Alex from TTAC in a very informative video about a plugin Prius with very impressive fuel efficiency.

When I flew to Los Angeles for the 1999 AEC Systems show, in which vendors showed all the latest and greatest cad and other software products to architects, engineers and contractors, my high school buddy Jim picked me up at the airport in his EV-1. It was an impressive vehicle, very sleek and stylish compared to the EVs I had seen before or had imagined from Popular Mechanics covers.  

Americans select dilithium crystals to power the next generation
 

In a Gallup poll released today, Americans chose dilithium crystals as the top choice of fuel to run both cars and power plants, with 84% of Americans choosing the crystals over other options including nuclear, hydrogen, corn ethanol, shale gas, and photovoltaic solar panels.

Miller-McCune profiles a new documentary about destroying the environment to get coal.

A vimeo about the badass code weapon for Hungry Beast on Australia's ABC1. 

Another interesting vimeo by Patrick Clair is How Green is Your Internet?

In architecture school in the 1970s we learned a fair amount about passive solar design. We learned about orienting a building to take advantage of solar angles, about trombe walls, overhangs and brise-soleils. Although, back then, a lot of passive solar designs tended to look alike, it certainly seemed to us that in the midst of an energy crisis, we'd be doing energy-efficient buildings in our careers. 

New Society has published three new books telling us that we're doomed. Or are they? When you see that humanity is running up against a problem, and you write a book about it, are you actually a doomer?

Take Thomas Malthus, whose name has become synonymous with population overshoot. His contemporary, the Marquis de Condorcet, had written Outlines of an historical view of the progress of the human mind, which described a world getting better, for example:

The Mazda 2 now for sale in the US is already one of the two most affordable green cars on the ACEEE list, but Green Car Congress talks about an advanced evolution of the Mazda Demio with, "hybrid-like fuel consumption at a lower price." 

Prius goes roomy

Toyota previews Prius v; first expansion of planned Prius “family”

I like to promote cycling, but The Infrastructurist notes that in many cities it isn't even safe to walk next to the roads much less to bike in traffic: 

Here are the animated walkthroughs prepared by college teams for the 2011 Solar Decathlon, to be held in Washington DC from Sept 23rd through Oct 2nd. I put the animations that kept my interest first, and the ones that were less interesting farther down.

Team New Jersey I like the assembly presentation of this one, the design, and the integration of music into the video.

Several automotive blogs -  Autoblog Green, Green Car Congress and GreenPowerTrain, below - have recently cited an announcement from battery maker PowerGenix: