1) Does all the workshop know how to repair hybrid car?

2) How much does the battery cost to replace?

3) Is the maintenance high?

These is what i can think off, I’m thinking what car to get next? Hybrid or non-hybrid. For time being there is not much choices for Hybrid, only Honda and Toyota having Hybrid. Hybrid also have many variant, for Toyota Prius is the 3rd Generation Hybrid is a Series-Hybrid, it run on electric during startup and even when cruising but Honda Civic is Mild Parallel Hybrid where it run on electric when acceleration pedal are release and almost going to halt state.

Since we only have 2 choices the price is still consider high compare to others country, how soon will our car maker come out with Hybrid car? I really hope to get an Hybrid car but can’t afford at the moment, hope that more car maker bringing in more choices for us.

For those who not sure what is Hybrid car all about, you can check it out here.

So what your plan for this big event?

You might not need to join the crowd but just stay out in the car porch and enjoy the night view, just feel like you’re on a beach…minus the wave sound. I hope most of the Malaysian are able to support for this event by just turning off the lights for 1 hour to save our mother nature although some might think what we can save by just turning off the light for an hour, right?

This is not just for 1 home or country but is worldwide and it won’t end here as this is also to educate people on saving planet by recycling, reduce pollution, save tree and energy.

Hope together we can save the planet to have a greener planet.

Earth Hour | WWF

I love this mv from discovery channel – I love this world and really make me to love this world more. If you love this song and would like to keep it, you can download the mp3 version from here.

Enjoy this music video, you will start to love this world more and love our mother nature.

1. Use efficient lighting

Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs). Compact fluorescents use four times less energy, and last eight times longer (8,000h instead of 1,000h) than incandescent light bulbs. For example, a typical 75W incandescent bulb will be replaced by an 18W compact fluorescent. The compact fluorescent will be more expensive to buy, but you will need to replace it eight times less often and it will use less electricity, which often makes it the biggest electricity saver in your house.  At a minimum, we recommend replacing the bulbs in all lamps that are used for 30min/day or more.
Fluorescent tubes are even more efficient than compact fluorescent lamps, and last even longer (10,000-20,000h). Only use tubes with a modern ballast starter that avoids flickering and lights immediately – good ones add another 20 percent efficiency. Another option is a CFL with a dedicated fixture. The electronic ballast which is part of the fixture lasts 40,000 hours and bulbs can be replaced separately at lower cost.  Both CFLs and fluorescent tubes are available in a dimmable fixtures. This can increase comfort, save even more energy and extend the lifetime of the bulb.

Especially avoid halogen floor lamps, which typically have a power of 300W or more, produce lots of heat and are actually so hot (some 500° Celsius) that they can cause serious burns and start fires. Besides, on hot summer days they are very uncomfortable to be around. A CFL floor lamp only uses 50-80W at 40° Celsius. They can save loads of energy and even your life.

Also pay attention to the light fixtures. Clever use of reflectors, and directional lamps to get the light where you need it can save you another 50 percent energy cost and improve your comfort! Well thought out use of efficient lights can thus reduce electricity needs up to 8 times.

CFLs at the end of their operating life should be disposed of properly so the mercury inside can be recycled.  To be clear, even if not recycled, CFLs are still the better choice, since the inefficiency of  incandescent and halogen lights causes far greater environmental damage – including mercury emissions from coal fired power plants.  (But  please do recycle the CFLs.)

2. Computers and IT

Buy a laptop instead of a desktop, if practical. It consumes five times less electricity. If you buy a desktop, get an LCD screen instead of an outdated CRT. Enable the power management function on your computer, the screensaver does not save energy. Check if your computer supports the more advanced Speedstep™ power management.
Switching off a computer extends its lifetime, contrary to some misconceptions. Leaving a computer running the whole year will cost you more than 1,000 kWh/y, or almost as much a the total electricity consumption of a high-efficiency household.

Use one large power strip for your computer, broadband modem, scanner, printer, monitor, and speakers. Switch it off when equipment is not in use. This is a practical way to cut 200 kWh/y or more of standby losses (see standby).

