Author: Chris

We know that certain substance absorb most of the heat incident on them while the some others reflect it. However, a new coating for roofs, made using waste cooking oil might make it possible for the roof to do both, absorb and reflect heat depending on the temperature. This innovation came as a result of a research carried out by United Environment & Energy. This coating is developed by processing waste cooking oil into a liquid polymer that hardens into plastic. The ‘smart’ roof-coating promises to substantially reduce energy consumption, as preliminary tests show that it can reduce the temperature of a roof by 80% in warm weather and increase it by the same amount in cold weather. It will also help the environment by curbing the use of petroleum-based roofing products.

This is one of the few examples of feasible green technology, which if properly implemented could prove to be of great help to the environment. This coating is expected to be commercially available after three years.
[tgdaily]

The “Pontoon “, designed by LA-based designer, Cristopher Williams, hopes to change the general consensus that luxury boats are supposed to be expensive. It is constructed Triumphs’ Roplene construction system which provides sturdy, high-quality construction at a reasonable cost. It has a dual wall system made by roto-molding marine grade polyethylene. The “pontoon” has high-resistance flooring and clear transparent plastics which enhance visibility. However, the most striking feature of the “Pontoon” is the integration of movable solar panels which move according to the direction of the sun.

“Pontoon” is an excellent example of the optimum use of technology as it uses construction techniques and materials which are cheap, yet in no way, a compromise on quality. And the integration of solar cells makes it the self-sustainable marvel.

[thedesignblog]

Wally, which has also designed a solar powered yacht, has collaborated with Omer Wing Sail to form Wally & Omer Wing Sail. This technology is inspired by the similarities between aircrafts and yachts i.e. their use of wind for lift force. The yachts using this technology will have their sail in the shape of a wing. This modification greatly enhances performance and steer ability. It reduces the space required by the sail, thus providing more space on the yacht. It also reduces reefing characteristics while still keeping the overall structure very simple. The most important characteristic of this sail is that it requires only one person to handle it.

This innovative technology reduces fuel consumption in yachting to a great extent and also improves performance.
[megayachtnews]
[liveyachting]

The US military is going all guns supporting its green program, from self sustaining bases to steam powered robots. Apart from there being obvious environmental reasons for this, there are also security reasons. During a battle situation, supplying fuel for vehicles at far off places is a major task which requires a lot of resources. Also, if a base is powered by renewable energy and is self sustained then it will be much less affected when under attack. To make this happen, the military has set goals such as having all shore based installations powered by renewable energy, making the net energy usage of half the installations zero and powering 50% of all vehicles, ships and aircrafts by renewable sources of energy by 2020.

It has also started acting on this scheme by implementing various eco friendly schemes at many of its bases. Let us hope, this will set an example for militaries of other countries all over the world.
[nctimes]

There is a lot of talk going on about reducing carbon foot-print by bringing in more efficient vehicles and gadgets. However, the energy used in cooking food and the emissions thus caused are never considered to be a problem. In a mini project carried out by a group of 76 students of UMS (Universiti Malaysia Sabah), they have come up with designs of 10 solar cookers designed on the lines of the Kyoto Box invented by Jon Bohmer. When this solar cooker is placed on the ground facing the sun, the heat-trap box design of these cookers does not allow the heat to escape out of the box. This innovative design is built simply using plywood, a glass panel, and newspapers, to be stuffed along the sides which will act as insulators.

These solar cookers have almost the equal amount of functionality when compared to conventional cookers. Apart from reducing usage of conventional forms of energy such as LPG, these cookers are made using recycled and recyclable materials, which makes using them, economic and eco-friendly.
[thestar]

Hay veces que las reacciones de las personas son sorprendentes, pero muy sorprendentes y en este caso creo que el motivo de la reacción es que a la persona en cuestión le sobra el dinero. Las fotos que os mostramos son de un accidente ocurrido el 28 de octubre de 2005 aproximadamente a las 17:30 en Fremont, California. Un mecánico estaba llevando acabo un test a un Lamborghini Diablo 6.0 de 2001, cuando no se sabe como, perdió el control subiéndose a la acera y estampándose contra un muro.

