Author: gavril

Scooters finally have a place to charge themselves up and bask in the glory of the sun in Gloucester. These shelters will squeeze the sun of its energy to charge those drained out scooter batteries. The shelters will be a single-storey affair and will be equipped with solar panels atop their roofs that will generate electricity to charge up scooters. Two of these will be built; the first at Halford House on Masefield Avenue that will house six scooters at a time and the second at Badger Vale Court, off Woodpecker Road that will play host to fifteen scooters. However city officials and councilors are worried about vandalism of solar panels. Designed by a twenty-one year old Steven Jones, these green shelters are a great environment friendly and clean way to get our scooter batteries all sparked up and charged.

[This is gloucestershire]

Piezoelectricity is winning hearts world over and finding more and more uses and applications in every day life. This renewable form of energy will power mobile phones and pacemakers this time. In the form of piezoelectric rubber sheets, this technology will soon help change the way we power up our mobile phones on the go. A material made of ceramic nanoribbons embedded into rubber sheets is being developed. When flexed, electricity will be generated by converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. This simply means that, shoes made out of this rubber material will generate electricity as we walk or jog, which can then be used to charge our phones. When placed on our chests, our breathing motion could set the material to produce electricity, which can then be used to power up our pacemakers. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, if all goes well, this material developed by Princeton University will soon find its way into our homes and our lives.

[Physorg]

We will soon have DJs and VJs roaming our streets and entertaining us on the go, if they use the Ant AV Tricycle that is. This contraption was designed to be a mobile platform that will promote communication and interaction in the urban world today. The bicycle has its equipment powered with a rechargeable marine battery and a power inverter. It has enough space to store all the equipment to put up an awesome audio/video performance without the need of any extra and additional equipment. The Ant AC Tricycle is ready with sliding rails that helps deploy and access the platform quickly and easily and also has a side storage cabinet in which you can store all the extra cables and materials needed to put up a show. This innovation changes the way we consider pedal power giving it a broader and more efficient portrayal that can be used in a world like ours that is fighting to defeat pollution.

Via – [Designlaunches]

French designer Philippe Starck has decided to take up the task of spreading the use of renewable energy sources by designing micro wind turbines. Known for his designs in hotels, furniture and high-tech lamps, Starck is now working on wind turbines that can be used at home. The designer showed off the ‘Revolutionair’ turbines, a two year long effort made by Pramac from Italy. These turbines can be used in the garden or up on your roof and is available in the quadrangular shaped 400W WT model that generates 400W of power and the helicoidal shaped 1KW WT model that is capable of generating 1KW. Starck has designed these products specifically for domestic use. These wind turbines will help reduce the strain on the power grid and will power up our homes instead. You can buy yourself one of these for 2,500 Euros and 3,500 Euros for the 400W and 1KW models respectively. The wind blows the right way for this design by Philippe Starck.

[Reuters]

If you love gardening, here’s a great way to make your home go green. A vertical garden may sound out of the box and different, but then again, it looks great and employs a technology that will help you get rid of all the waste food piling up in your garbage bin. So how does this work? Well, you got to thank the worms for all the effort. Designed by Xavier Calluaud, the ‘Urb Garden’ employs the wonders of nature to make your garden look beautiful. All you need to do is collect all the scraps and leftovers of food you have around and place it all in the worm farm. The wiggly worms then do the job of producing a liquid fertilizer. However, this maybe a bit thick adding a little water to it helps it get flowing. This is then sent to the holding tank and is dripped down on the pods where the plants grow. This helps fertilize the plants with fresh fertilizers, produced freshly by the worms! This sure is a great way to get rid of scrap food and go green at the same time.

