Eco Factor: Low-emission vehicle powered by hybrid engine.

Electric cars are all over and the trend is been given a luxury look with companies like Audi and Mercedes-Benz confirming their next-gen green rides. BMW showcased its Vision EfficientDynamics concept to rival upcoming offerings and going by a report, the company is expected to roll out the concept as the M8 hybrid.

The latest report indicates that the concept is developing into a 600hp hybrid-drive monster that could be showcased as early as October and a production version can be on the streets by 2013, if it gets the final go ahead from the board later this summer.

The Vision EfficientDynamics concept is a three-cylinder diesel, four-door, plug-in hybrid that generates about 356hp, 590-pound-foot output. The hybrid allows the diesel engine to drive the rear wheels directly or with assistance from a rear-axle electric motor through a six-speed gearbox and the electric motor up the front drives the front wheels. For maximum performance, all the three system can be made to run in tandem.

Via: MotorAuthority

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Eco Factor: Zero-emission solar-powered airplane gets ready for night flight.

It all started with a crazy idea – flying around the world in a solar airplane without fuel. In a world depending on fossil energies, the Solar Impulse aircraft tries to break free from the barriers. After about 10 successful test flights, the Solar Impulse team is about to fly through a night.

With expertise from Altran Group, the solar-powered aircraft will take off on July 1st and land back in the early morning of July 2nd. Team members have said that they need a 25-hour window of clear and calm summer weather to attempt the pioneering round-the-clock flight over Switzerland and eastern France.

The pilot plans to keep the aircraft at altitudes of up to 8500m, storing some of the energy from solar panels in its batteries during the daylight to fly through the night before landing after dawn. With a wingspan of about 63.40 feet, the aircraft weighs about as much as a family car, about 1600kg. This enables the aircraft to fly on four 10hp electric motors.

Thanks for the tip: [Altran Group]

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Eco Factor: Zero-emission electric three-wheeled vehicle powered by solar energy.

Auto rickshaws, better known as “tuk-tuks” in Bangkok have been a feature of Bangkok and are often regarded as a unique symbol of Thailand. However, conventionally fueled tuk-tuks are polluting and need a redesign to stay for years to come. Air Marshal Morakot Charnsomruad has designed a prototype that could herald a cleaner, greener era on Bangkok’s congestion-choked streets.

The designer is already selling an electric version of tuk-tuk through his Clean Fuel Energy Enterprise and has now tried to even better the credentials of the vehicle by designing a solar-powered version. The emission-free vehicle can run for 80km on a three hour battery charge and can hit a top speed of 60kph, even outstripping its gasoline-powered rival.

The solar machines will cost about 320,000 baht – about $10,000 – while the conventional tuk-tuk costs about 180,000 baht. The designer hopes that eventually government subsidies would make them more affordable.

Via: AFP

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Eco Factor: Concept car powered by an electric engine.

Electric cars can significantly reduce city pollution by having zero tailpipe emissions. Though the overall savings depend on the process used to generate electricity, electric cars can definitely have a positive impact on the environment in the near future when electricity will be mostly generated from renewable sources.

Auto designer Funfere Koroye, a junior in the Savannah College of Art Design, has come up with a gravity racer that is powered by an all-electric engine. The vehicle’s onboard motors are fueled by electricity from battery packs, ensuring zero tailpipe emissions. The smooth, curvy design aims to attract eco-conscious individuals who desire a green sports car.

Via: The Design Blog

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Eco Factor: Paris to harness renewable energy from river currents.

With an aim to raise public awareness regarding renewable energy, authorities in the beautiful city of Paris have decided to harness the power of the river Seine. The Paris City Hall would be launching an appeal this week for submission of proposals regarding the installation of eight turbines underneath the city’s celebrated bridges to raise energy from river currents, or hydroliennes. While the bulk of the machinery would be hidden under the water, part of the structure will sit above the water. The French Waterways and Urban Ecology Service have already identified eight sites along the river to exploit the natural power source. The project goes beyond just energy generation, as it’s also about creating an educational impact on the need to focus on renewable energy sources.

Via: Guardian

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Eco Factor: Molecular framework developed for economical, flexible solar cells.

The Dichtel group in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University has developed a method to organize organic dyes into stacked, porous 2D sheets, which can later be incorporated into flexible solar cells.

The process employs organic dye molecules assembled into a structure known as a covalent organic framework (COF). The strategy uses a simple acid catalyst and relatively stable molecules called protected catechols to assemble key molecules into a neatly ordered 2D sheet. These sheets can be stacked on top of one another to form a lattice that provides pathways for charge to move through the material.

The best part of the process is that the reaction is reversible, so any errors that occur can be undone and corrected. At the core of the framework are molecules called phthalocyanines, a class of common industrial dyes used in products from blue jeans to ink pens. Phthalocyanines are also closely related in structure to chlorophyll, which absorbs almost the entire solar spectrum.