La reacción del propietario es de locos, porque lo normal es poner el grito en el cielo al ver su coche destrozado, pero en vez de esto, la reacción fue de lo más fría y calmada, incluso bromeaba en el lugar del accidente. Al ver a un curioso tomando fotos, le pidió salir en una de ellas.

Otro modelo a la basura, directo al desguace, una pena pero es algo que desgraciadamente sucede.

Vía | Wrecked Exotics

Siempre es una desgracia ver como se destroza un deportivo, y cuando no hay daños personales que lamentar, podemos clamar al cielo pidiendo explicaciones del por qué los afortunados en poseer coches únicos no son un poco más cuidadosos. Aunque no siempre es un descuido el que provoca el accidente, hay veces que la simple mala suerte destroza el sueño de un propietario.

En esta ocasión el damnificado es un Porsche Carrera GT de 2005, un modelo que ya no se fabrica y que acabará sin duda alguna en el desguace. Después de tener un pequeño roce, el propietario del modelo en cuestión lo llevó a un taller para arreglar un pequeño rayón en el lateral. Después de arreglar la grieta, el mecánico conducía el coche al concesionario y en el camino, un camión le cortó el paso y obligando al mecánico a dar un volantazo estrellándose contra un poste de teléfono.


A juzgar por las fotos, creo que, precisamente, lento no iría el mecánico, es un lamentable incidente en el que, gracias a dios, no hay que lamentar daños personales, más allá del trabajo del mecánico y del disgusto del propietario.

Vía | Wrecked Exotics

Fin de semana de resaca de Fórmula 1, resaca de aburrimiento después del poco espectáculo visto en el GP de Bahréin. Este final de semana está marcado por las noticias sobre posibles pequeños cambios en los actuales equipos de la Fórmula 1. Desde Red Bull aseguran que el piloto australiano Mark Webber tendrá un nuevo chasis para el Gran Premio de Australia, un chasis mucho más ligero y que sin duda ayudará a Red Bull a recortar la distancia, si es que la hay, con Ferrari.

Distancia que si hay con Williams. Si el equipo de Frank Williams quiere acercarse a las posiciones de cabeza deberá hacer un cambio radical en su monoplaza y en eso mismo está pensando. La escudería está sopesando la posibilidad de una fusión con Volkswagen. Williams recuerda el gran rendimiento de los ingenieros alemanes en general y también la victoria que consiguió con un motor alemán, BMW, en 2004.

Si bien ya se ha escrito y hablado mucho del intento fallido de la FIA por dar más espectáculo a la Fórmula 1, el miércoles Bernie Ecclestone recalcaba que no debe existir ni pánico ni miedo en la Fórmula 1, porque no hay posibilidad real de introducir cambios inmediatamente.

También el miércoles Force India anunció que su piloto de test Paul di Resta tendrá todo el viernes de entrenamientos libres del GP de Australia para acumular kilómetros y experiencia y así estar listo para cubrir cualquier eventualidad que surja durante la temporada, además de esto, José María “Pechito” López cargaba contra el USF1 por su intento fallido de entrar en la Fórmula 1.

Dos noticias sobre circuitos nos ha dejado estos últimos días. La primera, para mi gusto, una muy buena noticia, el templo de la velocidad, el circuito de Monza, se ha asegurado un sitio en la Fórmula 1 hasta el 2016, después de que Roma amenazara su renovación, la FIA ha decido dar continuidad al legendario circuito. La segunda es que la organización del Rally de Nueva Zelanda ya ha hecho oficial el recorrido oficial de la prueba en 2010, un recorrido que se caracterizará por los siempre difíciles tramos mixtos tierra-asfalto.

Por último y como noticia curiosa y melancólica, el hijo de Colin Chapman, fundador y director de Lotus durante muchos años, ha obsequiado a Tony Fernandes, actual director del equipo Lotus Racing, la gorra que su padre acostumbraba lanzar por los aires, cada vez que un coche de su equipo ganaba.