Minimise printing. Laser printers use more electricity than inkjet printers.

Virtualization

Another ways to save electricity for company, they can look into Server Virtualization as you just need to purchase 1 server and have few servers running virtually as most of the server are not fully utilize like those DHCP, DNS, FTP and AD server. Isn’t it good to have those server running on single machine but not on same OS and the redundancy for the multiple servers only need to have a single redundancy.

3. Cut off standby losses (“The vicious energy-suckers”)

Most modern electric appliances consume electricity even when turned off. For TVs, VCRs, faxes, HiFis, computer screens, cable boxes, and broadband modems this is on average some 40 – 120 kWh/y. In total, household losses can reach several hundreds kWhs/y, all for doing nothing useful.

The best solution is to buy appliances that have a very low standby energy consumption. Standby power consumption is mentioned in the product manual and can be checked before buying. Or you can look for it on specialised websites  (see links). For most appliances, it should be around 0.5 – 1 watts/hour or 4-8 kWh/year. Keep in mind that the cost of wasted standby energy over  a model’s lifetime can be higher than the cost of buying it!

4. Do not use an electric boiler (hot water heater) for hot water.

An electric boiler consumes about 3,200 kWh/y (average OECD). But producing that electricity in highly inefficient gas, coal or nuclear plants, and then transmitting that electricity down the power line to your home costs some 9,600 kWh in electricity wasted as heat – so roughly 2/3rds of the energy is lost before it even reaches  your home. Using gas or oil directly to heat water reduces energy use to 3,800 kWh.

Source : GreenPeace

Prepare to step aside Segway, you had your chance to revolutionize personal transportation. Introducing the Toyota Winglet. Still under development, Winglet’s body has a 10.4 x 18-inch footprint and stands 1.5-, 2.2-, or 3.7-feet tall (depending upon the S, M, or L model chosen) and features an electric motor capable of a max 6km/h cruising speed for up to 10km a jaunt (only 5km for the S model). Like the Segway, the user controls the Winglet by shifting his weight to move the transporter forward and back or to make tight turns. Winglet will begin consumer testing at the Central Japan International Airport near Nagoya and Laguna Gamagori resort this Autumn with further testing in more crowded environments planned for 2009. It’s planned to hit a production stride in 2010.

Source : Engadget

Wow this is really interesting that China car manufacturer is going for Hybrid technology as they know the problem with Global Warming. Our local car manufacturer seem does not really car about it and local authorities should start think about it now since it getting worse if we all still carrying the attitude of  ”don’t care”.

Although it was not in the market yet but they have this intention and if I not mistaken few years back on our local Autoshow I saw a prototype of Perodua Kenari equip with Hybridengines but dunno where does this prototype goes. I do know that current Hybrid car is very expensive but all the car maker bring into malaysia it might cut down the price or maybe they are waiting for open market. When will this going to be happen open market?

Frankly speaking I does not have confident on china made product but somehow they really improved on their technologies.

Source : Tree Hugger

It selling at ThinkGeek for $29.90, interested can buy online.

Source : ThinkGeek

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The whole thing only takes a couple minutes to set up (besides letting the onion soak) and you only need a USB cord, an onion, some Gatorade, and a screwdriver.

Source : Green Daily | Tree Hugger

The email inside said “if you not believe me, can go to www.msn.com to check it out”, so i just go to www.msn.com to see if it real. Good news is i didn’t found any article for it, but then I saw 1 link said “How global warming will cost you” and it interest me. I read through the article and it really gives me a lot of tips on how to go green, here i put the links for you all to have a look and make a greener world.

Source : MSN | Green Guide

Today while searching something on the net and saw the text on top of the page “One small click of your mouse, one giant leap for your planet” and I just click it see if I can make a giant leap for the planet and then link me to this website GreenDaily .

It all about environment friendly and recycled help to save the world. Hope you too can help to make a better world by recycling, use less plastics bags and much more ways to save the worlds.

Source : Green Daily