Snow Leopard Could Save $10 million Annually in Energy; Space Solar Power; Algae: Sustainable Fuel of the Future?; Audi 2010 A3 TDI; Solar Powered Bamboo Dollhouse

Apple’s Snow Lepoard Could Save $10 million Annually in Energy Apple computer users who upgrade to the Snow Leopard operating system can expect to save about 10 percent in electricity a year. Considering Apple’s annual sales of about 10 million computers, the savings will translate to more than 80 million kWh a year, or nearly $10 million in electricity.

Mitsubishi and IHI get into Space Solar Power JAXA’s project is a one gigawatt solar power station with four square kilometers of solar panels. The target development by 2015 is to be able to send a small satellite fitted with solar panels into space to test how the electricity will be beamed through the earth’s atmosphere.

Algae: Sustainable Fuel of the Future? Biofuels produced from algae, rather than from crops, have entered the spotlight lately, and several companies now say that they are close to overcoming the technical hurdles to making algae-derived biofuels competitive on a commercial scale. However, experts caution that significant obstacles still need to be dealt with to make algae competitive with energy from fossil fuels.

Audi 2010 A3 TDI will be $29,950 Pricey? Yep. But it gets 30 MPG city and 42 MPG on the highway with a diesel engine. For the sake of comparison, the Lexus HS 250h – which Audi singles out as the only real competitor to its diesel-powered hatchback – starts at $34,200 and scores 35 mpg in the city and 34 on the highway. I have owned 2 Audi’s and had great experiences with them, and this one looks like a winner too.

Solar Powered Bamboo Dollhouse Forget about the traditional dollhouse that is made out of wood or plastic – this one uses sustainable bamboo and even boasts solar-powered LEDs that can be used to illuminate its fully furnished interior for added effect.