Vía | Recta de Meta

New York based architectural designers Carmen Trudell and Jenny Broutin, through their design firm FLUXXlab, have designed the revolutionary ‘Revolution door’. The ‘Revolution door’ is actually a normal revolving door with the added innovation that it can generate electricity. It uses a circular wire coil array attached to a gear and flywheel assembly and a rotating magnetic array. When the door revolves, the gear amplifies the motion of the wire coil in the magnetic array and thus electricity is generated. This whole system is supposed to be visible to the people, adding to the aesthetic appeal of the concept. There is a display on it which shows how much energy has been generated in total and how much the current revolution has generated. This way each person can know his contribution to the environment.

Previously, FLUXXlab has also designed normal push-open and slider doors which could generate electricity. Though these concepts can generate only a very minimal amount of energy, FLUXXlab has succeded in giving everyone a lesson in self-sustainability.
[gizmag]

Cobra Energy plans to set up a $1billion, 250MW solar energy plant in Australia. This plant will have the capacity to generate energy using photovoltaic cells as well as solar thermal energy. It consists of mirrors arranged in concentric circles around a water tank kept on a tower. These mirrors are focused in such a way that the sunlight reflected off them falls on the water tank. As a result, the water starts boiling and is then used to generate energy. However, this project has a unique feature. It will use molten salts to store extra energy during the day which will be able to generate energy for at least 7.5 hours even after the sun goes down.

Though this project is only in its initial stages, if completed, it will single handedly achieve more than half of the country’s aim to produce 400MW of solar energy.

[inhabitat]

BMW has showcased a system in collaboration with Siemens, at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) conference held in Palm Desert, which will communicate between the vehicle and traffic lights to optimize the engine start-stop function. In the already existing start-stop concept, the engine is turned off as soon as the car comes to halt and the clutch is released and it is started again when the clutch is pressed. Though this system is very useful in certain situations, if the time-gap between stopping and starting is only a few seconds then this system causes more than the normal amount of fuel to be burned. The new system is build to communicate the time gap between traffic signals, environment conditions, and traffic and road conditions to cars and accordingly optimize their engine usage.

This concept can give a very phenomenal increase in fuel efficiency and might as well be standard in future cars.
[thegreencarwebsite]

Richard Branson’s Plan to commercialize space journey, through his company Virgin Galactic, was highly criticized by environmentalists because it was promoting a high carbon emission activity in an already polluted environment. However, that may not be the case according to Alan Knight, a senior brand advisor to Virgin group. According to Knight, technology used in space travel has not improved in the last 30 years, however, the modern technology and light-weight materials that will be used in making Virgin Galactic shuttles may be possible to be incorporated into commercial aircrafts, thus reducing fuel consumption.

Though this concept was initiated bearing in mind only the fun part of it, it may prove to be a boon to the current space travel situation which right now, is a highly polluting activity.
[businessgreen]

In an innovative move by 3M, graphic provider for the Vancouver Olympics 2010, the banners used for the Olympics will be recycled to form binding agents used for making long-lasting limestone flooring for educational and health-care buildings. Not only banners but also the thousands of stickers used will be recycled after the Paralympics. 3M plans to recycle about 200,000 square-feet of banners by this method. Apart from this, VANOC has also started an initiative in which beginning from April hundreds of street banners and stickers used in the Olympics will be sold on eBay as souvenirs. It also plans to sell the GM vans used in the Olympics as “Olympic Souvenirs” at a special price.

This is a very thoughtful move on the part of the organizers as it recycles a large number of things which otherwise would have only added to the waste.
[theprovince]

Plans for an eco friendly civic centre in Brent, UK designed by award –winning, Hopkins Architect Town Planning, have recently been approved. This 9-storey structure is designed to accommodate 2,000 employees apart from providing various facilities like, a community hall with a capacity of 1,000 people, a library and learning centre, and a winter garden along with a smaller external town hall, to the people. This building when completed will be the most eco-friendly civic centre in the country. This is made possible by using waste vegetable oil and solar shades for power generation. Its façade is designed for optimal natural ventilation, thus reducing energy consumption.