The structure by itself is not a solar cell yet, but it is a model that can significantly broaden the scope of materials that can be used in COFs. Once the framework is assembled, the pores between the molecular latticework could potentially be filled with another organic material to form light, flexible, highly efficient and easy-to-manufacture solar cells.

Via: Physorg

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Eco Factor: Motorcycle powered by compressed air.

Bharat Raj Singh and Onkar Singh, of the SMS Institute of Technology and the Harcourt Butler Technological Institute respectively, have come up with an attractive traveling option. The duo has designed a motorcycle which runs on compressed air instead of a polluting fuel. The design replaces the traditional combustion engine with an air cylinder which uses compressed air to turn a small air turbine, generating enough power to make for up to 40 minutes of two-wheel travel. For the researchers, the air cycle could help reduce emissions by up to 60 percent in the areas where motor cycle is the most favored means of transportation. Air as a fuel sounds good, however, there are technical challenges such as building a compact, high capacity air tank to store enough fuel for long rides or swapping the tanks every 19 miles.

Via: TreeHugger

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Eco Factor: Sustainable building powered entirely by renewable energy.

Italian architect Marco Acerbis has completed the Polo Per l’innovazione Strategica building as a part of the development of the Eastgate Park, the largest logistic and industrial masterplan in the northeast of Italy covering an area of 1.8 million square meters. The new multifunctional building has been developed with the objective of serving new business strategies by combining the best of the university world, business consulting work and the entrepreneurial world.

The sustainable building is a certified Class A+ building that has been made from sustainable materials and gets powered entirely by renewable energy. The building is equipped with photovoltaic louvers that act as sun shades during the hot summer months and also produce renewable solar energy.

The interior includes space for a number of offices that are located together, with a spacious conference hall for 150 people. Apart from the use of solar panels for energy generation, the building also sources geothermal energy.

Via: Designboom

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Eco Factor: Electric monoplane gets power from AGNI 112 R electric motor.

The Association for Promotion of Flying Ladders modified its old prototype to give company to the Concorde at the Green Air Show in Le Bourget, Paris. The monoplane was earlier used for the test flights of the group’s original combustion-powered Demoichelle in 2009, but is now back with a new green twist.

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Eco Factor: Bike concept built by utilizing aircraft manufacturing technology.

It wouldn’t be incorrect if I define Tsikolia Design R&D Ltd.’s latest bike design with words like stylish, contemporary and extraordinary. Designed by Zviad Tsikolia, the Spider bike will utilize techniques from the Tbilisi based aircraft manufacturing company. Coming across as a cross between a mountain bike and a road-racing bike, this concept uses aluminum square tubes in its construction.

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Even though I was arguably the worst player in the country in Division One college football during my sophomore year season at the University of Pennsylvania, I still think of myself as an athlete.

I’m not making this up. In the early 90s, the New York Times ranked every team in D-1 college football by computer. Midway through the season, Florida State I think was ranked #1 and Penn I’m sure was ranked #216. Dead last. The only thing our head coach ever asked of me was to cut down signs before games that were hung by the fans of opposing teams. Yes, it was humiliating – I mean character-building – to jog in uniform with scissors in hand up to the bleachers only minutes before kick-off to cut down a “Go Bears” sign hung by college kids from Brown.

I was the third string wide receiver on a ridiculously terrible team that was 0-6 at the time of the Brown sign incident. Worst player on worst team equals worst player in D-1. A small claim to fame.

However, as an athlete, I enjoy pushing myself to accomplish new feats. Doing so in the name of protecting the planet is even more rewarding. Doing that with 150 other amazing people and a group of truly inspiring organizers is a life-changing experience and precisely what makes the Brita Climate Ride so unique and rewarding.

As spokesperson for Brita’s FilterForGood campaign, I participated in the first two years of the 5-Day, 300 mile Brita Climate Ride which went from New York City to Washington DC. Last year, I got to bunk one night with No Impact Man, Colin Beavan, who also participated in the ride. Neither one of us came close to being fastest cyclist in the group. I’m pretty sure that honor went to Denmark’s Ambassador to the U.S., Friis Arne Petersen.

Now the Brita Climate Ride is headed to the West Coast. On September 21st, 150 riders will depart San Francisco on a five-day adventure to raise both awareness and funds for protecting the planet. You could be one of them. Visit ClimateRide.org to learn how.

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Several environmental groups claim that informal processing of electronic waste in developing countries causes serious health and pollution problems. Some electronic scrap components, such as CRTs, contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury and other toxins. The problem of electronic waste is on a rise and some designers aren’t just waiting for others to develop safe recycling solutions as they’re trying to reuse scrap electronic components in their original shape to create new artwork that can be displayed. Here is list of some of the most striking examples of artwork created from recycled electronics:

• E-waste Sneakers

The E-waste Sneakers by American artist Gabriel Dishaw are created entirely from electronic waste. The designer has followed a different approach by selecting two colors for each side of the shoe and incorporated a great blue color pop for the swoosh and other ascents.

