Bit.ly/99oil is a University of Delaware site that puts the oil spill in your gas tank. There’s a map of the U.S. showing cities whose cars could have been powered for a year with the oil spilled so far.

Paper is coated with an organic semiconductor material using a process similar to printing with an inkjet printer. So far, the cells are only about two percent efficient at converting sunlight to electricity, but it’s a start. The aim is for 10 percent, which would still be below the efficiency of silicon based solar cells, but way cheaper.

Wind and solar power work poorly on calm and cloudy days but tidal power is steady and predictable. How about an underwater kite to harness it?

The Minesto kite can do a figure eight underwater to produce electricity that is sent to shore by way of heavy cables. The whole system, including a turbine that rides beneath the kite’s 39-foot wing span, weighs 7 tons. Yet it’s still lighter and more portable than some other equipment, according to a report from SmartPlanet.com.

Other companies working on kite power include “UEK,” (Underwater Electric Kite). Testing for the Minesto system is expected to begin in North Ireland in 2011.

Apple established a program that restricts the use of nearly all bromine and chlorine compounds across all their product lines including iPhones and iPods, as well as computers. Other companies on the list include Sony Ericsson, which has established a full chemical inventory for all of their product lines, and can now boast that their products will have none of these toxins by the end of the year.

Other companies that are going chlorine-free include Seagate, DSM Engineering Plastics, Nan Ya (Taiwan), Indium, and Silicon Storage. You can see the report at cleanproduction.org and chemsec.org.

The 10 smartphones with the highest radiation

1. T-Mobile MyTouch 3G (1.55 W/kg)
2. Blackberry Curve 8330 (1.54 W/kg)
3. Palm Treo 600 (1.53 W/kg)
4. T-Mobile Shadow (1.53 W/kg)
5. Palm Treo 650 (1.51 W/kg)
6. Blackberry Curve 8300 (1.51 W/kg)
7. Blackberry Bold 9000 (1.51 W/kg)
8. Sony Ericsson P910a (1.50 W/kg)
9. HTC SMT 5800 (1.49 W/kg)
10. BlackBerry Pearl 8120/8130 (1.48 W/kg)

The 10 smartphones with lowest radiation

1. Nokia 9300i (0.21 W/kg)
2. Nokia 7710 (0.22 W/kg)
3. T-Mobile MDA Wiza200 (0.28 W/kg)
4. Samsung Impression SGH-a877 (0.35 W/kg)
5. Nokia 9300 (0.44 W/kg)
6. Samsung Propel Pro SGH-i627 (0.47 W/kg)
7. Samsung Gravity SGH-t459 (0.49 W/kg)
8. BlackBerry Storm 9530 (0.57 W/kg)
9. Nokia E90 (0.59 W/kg)
10. Nokia N96 (0.68 W/kg)

For a discussion of “green phones,” click here.

“No dear,” said Joy. “It’s the TrickleSaver. It shut down the cable modem.”

Unbeknownst to Bob, Joy had installed the PC TrickleSaver to save energy. The TrickleSaver turns off all computer accessories, including modems and routers, when your computer is turned off. The idea is to lower your electricity bill while also saving the planet. Yeah!

Joy went to the gizmo’s website, TrickleStar.com, played with their energy calculator, and found out that our savings are going to be big. Because our PC has a router, modem, printer and scanner plugged into it, all of which now turn off when her PC is off, we will save $55 a year, which easily covers the $17 asking price for the device. There’s also a TrickleStar for TVs, for $20. Our TV has a DVD player, a Roku box for streaming movies from Netflix, a Microsoft Xbox and a VCR. This is a biggie: we could Trickle-save about $120 a year.

With our new-found wealth we’re going to buy another electronic gadget. The Trickle Saver works with Windows or Mac.

This is the wave of the future. Fluorescent bulbs, the kind that are supposed to replace incandescents, will just be a stop on the way to environmentally-friendly lighting.

For one thing, fluorescent bulbs aren’t all that green when you take their mercury pollution into account. Panasonic’s LED lightbulb costs $40, but it lasts almost 20 years. More info here.

 Vreebit.com is a new social networking site that attempts to combine aspects of Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sites. Besides the usual photo sharing and job seeking, Vreebit members can conduct polls and create petitions directed to legislative and business leaders.

 SafariToolbars.com lets Mac users have access to Google news, calendars, documents, language translations, stock prices, etc. You must have the Safari web browser.

 Ban.org indentifies charities that claim to safely dispose of electronic waste when in reality they ship it to another country and just dump it.  

The study said the U.S. economy could expand by more than 70 percent through 2030 and we would still use 11 percent less electricity than we did last year (2008). That would eliminate the need for 296 electric power plants. Translating that into money (often a good thing to do), the nation’s electric bills could be reduced by $1.3 trillion. This and still more statistical power projections are available at the Council web site: ACEEE.org.

These numbers made Bob think about the impression people have that chip technology was invented in California. In fact, the integrated circuit was invented by a couple of guys in the Midwest. It increased calculating and numerical control power by an awesome factor of one million times. The integrated circuit was based on the transistor of course, which was invented in New Jersey.

• Buuuz.com is a news and information sharing service with a really pleasant interface. The site shows a cartoon sea with small islands. You click on a menu to put a new island in your sea, and then type in the words that describe your special interest. News items and messages from friends and colleagues that fit that category appear in a bottle floating next to the island. Gamers might have an island for their favorite game, for example. Joy created a recipe island and just got a new potato pancake recipe from Betty Crocker. We also have a gadget island that brings in gadget and gizmo news. It’s a very relaxing setting.

• PolicyNewslinks.com is a site aimed at reporters and editors. It sends a daily email with news gathered from over 2,300 websites maintained by the federal government, U.S. Congress and approximately 1,000 advocacy groups. The first day we signed on we learned about a drug bust yielding 4,000 pounds of marijuana, and 43 companies dumping waste in South Gate, California. There were hundreds of stories. The service is free for the first 30 days.

• GreenByDesign.com has environmentally friendly stuff for sale. We liked the biodegradable trash bags and bamboo utensil holders. They also have hand-cranked radios, and chaise lounge chairs made of cork – these last are expensive, but they float.