Author: gavril

This isn’t just any other wash station; the Plus Wash Station is a second prize winner of the Green Dot Awards. So what makes it so special? Well it is designed to preserve water and save the environment and its ever-depleting natural resources. This doesn’t mean the sink forces you to use dirty water. The water used in the sink flows down to the reservoir below, follows a purification process and is then sent to the closet (toilet) as drain water. This innovative design for you bathroom was designed by Bora Cakilkaya/P-ARCH and is sure to help save gallons of water with its efficient saving systems.

Efficiency with style is what the Plus Wash Station speaks about.

[Design-milk]

The Germans are trying to have India go green. Siemens, the engineering big shot from Germany is planning to invest a whopping $346 million over the next three years on the Indian renewable energy sector. The firm will also increase its Indian workforce by 50%. One-third of the amount the company Is investing will be used for developing wind power turbines. A turbine manufacturer plant will be built near West Bengal and Gujarat, both of which are coastal areas where wind energy farms will be built. This isn’t the first time India is having wind energy power it up.

The Suzlon Energy plant in South India started off with just 20 employees and produces 4200MW of power a year. The Indian government is taking renewable energy seriously and has recently announced subsidies for utilities using solar power totaling $5 billion over the next 20 years.

Siemens will help India realize the need for renewable energy and efficiently use it.

[Cleantechnica]

Fed up with congested roads and all the traffic? Well get yourself a Skoota! This concept is not only innovative and awesome for urban use; it also is environment friendly and eco-friendly. The Skoota is compact and easy to use. It is powered by electricity and is foldable. Follow the five easy steps and you can make your electric scooter compact and carry-able. It uses Super Charging Lithium Ion technologies and an efficient in-wheel brushless hub. The Skoota also packs a blue LED halo headlight and a two button interface. The lithium batteries help the Skoota charge up in and ready to go just five minutes.

Designer Stuart Emmerson who came up with this awesome clean technology sure deserves a pat on his back!

[Yankodesign]

The ugliest building in Sydney, Australia gets a make over. The University of Technology Sydney Tower will have a photovoltaic sack that will cover up the building and help in beautifying it too. The guys at LAVA, an Australian firm, have designed this concept and christened it “Tower Skin”. This sack will help the building confirm to green standards and regulations. The Tower Skin is designed to collect solar energy, rainwater and also help improve the natural lighting of the building. Besides this, the building will also show off its beauty at night by lighting up.

This project by LAVA helps put forward an idea that involves the refurbishment of old buildings instead of having them grounded and rebuilt upon. So will the ugliest building in Sydney get its long awaited and well deserved makeover? We wait and watch!

[Dvice]

You do not need to bring the sun indoors to power up these newly innovated solar panels. The brainchild of U.S. based firm Solaroad Technologies, these cylindrical solar panels named “CubeTube” can efficiently harvest energy when used indoors. So how do solar panels work indoors? By simply harvesting the energy given out and wasted by office lighting. They can also be easily clipped on to office walls or used as desktop devices too. Due to its curved surface, the CubeTube can harvest light energy from all sides. The device can also be used as a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and have PC’s connected directly to it. It can run a workstation for hours with the energy stored in it, or switch the workstation back to the grid if the power saved isn’t enough.

Though using a desktop PC isn’t advisable since they eat up a whole load of power. This awesome innovation should be for sale by the year 2011.

[Energymatters]

With the IT industry going greener by the day, big shots in the industry, IBM are here with an eco-friendly chip. Companies like Microsoft and IBM are striving hard to attain that green factor since they use a whole lot of equipment that creates a carbon imprint on the company itself. To reduce carbon emissions and other pollutions, IBM is going Eco-friendly and has launched the Power 7 chips. They use a quarter of the energy that the Power 6 chips use and deliver double the amount of performance. Using the Smarter Planet strategy, IBM will build lower power energy efficient processors. The company also announced the birth of four new mid-range servers that will use the Power 7, while low end and high end severs will be released later this year. IBM has got its green ideas straight with the Power 7.

[Thestreet]

No, this is not a reflection of a skyscraper. This building that you see is the Gyre, an inverted underwater skyscraper. This sea bed scraper is 400 meters deep (around 1,312 feet). Four arms 1.25km in diameter extend from the center spire and act as buoys and also function as inner harbors and ports that can play host to huge ships. Starting off at 30,000 sq meters of space with each floor getting smaller down to 600 sq meters, the total floor area of the entire structure is 212,000sq meters. Designed by a Victoria BC based firm, the structure will be a recreation center boasting hotels, restaurants, gardens and shops. It will use alternative energy sources like the sun, wind and the ocean itself. Turbines will be mounted on the radial arms and semi transparent solar windows will be used to glaze the structure. Underwater generators will harvest energy from water currents.

