Electric airplane hits 155 MPH

An electric airplane at a demonstration in Italy hit 155 miles per hour in an eight minute flight. See here for more.

The SkySpark is powered by a 75kW brushless electric motor and lithium polymer batteries. The project was coordinated by Italy's own DigiSky, an engineering company specializing in aeronautics, in conjunction with Turin Polytechnic University.

How sweet would that be to fly in a plane that makes so little noise?

Low-MPH wind turbine designed with the home in mind

Here's an interesting wind turbine designed for the residential market.

One of the knocks on residential wind power is that it doesn't work at low speeds. Well, this one is said to work at speeds as low as 2 miles per hour.

It costs about $4,500 and delivers up to 2,000 kilowatt hours a year for locations with Class 4 - or very good - breezes. It's made by WindTronics, based in Muskegon, Mich. Learn more here.

Of course it's hard to find exactly how much electricity the wind turbine will produce at low winds.

The device, which weighs 95 pounds and is six feet in diameter, can be mounted on rooftops, attached to chimneys, or put on a pole. WindTronics says it hopes to sell the turbines through Ace Hardware stores.

How about Costco? That's where I do my shopping.