GDS International sent us their most recent infographic which helps visualize this significant power usage by the data centers in the US that help power the Internet.

Providing grassroots, social power for grassroots, social events, Rock the Bike’s ‘Biker Bar‘ system boasts a clever—and fun—way of generating juice for any off-the-grid gathering. The Biker Bar consists of an 8 foot trailer and a rotating shaft that captures the energy of attached bicycles—and any ordinary bikes will do the trick. The company claims four “regular” bikers are capable of providing a steady 300 watts of completely clean AC electricity, with peaks of up to 1000 watts; enough to create what they call a “pedal powered stage,” with speakers, mixers, and even lighting.

NPR has created a series of interactive maps that expose the electric grid in the United States. Five different renditions of the US power system show off how and where electricity is generated. The eye-opening  presentation breaks down each state’s usage of gas, hydroelectric, nuclear, geothermal, biomass, wind, oil, coal and solar. This informative visualization helps to explore this usually hidden infrastructure network in a clear way.
NPR: Visualizing the Grid

Thinking about conserving electricity often happens way after the fact of actually consuming it. Like when you get a huge electricity bill and think “wow, I really need to cut back.” And all the ideals of sustainable living can fly by the wayside as you run into the other room and forget to turn off lights or power down those sneaky phantom load draining devices.
The answer to this convenient forgetting may come in the form of devices that remind you in the moment to “conserve now”.  Peter Russo and Brendan Wypich, second year master’s students in the Stanford Design Program [...]

A group of MIT students have designed a shock absorber that transforms energy produced by bumps in the road into electricity. The idea is similar to regenerative braking, where kinetic energy from slowing down a vehicle is captured and used in the same way. A smoother ride is another benefit from this new kind of shock absorber, which can produce up to a 10 percent improvement in overall vehicle fuel efficiency.
The MIT team talks about their inspiration and process:
The project came about because “we wanted to figure out where energy is being wasted in a vehicle,” senior Zack Anderson explains. [...]