lights that save you energy and money, we showcased some innovative Christmas trees made with unusual materials, and we highlighted out favorite green gadget gifts for the holidays this year. And when all those presents are unwrapped we know exactly what to do with the aftermath - researchers have developed a way to recycle 100% of the material in plastic wrapping paper and artist Jason Rogenes wowed us with his incredible futuristic spaceships made from the styrofoam used to package electronics.
Sonex unveils electric-powered sport plane
Aircraft maker Sonex and partner AeroConversions recently unveiled a slick little electric-powered, two-person sport aircraft called, um, the Sonex. The small yellow prototype was announced at a press conference held by the company on Tuesday. Sonex president John Monnett told the crowd that the plane was part of its E-Flight Initiative, and that the lightweight craft took flight using proprietary electric engine technology powered by ten "safe boxes," which contain eight Lithium-Polymer batteries each. The company hopes to extend the current flight time of 45 minutes to an hour by using more efficient versions of the batteries, and says it's exploring ethanol options as part of the initiative. There was no indication as to when the plane would be ready for sale, but Sonex did say that the final product will be "vastly less expensive than other things out there." Which we're pretty sure means Paul Moller better watch his back.[Via The Raw Feed]
