We’ve pushed a future that includes energy-generating roads- harnessing the energy of passing cars through kinetic plates. Imagine capturing the collective kinetic energy of the morning commute on I-95. So, we were excited to reach about Solar Roadway which recently completed its first prototype and unveiled the photographs of the “energy-generating road surface.” The panels would “carry vehicles, generate electricity for messages to drivers, self-heat to melt snow and ice, and deliver high speed phone and internet cables to the front steps of every home.” The makers of the Solar Roadway also “envision the installation of their product as a quick path to economic recovery. With some quick calculations they’ve estimated that installing the Solar Roadway on every road in the US will employ 2.5 million people full time for 10 years.” As Britt Liggett writes for Inhabitat, “that’s not to mention the manufacturing jobs that will be created to make the components in the road panels. It will take just over 5 billion panels to cover all the US roads and each panel requires 6192 LED lights, a special glass covering and a circuit board. That’s a lot of manufacturing.”

[Source: Inhabitat, Via Gizmodo] 

Dutch company Peer+ has unveiled the latest in Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) technology in the form windows that generate renewable energy and change levels of transparency. Smart Energy Glass converts light that is normally reflected and wasted into electricity, and, at the flick of a switch, you can modify the window’s tranparency, from fully…well…transparent to “Privacy Mode” where the glass is at its darkest.

While the word ’smart’ is in danger of losing its meaning- we have smart cars, smart phones, smart mugs, smart bags, smart ‘fill in the blanks’, and the word has been uncreatively co-opted by remora-like marketers- this, we have to admit, is pretty darn smart.

No details from Peer+ about the amount of charge the glass can produce, but this looks promising.

[Source: Eco-Friend, Via: GreenPacks/FastCompany] 

This time each year in Vermont, we begin to catch ourselves humming the refrain of a certain George Harrison tune (btw, here’s a clip of George singing the song with Paul Simon on SNL in the mid 70s). So, it seems like the right time for Novothink to introduce its Solar Surge iPod and iPhone cases which double as photovoltaic chargers. As Mike Chino writes for Inhabitat, the Solar Surge is “touted as the first apple-certified solar iPod cases, [and are] capable of harnessing the sun’s rays to extend audio playback by 20 hours and 3G talk time by 4 hours.

Each case is fitted with a thin-film photovoltaic cell that’s capable of generating 30 minutes of 3G talk time after soaking up 2 hours of direct sunlight. Extra energy is stored in an integrated lithium ion battery, and a set of low-energy LEDs display the device’s charging status.

The question I have is how much sunbathing can my iPhone actually handle? But, I love the concept, so I’ll pick one up and report back.

Both cases are available now at $79.95 for the iPhone model and $69.95 for the iPod Touch model.

[Sources: Inhabitat, + Novothink]

Fast Company, infographic by Rob Vargas

Last week, Fast Company singled out the five top cities in the U.S. for ‘Green Jobs.’ As Maccabee Montondon explains, “the greening of American industry is in full bloom. Consider the numbers: From 1998 through 2007, the number of green U.S. jobs shot up 9.1%, while the rest of the workforce saw an increase of 3.7%. President Obama is certainly doing his part to make sure such progress continues apace: His stimulus bill dedicated $30 billion to exploring and expanding clean-energy technologies, and in January a $2.3 billion in tax credits went to companies developing new energy ideas and solutions.” The mag thinks New York, Boston, Portland OR, San Francisco and, surprisingly, Detroit are “making the most of this decidedly green moment in the economy.”

This comes via Core77, and we’ll chalk this up as another reason Nike gets it. Since 1990, Nike has been innovating new ways to recycle old sneakers, repurposing over 25 million pairs in that time. Nike Grind, the material that is derived from the recycling of the various parts of the shoes, has been used to create gym floors, running tracks, playground surfaces, courts, synthetic turf and more.

The above video shows how the city of Tempe, AZ has partnered with Nike to create new tennis courts. The city collects pallets of used shoes, sends them to Nike’s recycling facility in Oregon, and, in return, receives the materials to resurface the municipal tennis courts.

Starwood Hotels has partnered with VingCard, a leading hospitality security provider, to create the first ever Smart Check-In Pilot Program for its Aloft Hotels brand. In the pilot program, Starwood Preferred Guest members (frequent travelers) will receive an enhanced Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) keycard. On the day of a planned stay, a text message is sent directly to the guest’s mobile device with the room number at the property. Upon arrival, guests can skip the check-in line and proceed straight to the room, where the RFID keycard will unlock the door.

