Not only is the Sol Cinema a solar-powered movie house, but it’s also absurdly tiny.The cinema, converted two berth caravan from the 1960′s, seats eight adults or twelve children.

Sol Cinema was commissioned by the media arts charity Undercurrents. It runs on four large lithium ion batteries charged by two 120W solar panels. Undercurrents encourages people to make environmental films.

The Millennial generation is usually described as both environmentally conscious and tech savvy. New collaboration between Dell and Clemson University’s engineering students can now help Millennials satisfy both their priorities  with an ultra-green BMW hybrid with a cell phone — and cloud-based infotainment system.

Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) and Dell’s engineering solutions division produced a cool BMW hybrid with an entertainment system you update the way you add cell phone apps.

The car, “Deep Orange,” is currently on display at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas.

Lindsay Lohan is broke. She’s also in need of some serious rehab. What’s a girl to do?

Go vegan, of course. If she sticks with it during the duration of her three-month stint at California’s Betty Ford Clinic, PETA will cover the bulk of her expenses and throw $10,000 her way. Should she stick with the diet for a year afterwards, she’ll receive another $10,00

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk told the LA Times, “Lindsay Lohan is the most visible example of a real addict, and if she can conquer her addiction to meat and cheese, absolutely anyone can. If she does, she’ll not only save animals but save her own health, and she’ll be an example to the millions of people who watch her every step.”

Berlin-based artist Ralf Schmerberg has constructed an awe-inspiring igloo made almost entirely of old refrigerators in the center of Hamburg, Germany. The 11 meter-wide igloo is made from 322 old refrigerators attached to a metal frame and placed in the middle of Gänsemarkt.

What appears as a Dada-esque construction filled with absurd little vignettes is actually a statement on the insane amount energy we consume — to prove it, there is a giant electrical meter hooked up to the igloo which displays its waste of energy.

Inside is an absurdist paradise of gadgets, fans, Toys, toasters, a TV set with a roaring fire on, and an inflatable mushroom cloud.

A new plan by Oregon State University will facilitate the sharing of green engineering expertise with Iraqi universities.

Iraqi professors will study at OSU’s sustainable engineering program in Corvallis, and Oregon professors and students will teach engineering, forestry, and agricultural science at several Iraqi universities.

The Oregonian reports:

“The nation of Iraq can begin to train their own engineers in sustainable growth and development,” [Gov. Ted] Kulongoski said in a prepared statement. “And Oregon students and faculty get on-the-ground training, strengthening their base of knowledge, planning and implementation.”

J.D. Power & Associates, the auto market research firm anticipates that hybrid-electric and battery-electric vehicles will capture only a mere 7 percent of new car sales around the planet by 2020. That’s not that much higher than it is this year — 2 percent — and Nissan’s Leaf and Chevy’s Volt are just going on the market.

Another problem is a lackluster market response. This stems from the fact that that oil producers are artificially keeping gas prices low to stifle enthusiasm.

Finally consumers remain concerned about the technology. Writes J.D. Power:  ”drivers worry about the range of the cars, and at the end of the day, they are just too expensive compared with conventional combustion-engine vehicles.”

While many environmentally conscious people fully support the building of wind turbines, many have their doubts about the effects of such intrusive structures on the habitats of local wildlife. The answer to such a conundrum may be as simple as a coat of paint.

Researchers at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom announced that by painting turbines purple instead of a metallic gray or white, wildlife might not be affected.

The researchers also found that the ultraviolet and infrared components of paint color, which humans cannot see but insects and other animals can, also had a significant impact. Higher levels of UV and IR components attracted more insects while lower levels kept them at bay.

Flame retardant will supposedly save your life in a fire. Not so, says a group of international scientists: some flame retardants are actually deadly

The San Antonio Statement on Brominated and Chlorinated Flame Retardants, signed by 145 scientists from 22 countries, says that brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and chlorinated flame retardants (CFRs) need to be better scrutinized, and as types of flame retardants are banned, the alternatives should be proven safe before being used

Flame retardant chemicals can be extremely harmful to both humans and the environment, while providing little protection from fire, says the group of scientists. The group urged producers of commonly used flame retardant materials to rethink their process to cut down on future damage.

Why hug a tree when you can wear one? If you’re looking for the most organic shirt possible look no further than David Rittinger, an artist and designer who lives in Brooklyn, has actually turned that thought into reality with his Zero Footprint Shirt: Leaf Series.

The shirts aren’t actually anything special. Made from leaves and glue, their goal is more conceptual than practical. According to Design Boom, Rittinger’s designs are “an exercise in embracing ecological consciousness, illustrating how beautiful and also unpractical extremes can sometimes be.”

Nigel Leck got tired of arguing with people skeptical about global warming science. Noticing that most of them used the same debunked arguments over and over again, he decided to make a Twitter chatbot to answer them automatically.

The bot is named @AI_AGW (the photo is of HAL 9000′s camera-eye), and every 5 minutes it searches the twitterverse for debunked arguments. When it finds one, it sends a reply with a link to a source that explains the counter-argument.

So far the bot has made almost 40,000 tweets, though not all of them to climate skeptics. Now that the bot is better known, lot of people are testing it just for fun.