Author: gavril

This sparkling e-bike from Panasonic is sure to give you a twinkle in your eye. This isn’t just another bike from Japan; the super sweet gleaming BE-ENV is more than just looks. It uses a titanium frame and weighs just 15.7 kg. Panasonic state that this bike absorbs vibrations better than its peers. The bike also uses a lithium-ion battery to power it up. An LCD monitor lets you select the type of ride you prefer. It also informs riders about speed and distance travelled reminding you of a motorcycle cluster. You can select the eco-mode that lets you extend your range to 69km.

All this comes for a heavy price tag though. This e-bike will cost you somewhere around $6,600 to $8,000 and is already available in Japan. The built-to-order bike doesn’t plan to pop up in foreign markets though.

Via – [Luxurylaunches]

Lindsay Lohan’s mother Dina decided to go green and come up with something innovative and eco-friendly. This is exactly what she did by launching an environment friendly toothbrush. This was done in an effort to promote water conservation. Known as the Lohan Green Tooth Brush (its name sure makes it more appealing and star studded), this toothbrush is liquid-free. The device was launched at the Go Green Expo in New York on Friday by Dina Lohan herself, and I claims to save around two-gallons of water a day. The toothbrush was created by UTC Aquafree and uses a cartridge system. This supplies liquid toothpaste to the brush’s head.

The Lohan Green Tooth Brush will sure help save those precious two gallons of water everyday that we would on normal occasions rinse our mouths with. Oral hygiene goes eco-friendly with this innovation.

[WorlDental]

Music of the 40’s powered by technology from the 21st century was indeed an eco-friendly sight to see at the LA marathon. The Hybrid Mobile Solar Power System™ was used to power the US Veterans Administration’s entertainment stage at the VA Hospital in Westwood recently which attracted around 20000 people. Singers and dancers, with mikes and instruments juiced with solar energy performed while the marathon proceeded. For a change, the crowd was free from noise, exhaust and the smelly diesel usually used by generators. The 7 performances that took place over 8 hours were powered by a “Hybrid S10” Mobile Solar Power System™ used by Pure Power Distribution.

Using solar energy sure pumps up the heat factor of performances making them energy efficient and eco-friendly. Let’s hope that more concerts go eco-friendly and use renewable energy sources instead of burning up fuel.

[Purepowerd]

At first glance, this vehicle reminds us of a futuristic stretch-limo. The Dutch students building this vehicle prefer to call it the “Superbus” though. This all-electric vehicle can carry 23 passengers and has a body of aluminum and carbon fiber. It can shoot up to 130mph leaving behind all those normal gas guzzling buses behind in the dust. It does away with all the noise, smell and pollution involved in buses and offers ultimate luxury instead. Lithium-polymer batteries power the Superbus’ pair of electric motors that deliver 400 horsepower. This increases to around 800 horsepower at its peak. The bus will offer passengers train-like legroom, facing seats and a high-volume air conditioner.

This project captained by Prof. Dr. Wubbo Ockels, Dr. Antonia Terz and Joris Melkert with a team of students has completed its first development stage. The Superbus might find its place on the roads of rich cities like Dubai soon if things go well.

[Jalopnik]

Unlike that huge washing machine you’ve got rumbling in your laundry, here’s one straight out of the Sahara desert. And by this we mean that this machine is made out of products available in the desert. This awesome machine uses solar energy to do your laundry. It was developed by 2nd year students from the École Supérieure d’Art d’Aix-en-Provence (France). Using bicycle spares like tires, wheels and bamboo, this machine uses a recycled electric motor from a photocopier that’s hooked up to the solar panel. This project was developed by France Cadet, Jean-Noël Montagné and Jean-Pierre Mandon aims to be a do-it-yourself washing machine using recycled parts.

In far flung areas, water is a luxury. And recycled parts used to make a machine like this will need a scavenger hunt. This seems to be a brilliant idea that’ll make the lives of people in places like these easier. But its applicability is questionable. These guys deserve a pat on their back and a cheer of encouragement to keep up the good work though.

[Openmaterials]

We’ve all seen those big plump tire-advertising blimps floating gracefully above. Here’s a blimp that you’ll see, if you’re standing in a battlefield. The ISIS blimp by DARPA will be used for battlefield surveillance and is packed with all the equipment needed. What’s more, this blimp is automated and will take off from a permanent ground base in the U.S. and float to its specified destination hovering 60 miles above ground. Maybe it won’t crash into an angel, but that’s high enough to keep it safe from missiles.

So what’s green about this war-aiding device? This blimp is self-sustainable. It uses energy from the sun to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The ISIS then recombines this into a fuel during the night time. The structure is lightweight and rigid and absorbs enough sunlight to satisfy electric needs. An innovation like this could change the world of civil aviation in future too!

