Maglev = magnetic levitation + wind = green energy

Hey, do you feel guilty when you leave your PC on all night for those downloads and virus scans? There might hopefully be a solution to produce enough energy to alleviate this bad feeling if the Maglev project delivers as much as it promises. Just imagine a very large building spinning on a cushion of air, utilising huge vertical blades. The Maglev home page (http://magturbine.com/) requires username and password but has a link to a useful related article in Forbes. Ah yes, this technology is developed by chinese scientists. I hope these boys manage to get some results quickly before chinese coal plants cover the entire surface of the earth with black dust…

Electronics companies green ratings by Greenpeace. How realistic is it?

Green is good because of course it sells. Big guns like Nokia and Microsoft are striving to show a green face, especially if this is presented via Greenpeace…. This time around in the report of the 26th of November 2007, Sony-Ericsson is #1 with a score of 7.7 out of 10 while Nokia has fallen from #1 to #9 spot with 6.7 out of 10. I am all for Greenpeace’s and the manufacturers’ efforts but despite the fact that data covers both use of green materials and takeback / recycling policies there is serious reasons to be sceptical about the high scores, especially those related to takeback and recycling. Most multinationals have very different strategies between countries and on top of that the methods used are not so effective. For example why does my printer manufacturer’s printer cartridge program not include Greece and Portugal? Even if I lived for example in Ireland would the plane (stated as the default means of postage) not pollute the environment even more for transport to the french recycling center? Planes are the worst polluters from all means of transport, about ten times worse than trains, so it all seems insane. Oh yes, and what about those huge laser printer cartridges?

You can find the company ratings and judge for yourself at: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/how-the-companies-line-up