Author: gavril

America will get its first wave park soon. And this isn’t some water park, if that’s what you’re thinking. A wave park is a group of energy harvesting devices that use the energy of waves. Off the coast of Reedsport, Oregon, Ocean Power Technologies is building the wave park that will compromise around 10 PowerBuoys that will each generate 150 kilowatts. This will help power up around 375 homes. These PowerBuoys stand 150 feet tall and are mostly submerged below the ocean. The buoy moves up and down with the motion of the wave and drives a piston in a similar motion generating electricity. Waves ranging from 5 feet to around 23 feet high can be used to generate power. Underground cables connect this wind farm to the grid.

Who said waves are good for just surfing! They can be used to power up your home too!

[Dvice]

The Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Conference saw a whole load of ways to renewable energy. A solar powered camel sounds weird, but then again, the idea is practically the best way to help spread renewable energy in far flung places. So how does this technology work? Just drape a solar panel on a camel’s back, instead of an oriental shawl. Solar towers by Aora will also see the light soon. The one outside Kibbutz Samar is one of these technological marvels that use mirrors to reflect the sun’s rays to heat compressed air, which drives a turbine. 30 meters above ground, each tower generates 100 kilowatts of power and two of these are enough to juice up the whole of Kibbutz Samar. The tower can also switch from solar energy to fossils fuels on a cloudy day. A huge solar panel used to power electric cars was also displayed by Shai Agassi’s ‘Better Place’ company.

Besides this, an entire car parking shed and also a cow shed have been powered using solar panels for the roof. This not only saves space, but also helps generation of renewable energy. The design for the Timna Renewable Energy Park that will generate 200MW of energy from solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies was also displayed.

[Treehugger]

The US Embassy in London will be one of the greenest and most environment friendly buildings around. Thanks to Philadelphia-based architects Kieran Timberlake who won the competition to design build a new US Embassy in London, the building will be constructed near Nine Elms on the southern bank of the Thames and will use a whole load of energy saving and efficient concepts. The building will use a glass cube sheathed in a stretched, sculptural membrane embedded with gossamer-fine photovoltaic cells. This will shade the interior and also help grab energy from the sun. The building is protected by a semi-circular pool on the river facing side with a road passing between the embassy and the river Thames.

The building is also elevated atop a mound to prevent terror attacks. The building will cost about $500m (€369m, £324m) which will be financed by he sale of the Eero Saarinen-designed 1960 Grosvenor Square building.

An icon of the strength of the US-UK relationship, this building will spread its glory to its surroundings too when built.

[FT]

Solar multi-socket outlets aren’t very common today. That’s probably why the ‘Solar ddok’ won the Red Dot award for concept design. The portable product is sleek unlike the ones you use today to plug in your laptop and mobile phones today. The device has a circular shape that provides maximum surface area and that too with a slim and compact body design. Basically a socket board divided equally with joints that could bend, the Solar ddok also uses solar energy. Again the designing of this product comes into play, since seventy-five to 160 square centimeters of flat surface turns into a solar panel that sucks in juice from the sun to power up plugged in electronics in areas void of electricity.

A few technical problems once solved, the Solar ddok is sure to win the hearts of people all over the world soon with the development of technology every single day!

[Red-dot]

Everyone is taking energy efficiency seriously these days, especially the guys designing products that will soon find their way into our homes and electrical sockets. Power-saving techniques are being adopted all over to make up for all the wastage of energy in the past and save it for a better future. Well, some guys do come up with ingenious ways to energy saving. Take the Truepower U-Socket that incorporates USB ports right into the outlet. These ports make sure extra energy isn’t wasted and the transformers that convert wall-socket electricity to 5V USB power are only turned on when you plug something in. We’ve also spoken about the leech-like energy saving Outlet Regulator before that disconnects itself from the power source automatically when charged. This device was designed by Conor Klein.

Outlet Regulator Video from conor klein on Vimeo.

Another device designed to save power is Gilles Belley’s Energy Saver, a desk-mounted power strip of outlets that glow blue to show how much energy your devices use when plugged in and idle.

These products will sure help save those precious sparks of electricity.

[Fastcompany]

Maybe this locomotive reminds you of the one dragging the Polar Express to the North Pole. But take a look inside and you’ll find yourself looking at luxury personified. Just outside the Izaak Walton Inn near Essex, you can live in this luxury lodging squeezed in a locomotive engine. This was a personal project by Tom Lambrecht, the General Director of locomotives for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway in Fort Worth, Texas. His wife, Jamie designed the plush interiors of the locomotive. The locomotive would have been a pile of scrap metal if Tom hadn’t come across it two years ago. Recycling the unused locomotive and turning it into a luxury lodge was a difficult job done well with skylights replacing exhaust fans which have been left in place to create an ambience.

So the next time you decide to spend an alternative vacation, hop into this luxury lodge for a rent of $299 a night.

