Two Years Ago In TreeHugger: Alternate Energy and Yogourt

Ruben complained "no one knows how to do anything anymore. We can’t understand, let alone repair, most of the gadgets we use everyday. We increasingly eat packaged and pre-made food; even organic food often comes wrapped in plastic. We don’t know how to grow tomatoes, can peaches, hem pants, or build fences. As the last generations of depression-era children or back-to-the-landers take their leave of this world, these skills go with them. When we try to learn from scratch we soon discover that recipes in books don’t tell half the story." So he learns how to make yogourt.

We first showed two energy producers that have gone on to new exciting lives in the internet, showing up on screens everywhere, if not in reality.

The "Electro-Kinetic Road Ramp" debuted amid controversy, as we and are commenters noted "The device steals energy from passing cars, full stop (sorry, 'period')...what better than to extract motorists' money in the form of energy? Most drivers aren't physicists and so will not be aware that they're being ripped off. Fiendishly clever, that." ::Ramp Creates Power as Cars Pass (Or Does It?)

We first showed the Magenn Air Rotor system, that has also taken on an internet life of its own, and was listed as one of the New York Times' best ideas of the year 2007. The Magenn website has not changed much over time, but they have a new CEO and promise to have the 10Kw version flying in 2008. We look forward to it. ::Magenn Air Rotors: Floating Wind Turbines

More from our archives ::Two years ago in TreeHugger