• Recycled CD chair

Designed by Belen Hermosa, the Recycled CD chair might not be the most comfortable chair you’ve ever sat on, but it does help the environment by saving hundreds of unwanted discs from reaching the landfills.

• Brenda Guyton’s e-waste sculptures

Industrial designer Brenda Guyton breathes new life into old chips and PCBs by converting them into unique works of art. The sculptures illustrate the fusion of biological life and machine life. Working from her garage-turned-studio, Brenda is assisted by her husband too. Most of the material is supplied by her good friends.

• Neyland Stadium Replica

Eco-minded artist Dace Mann created a small scale replica of Neyland Stadium and the Sunsphere from pieces of electronic parts he and his friends collected. The replica is 8-inches wide, 10-inches long and soars about 4-inches into the sky. The stadium consists of around 250 ICs that were painted white and then glued to create rows and skyboxes. The Jumbtron was once a cellphone’s display screen and the field is actually sandpaper that is painted green.

• Arnold Advertising’s e-waste billboard

Installed on Highway 101 in the Silicon Valley, San Jose, California, this billboard by Arnold Advertising has been created from recycled computer monitors and other electronic components. The billboard showcases some eleven 3-dimensional and eight-foot high letters.

• WEEE Man

Created by the British Royal Society of Arts, the WEEE Man weighs 3.3 tons and stands at the Eden Project in Cornwall. The structure has been created using scrap monitors and other electronic scrap.

• Giant Cellphone Sculpture

Eco-conscious artists in Romania created this giant cellphone sculpture that now stands at the Planet Report Environmental & Film Festival. The structure has been created using hundreds of discarded cellphones.

• Discarded Cellphone Installation

Created by eco-artist Nigel Sielegar, this 18’ high and 24’ wide frame, uses hundreds of cellphones to give it desired shape. The installation tries to inform consumers that cellphones carry toxic materials in their batteries, which if left untreated can pose a serious threat to the ecosystem.

• Biological Virus Sculptures

Artist Forrest McCluer salvaged 30 computers from a garbage pile outside an office building and converted all that junk into art. The artwork consists of sculptures of biological viruses from common cold to rhinovirus, the artist has designed them all from capacitors and other electronic component in the salvaged computers.

• Sci-fi Masks

These creepy looking sci-fi masks have been created using random electronic waste lying around someone’s house.

• Macintosh II Couch

This couch was displayed at the Mac Store in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The couch consists of 20 obsolete Macintosh II computers and since the computers were designed to carry heavy 20-inch monitors on top of them, it would be strong enough to hold you for a nap.

• Inland CD Sea

Created from about one million unwanted compact discs, this shimmering inland sea installation is the brainchild of artist Bruce Murno. The installation rests at Long Knoll Field in Wiltshire, England. Apart from some local collections, the massive sea used more than 600,000 discarded CDs that were sent from as far away as Brazil and California.

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Eco Factor: Giant turtle shell made from industrial trash cans.

Art is by far the best way to express ones emotions. So, what better way to show your concern for “Mother Nature”. Brian Jungen, one of Canada’s most promising young artists has created something extraordinary with trash bins. The creation called “Carapace” is a dome-shaped structure made out of green-plastic industrial trash cans.

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Eco Factor: Sustainable building powered by solar/hydrogen energy.

Australian architecture firm Cox Architects has designed the country’s first zero-emission self-powered teaching and research building. The $32 million Sir Samuel Griffith Building will support Griffith University’s environmental program and serve as an excellent example of zero-energy construction for the rest of the country.

The 4000sqm facility will have six floors and will be able to accommodate over 200 students and hold 100 offices. Transparent solar panels will be integrated within the building’s façade to generate renewable solar energy. The energy generated by the solar system will be coupled with a hydrogen energy demonstration project.

Via: In Design Live/Inhabitat

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Eco Factor: Concept skyscraper uses algae to purify air.

The City Respiration Skyscraper by Czech architects Pavlína Doležalová and Jan Smékal is a 240m tall skyscraper that has been designed to bring fresh air back into the world’s metropolises using algae as a medium of purification. The structure is intended to be constructed in the heart of the most polluted areas. A network of such skyscrapers can transform the pollution and exhaust fumes into clean air.

The outer cellular structure of the skyscraper is a 3D cluster of individual concrete three-spike units inspired by sea sponges. This structure acts as a chimney where warm and polluted air is captured at the bottom and filtered by the algae. The end result is purified and oxygenated air. The designers propose a network of these skyscrapers that can be strategically placed in the most polluted areas tp clean a city in a couple of weeks.