In the future, VingCard explains, the keycard may function as an all-access pass to purchase cocktails and food throughout the hotel.

Sleek, convenient, and no more cards thrown away after each stay.

First Solar hopes to recycle 90% of obsolete panels

We’re excited to see solar energy becoming cheaper and more efficient. But we still have a long way to go before every Tom, Dick and Harriet is putting solar panels on their roof tops. Recent estimates suggest that solar energy will only account for 10 percent of electricity use in the U.S. by 2025. And as Trey Granger writes for Earth911, “like any other consumer product, solar panels have a limited shelf life and disposing of old panels will eventually come into play.”

Today’s panels should have a useful life expectancy of more than 25 years, so the issue of disposing of obsolete panels is quite a ways down stream, but some companies are already developing solutions- thinking about tomorrow today.

Granger explains,

First Solar operates solar module recycling plants in the U.S. and Europe. According to spokesperson Melanie Friedman, the company estimates that 90 percent of the material recovered from solar panels can be recycled into useful products.

For First Solar, this glass has value, as its modules are generated using sheets of glass instead of individual solar cells. Friedman adds that approximately 95 percent of its semiconductor films are recovered and reused in new modules.

But what about other consumer solar panel models? European organization PV CYCLE was founded in 2007 to develop a manufacturer-funded take-back program for panels and modules. PV CYCLE has recruited more than 70 percent of Europe’s solar manufacturers and is looking to have a collection and recycling program established by 2015.”

[Source: Earth911]

Researchers say their sugar-based polymer is safely degradable in your back yard or even inside your body. (Via: CNET)

Composting could be the next frontier in urban responsibility. No longer confined to hippy communes and country farms, composting could be a 21st century city thing. San Francisco, for example, has gone so far as to make it mandatory. Major brands are designing products with composting in mind- Pepsico recently rolled out a new Frito-Lay Sun Chips bag that is compostable. Now, a UK-based team of scientists has developed a new sugar-based polymer that could be used to make common food containers compostable.

Candace Lombardi explains for CNET, “scientists at the Imperial College London…have created a degradable material from sugars derived from the breakdown of lignocellulosic biomass.” It’s not the first “biorenewable plastic,” but it seems to be the first that “can absorb water and breakdown quickly, leaving no harmful products in the soil or even in humans. In addition to having use for food packaging, the polymer was found to safely degrade in humans without harm, making it a candidate for use in stitches or as a vehicle for medicine delivery.” This type of breakthrough could radically change the way we make plastic containers of all kinds, given that an estimated 99% of plastics are derived from fossil fuels.

We’ll be tracking this story and composting’s urban creep.

[Source: CNET, LTT]

All eyes were fixed on Beijing two years ago as it hosted the Summer Olympics. The opening ceremony alone was enough to demonstrate that China was firing on all cylinders and reveling in the attention. Shanghai now takes center stage, as it prepares for the 2010 World Expo, set to begin on May 1st. This year’s theme, “Better City, Better Life,” will provide the context behind the backdrop of some remarkably innovative new buildings, the first of which was unveiled this week.

The Monaco Pavilion, designed by Naço Architectures, is a 2000 sq ft solar powered building wrapped in an illuminated wave of energy-effficient LED lights.  Naço Architectures describes the structure as “a rock surrounded by the dancing light of a perfect sea”. Inspired, curiously, by the waters of the Mediterranean, the entire building is surrounded by an “undulating high-tech facade” that projects ripples of LED light across its face. The facade is designed to soak up solar energy throughout the day and then burst into light as soon as the sun sets.

Stay tuned for other innovative pavilions expected to be unveiled ahead of the Expo.

[Source: Designboom via Inhabitat]

We love the concept of harnessing energy that would otherwise be wasted- devices that capture wave and wind power, kinetic road plates that harness the energy of passing cars, “personal energy generators” (PEGs) that power personal devices as you walk or run…- because these ideas represent the low-hanging fruit of lifestyle tweaks. Imagine, for example, if Los Angeles installed kinetic road plates on the 405? Once installed, commuters would probably not even notice that the energy (weight, speed) of their morning drive was being captured and used to help power, say, the city’s metro? Imagine if we installed PEGs in our sneakers? After that evening run, you could plug your iPhone into the heel to recharge.

