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Environmental
Laundry POD: from salad spinner to washing machine
By Karen Sprey
00:22 March 16, 2009 PDT
It’s a great example of thinking outside of the box: as industrial design firm RKS were redesigning a salad spinner they discovered women were buying them to wash their delicates, so they modified the technology and created a portable, hand-powered laundry machine. The Laundry POD is stylish, easy to use and eco-friendly, saving energy and water, and is perfect for delicate items, “in between” and small loads, camping and traveling. Read More
The next step for carbon sequestration?
By Darren Quick
17:22 March 11, 2009 PDT
The debate about the benefits of using Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) to fight against climate change is ongoing. One one hand there are reservations regarding suitable sequestration sites that provide sufficient security to store CO2 for centuries as well as the cost of implementing such a system, which could draw important funds away from the development of renewable energy technologies. On the other, we are still heavily reliant on burning fossil fuels to produce energy and this infrastructure can't be replaced overnight. CCS is obviously attractive to existing power generation companies as it allows them to keep hold of their existing infrastructure and for this reason, it is more than likely that CSS schemes will continue to gather momentum. So where to we can CO2 be stored? Scientists at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the U.S. Geological Survey have produced a new report that maps large rock formations in the United States that can also absorb CO2 and are exploring ways to speed up the CCS process. Read More
The Honda TITAN MIX – the world's first flex fuel motorcycle
By Mike Hanlon
23:27 March 10, 2009 PDT
Brazilian Honda subsidiary Moto Honda da Amazonia Ltda.(HDA) has begun sales of the , the first motorcycle in the world to be equipped with flexible-fuel technology. The 150cc motorcycle is equipped with a Mix Fuel Injection System, a newly developed fuel supply and fuel injection control system that enables consumers to use a flexible mixture of environmentally-responsible bio-ethanol and gasoline fuels, hence reducing CO2 emissions and fuel costs. Read More
AIRPod: tiny air-powered commuter costs half a Euro per 100km
By Loz Blain
22:48 March 6, 2009 PST
Compressed air cars are well and truly on their way to mass production in India and America, among other places - although they seem to be taking their time. But the cheap, environmentally-neutral compressed air engine also lends itself to other interesting urban and industrial transport concepts like the AIRPod. Intended both as a personal 3-4 seater city commuter and as a getabout for airport, train station and municipal workers, the AIRPod is cute and easy to drive with a joystick instead of a steering wheel and pedals. The three-wheel transport weighs around the same as a touring motorcycle at 220kg, so it only needs 5 1/2 horsepower from its lightweight air engine to reach top speeds a little over 40mph. Best of all, cheap compressed air refilling will take as little as 90 seconds and cost about EU1.10 for the AIRPod's expected 220km range. Read More
New Holland's NH2 Hydrogen Fuel cell tractor
By Darren Quick
23:32 March 5, 2009 PST
Tractors may not be the sexiest of vehicles, and they probably aren’t the first ones that come to mind when thinking about environmental friendliness, but agricultural equipment manufacturer New Holland is looking to change that with the production of a prototype tractor that is powered by a hydrogen fuel-cell. Read More
This battle station is fully operational - the world's largest laser nears completion
By Darren Quick
15:36 March 5, 2009 PST
Lasers, is there anything they can’t do? If they’re not shooting down UAVs, they’re fighting AIDS or bringing us the next generation of HDTVs. That’s all well and good, but when it comes to lasers there’s none bigger than the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California - an instrument capable of delivering 500 trillion watts of power in a 20-nanosecond burst which is now nearing completion. Its myriad uses will include providing fusion data for nuclear weapons simulations, probing the secrets of extrasolar planets and could even lead to the holy grail of energy production - practical fusion energy. Read More
Equitable societies are better for everyone
By Mike Hanlon
19:01 March 2, 2009 PST
March 3, 2009 In rich societies, poorer people have shorter lives and suffer more from almost every social problem. Likewise, large inequalities of income are often regarded as divisive and corrosive. Now, in a groundbreaking book, UK-based researchers go beyond either of these ideas to demonstrate that more unequal societies are bad for almost everyone within them — the well-off as well as the poor. The authors forcefully demonstrate that nearly every modern social and environmental problem — ill-health, lack of community, life, violence, drugs, obesity, mental illness, long working hours, big prison populations — is more likely to occur in a less equal society, and adversely affects all of those within it. Read More
Samsung solar powered touch screen phone
By Darren Quick
13:39 February 26, 2009 PST