[Yankodesign]

Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior III will sail the seas soon, with a better use of the wind. Now the Rainbow Warrior III is a warrior ship as it fights for a cause, to save our dying environment. Greenpeace have ordered the masts, booms, deck equipment, hydraulic systems and other necessities to get the ship sailing from Rondal. The sailing beauty on seas will make its first journey on Greenpeace’s 40th anniversary next year. The ship is currently being chiseled into place at the Fassmer Shipyard in Germany. Designed by Dijkstra and Partners, the Rainbow Warrior III is fitted with two 45-metre high A-frame masts made of recycled aluminum that will carry the ships five hydraulically furling sails. This will help harness the winds energy to the fullest and set the vessel sailing. The Greenpeace organization makes sure no fossil fuels are used and the wind energy is exploited instead to get the Rainbow Warrior III across seas.

[SuperYachtTimes]

A mobile phone by sharp will take the cellular industry by a wave. This is simply because this phone is a hybrid. The phone designed and soon to be manufactured by Sharp Corporation is equipped with a solar module. This enables the phone to juice itself up using energy from the sun. The SH6230C by sharp will also boast of a 2.9 inch LCD display and a 5 megapixel autofocus camera that will keep shutter bugs happy. The phones is environment friendly taken that it uses alternate and renewable energy resources to power up. However, the company hasn’t revealed information on the phones pricing, battery life and other specs that gadget geeks look out for first. Sharp has also announced the release of two more phones, the SH6220C and SH6228C that will use LCD screens that consume lesser energy and have a higher visibility in daylight as compared to other handsets. So let’s just keep our fingers crossed for Sharp’s latest in solar mobile technology.

[Akihabaranews]

Spending a holiday in an airplane may sound outrageous to some, but then again, isn’t this a cool way to recycle old airplane shells? The guys in Netherlands had a brainwave and have converted a cold war aircraft into a full fledged hotel suite that oozes luxury and modernity. The plane is put up at Teuge airport and is packed with all the requirements in a standard hotel suite. Three flat-screen televisions and a Blu-ray player have been installed to entertain guests. Those who prefer more relaxing holidays can chose to lay back in the sauna and Jacuzzi in the plane. Those who love flying or simply are curious enough can also visit the fully equipped cockpit (don’t try taking off though). If that’s not enough, the €350 nightly fee also includes the services of a round the clock hostess. Are you still skeptical about a holiday in a recycled aircraft?

Via – [Newlaunches]

Electric cars are seeing the light and are biting up the tarmac now, more than ever. Though somewhat expensive, these cars are known to do the environment a huge favor and save on long term running cost. The newest and hottest baby in the world of electric cars is the ‘P-Eco’. Now this car is clean, but at the same time, it looks amazing and straight out of the future. Designed by Jung-Hoon Kim from South Korea, this masterpiece on wheels combines together four piezoelectric devices located on the front of the vehicle and at the rear of the driver’s seat. To produce electricity to juice this car up, multiple chords vibrate at high frequencies as soon as the car is in motion. This helps increase mileage and charges the car’s batteries. The P-Eco is a car to drool and long for with its cool aerodynamic body and awesome efficiency.

[TheDesignBlog]

Gary Neville, Captain and mid-fielder of the Manchester United football club has now unveiled plans to go green and eco-friendly. The Red Devils football start recently showed off plans of an eco-friendly bunker or eco-bunker that somewhat resembles the home of the cuddly and cute Teletubbies, the heart throb of children around the world. The footballer plans to build this home inside a hill and will spend millions of pounds on the underground bunker like structure. A birds eye view makes it look like a flower with each petal being areas meant to eat, relax, entertain, work and play. The kitchen is situated in the center. Spanning an area of 8000sqft, the bunker will cost £8million and will be packed with the latest environment friendly technology. Some of these include solar panels, a wind turbine and a ground source heat pump. Gary also owns a 12 bedroom mansion in Bolton. If the design is approved, Gary Neville will sure have a teletubby smile on his face.