Another example that recently caught our eye was the Empower Chair, designed by Ryan Klinger, and one of the 18 finalists for this year’s Greener Gadgets Design Competition. Created with airports in mind, the Empower chair harnesses kinetic energy as the chair rocks. Between flights, recharge while you rock and talk.

Click here for some more pics.

[Via Trendhunter, Inhabitat]

Let’s take a moment to recognize the Super Bowl champs. We at LTT, like 106.5 million others- the largest TV audience in U.S. history- enjoyed watching the Saints and Colts last Sunday. But before quarterback Drew Brees out-dueled Peyton Manning, he joined the crew of TV’s “Sport Science” to test the science behind his remarkable passing accuracy. At almost 71% completion average, Brees leads the NFL in quarterback accuracy, but how would he fare against, say, Olympic archers? And what makes his passes so dead on? And how can science provide those answers?

Check out the video above for the full demonstration.

It’s being called the “Toyotapocalypse.” Toyota has announced a massive global recall of 437,000 of its 2010 flagship Prius- a mess of brake issues, software glitches, power steering pressure hoses. An additional 40,000 or so of other models are also being recalled. The most popular car brand on the planet is reeling from a major PR body blow. While some industry observers are quick to point out that recalls are nothing new for car makers, why does this feel like the world gone mad? It speaks to the sky high expectations a brand like Toyota has been able to set. Does a brand so synonymous with innovation and discipline fall harder and further when it falters? Can it rebound faster?

One poll we saw suggested that 63% of consumers wouldn’t let this recall put them off buying a Toyota. But 26% of those polled said it would dissuade them from considering Toyota in the future. Extrapolated in a global sense, that could spell a significant number of lost sales. But those people are crazy. Toyota is a fantastic brand that has been challenged. There will be some short term gains for other companies (Ford, Honda, Hyundai) during the scandal, but fantastic brands don’t die easily. We suggest Toyota checks into a sex rehab facility for six weeks. Short of that, we suggest it continue boldy charting a course of innovation and quality and putting its PR department on notice. The cost of dithering- especially in the age of Twitter and the hyper drive of the 24-hr news cycle- is always greater than the cost of acting fast.

While some in Japan view the scandal as a US-media driven news story aimed at fueling sales of American-made cars, our collective dismay has more to do with how much Toyota has succeeded in making us believe its brand message, ‘moving forward.’

In the 1960s (Jetsons-era television), the prevailing view of the 21st century was that we’d all be waited on by robots. Robot butlers were a sure thing. As sure as flying cars. I don’t mean to complain, but here we are a full ten years into the 21st century and I have neither a robot butler nor a flying car. Even the robots we do have seem to require us to actually do something. For example, FuRo Robotics‘ Wireless Intelligent Networked Device (WIND) allows operators (that is, humans) to control robotic devices through the use of a wearable harness. The harness detects and tracks the movement of the wearer, translating it into commands for a remotely controlled machine that mimics human action. Great! So, in order for the robot to pour me a beer, I have to pretend to amble over to the fridge and mime the actions of opening and pouring?

I’m kidding- sort of- and actually love to see this type of step forward. It just looks like the first step towards having a robot suit, as worn by Col Quaritch (Stephen Lang) in Avatar, pictured below, rather than a step towards Rosie.

[via PSFK, DVICE]

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Your fridge is cramping your eco-style, I’m afraid. Anyway you cut it, the fridge uses more energy than any of your other household appliances. There have been considerable improvements, of course- to qualify for EPA’s Energy Star, a new fridge must now use at least 20% less energy than federal regulations allow for a new model with comparable specs. And if you’ve had your fridge since Clinton’s first term, a) time to upgrade, b) you should know that current models that are Energy Star qualified use 50 percent less energy than models made before 1993.

But energy consumption is also tied to how we use these appliances. How many of us- and this might be mostly a male thing- stand in front of an open fridge surveying the food/beverage options? I, for one, am guilty as charged. As soon as I’m confronted by the array of tupperware possibilities…I’m a deer in headlights.