[Fastcompany]

Now you can have a part of an aircraft in your living room! And no, we aren’t talking about a cockpit in the corner of your room. We’re talking about tiles. Tiles made out of scrap recycled aircrafts. These Bio-Luminum tiles are made out of 100% recycled aluminum from old aircrafts. These tiles have a one-side beveled edge while the other side has a straight edge. These tiles are as strong as an aircraft can get, and work well for continuously walked-on floors and wall treatment.

Available in sizes of 3”x6”, 3”x12”, and 6”x12”, these tiles are lightweight and recyclable. They also boast the Cradle to Cradle certification. It makes for a great style statement if used well in minimalistic homes and industrial offices. Use your creative touch and have these strong-as-Superman tiles decorate your room.

[JetsonGreen]

The next time you dumb your garbage in a bin, make sure you have it sorted well and dropped in the correct bin. Or else, you’ll probably burn a £1,000 fine in your pocket. Household waste like food scraps, tea bags etc in the wrong bin will have the family penalized. This forces families to use up to five different types of bins for waste separation and encourages picking up of recyclable products. This will also include the compulsory use of slop buckets to get rid of food waste. Environment secretary, Hilary Benn came up with this idea that will help reduce green house gas emissions.

These strict and hefty rules are sure to raise a cry amongst taxpayers and residents. But these rules will also help increase the production and use of greener energy resources and at the same time, decrease those mounting piles in landfills.

[Dailymail]

Here’s a visual treat for those who usually look around and aren’t too busy to notice buildings around them. This system known as Piksol was developed by Drzach and Suchy, two designers who keep an eye open to design and environment friendly concepts. These devices help harvest the energy from the sun, and at the same time, create arbitrary patterns and images on building facades. The Piksol system, coupled with Shadow Casting Panels can also be used to create some beautiful and awe-striking designs and images. These will change throughout the day as the sun travels thru the sky.

Not everyone thinks up of stuff like this, but when they do, everyone goes “Oooh”. This time, the simple and smart Piksol will grab people’s attention.

[Yankodesign]

Street lights get smart and eco friendly with this new development by BMW and Siemens. These lights use sensors that adjust their cycles according to road feedback. That’s not all. They can also communicate with cars nearby and inform drivers regarding traffic and road conditions. The traffic lights help vehicles use their anti-idling features to the fullest, thus saving a ton of fuel. These lights are smart enough to recognize and learn traffic patterns and adjust their own cycles for a better traffic flow.

Such infrastructural innovations will make road travel a piece of cake hand will also help save up on all that fuel wasted while cars idle at signals. They will help reduce accidents on roads with their communications system and save a whole lot of time too by freeing gridlocked streets.

[Treehugger]

Innovative and eco-friendly products are usually eye-catching. Well, here’s a product that takes the green concept to an entirely different universe. A sound engineering company known as GGRP is up with a record. Well, the record isn’t really the green product here. What we’ve got our eyes on is the packaging of this product. This record is packed in a cardboard box that not only keeps it safe from external harm, but also plays it! When the corrugated cardboard sleeve is unfolded, it converts itself into a record player.

And no, you don’t need to use electricity to get the record turning. All you need to do is, simply turn it around using the blunter end of a pencil. Wouldn’t it be awesome if more packing innovations like these came up in future? We’d sure love a mobile phone packing with solar cells to charge the phone!

[Slipperybrick]

Maybe they won’t let you shoot a powerful red laser beam like the X-Men hero Cyclops, but these contact lenses can do much more. These augmented contact lenses are currently being worked upon by Professor Babak Amir Parvez and his students from the Washington University. Powered by solar energy, this futuristic technology embeds hundreds of semi-transparent LEDs into a thin lens that allows the user view an augmented reality without the need of Johnny Quest-type goggles. Besides gaming, these lenses can also be used for health monitoring, correction of bionic vision, displaying text, translating speech into captions in real time and offering visual cues in navigation systems. The lenses that these wiz-kids are working on use wireless technology and sensors.

These lenses when developed will change the way we look at the world around us in future.

[Inhabitat]

Charging phones has never been a greener affair before. AT&T came up with this awesome phone charger known as the ZERO Charger. Developed by Superior Communications, this device uses ultra-low power and can charge up a whole load of gadgets that use a USB. When fully charged, the ZERO automatically switches off power to the device and prevents the unnecessary flow of electricity. The packaging of this charger makes a green statement too, and is made out of recycled materials. AT&T was one of the first companies to come up with the brainwave of a universal charger.

This charger will juice up just any little device that uses a USB. Though the price hasn’t been decided yet, AT&T anticipates it to cost as much as a regular adapter.