Via – [Luxurylaunches]

The Chester Zoo will now steal Africa’s heart with the construction of its latest attraction, a biodome. Known as the ‘Heart of Africa’, this biodome will probably be the closest you can get to actually being in Africa, in England, a country with completely different weather conditions. This 112 foot structure will be a simulation of the African Congo’s rainforest habitats. Gorillas, chimpanzees, okapis, and a whole load of other birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates, enough to crowd Noah’s Ark will reside in the ‘Heart of Africa’. Covering an area of 172,000 square feet, this biodome will also boast of a water ride that will ferry the visitors around and be used to show the animal enclosures. Look above and you will see a jungle canopy covering your head. The ‘Heart of Africa’ biodome will be the largest animal conservation area and attraction in Europe.

The biodome will open its jungle doors to the public some time in 2014 and will be an experience like none other in Europe.

[Inhabitat]

Remote controlled toy cars are fun to play with, and if you haven’t indulged in this sort of recreation yet, its time you do! You probably must’ve heard of RC cars powered using water and that zip around fast enough like every battery operated one, without indirectly polluting the environment. But RC cars powered by cola? That sure sounds bizarre. Well this technology is not so bizarre anymore with Takara Tomy’s RC doing the rounds now. Powered by what is known as the ‘ene Bio Engine’, the RC can drink up juice, soda or any other sugary drink and function just fine. Now sacrificing your can of soda on an RC car may be a bit difficult on a child’s part, but this will surely help them grow up learning the need to save our environment and use alternative means of energy instead. This cars controls may look outdated and it may seem slow, but the toy is a wonder of science in itself!

[GadgetReview]

GM takes yet another step to ensure a clean and environment friendly automobile industry. The company has announced the manufacture of electric motors. It will be the first automaker in the United States to manufacture motors like these. This step by the automobile giant will also help boost its development of hybrid and electric vehicles. GM will unveil the first of these motors in 2013, a long way off, but worth a wait. They will work as rear wheel drive motors and adopt the two mode hybrid technology. This will of course do well to consumers by decreasing long term running costs and maintenance. Also, our environment will have yet another reason to smile, taken that this technology will help in the development of cleaner and eco-friendly cars in the future. So let’s just hope that GM succeeds in its development of these electric motors that will make driving a cleaner and pleasurable experience.

[GoodCleanTech]

Department stores go green, this time with Kohl taking the initiative. Kohl’s Department Stores have decided to do the environment a favor and use alternative means of energy instead of simply exploiting the grid. The company announced the purchase of 1.4 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable energy that will help power up 100% of its energy use. The company aims at achieving a target of zero carbon emissions by the end of this year and this purchase will sure be a push forward. To prove just how much emission the company will avoid, here’s a small fact; this purchase of renewable energy will result in avoiding the CO2 emissions that equal nearly 188,000 vehicles or the amount of power required to juice up 128,000 American homes every year.

Now that is an incredible figure. This power will be squeezed out of wind, solar and biomass generation. With this, Kohl’s Department Stores sure takes the retail business a step closer to a greener world.

[BusinessWire]

We all love sipping on Coca –Cola out of plastic bottles, cans or glass bottles. Now we can do so, out of ‘Plant Bottles’. As the name suggests, these bottles are made partly out of leftovers of sugar cane plants. The company has redesigned their plastic bottles that will now use sugar cane leftovers as raw material. 70% petroleum and 30% sugar cane leftovers that is converted to plastic after undergoing a handful of chemical processes is fused together to make the plant bottle. The bottle made its debut in Denmark, the country that played host to the United Nations Climate Change Summit last month. Use of these bottles decreases Coke’s carbon footprint by around 12% to 19%.

However, skeptics feel that this is just another cover-up by the company’s part to show that they are turning green, while polluting the environment with empty bottles at the same time.

[Gizmodo]

Daimler’s diesel-hybrid baby, the Orion VII is in demand now more than ever. The company’s North American bus unit has been asked to deliver around 100 buses like these. Four transit agencies have called for ninety two Orion VII buses that either uses clean diesel engines with Bluetec after-treatment systems or diesel-hybrid drive trains. To reduce Nox emissions, the emission control system compromises of urea-injection catalytic reduction and particulate filters that also helps eliminate soot emissions. The remaining five buses will be used by Ulster County Area Transit and Dutchess County Bus Systems based in New York.