It’s only a matter of time till we can actually live in the middle of the ocean, without harming our environment.

[Inhabitat]

The world’s first hybrid water heater that uses a gas water heater and an air-to-water heat pump is here. This innovation is Rinnai Corp’s baby and uses the “Eco Jyouzu” gas water heater which enables it to perform functions like floor heating and bathroom heating, besides water heating. According to the amount of water and temperature, the heater switches between the two sources and has an energy efficiency increased by 24% due to this. CO2 emissions have been reduced by 20% annually using the Eco Jyouzu gas water heater, whereas the Eco Cute heat pump-based water heater (460L model) reduces carbon emission by 30%.

This hybrid water heater will be released on April 2, 2010 and will be available in two models. They will cost you around ¥756,000 (approx US$8,457) and 735,000 (including tax). Rinnai Corp comes up with another energy efficient innovation!

[Techon]

Energy harvesting technology gets smaller and tinier with this miniscule energy-harvesting sensor system developed at the University of Michigan. This system is 1000 times smaller than the ones that we use commercially today. It measures around 2.5 to 3.5 by 1 millimeters and has its solar cells, battery and processor all contained in that tiny frame. These sensors are highly efficient, performance wise and cost wise and will find their places in homes, office buildings and bridge monitoring devices. Using the ARM Cortex-M3 processor, this system uses 2,000 times less power in sleep mode than the commercial; ones used today.

The only problem the system faces is battery wear out, though the battery is predicted to last many years. It spends most of its time in sleep mode and wakes every few minutes for measurements with a power consumption of less than 1 nanowatt.

Let’s see how well this little wonder changes the way sensor systems are built in future.

[Physorg]

The Abu Dhabi Yacht Show 2010 Is determined to make an effort to help turn the boating industry a shade greener. The show will feature luxury super yachts and mega yachts and will be held between the 25 – 27 February at the Yas Marina. The show is committed to its green ideology and will be eco friendly which will help the country reduce its carbon footprint. The leading emissions reductions firm, EcoVentures will conduct an assessment for greenhouse gas emissions of the show which aims at 100% reduction by 2012. Emission regulations are being made stricter with the rise of bigger and faster yachts. The ADYS is serious about its green image, so serious that the guys running the show are planning to buy carbon credits that will offset the shows carbon footprint.

Here’s a thumbs up to the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show 2010 for taking our environment seriously.

[SuperyachtTimes]

The blockbuster 3D animation film of the year, Avatar has sure left a train of thrown away 3D glasses behind. Laid end to end, these glasses will cover a whopping 3,987 miles, the distance between Los Angeles to Angmagssalik, Greenland. This is around 42.1 million pairs of glasses worn, or 935,834 a day. Now disposing off all these glasses is sure to create a mountain of plastic. To prevent these, companies providing 3D systems like IMAX, Dolby Laboratories, Real-D and XpanD have cracked their brains and put forth a recycling program. IMAX claims that its glasses can be washed 500 times using a glass cleaning machine. Glasses by Dolby and XpanD are also reusable. The companies claim that there is no use of throwing them away since they can be easily cleaned and made sterile.

So the next time you watch a 3D movie, remember that those glasses perched up on your nose are a product of recycling.

[Theadvertiser]

Apple notebooks are now seeing a new after-life and are being recycled into – watch out for this – wall clocks. It may sound weird to have a wall clock shaped like an Apple notebook, but then again, it looks cool! Made from a recycled iBook G4 case, the Apple iBook G4 Clock uses a mouse for a pendulum. Powered by two AA batteries, the clock measures around 14 inches wide by 18 inches in height and boasts a quartz clock movement, and pendulum movement. The clock is customized to its core and can also be tweaked and modified further according to the buyer’s specifications.

These clocks are available for around $60 to $75. If you truly are an Apple fan or just a gadget freak, this clock will sure find a place in your apartment.

[SlipperyBrick]

Well here’s a chance you have to do your bit for the environment. You can vote on a sustainable solution for greener gadgets that can help reduce carbon footprint and emissions on a large scale. If you’re confused where to start, here’s a product that deserves a vote for its innovation and sheer awesomeness. A contraption known as the Go Mechanical Charger by Elephant is the newest innovation on the block that is sure to help change the world and the way we communicate. We all face the irritable and frustrating situation of having our cell phone batteries run dry during use. The Go charger is an answer to your problems and will charge your phone’s batteries on the go! Equipped with a dual charging system that involves a roll-on or hand crank, this portable charging device is environment friendly and uses human power to charge up our batteries.

You can get one of these for $8 and the adapter for an extra $1.5. Do away with drained out batteries and charge up our mobile phones on the go!

