Eco Factor: Prototype streetlight runs on wind energy.
Solar energy for lighting systems does open up a new era of gadgets that promise to be green and clean all through their lifetime. However, solar energy doesn’t power these lamps when you need them, but they make use of costly and un-ecofriendly batteries that could store power during daytime and release it as night falls. Wind energy takes us a step forward here as it can power a system during nighttime as well.
Eco Factor: Solar-powered carport to recharge EV batteries while they’re parked.
We recently showcased ingenious photovoltaic arrays developed by Envision Solar, which could convert parking lots into solar recharging points for electric vehicles. Today we have another similar development by Romag, which is not as large as Envision Solar’s parking lots but has more practical sense. PowerPark, as the company calls their carport, is a photovoltaic roof that harnesses solar energy and uses it to recharge electric vehicles parked underneath.
Eco Factor: Non-toxic coating to prevent metals from corroding in seawater.
Researchers at Sheffield Hallam University have developed a new biological coating that could prevent metals such as ship hulls from corroding in seawater, without making any toxic additions to seawater. The ecofriendly coating works with the help of bacteria, which protects corrosion.
Earth Hour may have lowered the temperature across the globe but for sure it raised the temperature at a house in New Jeresy. Kevin was sitting with his beer watching recorded programs on TiVo, when Rose, his live-in partner, told him about Earth Hour and their duty toward turning off all electronic appliances. Not to be disturbed from his weekend rest, he preferred enjoying the TV to waiting in the dark for the time to pass. But never in his wildest dreams he could have thought that it would become the cause for their breakup.
The tribe of people who have seen their partner drift apart because of environmental issues is a recent development, but a growing one. Environment-friendly is no more just a fad but has entered the mainstream thinking; and like yesteryears vegetarianism, socialism, etc. has become an important issue while selecting partners.
For example, Evian, who is a computer programmer in New York, decided to dump her date on the first night when she saw his gas-guzzling Hummer. She says that it was emotionally difficult to sit in the car as she was constantly under realization that how she was impacting the earth. These days she is seeing a guy who, proudly and voluntarily, doesn’t own a car and prefers to travel in the city only on bicycle. And, interestingly, she is not the only one with such thinking.
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Eco Factor: Zero-emission UAVs being developed to enhance their abilities and reduce their impact on the environment.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has sponsored a program to help tactical decision makers get better and much more detailed information from their “eyes in the sky.” The ONR is funding a project to develop the next-gen UAVs that run on fuel cells and can go further with heavier payloads, and are able to gather information while being nearly undetectable from the ground.
Eco Factor: Ecofriendly vending machines from PepsiCo.
In an effort to reduce energy expenditure and provide greener machines to the masses, soft drink giant PepsiCo has developed a new range of vending machines, which are being tested in Washington. The company has installed 30 planet-friendly machines, which reportedly consume just 5.08 KWh of electricity, saving about 1KWh on a daily basis.
Eco Factor: Outdoor LED light fixtures powered by solar energy.
Keeping its green image intact, Sharp Corporation has developed a new range of LED light fixtures for outdoor use. The range includes 10 fixtures, four out of which run on solar energy and emit no CO2 whatsoever. The company intends to debut the fixtures in succession into the Japanese market over the coming months.
Eco Factor: Carbon neutral processes could turn canal algae into cheap, green power.
Using algae for fuel is not a new concept, but using it to generate megawatts of clean electricity is the newest in eco technology that is being experimented with in Venice. Italy has recently announced a €200 million project that would make use of algae brought by the ships coming from Japan and Sargassi Sea and convert it into fuel that could be used to power electricity-generating turbines.
Eco Factor: Carbon neutral process uses electricity to generate methane.
A team of Penn State Engineers have developed a new technique that could possibly convert electricity into methane, using self-perpetuating microorganisms commonly found in marshes and dumps. The research might change the conception that all the methane generation going on in nature is a result of hydrogen, as the new process found very little traces of hydrogen in the gas phase.
Eco Factor: Heat exchanger reuses heat energy from waste water for your next shower.
An average home consumes more energy in heating water than any other use. While we all will continue to love a hot shower after a hectic day at the office, the EcoDrain will make sure that hot water doesn’t go down the drain without any reuse. No, the device doesn’t make you bathe in used water but makes sure that the energy needed to heat water for subsequent showers doesn’t cost that much.
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