February 26, 2009 It definitely looks like solar was in at the recent Mobile World Congress as, following hot on the heels of the world’s first low-cost solar-powered mobile phone, comes the first solar-powered full-touch mobile phone from Samsung. Samsung are highlighting the eco-friendly credentials of the phone, which can be charged by the solar panel located on the back, calling it the "Blue Earth" and constructing it from recycled plastic. Read More
Toyota’s dream – a car made of seaweed
By Darren Quick
16:19 February 25, 2009 PST
Toyota is taking the concept of green cars literally with the development of a hybrid concept car made from seaweed which will to be shown at the Melbourne International Motor Show in Australia this week. The 1/X (pronounced one-Xth) gets its name because it envisages a hybrid-powered car of the future with a fraction of the environmental footprint of today's cleanest cars. Read More
Naturally occurring bacteria converts CO2 into calcium carbonate
By Darren Quick
18:56 February 23, 2009 PST
Expensive carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects are gaining momentum around the world as a way to combat greenhouse gas emissions (or is that sweep them under the carpet?), India’s Economic Times has reported that a team of Indian scientists have discovered a naturally occurring bacteria that could help fight global warming by converting CO2 into calcium carbonate (CaCO3) - a common compound found as rock all the world over. Read More
80% of wars occur in biological hotspots
By Mike Hanlon
11:53 February 22, 2009 PST
Since the rise of the state some 5,000 years ago, large scale warfare has been a permanent global fixture. History shows that the motivations for war are different for those ordering the conflict than for those undertaking it and now a startling new study has found 80 percent of the world's major armed conflicts occur in biological hotspots. That is, the richest storehouses of life, the areas essential for both biodiversity conservation and human well-being, are also the regions of the most human conflict. Millions of the world's poorest people live in hotspots and depend on healthy ecosystems for their survival. Is it time for civilization to take political and social responsibility and protect these places? It certainly makes more sense than fighting over oil! Read More
Microbial toxin-eating technology trial a success
21:06 February 19, 2009 PST
We live in a society that is creating more toxic chemicals everyday. In nearly all forms of production many undesirable chemicals get produced which cannot simply be disposed of, even in industrial settings. If these chemicals are tipped down the sink or flushed down the toilet they will end up back in our water streams and pollute our precious and already strained environment. The standard solution is to transport harmful chemicals to distant chemical treatment facilities where they can be broken down and disposed of responsibly, but these processes use a lot of energy and often produce many undesirable byproducts such as oily polluting residues that end up in landfill. That's where this ecologically friendly bacterial treatment from Microbial Solutions' comes in. Microcycle, as it's known, turns toxic exhausted metal working fluids into grey water that is safe to dispose of into the sewerage system. Read More
Waste2tricity - turning garbage into electricity
By Darren Quick
20:19 February 17, 2009 PST
It’s common knowledge that the majority of electricity generation and waste disposal methods currently in widespread use are not very environmentally friendly. New British venture Waste2tricity aims to kill two environmentally damaging birds with one stone by taking carbon based waste, either municipal solid waste (MSW) or waste from business and industry, and converting it into clean electricity, thereby reducing the amount of rubbish going to landfill and potentially making a significant contribution to the UK electricity supply. Read More
Chevy Volt to get energy efficient Bose sound system
By Darren Quick
19:20 February 11, 2009 PST
It’s obvious that car manufacturers working to provide consumers with environmentally friendly vehicles must deal with power, weight, and space constraints to make the next generation of automobiles a reality. What isn’t so obvious is that manufacturers of in car systems will also need to address these constraints, which is the reason Bose has been working on a new sound system that utilizes a proprietary design to produce a system that is 30% smaller, 40% lighter, and uses 50% less energy than conventional Bose sound systems, while still delivering premium, high-quality audio. Bose will debut its Energy Efficient Series sound system in the Chevy Volt, which is set to hit showrooms in 2011. Read More
Mars tech to assist in Earthly eco cleanup
By Kyle Sherer
15:33 February 8, 2009 PST
The Mars Organic Analyzer, fresh from seeking evidence of life on the red planet, has taken a new job to assist life on Earth. The MOA has been modified by researchers in California to detect potentially carcinogenic molecules, providing valuable information in environmental cleanup sites. Read More
Protect your iPhone with recycled Columbian truck tires
By Jude Garvey
19:51 February 4, 2009 PST
Better Energy Systems have added new smart phone protective cases - including one for the iPhone - to their eco-friendly range. Tread cases are manufactured from re-engineered Colombian truck tires and the resulting recycled material is heat resistant, can withstand temperatures of up to 110 degrees C (230 degrees F), is not weakened by UV light and can even survive acid being poured on it. Read More
Driverless transport system to be trialled in the United Arab Emirates
