Take another look at that, and tell me that it isn’t a beauty!

The house uses parts of a decommissioned Boeing 747, with the guys of David Hertz Architects being the masterminds of the project. The house is located in Malibu, already one of the most strategic places in the area – strategic in terms of building to get some of the most stunning views. Of course, people who build in that area also have high standards to meet – that of having the most stunning house, the most unique house, or whatever “the most” you can think about. I guess that in the case of the “Wing House”, the owner has definitely reached those standards.

In building the main house, the fuselage, the wings, and the cockpit of the 707 were used. In true glam style, the “house” is not made of one single structure. There are also other structures which make use of the plane parts – guest quarters, a meditation pavilion, a barn, and an art studio.

The house is not all about style, though. It is also environment-friendly, utilizing solar power, natural ventilation, etc.

It’s a really cool house – there is no denying that, but here’s a question for you: Does this mean that the owner of this house doesn’t have to pay for an airplane ticket to become a member of the mile-high club?

For more beautiful photos, check out Inhabitat.

Scotland is known for many things, but whisky is perhaps the number one thing that we think of when this country is mentioned. Now, the very same whisky that has helped put Scotland in the map is now going to power the country – electrically speaking.

Basically, the process will utilize the grains – called draff – that are used in making whisky. This draff, which is useless to whisky makers, will be gathered by a heat and power plant. The draff will be combined with woodchips and burned to produce enough electricity to give power to 9,000 homes. For something that is practically useless, that is something!

While people all over the world pay good money to enjoy a bottle of Scottish whisky, the residents of the areas where the spirit is made enjoy the result of bioenergy. Now if only the rest of the world would produce as much whisky as Scotland, then everyone would be better off – in terms of power and thirst.

The next time that you feel the urge to get some spray paint, consider making some moss graffiti instead.

To help with that, a system called the Venue Energy Tracker has been devised to monitor how much electricity is being used to provide heat, light and power to the Olympic Village and main venues.

The results are pretty impressive, too. In the first three days of the Games, a 20 per cent reduction in energy consumption has been marked thanks to sustainable practices.

In total that’s around 66,000 kw/h saved so far, with a target of 18 gigawatt hours of electricity saved by the end of the Games — enough to power 1,600 homes for a year.

With London also hoping to host a more environmentally-friendly event in two years’ time, it certainly sets a high standard.

It sure beats those little electricity consumption meters you might have sitting at home.

Oh, and if you like graphs (albeit not particularly clear ones), here’s one of the energy saved so far.

At the LA Auto Show, Porsche has confirmed that the previously-announced planned hybrid version of the Panamera is in the works. Porsche is likely to use the same technology from the hybrid Cayenne currently being developed. While the turbo version of the current Panamera runs on a 4WD drivetrain, the hybrid might have to drop the 4WD to save on costs and to be able to support the Cayenne’s hybrid system.

The hybrid version of the Porsche Cayenne is expected to be out in the market by 2011. We can probably expect the same release year for the hybrid Panamera.

According to a recent study (for Microsoft, no less) downloaded software is eight times more carbon efficient than its boxed equivalent.

Some interesting UK-based statistics suggest that if the 16 million units of software sold last year had been downloaded instead, there’d be enough electricity saved to power 12,000 households for a year. Imagine what the stats in the US would be.

Quite apart from any environmental savings, downloading software leads to instant gratification, and we don’t even have to go out to the store or get up to answer the door when the delivery guy calls!

Have credit card, will download — that’s my motto.

Sadly, major software titles tend not to be available as downloads, even though updates are usually available via the Internet, despite the fact that it could save companies a lot of money, as well as getting more contact details at the time of purchase.

DownloadBuyer.com is one site hoping to provide a central repository of legally downloadable software, though there are plenty of other sites offering similar services.

Would you download software packages if they were available, or do you like having the box and DVD as backup?

Anyhow, did you know that germs can be spread easily through gadgets that we use on a daily basis? Think about that keyboard you use at a public place (school children in libraries, for example). How about the phone that you use at work? Pay phones? I could go on and on, but here are some of the safest (health-wise) gadgets you can get your hands on.

Unotron Airtight Keyboard and Mouse
Got dirt and all sorts of stuff stuck between and under your keys? I am sure that it also has a hefty amount of icky germs. Why not get this keyboard and mouse combination instead and just dump it all in warm soapy water to clean? Yep, you can do that!

Motorola cell phones with anti-microbial coating
It is not science fiction. The mobile phone company is actually using a coating called Agion on some of its cell phones. I wonder which models?

Germ Guardian Sanitizing Wand
I think this one will come in handy the most. You can just wave your wand around sanitize anything under the wand?s UV rays.

Of course, just because you have these gadgets does not mean that you can forget your hygiene regimen. Nothing beats that!

Mode All-in-One Recycling Center
This recycler will help me a lot to get my stuff in order. You see, as much as I intend to segregate my waste, I find it really hard to do so. With this all-in-one thing, I can place different items in compartments, making recycling a piece of cake. You can even program it to remind you when it is time to dump out the things you’ve accumulated and bring them to the recycling center (or leave them at the corner for pick up, as the case may be). It does not come cheap, though, as you have to shell out $250.

Air Cleaning Light Bulb
This one’s made by Purely Anion, and does more than save you electricity while providing ample light. The bulb has a negative ion generator built in, which makes the air clean! This should be perfect for city living and does not cost too much at $19.

Vampire-Power Killer
If you’re not familiar with the term, vampire power is being used these days to refer to the electricity that is wasted by electronic products on stand by mode. The Vampire-Power Killer helps you to save electricity by managing the power that is used by your plugged in gadgets. Be ready to shell out $130 for it, though.

You’ve heard the line “don’t leave your electronics out in the sun, specially in your car on a bright sunny day… otherwise, it’ll just “fry” up”.  With the recent announcement of Samsung‘s “Blue Earth” the line is now “make sure you leave your phone in the sun to charge up! :)

It’s not a flip or fold-up phone… though it does look like it right? What’s great is that it’s a full touch phone… yup, following the bandwagon, but with the beautiful twist of “green” through and through.  

Samsung reinforced its commitment to protect the environment through the design of eco-friendly products and a programme of activities for its customers. It will be showcased at Mobile World Congress 2009 for the first time.

Designed to symbolize a flat and well rounded shiny pebble, Blue Earth is the first solar powered full-touch screen phone. By charging with the solar panel located on the back of the phone, users can generate enough electronic power to call anytime anywhere.

Reading the title of the entry, you wou would think ‘Why would I do that, I never have beer leftovers! And although I only very rarely drink beer I must agree with that. But the folks at E-Fuel claim that regular household sugar or even beer can generate lots of biofuel with their E-Fuel 100.

For a staggering $9.995 (local tax credits may make the item more interesting).

As a collaboration with a brewery in Sierra Nevada has shown, the E-Fuel 100 is more geared at companies than your average household.

The brewery Chico produces 1.6 million gallons of unusable ‘bottom of the barrel’ beer yeast waste yearly and will have in enough of E-Fuel microrefineries in place in Q2 2009 to power Sierra Nevada’s entire fleet of delivery trucks as well as hundreds of cars in Central Valley.

The MicroFueler weighs about 200 pounds and hooks up to a 110- or 220-volt power supply and wastewater drain just like a washing machine. Depending upon the cost of electricity and water, company founder Quinn claims the MicroFueler can produce ethanol for less than $1 a gallon.

“You just open it like a washing machine and dump in your sugar, close the door and push one button,” says Quinn. “A few days later, you’ve got ethanol.”

E-Fuel 100 datasheet