Here is an interesting article about electric cars…

A transition to electric cars isn’t just a matter of the cars, but also of the infrastructure that goes with them, including public charging stations. The Electric Power Research Institute and the Tennessee Valley Authority plan to cut the ribbon on Tuesday on a prototype of a new kind of charging station, one that uses solar cells and batteries. But they do not work together in quite the way the public might expect.

The initial installation has six parking stalls, one of them extra wide for handicapped drivers, with carport roofs covered with solar panels. There are three refrigerator-size battery packs in a building that is heated and air-conditioned.
Read more on: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/if-you-build-it-will-they-charge/

This is a great use for materials which would otherwise go to land fill.

The Big Dig House, a recycled house – was designed by SsD Architects, located in Lexington, and Massachusetts. This house constructed using industrial waste with steel and concrete rejects, which are throw-outs of elevated part of dismantle I-93 highway.It is 600,000 lbs throw outs are used to construct Boston’s Big Dig House. This recycled house features great room, kitchen, home office, 3 bedrooms, and 3 baths. This prototype house was built to demonstrate how infrastructural refuse can be salvaged and reused.

To read more go to:
http://www.neathome.net/recycled-house-at-massachusetts-big-dig-house