By Darren Quick
23:44 February 3, 2009 PST
As we’ve reported previously, the United Arab Emirates is leading the way in sustainable living research with the construction of Masdar City. Planned as the worlds first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city, Masdar reflects the commitment by the Government to accelerate the development and deployment of future energy. A key component of any city is its transportation system and as car makers around the world strive to make their vehicles cleaner and greener, the designers of Masdar City have decided to do away with cars altogether, instead opting for a light rail line that will bisect the city, and personal rapid transit, (PRT), a system utilizing driverless “podcars”. Read More
Green printer uses coffee dregs as ink
17:29 February 2, 2009 PST
The paperless office is a great notion, but in reality there are still many scenarios where the printer needs to be switched on and fed with environmentally unfriendly consumables - paper and ink. Recycling and re-using paper for print jobs has become well entrenched, but the expensive and often frustrating process of replenishing the ink remains an issue for many of us. Which brings us to one of the cleverest recycling ideas to emerge from this year's Greener Gadgets competition - the RITI printer. This design concept by Jeon Hwan Ju takes your coffee or tea dregs, plus a little elbow grease, and turns them into an eco-friendly alternative to conventional ink. Read More
Windspire: low cost, small footprint wind power alternative
By Darren Quick
01:17 January 29, 2009 PST
While wind turbines are a clean, green way to generate power, they can be a bit of an eyesore and require quite a bit of room meaning, more often than not, they need to be located in sparsely populated areas far from where the generated power is actually needed. We’ve looked at AeroVironment’s innovative urban solution as well as StatoilHydro’s HyWind. Now a look at another innovative product - Windspire. The Windspire, from Reno, Nevada based Mariah Power, combats the large footprint problem by employing a propeller-free design that makes it ideal for rural, suburban, and even some urban residential environments. Read More
MWV's alternative to clam shell packaging
By Darren Quick
21:04 January 25, 2009 PST
No doubt many readers are still nursing injuries sustained on Christmas morning as they tried to free a new toy or gadget from the impenetrable fortress that is clamshell packaging. Such packaging has even spawned a device specifically designed to combat the finger slicing clear plastic and a number of big name manufacturers including Sony and Microsoft have jumped on the bandwagon to rid the Earth of this unnecessary burden. One of the best alternatives we've seen made an appearance at CES 2009, with MWV packaging showcasing the latest version of its environmentally friendly, paperboard-based Natralock security packaging solution. Read More
Ferrari goes solar
18:34 January 21, 2009 PST
When you think Ferrari you think fire breathing supercars and F1 racing, not environmental consciousness, but the renowned marque is looking to boost its green credentials with the unveiling of a new photovoltaic system at its Engine Mechanical Machining facility in Maranello, Italy. The 210,000 kWh photovoltaic system is part of an ongoing sustainability program which also includes plans for a new tri-generation plant which the company says will cover "virtually all" of its electricity requirements and cut its annual CO2 emissions by 25-30% compared to the present levels when it becomes operational mid-year. Read More
POLLI-Brick: turning plastic bottles into green architecture
By Emily Clark
03:01 January 12, 2009 PST
From the maker of the HYmini wind and solar portable charger comes a polymer architecture brick combining post-consumer materials with environmentally friendly function. The POLLI-Brick is made entirely of recycled materials and offers passive cooling, natural ventilation and even integrated solar/wind powered LED lighting. Read More
nPower PEG uses motion to charge mobile devices
01:07 January 10, 2009 PST
Battery running low on you're mobile phone? Sounds like it's time for a walk. That's the reality of the nPower PEG, a personal energy generator that, like battery-less flashlights which require shaking to produce energy, puts Faraday's Principle of Electromagnetic Induction to work to create a totally renewable energy source for charging your handheld electronic devices. Read More
Air New Zealand completes biofuel test flight
19:58 January 1, 2009 PST
Air New Zealand has successfully undertaken the world's first commercial aviation test flight using the second-generation biofuel jatropha. A series of key performance tests were conducted at various altitudes during the two hour flight over New Zealand's North Island in which a 50:50 jatropha and Jet A1 fuel blend was used to power one of four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines on the Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400. Read More
Purelight UV sterilizer targets household germs
By Emily Clark
04:04 December 17, 2008 PST
ENPUTECH has announced plans to unveil its new UV sterilizer at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas in January. Purelight is an environmentally-friendly device designed to sterilize germs and other bacteria in mattresses, blankets, carpets, toothbrushes, toilets and kitchen utensils. Read More
Alexis Olson
- November 9, 2009 @ 21:08 UTC