Via: Evolo

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Eco Factor: Solar photovoltaic power plant to generate up to 3MW of renewable electrical power.

The Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) has installed India’s largest solar photovoltaic power plant at Yalesandra village in Kolar district of Karnataka. Built at the cost of about $13 million, the plant makes use of modular crystalline technology to generate solar energy.

Inaugurating the plant, India’s Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abhullah said that the government was planning to add 1000MW of solar energy to the national grid in the next three years as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

The power plant will provide energy to 500 pump sets of 10hp each and benefit about 1000 farmers. The KPCL is planning to set up 100MW of solar energy plants as joint ventures with the private sector.

Via: Sify

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Eco Factor: Zero-emission electric Mototaxis developed for Peru.

Two-stroke engines are both polluting and noisy and that’s the reason why an ingenious professor at the University of San Marcos has created a solar panel retrofit for a two-stroke “mototaxi” that fill the streets of Lima in Peru.

These zero-emission mototaxis can run on pedal-power or a battery attached to the solar panels. The invention is ideal for places like Lima, which enjoys more than 350 sunny days each year. The researcher is hoping that a company will decide to mass produce the panels to retrofit mototaxis in Lima and other South American cities to reduce the problem of air pollution.

The three-wheelers can run cleanly and quietly with two 40W solar panels that are installed on the taxi roof. The electric engine replaces the conventional two-stroke gas guzzler.

Via: Treehugger

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Eco Factor: Solar-powered chandelier installed in London’s Belgrave Square.

London-based design house Orproject has created a startling solar-powered chandelier that is currently sitting in London’s Belgrave Square. The luminous pink tree-shaped chandelier acts as a source of shade during the day and transforms into a glittering chandelier at night, dispersing light collected during the day by its photovoltaic cells.

The structure is built as part of the London Festival of Architecture that uses photo-reactive technology at an architectural scale.

Via: Inhabitat

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Eco Factor: Eco-friendly fair and exhibition center with a large sustainable roof.

Midroc Property Development in association with the city of Malmo invited consultation for the design of Malmo’s New Fair and Exhibition Centre. After scrutinizing all the entries, Erik Giudice Architects were announced the winners. The architects saw the new building as an amalgamation of sustainability and architectural excellence. Located in the Hyllie, the 19,000 sq m new center houses exhibition halls, conference rooms, a restaurant, offices, commercial and support spaces.

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Eco Factor: Helium blimp sheathed in solar panels to take its inaugural flight.

Almost a year after world’s first solar blimp madeits debut, the solar-powered airship is all set take its inaugural flight next week. Developed by Projet Sol’r, a collaboration between students at engineering and technical schools in France, the Nephelios is hopeful of crossing the English Channel in less than an hour that too by using solar power.

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Eco Factor: iPhone 4 case made from FSC-certified bamboo.

If you one of the few lucky ones who have succeeded in getting your hands over the latest Apple sensation iPhone 4, then you certainly wouldn’t want anything to scratch that pristine surface. Portland-based company Grove brings to your doorsteps a case that will give your delicate Apple device its much desired protection.

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Eco Factor: Zero-emission scooter powered by electricity.

ZEV known to give the world the fastest electric motor scooters has recently unveiled the world’s first street legal electric trail and dirt road motor scooter. Sporting a very unique design, the bike features a large cargo mount that is placed just below the back seat, while two lockable storage boxes on either side give extra space to store things. It can carry load of up to 250 pounds. This load carrying capacity of the bike is making it call “a two-wheeled pickup truck”.

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Eco Factor: Eco-friendly glazing with heat-storing phase-change material creates a passive solar-control mechanism.

GlassX AG, a Swiss company has developed a new type of eco-friendly glazing that was introduced to the North American market at the AIA convention in Miami earlier this month. Dubbed the “GlassX”, this high-tech glazing comes with heat-storing phase-change material (PCM). This innovative window system features two panes of glass with PCM in the middle.

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Eco Factor: Ford to electrify 25 percent of its vehicles in next ten years.

Ford, one of the first companies on the market with a hybrid vehicle is all geared up to initiate the alternative power revolution. The company aims to push 25 percent of new car sales for a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle in just ten years. In just less than a year’s time, the company will be launching its first all-electric model.

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Eco-Factor: Cell phone with 15%reduced carbon footprint.

The latest addition to Sony Ericsson’s Green Heart line deserves appreciation. Called the Cedar, this cell phone is designed to have an ever smaller carbon footprint, reduced by at least 15% in this case. The green core of Cedar lay in its ability to reduce the overall environmental impact without compromising on the style and design of the talking gadget. The latest and greatest green addition has been made from recycled plastic and uses an energy efficient display along with water borne paint which helps reduce the carbon footprint. The phone uses an energy efficient charger, and also stores its manual online instead of using print which helps minimize the packaging.

Via: TreeHugger

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