For food wafflers and energy wasters, I submit the Window Refridgerator, designed by Yoon Jung Kim and Jong Rok Lee. The concept is brilliant- whether or not it’s possible is another question. The concept uses clear glass, opaque glass and a rotating container system inside, where molecules in polymer are activated by electricity. For more, click here.

[Source: Yanko Design]

Apple has definitely taken some ribbing for its new iPad- the name, partnership with AT&T, no built-in camera, etc…- but the iPod wasn’t universally embraced when it was launched in 2001. And yet, here we are, 9 years later and it’s difficult to imagine how anyone could have doubted Jobs when he said it was a revolutionary device.

It’s important to remember, though, that it’s not just the device’s form and function, all of which is brilliant. Apple sells simplicity. That might be what Microsoft is trying to sell with Windows 7, but it’s clearly a response to what Apple has actually offered for years.  Apple’s brand strategy focuses almost more on an aspirational lifestyle aesthetic than on technical innovation- though, of course, it excels at that as well. A friend sent us the above video (thanks, Nick!), which imagines how the branding of the iPod might have gone differently if it came from Microsoft rather than Apple.

Bill Gates showed this prototype Compaq tablet PC at the 2001 Comdex trade show. (Credit: Microsoft)

Product is important, but as the above video reminds us, not all brands are created equal. At least not all approaches to branding are created equal. And the fact that Apple is now poised to get the credit for taking the tablet computer mainstream is further proof. The tablet computer, after all, isn’t a new concept. Bill Gates and co. first talked about the idea of a Tablet PC at Comdex back in 2000. As Ina Fried explains in a recent piece for CNET, “a year later, Gates rolled out various models, including one Compaq prototype that resembled a giant version of its iPaq handheld. ‘Next year I hope a lot of people in the audience will be taking their notes on a Tablet PC,’ Gates told the Comdex crowd. But few took him up on the offer.”

Bill Gates is destined to be the George Harrison of the tech world- rich, amazingly gifted, with an astounding catalog of accomplishments, but he’ll never be the Paul McCartney or John Lennon. Steve Jobs has that covered.

We’ve been keeping a keen eye on China’s interest (and growing influence) in clean technology. From its massive wind energy projects and construction of the world’s greenest skyscraper in Guangdong Province to its heavy reliance on coal, China is certainly still straddling two worlds. But, as Thomas Friedman summed it up, China is going green out of necessity, because “unless China powers its development with cleaner energy systems, and more knowledge-intensive businesses without smokestacks, China will die of its own development.”

We spotted a recent article from Reuters that went further in arguing that the global race to develop clean technology is “shaping up as a contest between Chinese-style capitalism and the more market-oriented approach fancied by the United States and Europe.”

The article continues, “Beijing’s top leaders have made clear their intention to have their nation dominate this new industry, up and down the value ladder. And in their quest for the prize, they are not burdened by concerns facing their Western counterparts–such as the impact of wind turbines on landscapes, higher energy prices for consumers, or investor returns.”

Will the West’s efforts to create meaningful clean tech advances be hamstrung by special interests, recession and the ‘luxury’ of free and open debate about climate change? Will clean tech be China’s moon shot? China may well ride this combination of necessity (go green or “die of it’s own development”) and authoritarian control (a “cozy relationship” between state-owned utilities, grid companies and banks) to clean tech dominance.

The article asks ‘Can The West Prevail?’ Many in the West still “believe the United States still has an advantage in innovation. The owner of patents, not factories, will likely earn the biggest profits and win the technology race.”

Time to start innovating!

American Apparel has become a leader in its industry, offering made-in-America product and an impressive array of trend-setting organic cotton clothes. But as Cara Smusiak writes for Naturally Savvy, “aside from their locally-made goods, their green side is a little lack-luster. But last month, American Apparel made an unusual move into the green space by launching American Apparel Nail Lacquer, a line of 18 high-quality nail colors that are greener than the average polish.

Now that Apple has unveiled it’s iPad- a name that has already inspired no shortage of ridicule- the long wait for the “game-changing e-reader” is over. We’re wondering where the next breakthrough will come. Perhaps in the form of a product like Light Blue Optic’s Light Touch [pictured here], a portable computer that turns any surface into a touchscreen.

