Fuel Cells are the ultimate answer to all our energy troubles. If not in a shape and form that they are in today, they have a potential to evolve into something both potent and clean. The heavily bleeding aviation industry seems to be going the eco-friendly way so that it can cut both on pollution and on costs. In a positive step in that direction, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) demonstrated the world’s first manned airplane that can fly exclusively with the use of a fuel cell. The fuel cell, which is based on polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM), generates power for the motor glider’s electric engine.

While PEM fuel cells are not the ultimate answer to our energy needs, the aviation industry could use all the wind that it could get beneath its wings to help it fly in the tough times. The new fuel cell is not hard to manage and its relatively simple cooling needs and consistent power generation make it a true alternative. While the commercial version of this technology might still be a few months away at the least, one can hope for a partial fuel cell powered commercial flight maybe somewhere in the next year. That would truly be a journey towards greener solutions.

Via:� Cleantechnica

Now have an environment-friendly travel. In what can be treated as a step towards government’s endeavor to fight pollution by vehicles, Volvo announced the launch of its new entry into the diesel-electric hybrid bus market. The hybrid Volvo 7700 is a 12-meter low-floor city bus that gets up to 30 percent better fuel economy and emits 40 to 50 percent less nitrous oxide and 30 percent less carbon, the company said. In addition, a smaller engine and nearly a third of the bus’ components are developed in-house by Volvo.
The hybrid Volvo 7700 uses “parallel hybrid” technology which allows the bus to be powered by either the electric motor or the diesel engine or both at the same time. I-SAM, the company’s hybrid technology, plans to use the same technology in its trucks and construction equipment after the buses go into mass production in 2010. Though the hybrid bus weighs more or less the same as a diesel-driven bus, it has a better weight distribution, which allows the hybrid bus to take more passengers than a comparable diesel bus.� As a result, the bus’ performance is enhanced and fuel consumption is reduced.

According to a report by United Press International, the first of Volvo’s hybrid buses will begin testing on city streets in London and Gothenburg, Sweden, later this fall. Volvo is believed to start delivering hybrid diesel electric buses to customers in 2009 with mass production beginning in 2010.

Via igreenspot

With the benefits of Windmills come common concerns like the whooshing sound that regular turbines produce, as well as their divisive visual aesthetics. Keeping in mind the volatility of the speed of wind in the urban environment, the QR (Quiet Revolution) has been designed. A new type of wind turbine intended to address both of these issues, Quiet Revolution’s QR5 Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, or VAWT for shawt, is smaller, quieter, and way better looking than your typical windmill, plus it should produce the equivalent of its £25,000 price tag in clean energy within 15 years or less. The elegant helical (twisted) design of QR ensures a robust performance even in turbulent winds. It is also responsible for virtually eliminating noise and vibration.

At five metres high and three metres in diameter, it is compact and easy to integrate, and with just one moving part, maintenance can be limited to an annual inspection.

Though the energy output will vary according to the wind speed but is likely to be between 6,000 and 10,000 kWhrs on a typical site. And if that wasn’t all, according the usage of such windmills will also lead to reduction in CO2 emmisions.

Via trendir

With the West in a water crisis, it’s not surprising to see a machine that pulls water from ambient air at West Coast Green. Though not an innovation, these machines require a lot of energy which has been dealt with by Element Four who have addressed the issues of energy use for creating water. The unit uses just 300 watts; a relatively low amount for these machines, the Watermill senses its environment and acts accordingly.
The Watermill checks its environment every three minutes to determine the dew point and keeps itself operating at just a few degrees below that dew point. This way, it maximizes efficiency of the energy it uses to operate by maximizing the amount of water it can pull from the air 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
It can pull an average of 13 quarts of water each day, which is plenty of potable water for an average family of four. The water is essentially distilled, but a filter can be added to restore organic minerals if the user wishes.

And if that wasn’t all, a solar powered version of the machine is in the works and will be available in about six months. So, this one is sure to tackle the water needs and the environmental issues with utmost efficiency.

Via geekologie

Imagine you making an effort and 70% of the energy getting wasted. That’s the plight of your engine which blows about 70 percent of the energy it creates straight out of the tailpipe in the form of heat. As Eric Mattessich realized the truth, he marched on the journey to make power plants more efficient to work on hybrid cars by adapting the kind of heat-recapturing mechanisms. Though not an absolute innovation, Eric’s design is certainly a better packaged one as the size has been worked upon.

The mechanism uses two turbine generators; in the first, the pressure of escaping exhaust spins the turbine to generate electricity. The second uses waste heat from the exhaust to turn water into steam; the steam powers the generator before traveling into a condenser, where it turns back into water and starts the loop again. Both turbines feed electricity back into the hybrid system’s batteries for a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions and a 20 percent more efficient vehicle.

In the pipeline, Mattessich is working on a prototype and applying for a patent. With this he is also looking for an automaker interested in testing by incorporating the system into new cars thereby realizing the efforts put-in in working on the noble cause.

Via inventorspot

Scientists at Oxford University are all set to take the legend of Einstein a step forward by working upon the 1930 invention by Albert Einstein to develop an environmentally friendly refrigerator which they claim will run without electricity.� Determined to fight the repercussions of modern fridges that emit greenhouse gases called freons and as a result damage the environment, the Oxford team is developing appliances that can work without electricity and thereby reduce the gases.� Motivated by contemporary newspaper reports of a Berlin family who had been killed when a seal in their refrigerator broke and leaked toxic fumes into their home, Einstein and his colleague, the Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard patented an absorption-type refrigerator which has no moving parts and requires only a heat source to operate.

