Many automakers unveil concept cars at the various auto shows around the world and every now and then they actually make it into production.  Mostly they showcase new technology and design ideas.  Tata Motors will be showcasing the eMO at this years Detroit Auto Show in the Michelin Challenge Design.  Unlike many concept cars, Tata has basically said that this car won’t ever see a production line but the company has built a nice little imaginary retail experience around the car.

Add Chevy Volt to the list of environmentally friendly cars that are being recalled this year.  The reason for the recall however, has less to do with the safety of the passengers than the safety of the junkyards where totaled cars are stowed.

Installing solar panels is one way to get off the grid and free yourself from your local electric company.  Solar energy is renewable, free (except for the cost of the panels and installation) and doesn’t spew CO2 into the atmosphere.  But it still costs more per watt than grid provided electricity.  However that is going to change starting in 2013.

Built in 1889 for the World Exhibition, the Eiffel Tower is one of the most recognizable structures of Paris, France. It is frequently used in movies to let audiences know that particular scene takes place in Paris.  It is a 984 foot tall iron structure that could become a green vertical garden if one French firm has its way.

A store in Vietnam came up with a great way to use old cell phones this holiday season.  It created a Christmas tree out of old used phones.  It took 10 workers two weeks to create the tree.

You wouldn’t go swimming in a cesspool and surfers don’t like surfing among trash. Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), located in the UK, decided to make the point during Christmas to venders who were leaving trash behind on beaches.  So they carefully constructed a couple of Christmas plans to get their point across.

You have to love it.  Congress in all of its wisdom decided to postpone the enforcement of the new 100 W light bulb standards until next September.  The legislation was passed in 2007 and signed into law by President George W. Bush.  American light bulb manufacturers supported the legislation and have spent millions on new equipment to produce light bulbs that will meet the new standards.  Congresses ban on enforcement opens the door for inferior foreign light bulbs to make a huge killing over the next nine months.

Just about everyone knows that tossing light bulbs, especially CFLs, and batteries into the trash is a no-no.  Batteries and light bulbs have dangerous elements that need to be disposed of properly.  Throwing burned out CFL light bulbs in the trash can break them releasing dangerous mercury vapors that can damage you and your pets.  ReVend Recycling has come up with an easy way to dispose of all of that hazardous waste while giving you a little something in return.

After a couple of all night sessions in which some were falling asleep, delegates finally came to an agreement in Durban, South Africa.  It is the first agreement that includes both industrial and developing nations in a binding agreement.

Parisian firm Influx Studio is proposing a radical retrofit of the Marina City towers in Chicago.  The renovation of the buildings would result in a variety of green innovations and architectural features that would result in renewable energy, vertical agriculture and cleaner air.