this is too cute. and if air is the way to go. then the better cause we sure have enough air to use!
Tag archives: green
water cleaners for our city rivers
20Aug09As part of the upcoming Aqua Metropolis festival in Osaka, engineering firm NTT Facilities has developed a pair of solar-powered, UFO-shaped floating water purifiers that will be deployed in the city’s canals and in the moat at Osaka Castle.
via ‘Solar UFO’ water cleaners afloat in Osaka canals ::: Pink Tentacle.
Water water i need you.
30Jul09AquaIris Portable Water Purifier is meant for folks in the tropical regions and is packaged as a really sexy looking bottle.
by Talia Radford
it is also in the James Dyson Award entries LINK.
via AquaIris Portable Water Purifier by Talia Radford » Yanko Design.
Solar-powered Handset from SHARP!
24Jun09I seen several designs for solar panel cellphones, i personally think this phone execute it the best. in terms of style, aesthetics, and behavior. What bugs me about samsung’s solarphone is that they put the panel on the back of the phone. Who in their right mind want to put their phone’s screen upside down. People fear to get their screen scratched up! They really need to understand user behavior and their relationship towards their phones, people are just as bad with phones as with their cars!
An environmentally-friendly mobile phone debuted in Japan, which is now enjoying an “eco boom.” It is Sharp Corp’s “Solar Phone SH002″ released by KDDI Corp as one of its summer 2009 models of the au brand mobile phones.
The SH002 is equipped with a solar cell module on the back of its chassis. The solar cell module can be used as an auxiliary power source when the remaining battery level is low or zero. Though Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Electronics Inc announced handsets with similar concepts at Mobile World Congress 2009, which took place in February 2009, Sharp is the first company that released such a product in Japan.
via [Solar Phone Teardown] Sharp Debuts Solar-powered Handset [Part 1] — Tech-On!.
I tweet this video ten days ago… it is a Japanese commercial for the product.
Solar power bus stations…hmm
02Jun09just came across this, now lets think for a sec, california is putting them now, sooo east coast will do it in like say.. 8 years? and i am not talking college campuses!
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently unveiled the first of 1,100 solar powered bus shelters that will be installed throughout the city between now and 2013. Crowned with a rolling red crest of photovoltaic panels, the shelters will use the sun’s rays to power their intercom, LED lighting, and even wireless routers that will help blanket the city with WiFi goodness. Designed by Lundberg Design and contracted through Clear Channel, the new shelters signal a bright future for solar technology in the Bay Area.
via Inhabitat » Solar Powered Bus Shelter Unveiled in San Francisco.
Algae…BioFuel…What are the possiblities?
12May09
There are some signs that the algae-based fuel industry might be ready to bloom.
One of the nascent industry’s biggest and most well-heeled players, Sapphire Energy, announced last week that it would be producing 1 million gallons of diesel and jet fuel a year by 2011, double its initial estimates.
The La Jolla, Calif.-based company – with big-name backers like Bill Gates and the Rockefeller family – says it will be producing more than 100 million gallons a year by 2018 and 1 billion gallons a year by 2020 – enough to meet almost 3 percent of the U.S. renewable fuel standard RFS of 36 billion gallons.
But there’s a hitch: Federal law makes no room for algae-based fuel in the RFS. The 2007 energy law caps corn ethanol production at 15 billion gallons a year by 2015 and has the remaining 21 billion gallons of renewable fuels coming from advanced biofuels, including 17 billion gallons from cellulosic biofuels and biodiesel.
via Is Algae the Biofuel of the Future?: Scientific American.
Transparent solar cell…. next self energy efficient building
11May09
Solar panels may be one of the solutions to our growing energy needs, but they can be a hassle to have installed requiring space on a rooftop or area of land that can’t then be used for anything else. One company aims to make installing and using solar panels easier in any building, however, by integrating them directly into panes of glass.
That company is called Konarka and they have developed solar cells made of flexible plastic that are transparent. Because they are clear it is possible to mount them inside glass opening the way for buildings to start taking advantage of solar power without the hassle of installation as they automatically get installed with the windows.
This isn’t technology we have to wait to see in a few years time as Konarka has already signed an agreement with Arch Aluminium to start using its Power Plastic solar solution. Together the two companies will produce glass products that can deliver energy generation in commercial building projects. Arch Aluminium specializes in producing glass products for commercial buildings in a range fo designs making them an ideal partner for Konarka.
banning plastic bags
01May09via LINK
This is old news, but if you have not heard…
The State Council, China’s cabinet, recently issued a directive banning the production of ultra-thin plastic bags for environmental reasons. The ruling also prohibits shops, supermarkets, and sales outlets nationwide from handing out free plastic bags starting on June 1, according to China News Agency. The imposition of fees on plastic bag usage is likely to influence consumer behavior in China and bring environmental benefits in the coming years.
People in China use up to 3 billion plastic bags daily and dispose of more than 3 million tons of the bags annually, according to Market News. Most of the carriers end up in unofficial dumping sites, landfills, or the environment. According to scientists, it can take more than 200 years for the bags to dissolve in the natural environment, contaminating land and water and injuring or killing wildlife in the process.
Water Monitoring Fish
01May09
Soon, the water in Gijon, a harbor in Northern Spain will be monitored by robotic, battery-powered fish. These mechanical, articulating sea creatures were designed and tested by the Robotics Department at the University of Essex. At a cost of $3.6 million, through a European Union grant, these fish will test the water for oxygen levels, detect oil slicks and other contaminants pumped into the water. This is the first monitoring program of it’s kind, and the retrieved data could be very important, with implications for global warming and the state of our water sources.
Researchers at Essex have been testing out their fish prototypes in a special tank at the London Aquarium since 2005. Visitors have been wowed by the incredible ability of the robots to move just like a fish does. As Rory Doyle, a researcher on the project, says, “The design of fish which nature has produced is a very energy-efficient one. The fish’s efficiency is created by hundreds of millions of years’ of evolution. Submarines come nowhere near it.” This efficiency in movement will allow the robot to have a longer battery life and collect more data.
via LINK