[Electronista]

Smart signboards integrated on roads are here. A company known as Solar Roadways has developed a prototype of what might soon find its place “in” our city streets. These signboards power themselves up using solar power. Structurally engineered solar panels, strong enough to be driven upon, juice up the system. It uses LED lights to “paint” instructions and lines on the road. Besides this, the system is also intelligent enough to sense wild-life or children crossing the street and display messages like “Slow Down”. These 12’ by 12’ solar panels have embedded heating elements that help melt snow and ice, preventing build ups.

This system built by Solar Roadways will change the way highway information displays function in future.

[Gadgetreview]

Green kitchen concepts are seeing the light now-a-days. Here’s another eco-friendly environmentally safe kitchen appliance. Known as the Presso, this espresso machine will make you that refreshing cup of caffeine in an eco-friendly way. This award winning design by Patrick Huntrequires no electricity whatsoever and uses human energy to supply the needed pressure and uses the boiling water (around 90 degrees centigrade) straight out of the kettle. That’s not all. Here’s another plus point to it being environment friendly. The Presso uses 100% recycled aluminum in its making.

This is one of the simplest coffee makers around, and probably one of the easiest ways to make your favorite caffeine loaded beverage. Enjoy your espresso with the new Presso!

[Notcot and Presso]

Washrooms and toilets get a new look and feel as designer fittings and devices that are eco-friendly and great to look at pop out on market shelves. Bathroom geniuses, Roca are here with a design that combines the usual sink and toilet. Designed by Milan designers Gabriele and Oscar Buratti (only Italians can come up with something like this), this concept enables water from the sink to flow directly into the toilet cistern and fill it up. Christened as the W+W, this stylish sleek design filters and stores the waste water from the basin and then flows into the cistern. That’s not all. Depending on how you want to use the water, it can also be diverted to a reservoir and the mains waste. The empty reservoir can also be filled from the mains water.

This conceptualized design helps save a whole load of water that would have found its place in the waste instead.

[Dezeen]

The next time you decide to buy a whole load of stuff from your local mall, here’s a great way to get it all home without spending to much, or emitting too much carbon dioxide. A brainwave by student designers Onno Sminia and Louis Pierre Geerinckx, from the Delft University of Technology led to the designing and developing of this contraption known as the Vrachtfiets. This cargo-bike will let you haul everything you need back home and uses two sets of pedals to move. Just incase your feet are too tired to pedal anymore, this vehicle will also integrate a solar panel that will help assist in keeping it on the road without you draining yourself of energy.

A cargo-bike is just what we need in cities filled with cars spitting carbon dioxide in the air every second leading the planet earth to a slow and evident breakdown. These guys sure deserve a pat on their backs for all their efforts in keeping our planet healthier.

[TheDesignblog]

The city of Helsinki will now boast an advanced heating system to keep its homes and businesses chill free. So where does all this heat come from? Computers! An underground data center in the city will have its channel the heat radiated by its computers to be used to keep residents warm. This heat will be captured from the data center and pumped to homes and businesses across the city. Helsinki currently uses a district heating system to keep its residents from turning into ice blocks owing to temperatures dipping to -30 centigrade. Water heated at heat and power plants to 115 degrees Celsius and is piped to apartments. The data center will now help heating up too and will be cooled using water from the Baltic.

Residents can finally breathe a warm sigh of relief in the winters to come.

[Cleantechnica]

Weird and out worldly ass it may sound, portable housing may soon be a solution for sustainable housing. Brazilian architect, Felipe Campolina came up with the idea of a skyscraper composed of hundreds of mobile units. These individual living holes will be fashioned out of standard OSB plates measuring 122m x 244m. Using a steel frame structure, walls and floors made out of OSB tempered glass windows, a green roof and walls, the structure will also use a water recycling system.

The tower will basically be an empty hollow structure that will house these individual units. These units will use rails to transfer in and out of the structure without troubling neighbors. A lift on the left of the structure will help move these units. Structures like these will make moving homes easier in future.

[Designboom]

Maybe it looks like a heavy duty golf cart at first, but this electric vehicle can easily chew off road kilometers. Known as the 2010 Polaris Ranger EV, this vehicle is as stealthy as a cat and works great for those on hunting expeditions. With a 25mph top speed and a drivable range of 50 miles, the Polaris Ranger nestles a 30-horsepower, 48-volt electric motor in its belly. This vehicle can be easily charged at campsites, in your household and just about anywhere with access to power supply.

The price tag may turn you off though. This vehicle will cost you $10,699 for all its green, clean and noiseless policies. So if your adventurous self is pulling you away from gridlocked city streets and into the wild, do yourself and the environment a favor and own the Polaris Ranger EV.

[Autobloggreen]