Reaction to the iPad in the blogsphere seems a bit muted, despite claims by Steve Jobs that it represents “our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.” Tech blogger Robert Scoble tweeted “On a scale of 1 to 10, did iPad meet your hype expectations? My expectations were 10. iPad showed up with a 8.7. My mind was not blown.” He followed up with, “Of course compared to Microsoft at CES, which I would have scored a 4.9, an 8.7 is pretty damn good.” After it’s official unveiling, Apple put out the first video on the device which has us convinced. That video is below.

The Light Touch, not surprisingly, has received less fanfare, but we think it could provide a similar glimpse at tomorrow’s computer. Using a process called holographic laser projection, a clear projected interface is created that users can interact with as they would any other device. It could also spell a greener direction for the industry- making use of existing surfaces. We’ll be following this with interest.

Now, here’s that video from Apple.

[Source: HuffPo, Chris Pirillo, Technabob]

Science can enhance our experience of art- have you seen Avatar?- but it can also inform our understanding of it. For example, Information Design, pioneered by Edward Tufte and others in the 1970s and particularly en vogue these days, is a medium of processing info graphically. We recently stumbled across this example, Charting The Beatles, an exploration of Beatles music through infographics. And, as fans of both (the band and infographics), we thought we’d share.

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How is the internet changing the way you think? That’s this year’s question from Edge, a nonprofit foundation, modern-day salon and informal gathering of “some of the most interesting minds in the world.” The essays, from a range of contributors (college professors, technology analysts, scientists, artists and creative thinkers), are reliably thought-provoking. Will this access to information, our capacity for sharing, the relentless barrage of new ways to plug in…lead to a new age of Enlightenment or, as some suggest, a cultural Dark Ages?

One notable response is a piece by Clay Shirky, Social & Technology Network Topology Researcher and Professor at NYU’s Graduate School of Interactive Telecommunications. In ‘The Shock of Inclusion,’ Shirky writes, “The Internet has been in majority use in the developed world for less than a decade, but we can already see some characteristic advantages (dramatically improved access to information, very large scale collaborations) and disadvantages (interrupt-driven thought, endless distractions.) It’s tempting to try to adjudicate the relative value of the network on the way we think by deciding whether access to Wikipedia outweighs access to tentacle porn or the other way around.”

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With Apple set to unveil its “new device” later this month, can we say now that the e-reader’s day has come? The Amazon Kindle, the Sony Reader, even Barnes & Noble’s Nook have all set the stage, but one has to imagine Apple’s contribution to the medium could be a tipping point, especially if rumors about an Apple-NY Times partnership prove true. In the meantime, though, we’ll gawk at another new type of e-reader, LG’s flexible e-paper. To be honest, we can’t decide if this is a brilliant idea or a quirky curiosity, but give LG some props for what really could be revolutionary technology. The flexible e-paper, designed to mimic the look and feel of a traditional newspaper, features a 19-inch-wide display at a thickness of 0.3 millimeters – about the size of five sheets of paper.

The bendiness (we’re not sure if that’s how the Korean designers are describing this, by the way) is made possible thanks to a display panel arranged on metal foil instead of glass substrate. Additionally, the gate drive IC has been placed on the panel, instead of on the side of the panel, providing greater…bendiness.

LG also points to the “green” implications of having a device that looks and feels like a paper but doesn’t exact a heavy toll on the environment. The book and newspaper industries were responsible for harvesting about 125 million trees in 2008. As Sarah Parsons writes in her piece for Inhabitat, beyond “publishing’s role in deforestation, paper processing creates significant amounts of wastewater and a huge carbon footprint, so it’s clear that consumers need some kind of eco alternative. We couldn’t find figures on the e-paper’s power consumption, but we’re guessing that so long as it’s sturdy and doesn’t require a ton of power, it may be a better option than traditional printed media.”

The e-paper is due, apparently, later this year.

[Sources: Inhabitat, DigitalTrends, DVICE]

One of our favorite books is Adam Morgan’s Eating The Big Fish: How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders. In the book, Morgan explores examples of how certain companies have successfully challenged larger competitors by redefining the marketing rules that guide their industry, innovating new approaches to drawing in customers. One of the brands that Morgan holds up as a model ‘challenger brand’ is Apple. For Steve Jobs and company, the approach was not to try to compete with the IBMs of the world on equal footing but to redefine how a computer company viewed itself. For Jobs, his company was not in the computer business, it was in the business of “changing the world.” Jobs and others, like Jonathan Ive, the senior director of Apple’s Industrial Design group, changed the vocabulary they used in describing their goals and accomplishments. When they unveiled the iMac in May of 1998, for example, Jobs announced “Today we brought romance and innovation back into the industry.”