The machine is a single-pressure absorption refrigerator, similar in design to a gas absorption refrigerator. The refrigeration cycle uses ammonia, butane and water, has no moving parts, and does not require electricity to operate, needing only a heat source, e.g. a small gas burner besides taking advantage of the fact that liquids boil at lower temperatures when air pressure is lower.

The forgotten fridge alongside being greener also is better fit for rural areas where there is no electricity. The modus operandi is that by introducing a new vapors above the butane, the liquid boiling temperature decreases and, as it boils off, it takes energy from the surroundings to do so which in turn makes it cold. Pressurized gas fridges based around Einstein’s design were replaced by freon-compressor fridges partly as they were not very efficient.

Electrical engineer Malcolm McCulloch at the University of Oxford is reviving the design and is looking into solar energy to kick start the process, though in future the team will also experiment with different types of gases to improve the mechanism’s efficiency.

Via popsci

Wanna Ride?? This one shall prove to be an eco-friendly one with an inveterate entertainment. Yahoo’s newest bike is a complete showstopper. Armed with solar panel, a GPS enabled mobile phone hidden and a script to constantly take pictures at 60 seconds, this bike will be able to map out route that you take (and geotagged it properly) and upload to Flicker account instantly. Beneath the installation on the bikes, there is a Nokia N95 (based on the meta tag found on the pictures), a Solar panels which power the camera phone and Custom Python script installed on the phone which fires off the shutter every 60 seconds while the phone’s accelerometer detects that you’re in motion, and uploads the resulting photo with geotags to the bike’s Flickr account.

Being launched as a part of the company’s new “Start Wearing Purple” marketing campaign, this does have a feminine angle to it but it is well-equipped with valuables to attract men as well. Though initially starting from San Fransico and New York, these bikes would soon be pedaling around the world in countries such as Singapore, Denmark and the U.K.



If this happens to interest you, you can actually download the software to your symbian phone and capture the images yourself.
Via ohgizmo

Classy and efficient is how one can define this one. With startling looks, it is sure to take you on a ride. For travelers, this is an avant-garde vehicle, offering a great speed yet being environment friendly. With masters in industrial design, its designer Robert Nightingale is a much-talked about luminary these days. Drawing upon his experience in sustainable research, creative thinking & design method he has been consistently providing innovative concept. This futuristic concept is designed to take you miles and that too without causing any hazards like non-reversible carbon footprints & global warming which are the gifts of the aviation industry to the environment.

Aptly named, The Environment by its creator, this invention provides the travelers with an environment conducive for work as well as leisure besides zooming at a marvelous speed. Always banking upon the concepts, Robert’s innovations have brought him various applauses and acclamations all across the world.

From the Hitch Concept to Water Shelter Concept to the current transport innovation, his products have always been an affix to the advanced technology. And when they couples with environmental benefits, they surely are adorable.
So now you don’t have to think before to decide your next trip.
Via robertnightingaledesign

Imitating nature, this may be called!! With Lianne van Genugte designing an automatic functioning device which lights up with the sun, technology seems to be going the nature way. Intertwined with flexible solar cells that receive power from the sun during the day this device provides shade to its owners or to portions of a house in need of protection from heat or bright light. This innovation has been selected as one of 64 finalists for the Golden Eye, the top award for which is to be given at Dutch Design Week in mid-October.
Though this is a step ahead towards optimum utilization of natural resources, it has its respective loop-holes. Automatic switching may lead in wastage of accumulated energy when not required. Besides this, it also requires a battery to store solar energy to reserve all the power for illuminating the nights followed by cloudy days.

Also such a solar guzzling shade can be utilized to power up few household gadgets. Like a flower opens to the sun, this device opens at daylight and closes at dusk.
Via EcoDesign

The Crown Estate of England knows which way the wind blows and has decided to acquire the prototype of the world’s biggest wind turbine, Clipper’s 7.5 megawatt MBE turbine, also known as the Britannia. While the other windmills have been land-based, this giant will be located in deep waters near the UK. This will assist the marine interests of The Crown Estate which includes almost the entire UK territorial seabed out to 12 nautical miles , about 55% of the UK’s coastal foreshore, and rights to lease seabed for the generation of renewable energy on the continental shelf within the Renewable Energy Zone which extends out to approximately 200 nautical miles.
This will drive forward the development of turbine technology designed for the challenges of the offshore environment hence providing a great opportunity to help establish a new industrial base of activity to advance the UK’s leadership in renewable energy.

The 10-megawatt monster machine built by Clipper Windpower of Carpinteria, California will have a wingspan larger than two soccer fields and will stand 574 feet tall when completed. The windmill is expected to displace two million barrels of oil as well as 724,000 tons of CO2 over its lifetime. It will also serve as the flagship for Clipper’s Britannia Project, an effort to produce massive new turbines on deep-sea floating platforms. If all goes as planned, the Queen’s windmill will light up thousands of British homes starting in 2012.
This thus, will not only prove benevolent but when yield as a good financial investment for the Crown as well.


Via fashionfunky