If you keep a flashlight on your keychain you know how convenient they can be.

…but what if your trusty flashlight runs out of batteries?

The Key Ring Solar 2-LED is a keychain flashlight with a green twist. Sure, it uses ultra-efficient, long lasting LED bulbs, but it also features a solar panel on the side for power.  Although it’s a bit bigger than most keychain flashlights, measuring 6.8 x 3.8 x 1.4 cm it’s still pretty tiny, but those with a massive amount of keys already might want to think otherwise.

I do also wonder how effective the solar panel will be, seeing as my keys are either in my pocket or in my car. Not a lot of solar exposure. Powering only 2 LEDs however, I can’t imagine much exposure is required.

This might be a bit impractical for those without a lot of pocket space, but a flashlight with guaranteed power could come in handy. I might suggest this as a backup flashlight for emergencies, rather than a keychain. Still, good to see even keychain accessories going green.

Additional Pictures (click for bigger):

via GeekAlerts

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The Navitas bicycle trailer is a new concept in portable green power.

Designed by Paul Smith, a final year design student at the University of Derby in England, the Navitas is “a pure concept in sustainable transport” explained Smith.

The trailer is a bit of a transformer. It’s wheel splits apart into 3 sections which serve as a wind turbine, and a compact solar panel provides another source of power in case of low wind.  These work together to charge the 24v on-board battery.

The trailer provides power output via a 12v cigarette lighter, and a USB port, allowing you to charge all your USB devices. Charge your iPod on the go!

Surprisingly, there’s no standard outlet, however power inverters intended for cars could be used in the cigarette lighter to provide standard outlets.

It clips easily to the seat post, and as an added eco-bonus, utilized all-LED brake and hazard lights.

This is a fantastic concept, however a method to charge the battery, even just a small charge, without  disconnecting and setting up the whole trailer should have been included, I wouldn’t want to stop just to charge the battery.

This is only a concept, and not currently available for sale, but it certainly seems marketable, and if it ever hits store shelves, we’ll be sure to let you know.

Get more information from the design poster:

via MetaEfficient

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 Is green the first thing your think of when someone says “Wal-Mart”? Probably not, but the company is hoping to change that.

Wal-Mart is testing out what it calls it’s “high efficiency” superstore. It’s aim is to use 20 less energy in these stores and thus help to reduce some of the emissions generated by Wal-Mart’s city-block sized ultra-stores.

Wal-Mart is focusing on two aspects of it’s stores, it’s air-conditioning/heating and it’s refrigeration. These two systems work in a brilliantly designed symbiotic system. 100% of the heat rejected from the refrigeration system is piped into the heating system, where it is converted into usable energy. This design also reduces the amount of copper piping used.

The impressive thing about Wal-Mart’s green initiative is the scope of it. Wal-Mart has so much money available to them, they can afford to take chances on new green products. They are testing out brand new products we’ve covered here, such as waterless urinals and LED lighting.

There is a huge variety of other technologies used throughout the store to increase efficiency. They are using special quick-response doors for sealed sections such as the garden center, and skylights to help light the store.

One of the coolest improvements is motion-driven lighting on refrigerator cases. They use LED lights that only turn on when a customer approaches, then quicky turn off then they leave. Pretty cool!

These initiatives are expected to reduce the energy consumption of each store 20%, which is a heck of a lot when you think of how much energy these stores much use.

To celebrate the opening of the first of these high-efficiency stores, Wal-Mart is giving away 21,000 energy-saving CFL bulbs to seniors and low-income families.

Many eco-bloggers have dismissed Wal-Marts attempt at going green, but I for one welcome the change. Wal-Mart might not be the ideal picture of a green company, and there’s no doubt they contribute to a lot of the problem, but they are also the biggest retailer to date to embrace and test green technology.

It’s quite possible that more companies will start to look at green technologies if Wal-Mart’s experiment is successful, and whether Wal-Mart is doing all this for the right reasons or not, being more energy efficient can’t be bad!

via Green Technology

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Well we’ve been seeing a whole bunch of new electric vehicle concepts, securing the age-old idea that we’ll all drive electric cars in the near future.

Unfortunately electric cars still have a problem with range. Most of them are very energy efficient, but still can’t drive very far without needing a recharge.

Mitsubishi has put some innovative ideas into the iMIEV to solve this problem. Use green energy!

The iMIEV features a solar panel on the roof and two compact wind turbines in the front to generate electricity. Along with solar and wind, the iMIEV has a regenerative braking system, which uses braking friction to generate electricity.

These technologies help recharge the car’s battery and helps to improve the car’s range. The solar roof alone adds about 20 miles to the range. It’s not much, but every little bit helps, and if it’s green energy, all the better!

In addition to the green power, the car features LED based lighting, heat-absorbing window glass, and green plastic - a plastic made from plant resin.

It’s great to see some innovative thinking in creating a green car, it’s ideas like this which will give us the car of the future, not just a simple concept.

via Treehugger

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Do you remember wind-up toys? I used to prefer those over the battery kind since your didn’t have to wait 6-8 hours for a charge.

Well in addition to those simple toys, wind-up power has moved into the lighting industry.

This wind-up lamp is powered by a high-carbon tensile steel spring, which basically means it’s going to last a long time. With a super-efficient LED bulb, you could get some great charge time!

In addition to a green power source (human power), it’s going to have power whenever you need it, and not when you don’t. You’ll no longer have to worry about losing your lighting in a power outage, or wasting electricity if you forget to turn it off. Great green innovation!

This isn’t available for purchase yet, it’s only a design. It’s a great idea however, and is already used in wind-up emergency flashlights. I could see this technology becoming a lot more widespread.

via Keetsa

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Britian’s environment ministry said it will begin phasing out incandescent bulbs and switching to more eco-friendly CFLs.

Britian is attempting to cut 5 million tonnes of carbon by 2012 and this is one step along the way.

The British government has been working with manufacturers and retailers to provide options to customers.

As of yet this remains a voluntary switch, but there has been talk of creating mandatory initiatives, as we’ve seen in Australia and even the US.

It’s great to see another country promoting the switch to energy efficient lighting, and it’s been surprising how well these new bulbs have been received.

LED lights are also on the rise, and are due to compete with CFLs in the near future. Stay ahead of the game and read our review of LED lights and bulbs.

via ENN

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