[Greatfallstribune]

Have you just got yourself a pair of shoes? Well, don’t throw the packing box away! Use it to build an F1 car instead, just like the one made by the Wilson Brothers! Okay, this car doesn’t really eat up the tarmac like those cool Ferrari’s and McLaren’s. But it sure makes a green statement and enlightens us on the need for recycling. This car was built using Puma shoe boxes and was a part of the installation at the shoe company’s new store at North State Street, Chicago. So who are the Wilson Brothers? Three guys, Oscar, Ben and Luke, with an expertise in graphic design, industrial design and music, came up with this awesome idea together.

Puma shoe boxes, or any shoe box for that matter, have never been used to build cars before. Recycle and reuse and turn the world a greener place to live in!

[Designboom]

Now here’s a stiff and rocket shaped competitor for the Chevrolet Volt, the car that proudly claimed to deliver 230mpg. If all goes well, this car designed by mechanical engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, will burn up the tarmac, without using batteries. This contraption was built by the Cal Poly Supermileage Team, and on three wheels, will deliver 13 times more than the 230mpg Volt and will boast of the best fuel economy. The team is currently working on two cars, the Black Widow which won the 2007 Eco-Marathon and another car that will be used for the competitions Urban Concept category.

Since its creation in 2005, the Black Widow has evolved with its fuel economy being raised from 861 mpg to the current 2752.3 mpg. The car weighs just 96 pounds and has a drag coefficient of 0.12. It can reach a cool 30mph with a modified 3 horsepower Honda 50cc four-stroke engine.

Let’s wait and watch the Black Widow at the competition to be held from March 26th to 28th.

[Wired]

Recycling is now at a whole new level. This time, it’s a phone made out of recycled bottles. Everyday, millions of people all around the world sip water or soda out of plastic bottles and toss them in a bin. These are known to pollute if not recycled properly. So the guys at Motorola used recycled bottles to make a phone, thus doing the environment a big favor. Known as the A45Eco, this eco-friendly mobile phone boasts every feature a normal phone does, including Bluetooth, FM radio, a music player, preloaded games, 8.5 hours of talk and 250 hours of standby time. And that’s not all. It also sports a 2 MP camera to freeze those memorable moments and a QWERTY keypad for faster text typing and communication

Motorola has sure set a green and environment friendly example with this phone, and hopefully, other companies will follow suit soon.

[Aving]

Using mist to create drinking water sounds like a science fair project. Well, it is now being applied on a larger scale to create 10-20 liters of water per day and not just a few drops! So how does this new way to water creation work? Using the DropNet fog collector, drinking water is harvested from mist in the air. This easy to assemble apparatus filters tiny water droplets from fog clouds and causes the droplets to coalesce. It can be helpful in isolated and far flung areas and if used in an array, these fog collectors can quench the thirst of an entire village.

Designed by Imke Hoehler, an Industrial Design enthusiast at the German Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts and Design, the DropNet fog collector will one day help the world’s population easier access to clean and drinkable water, right out of the air itself.

[Inhabitat]

The interiors of these houses that might be the future of the way we live sure looks like it has been carved right into a marshmallow. But don’t try biting into the walls, since they aren’t going melt into your mouth. So what’s that colorful thing on the wall? It is the latest technological breakthrough being used in housing designs now known as DuPont Corian. Sculpted and chiseled by Canadian designer Karim Rashid, this sustainable housing concept is an organically shaped home and boasting every facility a modern home does, using DuPont Corian as the basis. The material is made with environmentally sustainable bio-sourced components and recycled products and is available in a whole load of colors to choose from. Designer Karim Rashid will show off this brainchild of his at the Milan Design Week 2010.

[Designboom]

Mitsubishi Electric Corp is taking its solar cell technology seriously with its newly acquired cell conversion efficiency of 19.3%. This was with a polysilicon solar cell that measured 15 x 15 cm. This figure is more than the 19.1% conversion efficiency achieved last September by the company. The company has been breaking its efficiency record with its polysilicon cells since the last three years. Mitsubishi added a cleaning process before the electrodes are formed on the front and back of a silicon wafer due to which the connection resistance between the silicon wafer and the electrodes was reduced by 4%. This polysilicon solar cell has a thickness of 200μm due to which the 19.3% was achieved.

A similar technology has been applied to a 100μm-thick cell that will help reduce costs and achieve a conversion efficiency of 18.1%. Mitsubishi Electric Corp love breaking their own records, don’t they?

[Techon]

With everyone going green and carbon neutral these days, the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York also decided to do the same too. Using a sack-load of emission reducing activities and carbon offsets, the event was planned to be carbon free. These carbon offsets were purchased from a forestry management project at The Big River/Salmon Creeks Forests in Mendocino in California. It also helped in the sourcing of natural gas to two dairy farms in Idaho. Nearly 1,000 tons of carbon emissions were estimated to be offset which in turn helped to erase the event’s carbon footprint.