[mBLAST]

Shipping containers are finding more uses nowadays than just ferrying things around on sea. This time, shipping containers will provide shelter and a place to rest and live for Boy Scouts. Contributed by Richard Hammond and Gensler’s Santa Monica for a Boy Scouts’ playground in Emerald Bay, this cabin was made out of a recycled shipping container and boasts a whole load of features that makes it livable in. Using reclaimed lumber, durable rubber flooring, solar photovoltaic’ cells to power it up and LED lighting, this shipping container is sure to bring a sparkle in those Boy Scouts’ eyes. The roof of this camp house is made of a stretched silicone-coated fiberglass material. 20 cabins like these will be built for Camp Emerald Bay. Let’s hope the Scouts love this idea as much as we do!

[JetsonGreen]

Now lighting up highways that pass through deserts, mountains and other far of locations can be a pain, considering the fact that they need to be constantly maintained, powered and burn up a whole lot of energy from the grid. Well here’s an awesome and innovative solution to power up those lights that help us see those long miles ahead. The guys at TAK Studios came up with the Turbine Light. As the name suggests, these wind powered lights use the air produced by the cars zipping by to make their individual turbines turn and produce energy. Though critics are skeptical that the energy produced will be enough to spark the lights on, cities can also switch on to solar powered lighting! Hopefully cars on highways zip around fast enough and get these cool streetlights up and running.

[Inhabitat]

The Winter Olympics is going green, literally. Due to the heavy rain s in Vancouver, the snow cover on the mountain slopes is little due to which it is now being referred to as the Spring Olympics. Well, its not just he weather that has the Olympics go green. A few sustainable ideas have been put across and used like the medals made out of recycled circuit boards. These medals were melted from gold, silver and bronze in the boards by a Canadian mining company. The torch will be passed using canoes and electric scooters with zero emissions. On Whistler Mountain that will play host to the athlete’s village, funky bus shelters and benches with body shapes have been constructed. They help us reflect on the fact that exercise and yoga are vital to a healthy human life.

The Vancouver Winter Olympics will be green and environment friendly after all.

[TreeHugger]

The globally acclaimed environment hugging green car, the Toyota Prius is now in the spotlight, for the wrong reasons. The company claims that a software goof up has caused braking problems for the car’s 2010 model and have not recalled any. According to Toyota officials, a disconnect in the car’s ABS (Anti-lock Break System) causes a lag less than one second which will make a car travelling at 60mph have its breaks holding on after it has covered a good 90 feet. Hybrid cars use different breaking systems that also incorporate the use of electric motors besides the contemporary friction depending ones. This also generates electricity to charge the car’s batteries. The government of Japan has asked the company to look into the issue more seriously.

Let’s hope Toyota comes up with a way to deal with this issue and get the beloved Prius back on the road again.

[CNN]

If you do survive for the next 300,000, you better learn to swim. The guys at NASA have looked into their crystal ball once again and have predicted the rising of the sea level globally by 197 feet. According to the Earth Observatory of NASA, the continent of Antarctica has been losing out on around a hundred cubic kilometers of ice annually since the year 2002. However these claims might be false after all, since satellite imagery shows that Antarctica is cooling, and the Antarctic sea ice is expanding. It would roughly take around 300,000 years for all this ice to actually melt and drown us and more than 18,000 years for the sea to rise 60 meters.

Looks like NASA has warned us well in advance!

[News]

Fossil fuel being used to provide energy will soon be a memory from the past with the development of new alternative means to produce energy. Well here are the five newest ways to a cleaner energy production in the future. And we’re not talking about the age old solar power or wind power concept. Helioculture is a process by which hydrocarbons are produced using the suns energy. Sewage can be used as another energy producer using microbial fuel cells and bio-electrochemical systems. Besides creating rain, evaporation can now help produce energy too by harnessing the difference in electrical properties that exist between air and water. Human movement is one of the coolest means to energy being developed wherein the principals of piezoelectricity will be used to harness energy out of human body movements. Just like the sun, the moon will help produce energy too with the use of a light isotope known as Helium-3 found on it.

Let’s hope that these five ways to a cleaner and greener future see the light soon.

[Physorg]

The guys at Jaguar Land Rover are still in their workplaces piecing together on a whole series of hybrid vehicles. The company believes in the General Motors ideology of using a small range-extending gasoline engine to charge car batteries on the go which will help make electric cars more feasible in the future. British company, Lotus have conveyed a 1.2 liter three-cylinder engine capable of generating 35kW of power that the 2011 XJ sedan will carry inside its belly along with a lithium ion battery pack. The electric motor supplies 145kW of power with 295 pound-feet torque. This will deliver a range of 600 miles with 47 miles per gallon fuel requirement and a top speed of 112 miles an hour. All this will enable the car to give out lesser carbon emissions; under 120 g/km to be precise.

Will the new and environment friendly electric Jaguar claw its way to glory? Only time will tell.

[Luxist]