Graphene Promises Increased Energy Savings and Even Greater Storage Capacity

A new discovery by researchers at Rice University promises to be a game changer for the electronics industry. Graphene, which is naturally found in graphite, has been developed into a cutting edge, robust solid-state drive that is said to have a five-fold increase in storage capacity all while using far less energy.

The graphene layers have been engineered to hold circuitry around the size of 5 to 10 nanometers, compared to the 45-nanometer scale in today’s state of the art drives. In addition to the increased space on each 10 atom thick strip of graphene, the layers can be stacked on top of each other further multiplying the overall storage capacity.

If its storage capacity wasn’t exciting enough, the graphene strips work much like an e-ink device; the chips consume virtually no power but still keep data intact. This has huge implications for the comparably power hungry storage devices found in our cell phones and computers today. Graphene generates little heat, has been successfully tested in extreme temperatures, and is even resistant to radiation. Needless to say, large corporations around the world are watching this technology very closely. With its long life, huge potential storage capacity, and energy sipping properties, graphene drives will surely become an indispensable part of our electronics in the years to come.

For more on the graphene drive check out the Rice University Website

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New York e-waste Recycling Legislation

A study by the EPA estimates that New York City residents purchase about 12 million electronic devices each year amounting to 92,000 tons of product a year. When close to 25,000 tons of electronic waste is created each year in New York City (at the cities expense), it comes as no surprise that “The Big Apple” will be the first US city to enforce a electronic-recycling law. Come July 2009 all manufacturers of electronic goods will be required to start collecting old electronics for reuse and recycling, by July 2010 the Department of Sanitation will no longer collect certain electronic instruments, next by 2012 manufacturers will be required to collect 25% of their sold electronics (in weight), and finally by 2018 they will be required to collect 65% of their disposed product.

This requires electonic comanies to initiate a buy-back program. It also requires them to look at their overall manufacturing process and figure out where they can integrate reused parts and recycled materials. In addition, this law will encourage companies and manufacturers to take responsibility for the product they put on the market and design products to have a longer life.

The main concern presented by consumers on this topic is that this recycling initiative will take the cost right back out of the consumers pocket. In opposition, I say that if designed properly, companies could generate less waste, incorporate reused parts, have to source less raw material, and ultimately find themselves with more efficient manufacturing processes that will result in a lower cost.

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CES Goes Carbon Neutral?

Any eco conscious designer who has been will tell you it’s a trip. We couldn’t help but laugh when we saw the lifted, pimped-out pickup with TV’s in the wheel wells. If you looked hard enough you might have stumbled upon a small, tucked away section called “sustainable technologies”, a glimmer of hope. Aside from Nokia, Dell and HP, many large corporations had no environmental message. Consisting of about 140,000 people, this event is one of the largest in the world. For 2008, CES purchased $110,000 in carbon credits in an attempt to “offset” their impact.*

*Carbon credits are not a substitute for sustainability.

National Geographic Explains e-Waste and Recycling

This month’s National Geographic features a very informative article on e-waste called High Tech Trash. We highly recommend this read to any designer or business owner working in the electronics industry.

Click here for the full article.

Greener Gadgets Competition

Brought to you by our friends over at Inhabitat and Core77, now’s your chance to show off that green idea and get rewarded for it. It’s open to students and professionals, and will showcase winning designs during the conference on February 1. Grandprize takes home $2,500, with two runners up pocketing $1000 a piece. Time to get pencil to paper, the deadline is January 27.

Register on Core77 and read more on greenergadgets.com