Sharp, partnering with battery specialist Eliiy Power, will soon start selling the world’s first storage battery for household electricity systems.

These new batteries will allow houses with solar panels to store the power generated by the sun overnight (a full day and a half if necessary), allowing them to operate independently of a power grid.

The companies involved hope that reducing the reliance on traditionally-generated power will help reduce Japan’s greenhouse emissions. Hopefully these batteries will make it to the States so we can do the same.

The price is expected to be around ¥500,000 (about $4,650) when the battery is released next year.

This new battery is expensive, but would pay for itself over time seeing as solar power is free after all of the equipment is installed. Besides, you’ll get that warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that you’re polluting less.

Researchers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory have announced a project called Green Freedom, aimed at extracting CO₂ from the air and converting it into fuel to power cars and airplanes.

Green Freedom hopes to provide a method of large-scale production of carbon-neutral, sulfur-free fuels and organic chemicals from air and water. Their goal is to create a fuel that will work with today’s existing car and airplane engines.

The footprint of the technology is fairly small. It would outfit existing nuclear power plants with carbon-capture equipment, so no new facilities would need to be built.

This project is a huge leap forward in the quest to protect our environment. Who can complain about taking harmful carbon dioxide out of the air and turning it into fuel? We’re all for this project, and hopefully they can get the technology ready soon so it can be put to work.

Remember the Air Car that we wrote about a week ago? It’s beginning production in India soon, but it looks like it might make it Stateside as early as 2009.

Zero Pollution Motors has said that it expects to produce the world’s first compressed air-powered car for the US by late 2009 or early 2010. The company plans to produce 10,000 Air Cars per year.

The first of the models to be produced in the US will have six seats, a top speed of 96 mph, and can travel as far as 1000 miles on one tank of air. It is expected to cost $17,800.

The Air Car concept is very cool, but so far it can’t compete with the 6 and 8 cylinder gas-guzzlers we are all used to driving. It will take some more time before compressed air engines catch on, but we love to see this kind of innovation. More and more technologies are being developed to replace conventional fuel, and this is one that has potential.

San Francisco-based startup Solazyme has developed a way to convert biomass into fuel using algae, and best of all they promise to do it for the same price as petroleum.

Solazyme uses a new, unconventional, way of growing the algae in huge, dark stainless-steel containers. The algae are then fed sugar which the organisms convert into oil. Different strains of algae produce different kinds of oil. The extracted oil can then be processed into diesel and jet fuel as well as other products.

The company has already tested its algae-based fuel in a diesel car. It has also recently announced a development and testing agreement with Chevron.

This new technology has the potential to replace the oil wells we use to get our oil today. As a much greener alternative, it is sure to appeal to consumers, especially if the prices don’t change (although we wouldn’t mind some gasoline cheaper than $3/gallon).

With so many new alternatives to traditional fuel being developed, it looks like we might not be screwed after all. Thanks, Solazyme!

The Woood Smart Phone, envisioned by UK designer Gernot Oberfell, is a notable mention of the 2008 Greener Gadgets Design Competition. It seeks to provide a greener alternative to today’s mostly-plastic cell phones.

Just like the Chute Smartphone, Woood is made of, well, wood. Actually, it’s a wood composite containing up to 80% natural fibers. Components like the buttons and endcaps are made from biodegradable plastic, to ensure that most of the phone can be recycled.

The phone would be very friendly to touch and feel, just like real wood. It would also age over time, changing its appearance for the better.

With so many cell phones being disposed of every year, Earth-friendly phones would be a welcome addition. Provided its good looks and green nature, the Woood would definitely be a hit. More images after the jump. Read more »

Honda has unveiled their new heat-harnessing hybrid drive, which, as you may have guessed, is 3.8% more efficient due to the harnessing of heat through a Rankine cycle engine. Exhaust from the car is used to heat water internally, creating steam. The steam is then used to the power an electric generator, which powers the car at low speeds in addition to charging the car battery.

However, Honda has decided to push for more efficiency before using the system in production vehicles. This doesn’t really represent a major advancement in car technology, as the actual system has been around for a while and certainly wasn’t invented by Honda. It is, rather, a major step in the right direction. If all cars used highly efficient engines based around a similar cycle, we’d be spending significantly less money on fuel.

Keep up the good work Honda! It’s great to see a major company making advancements in this area and driving the efficiency standard upwards.

A Greener Gadget Award has been given to Clay Moulton, a Virginia Tech student, for his floor lamp powered entirely by gravity.

The Gravia, as it is called, has 10 LEDs and is powered by a weight which is manually raised once a day and slowly falls to the bottom as the day progresses. There is no power cord in sight. The entire column, measuring just over 4 feet high, gets a soft, diffuse glow as a result.

The best part? Moulton estimates that the Gravia can last about 200 years with daily use, and that its lifespan is only limited by the LEDs which will go out by then.

This is definitely one of the greenest gadgets around. Who doesn’t want a device that will power itself as long as you live? Although probably not the brightest lamp around, at a reasonable price the Gravia would make a welcome addition to many homes.

The Chute isn’t just a regular cell phone. It’s natural. It’s organic. It’s made out of… bamboo?

That’s right, designer Michael Laut has created this concept smartphone to convey a more relaxed and natural feeling. He believes that people would be much happier interacting with a more natural-looking phone, hence his choice of materials, ergonomic proportions, and even the on-screen display.

All of this while also using less plastic and more of a renewable resource. We say thumbs up and hope some phone manufacturer will pick up this design. Another picture after the jump. Read more »