Romance and innovation? Changing the world? In the twelve years since the iMac was released, Apple has not only changed and challenged its own industry, it’s hard to describe into which industry Apple now falls. With iTunes, iPods, iPhones, iChat,…Apple is changing countless industries. Just consider, for example, what Apple has done to (and for) the music industry. Even its long-rumored (and soon to be unveiled) Tablet, about which we still know fairly little, is expected to change the way we read.

A diagram from an Apple patent application describes an electronics controller that can optimize how power is delivered to multiple home devices using home wiring to send power and data. (Credit: Patently Apple)

So, perhaps its not surprising to hear that Apple is now looking to home energy as the next frontier of ‘changing the world.’ Patently Apple reported last week that Apple has applied for two patents that would help people manage their home energy systems by optimizing how power is supplied to various electronics, including computer, peripherals and devices such as iPods. The patents were filed late last spring.

As Martin LaMonica explains on CNET,

The two patent applications describe a hardware device that controls the amount of power supplied to different electronics. Data between devices would be shared over a building’s existing wiring, using the HomePlug Powerline Alliance’s communications protocol. The patent applications also include drawings of outlets and junction boxes that incorporate “power-enabled data ports.”

One patent application called “Intelligent Power Monitoring” says that the system would allow people to reduce energy use by giving them tools to better control how connected devices are powered.

The second patent application, titled an “Intelligent Power-enabled Communications Port,” describes a system that would parse out the amount of power to different electronics in an efficient manner.

Apple is not the first to leap into the “Smart Meter” race- we’ve profiled the efforts of a number of companies on this blog- but, with its track record, we expect Apple to bring its unique blend of romance and innovation and, as it tends to do, change the world. Stay tuned.

[Sources: Patently Apple via CNET]

It was not that long ago that Hyundai was the poor cousin of the other cars coming from across the Pacific. Just as Japanese carmakers Honda and Toyota have distinguished themselves as trailblazers in innovation, South Korean Hyundai has enjoyed a remarkable surge in brand value, with its Genesis being recognized at last year’s Detroit Auto Show with ‘Car of the Year’ honors.

At this year’s Detroit auto show, Hyundai is still generating strong buzz, this time over its Blue-Will plug-in hybrid concept car, unveiled earlier this week.

The car can run solely on its lithium polymer battery for a range of 20 to 40 miles, features low-friction tires and a full-length undercover for better fuel economy. The frame is also low weight, made possible through use of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics and bioplastics. The company has pledged to reduce the average weight of its fleet by 10 percent by 2015, said Dave Zuchowski, vice president of national sales at Hyundai Motor America.

No word on when or how the Concept car would make it into production, but, with successful debuts two years in a row at Detroit, Hyundai is now consistently delivering innovation.  Further proof of the company’s innovation- and growing influence- came in the midst of the recession last year. It launched the ‘Hyundai Assurance’ program, where a consumer could lease a car knowing that if he/she lost a job the car could be returned and the customer released of obligation. Other car companies were quick to follow suit.

No longer a butt of jokes, Hyundai is making a strong case to be considered alongside other innovators like Honda and Toyota.

Is Coke the most ubiquitous substance on Earth? You can find Coca-Cola or Pepsi just about anywhere on the planet. In war-torn places like Gaza and Burma, from the highest villages in the Himalayas to the most remote reaches of Africa, where clean water may be scarce and the infrastructure to harness renewable energy even more so, you’d probably not have to search too far to find a Coke. So, has Chinese designer Daizi Zheng designed the most useful third world cellphone ever? Forget solar, hydrogen, kinetic, this phone is powered by cola.

Designed for Nokia, which has been a pioneer in green mobile phone technology, the phone runs on a battery that generates electricity from carbohydrates. According to the company, the phone harnesses clean energy from sugary drinks like Coke and Pepsi, which generates water and oxygen and lasts about four times longer than contemporary lithium batteries on a single charge. Oh, and the handset is 100% biodegradable. This represents the lazy alternative to the phone profiled in our last post, about the world’s first truly sustainable phone, one that boasts a hand-crank that allows the user to charge the phone manually.

[Source: The Design Blog]