EE&T News: April 12, 2010

The changing landscape of Energy Star

To get an Energy Star rating, products now must undergo testing from a third-party testing organization. That's one of topics at EE&T's upcoming annual Tech Day on May 26 in Santa Clara, Calif. Keynote speaker Terry Drew from the international testing organization CSA, which is certified to handle Energy Star testing, will talk about what happens when products go through the testing regime. Check out the conference at eetweb.com/sponsor/energy-efficiency-technology/. And send your energy efficiency news to us at [email protected]. - Leland Teschler, Editor

World's fastest electric bike: 190.6 mph

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How much power does your browser use?

Most of us probably don't give our Web browser a second thought when it comes to the amount of power our computers dissipate. But the folks at Microsoft certainly ponder this stuff. An example of their thinking about the power dissipation of IE9 recently emerged on the IEblog that Microsoft maintains. There developers talked about how they measure power consumption and share the results from recent engineering tests comparing browser power requirements. READ MORE

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New chip to make appliances "grid-friendly"

Make way for another hub-motor EV

A Japanese firm called SIM-Drive Corp. has developed an electric vehicle called the SIM-LEI, (for Leading Efficiency In-Wheel. The EV's claim to fame is the hub motors it carries in all four wheels. Details about the car's technology is sparse, but its lithium-ion batteries come from Toyota, and one might speculate the in-wheel motors could be Toyota technology as well. READ MORE

Energy shorts

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Latest hybrid, this one's a bulb: halogen-CFL

LED headlights for the masses

LED-based headlights have pretty much been features found only on such luxury cars as the Audi A8 and R8, Lexus LS 600h and top-line Toyota Prius. But that could be changing. A new universal light source could make it practical to put LED headlamps in even mid-priced vehicles, supplier Osram Sylvania says. Osram's Joule-branded line of single-source LED lighting is designed to be as interchangeable from one vehicle to another as a conventional headlamp or taillight wedge bulb. READ MORE

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Thomas Division
Thomas provides OEM pump and compressor innovations for environmental applications with oil-less technology offerings including WOB-L® and articulated piston, diaphragm, rotary, linear, and liquid pumps.
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