The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week also supports the adoption of low carbon technology to reduce greenhouse gases. To measure and certify this project, Tetra Pak and IMG Fashion teamed up with The CarbonNeutral Company.

Fashion has never been greener before.

[Treehugger]

We’ve seen a whole load of electric bikes been brought up in the market that boast energy efficiency and clean and green technology. Well, make way for the newest bike-that-looks-like-a-car innovation. Designed by Leigh Hendrik Cosentino, a student of Monash University, this bike also proudly flaunts its storage space, weather resistance and alternate efficient power usage. Meant for just one person, the bike has a semi-recumbent seating which allows airflow with vents at the bottom and sides for circulation. It also packs telescoping steering which is tight enough to dodge thru traffic.

The bike is designed in such a way, that four of these can fit in the space of a single car. The hydraulically controlled vertical tilting door lets you step in and out. The bike has a generic wall plug for easy charging and can tilt thru tight corners for better handling. It also boasts of low power LED lighting and is the cheapest way to public transport in future.

Let’s hope these futuristic bikes catch the attention of the world soon enough.

[Yankodesign]

Here’s a leech that will help stop unnecessary wastage of energy. No, this isn’t one of those annoying bloodsucking pests, if that’s what you’re thinking. The Leech Plug is a new innovation that helps save energy in a smart and practical way. Other plugs consume power even after the connected device is fully charged. Unlike them however, the Leech Plug disconnects itself from the host after it detects the device to be charged. And it doesn’t use animal instincts to do so. The device uses a timer circuit and an electromechanical system that allows it to automatically detach itself from the wall once charged fully.

This Leech will help save power and energy in our homes soon.

Via – [Newlaunches]

Now Bill Gates too wants the earth to be a greener, cleaner and a more environment friendly place to live in. the big shot in the IT industry wants cleaner and cheaper energy. He stated the fact that carbon capture and storage and nuclear as well as wind and solar is the need of the day. Setting the clocks to 2050 as a deadline to reduce carbon emissions to zero, Bill Gates has also outlined a tight innovation and deployment timeline of 20 years to innovate and 20 years to deploy these innovations for future use.

Gates Foundation is known for investing in health care and poverty, and is new to the field of climate change. Gates states that it is necessary to invest in clean technology and innovation to gain zero emissions.

Let’s hope that Bill Gates efforts to turn our world green work out as planned and he achieves his wish by the year 2050.

[Solarfeeds]

The “Saint Clare” solar lamps are here and are one of the winning entries designed by a French architect Stéphane Maupin. These lamps have photovoltaic cells fitted at the bottom at its base. So how do these photovoltaic cells soak in the energy from the sun? They simply use suction pads that helps the lam stick on to the window and charge up. This lamp was designed for the VIA Project Assistance Grant. When fully charged, all you need to do is, pull out the lamp off your window and place it down on your desk for use. You can also leave the lamp stuck up on the window which will help illuminate a larger room.

Solar power is finding its uses in various applications and new and innovative one’s like these helps make our lives easier.

[Designboom]

The latest in recycling energy technology, this prosthetic foot was developed and detailed by Steven H. Collins from the Department of Bio-mechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology and Arthur D. Kuo from Departments of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan. This artificial foot recycles electricity using a micro-controller that operates a device which stores energy from the down step and then releases it on the up step, similar to the ankle movement of a human ankle. According to research, subjects who use an artificial ankle increase their net metabolic energy expenditure by 23% as compared to normal walking. This ankle however, helps reduce that amount to just 14%.

This development will prove to be a great advantage to those who use prosthetic feet with its energy recycling capabilities.

[Slipperybrick]

Who said hydrogen fuel cells power up just cars? They now power up mobile phone networks too. Developed by Electro Power Systems, this new technology was demonstrated at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona. It will power up mobile phone networks run by wireless carriers. Known as the ElectroSelf, this hydrogen fuel system can work in extreme climates, needs reduced maintenance and associated costs. With a capacity ranging between 1.5 and 12 kilowatts, three units like these can be installed together. To do away with the hydrogen fuel’s depletion, the ElectroSelf produces water at the same time while generating energy, which is in turn split up again and reused to produce energy. The system requires just a square meter of floor space and can work well in high temperatures too.

A reliable mobile phone network is now a necessity, and with systems like these, we shouldn’t face network problems in the future.

[Green.venturebeat]

Ford has made a green statement already with their green and environment friendly vehicles. The company plans to extend these policies to their dealers too. These efforts will enable dealers to reduce operating costs and reduce the impact on the environment. This initiative is referred to as “Go Green” and was officially launched at the recent 2010 National Automobile Dealers Association Convention. Ford has teamed up with Rocky Mountain Institute to chalk out an efficiency plan that is best for their location and budget. Ford researched on local Detroit dealers to check on operations, energy consumption etc. before launching this program.

These plans are aimed at decreasing costs and increasing efficiency while at the same time, satisfying customers to the fullest.

[LeftLanenews]