This project which is supposed to be completed by 2013 aims to achieve the BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ status by educating people regarding eco-friendly methods along with setting a benchmark for other developers by using these energy conserving innovations.
[worldarchitecturenews]

“Mr. Klein” an innovative washing machine designed by Yoon Kisang is really a great way to save water. It uses and then reuses water for washing clothes. And that’s not all. It is totally portable as it does not need any hose coming in. It functions by using water and then filtering it and using it again for washing. However, due to its small size it can only be used for washing underwear, but for some, that is the most important thing!

This water recycling washing machine is a very innovative solution to reduce water consumption.

[yankodesign]

A solar powered electric vehicle charging point has been started in UK’s low carbon economic area, Gateshead due to the collaboration among companies like Romag, Tegrel and British Gas. The PowerPark , that is what this concept is called, is a parking lot in the civic centre in Gateshead, which has canopies coated with Powerglaze photovoltaic panels to park cars, can generate electricity. This electricity can then be used for charging the electric vehicles or if surplus, can be supplied to the country’s grid.

These canopies can be installed in all open parking lots from malls to airports and can play a major part in reducing demand of fossil fuels as well as promoting the use of electric vehicles and solar energy.
[thegreencarwebsite]

SPI (Solar Power, inc.), a company providing world class solar systems to its residential and corporate customers has been awarded by Temescal Canyon RV, LLC with a contract to develop a solar parking lot for its Recreational vehicles. This parking lot is supposed to have a generation capacity of 1.75megawatts of power using elevated solar cells which will also provide cover to parked RVs and protect them from environmental factors. This facility, which is supposed to be completed by July this year, will have a provision for 400 stalls of which 280 will be covered by the elevated solar cells.

This project is a very thoughtful innovation as it uses the characteristic of RV parking lots, which are generally situated in open spaces and hence have ample sunlight.
[businesswire]

Muzatch’s latest offering, MZH-SP-6500 is a solar powered charger designed for digital devices. This device features a lithium-ion battery of 12,000mAh capacity along with the company’s patented technology which enables this charger to afjust to different voltage and current levels. This device can deliver power ranging from 5V to 22V. The solar powered notebook charger can be used to charge a wide range of notebooks on the go. It provides portability along with being eco-friendly.

It has a single button operation, making it easy to use. It also features protection against hazards such as over charge, over current and short-circuit. Costing a mere $149.95, this device can greatly reduce electricity consumption and increase the use of eco-friendly solar energy.

[ecofriend]

Sanyo has developed a solar parking to lot in the Setagaya ward to back its “Community Bicycle” program. This solar parking lot can power a hundred of Sanyo’s Eneloop bikes at a time. This parking lot is completely disconnected from the city’s grid. It uses only solar energy for all its energy requirements: charging the bikes; and supplying energy to other equipment which is required for running this operation such as LED lights.

This concept can be an inspiration for other bicycle friendly cities which have the hybrid electric ‘Eneloop’. This parking lot provides a green solution to recharge the already eco-friendly ‘Eneloop’.
[ubergizmo]

A major concern in using electric vehicles is the lack of charging stations. Even if charging stations are implemented on a global scale, the lack of standard technology in electric vehicles can make them useless. To overcome these problems, auto majors like Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Fuji Heavy Industries have collaborated with the Tokyo Electric Power company to form CHAdeMO (Charge de Move). CHAdeMO is a group formed to standardize charging stations all over the world by making all car makers agree on a common outlet and voltage for all electric vehicles they produce.

‘Charge de Move’ which means ‘Charge for Moving’ will look to implement these common standards through 158 companies that will be collaborated with it. The implementation of these standards would facilitate the globalization of electric vehicles thus reducing dependency on fossil fuels and protecting the environment.
[inhabitat]