Environmental News, Eco-Friendly Gadgets - FreshAirTimes.eu

Eco Factor: Zero-emission car powered by electricity.

BRUSA Elektronik has developed a new electric roadster, The Spyder, which offers speed, performance and styling without polluting the environment with even a gram of CO2 emission. The Porsche 550-inspired roadster comes with two real-wheel-mounted 100KW electric motors which churn out an amazing 270HP and 324 foot-pounds of torque.

The car, with a 16KWh lithium-polymer battery pack, does zero to 62 in less than five seconds and can power the car for 100KM on a full charge. The company claims that its enormous battery pack can be recharged in just four hours when plugged into a 16-amp 220V line. Since the car’s power house is mounted on the rear wheels which eliminates the need for a differential lowering the weight of the car to just 2,000 pounds for maximum efficiency.

Via: Autopia

Eco Factor: World’s largest solar energy plant planned for Australia.

Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd has said in a statement that the government is ready to invest $1.05 million (USD) to build the world’s largest solar power plant with an output of 1000MW. The plant will have three times the generating capacity of the current biggest solar energy plant which is in California.

The project is intended to exploit Australia’s biggest natural resources, the Sun. The plant will help Australia become a leader in the renewable energy sector. The project should eventually lead to a network of solar-powered stations across the country. The government stated that the country doesn’t want to be a renewable energy follower but a renewable energy but a clean energy leader in the world. Tender details will be announced later this year and successful bidders will be named in the first half of 2010.

Image Credit: Flickr [Under a Creative Commons License]

Via: Reuters

Eco Factor: Energy-neutral greenhouses produce 20 times more fruit per acre than conventional farms.

With the land available for farming being used to develop modern residential and commercial complexes, environmentalists around the world are worried about the future, where the lack of land might leave millions hungry. Like always, scientists have tried to find an answer to this growing threat in the latest in technology.Houweling Nurseries, a Canadian farming company, has developed hi-tech greenhouse facilities which generate renewable electricity, harvest rain and runoff water and above all produce 20 times more fruit than conventional farms. The $50 million complex is a completely self-dependent ecosystem in which nothing is wasted. The facility has five acres of photovoltaic solar cells to supply it with 2.1MW of electricity, which is used to run water pumps and climate control systems. Thermal systems collect solar heat and warehouse refrigeration exhaust to warm the greenhouse on cold evenings. Workers of the facility have dug a four-acre pond that collects rainwater which is then filtered and re-circulated back to the facility for irrigation. Plants in this greenhouse are fed through tubing and crops are grown without the use of any herbicides and almost no pesticides. Since there is no dust or germs inside the facility, fertilizer use is also limited. The 20-acre facility has 450 workers who are constantly keeping an eye on all the critical systems and ensure that the production is the best.

I recommand for all of you to “shut down” your house and take a walk outside. :)  For those who cannot do that, please make an effort to close all your electric devices between 20:00-21:00 hours on 29 March. I believe in small individual efforts that make a huge change if it’s done by all of us

more info on Earth Hour

Green Yourself!

As if straight from a sci fi story; a robotic underwater glider that keeps itself powered using the changes in the water temperature, while doing its job, searching for information related to ocean. In an ocean, the sun rays keep the water warm towards the top, making the layers cold as you keep going deep. A technique known as thermal stratification is used to convert heat into mechanical energy in this green robotic glider. The oceanic heat, heats the wax filled tubes of the glider, thereby expanding them. This expansion pushes oil, which is stored inside a bladder the vehicle, outside, affecting the buoyancy and helping the glider dive. The cycle gets complete when the wax cools and oil reaches the internal reservoir, making the glider rise.

The first green robotic vehicle prototype, it was tested in December 2007, by a research team led by oceanographers Dave Fratantoni of WHOI and Roy Watlington of the University of the Virgin Islands. The thermal glider has been traveling uninterrupted since then. A GPS system ensures it wouldn’t get lost. This thermal glider has now been deployed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Webb Research Corporation for marine research.

Via: Dvice

Intelliworks power saving device, which saves electricity in an urban household by nearly 14% and in a rural set up by a whooping 50%. And all you need to do is to plug this device in. Sounds unbelievable, but it is true. A boon for saving energy in your office or house, it works with a state of the art technology, it monitors the power and optimises voltage and current demands, thereby reducing the active power demand.

It even ensures longevity of your appliances as it works as a voltage stabilizer too. During momentary power rush, it stores energy up to 10 seconds, the appliances keep getting constant power though.

Most of the power inputs in US is ‘two phase power’ and to get maximum effectiveness of this product it is better to install the intelliworks energy saver into both phases.

No more cribbing about huge electricity bills, with an investment of just 69.95 euros, start saving.

Via: Domokyo

As concern about the energy is gripping the world at large, innovative ideas are springing up to lessen the burden on the environment. Apparently trivial things ;like traffic lights have also come under scrutiny in the process.

Cities all over the world are using long-lasting LEDs as substitutes for their old-fashioned incandescent signal lights, in order to cut down on energy consumption. However, the good done by them is somewhat dulled by the fact that after their lifetime, they are dumped by he millions in the landfills as recycling them involves exorbitant expenses.

Greenlight Concepts not only conceived of an idea to prevent these used lenses fom being dumped, but showed to the world that recycling them can actually be beneficial. San Francisco designer Daniel Krivens and partner Nicholas Lee’s project is brilliant in its mere simplicity. They are recycling street lamps to design…lamps!

(more…)