Generating energy from kinetic sources has become all the rage, thanks to a few well-documented cases of kinetic generators in the drive-through of a Burger King and in the parking lot of a supermarket. But we use and produce so much energy in the day doing ordinary things, there are so many other ways to [...]
Toyota’s 60,000-ton, seven story cargo ship can carry more than 6,200 cars at a time and regularly does so, transporting Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles from Toyota Motor Co. factories in Japan to Toyota’s 144-acre spread in Los Angeles port. [Gas 2.0]
Normally, the eco-saintly Priuses onboard are heralded into port by the noxious fumes of [...]
This smiling 15-year-old may hold the key to our survival and sustainability as a species living on the planet Earth. Javier Fernández-Han, winner of the annual Invent Your World Challenge and a $20,000 scholarship, designed the VERSATILE system to address the multifaceted needs of sustainability. The system is a mashup of new and adapted technology [...]
A Sainsbury’s supermarket in Gloucester, UK, has installed kinetic plates in the parking lot that use the weight of shopper’s cars to pump a series of hydraulic pipes, which in turn drive a generator. The system is said to generate up to 30kw of energy an hour — or enough to power the store’s checkouts.
Check [...]
I thought it was pretty astonishing how big these windmills really are. You can read charts that say they’re several hundred feet high, but that’s just a little two inch-wide picture on my 15″ screen. I’ve also seen them from several thousand feet in the air. But maybe that should tell me something, that I [...]
By far one of the most wasted spaces of every residence is the roof – of course it is there to protect us from the elements, but surely it can be put to better use. Aiming to innovate upon conventional roof cladding, researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory recently unveiled a new breed of [...]
Concentrating solar power plants work efficiently. An array of mirrors track the sun’s path and focus its beams on a compartment with compressed gas. Heating the gas causes it to escape and turn a turbine, thereby generating power. But very rarely does one of these facilities look like a piece of modern art.
But that’s [...]
This nifty site, promoting GE’s Smart Grid, has information and animations about what the smart grid does, how it can save everyone some money, energy, and hopefully, the world from imploding and global warming. Definitely check it out and pass it around.
But the gadget/toy I wanted to share with you is their Augmented Reality digital [...]
The world’s first floating wind turbine was towed out to sea this past weekend. Set just off the Norwegian shoreline, the floating turbine holds the promise of moving wind farms offshore and out of sight and earshot, and bringing new meaning to the word “offshoring”. The opportunity is especially strong because the wind at sea [...]
The World Wildlife Fund is moving into its new, pimped out headquarters. The long-time pioneer and mover of environmental consciousness recently finished reconstructing its headquarters in the Netherlands. The new building, despite its size, is completely self-sufficient, and sports a pretty nifty design. Triple glazed windows with wooden louvers allow for adjustable lighting. Felt is used for [...]