In the last few years, hybrid buses have been used on an increased scale in North America, however higher costs of hybrid technology have led to a slow rise in the numbers of these buses. Daimler is now the leading manufacturer of hybrid buses and has sold more than 3000 Orion VII diesel-electric buses.

[Autobloggreen]

The big shot in supermarkets and hypermarkets, Wal-Mart has now shown the world that it loves and cares for the environment too. The retail company can now boast of its largest solar panel array that has been set up at its Apple Valley distribution center in California. 5,300 solar panels have been set up and will generate electricity to power up the distribution center. These solar panels will drink up juice from the sun and generate enough power to lighten up a hundred and seventy five homes. The distribution center spans an area of 1.3 million square feet. 20 percent of this will be powered up using these solar panels. Generating a cool 1 megawatt of energy, this array sure is efficient and will help decrease the retailer’s carbon footprint to a creditable extent. Critics will still keep an eye on Wal-Mart’s exploits on the environment, but this effort on the company’s part sure helps clean up its act in a way.

[Inhabitat]

The year 2013 will see the launch of the newest electric baby from Japan, the Sim-Drive eco-friendly technology and the guys at the Keio University in Tokyo are looking for a suitable car to adopt it. The university will tie up with thirty four Japanese companies that will use this technology, including big shots like Mitsubishi and Isuzu that will use it in cars in the future. This collaboration will help create an electric car prototype by this summer that will be mass produced. Each of these 34 companies that are playing a hand in the project are shelling out $220,000 to get it up and running. The much awaited four-motor electric car that will eat up 300km on a single charge will finally see the light if this project works out as planned.

Around 100,000 cars based on the prototype will be produced and will hit assembly lines by the 2013. Let’s hope that things work out well and eco-friendly electric cars do away with the use of gasoline.

[CrunchGgear]

Hybrid four wheelers and motorcycles have been around for quite a while now. But hybrid bicycles sure sound weird. This cycle lets you use electricity to power it up and ride or simply pedal it away. Known as the Emcycle, this environment friendly bicycle was designed by Michael Scholey and is classified as a commuter vehicle. The Emcycle boasts of a roof and Velcro-detachable side panels. It also packs LED head and tail lamps, a seatbelt and airbags (uncommon for a bicycle), a radio/MP3 player plug in and enough space to store 6 shopping bags! The Emcycle uses foam filled tires that help do away with punctures.

Measuring 24” wide X 73” tall X 80” long and two front wheels that tilt for better handling around tight corners, the bicycle uses electricity to power up the front wheels and pedal power for the rear wheel. The electric mode enables the Emcycle to travel up to speeds of 40mph with a 40 mile range. The Emcycle can be yours for $2500 to $4500 when it finally hits the assembly line in 2011. Who needs a car to drive around your neighborhood with a clean and environment friendly bicycle like this!

[Yankodesign]

The cleanest way to chill out and cool, LG will unveil its 385-liter bottom freezer at the MAISON & OBJET 2010 in Paris. Using LG’s Linear Compressor technology, this bottom freezer is sure to freeze your bottom with its cool energy saving features. The freezer helps save space, save energy, store more food, reduces noise levels, and has better durability and capacity. The Liner Compressor, with its controlled cooling power and reduced internal friction enables the freezer achieve a well deserved A++ rating for energy consumption. Energy savings of up to 20 percent is pulled off simply by changing from reciprocal to piston drive.

Besides this, this bottom freezer also looks as cool as it freezes and stores. It as a simple yet sophisticated two tone optional finish with stainless steel, brushed steel, titanium and silver and white to chose from. The bottom freezer also has a touch LED/LCD display that displays messages and uses LED lighting inside. How cool is that?

[Aving]