If you’ve ever traveled on a U.S. Interstate Highway at night, you’ve likely come across large numbers of trucks idling at rest areas and truck stops. Long-haul truckers are required by law to rest for 10 out of every 24 hour period. But at rest, most trucks will idle their main diesel engine to provide heating and cooling, to keep the engine and fuel warm in winter, and to provide power for electrical appliances like microwaves and TV sets without draining the batteries.

After years of delay, things are finally heating up for large-scale solar thermal power plants in California’s remote deserts. In the last month, a California Energy Commission (CEC) siting committee has recommended at least five solar plants for approval. Last week the first of these projects gained official go-ahead from the agency. The Beacon Solar Energy project is the first utility-scale solar power plant to receive approval in California since 1990.

The “Windy City” lives up to its name as Chicago’s newest parking garage becomes the first to generate it’s own energy with spinning vertical wind turbines.
You might generally associate parking garages with the stark cement-c0lored monotony that most people despise about urban life. Thanks to a new design by the architects of HOK however, parking garages are being viewed in a whole new green light.