Eco Factor: Real-time noise and air pollution monitors.
Getting information on the air quality of a particular city is not hard and there are many tools available to help you in that. However, if you’re in need of more particular data on a neighborhood or street basis, you need to have a personal air quality monitor. A European company, Sensaris, is trying to solve the issue with a device equipped with Bluetooth wireless sensors.
Eco Factor: Pedal-powered zero-emission car.
In a bid to reduce the amount of pollution produced by cars, manufacturers have developed several vehicles which run on everything from electricity to air. However, all these cars are mostly too expensive and the electricity they consume mostly comes from conventional sources which aren’t as green as electricity itself. Car designer Eliseu Santos has tried to solve the riddle with a pedal-powered car called the Human Energy Moving Urban Vehicle, or simply URB21.
Eco Factor: New glass seal makes solid oxide fuel cells more efficient.
Scientists from all over the world are attempting to innovate ways to harness alternative sources of energy. However, researchers at Virginia Tech are looking ahead to make fuel cells better so that energy harnessed from alternative sources could be utilized in a more efficient way. After continuous and extensive efforts, the researchers claim to have come up with solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).
Eco Factor: Willow trees are planted together with a Russian vine in a chair shaped miniature greenhouse.
Michel Bussien’s Growing Chair was on exhibit at Konstfack’s spring exhibition this month. As the name suggests, it does grow up for you with the passage of time. Chair is a sort of green house that contains Willow trees planted together with a Russian vine. Nothing much to surprise as it’s a sort of experiment in which an attempt is being made to make trees and plants grow up into chairs like a crop in the fields.
Eco Factor: Concept Bluetooth headset powered by solar energy.
Solar energy is slowly but surely catching-up on portable gadgets and we’re regular in keeping you informed on the latest designs, which will, sooner or later, hit the production lines. Companies like Sharp are already working to bring the latest in solar technology to the mainstream, which promises the availability of slimmer and greener gadgets pretty soon.
Eco Factor: Zero-emission car powered by electricity.
The technology behind air-powered cars has been around for quite some time and some car manufacturers have claimed to develop cars that would be powered by air, though no company has till date promised a launch date. Zero Pollution Motors, a start-up is one of the first to announce the development of an air-powered car, which the company claims will hit U.S. markets in 2011.
Eco Factor: Waste to energy system breaks down garbage without incinerating it.
Houston-based Waste Management, a large waste company, has announced a joint venture with InEnTec to develop and commercialize large-scale plasma-gasification facilities, which will generate fuel and energy from waste commonly trashed in landfills. This new technique will make use of plasma arcs to break organic materials into syngas, which can further be burnt in gas turbines to produce electricity or can also be converted into other fuels like gasoline and ethanol.
Eco Factor: Solar-powered streetlight concept.
Designed by Joel Högberg, Björn Rehammar, Viktor Karlsson and Peter Flodin, students at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, the solar-powered lamppost aims to provide a sense of security in African villages where grid electricity is still a futuristic dream. With a top-mounted solar panel and low-wattage LEDs, the designers expect the lamppost to run for 20 nights on a completely charged battery.
Eco Factor: NoPoPo debuts flashlight powered by urine-powered NoPoPo batteries.
NoPoPo batteries marked their presence with some amazing features and qualities. The batteries, which could be recharged using urine, have found their first real application in a new flashlight developed by NoPoPo, which is being touted to run for 10 years without a recharge. The batteries which can only be recharged four times, offer enough operation time to make it a better alternative to other flashlights powered by conventional batteries.
Eco Factor: Solar panels for mobile devices are just 0.8mm thick.
Sharp has announced the global release of the world’s thinnest solar panels, especially designed for next-gen devices of the future, which have to be slimmer, lightweight and above all, green. The LR0GC02 Solar Panel module is just 0.8mm thick and would be able to increase the life of the battery and hence users would be able to use the built-in systems with ease.
