Eco-Innovation Articles From Around the World
Self-Chilling Roof Material Could Cool Your House for Free
Source: popsci.com Published: June 2, 2015 Someday, this roof might not just be cool architecture, but actually cool. Matt Sims/Flickr CC by 2.0. By Mary Beth Griggs It's June, and that means that summer is coming ... and it's bringing the heat. Cities especially...
Will Buildings of the Future Be Cloaked in Algae?
Source: smithsonianmag.com Published: May 26, 2015 EcoLogicStudio's 430-square-foot gazebo, called the Urban Algae Folly, is on display at the Expo 2015 world's fair in Milan. (ecoLogicStudio) By Emily Matchar Built by a London architecture firm, a new gazebo has a...
Unlocking Nature’s Secrets Will Help Us Solve the Climate Crisis
Source: greenworldrising.org Published: June 3, 2015 Click here to watch “Restoration”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdZtuNbD0ok About Restoration RESTORATION is the fourth film in Green World Rising, a series of films aimed at moving the climate debate forward....
This Lamp Works Without Batteries, Electricity or Sunlight
Source: sciencealert.com Published: May 28, 2015 GravityLight FIONA MACDONALD Although many of us take for granted the fact that we can simply hit a switch and be flooded with artificial light, around one billion people in the world still live without electricity....
Newly Discovered Fungus Could Rid Landfills of Plastics!
Source: womenofgreen.com Published: May 27, 2015 Source: Truth Theory On an expedition to the Ecuadorian rainforest, Yale students discovered a new type of fungus which may speed up the decomposition process of discarded plastics in landfills. Few think twice...
Giant Solar Floating Farm Could Produce 8,000 Tons of Vegetables Annually
Source: ecowatch.com Published: May 26, 2015 Lorraine Chow The world is less than 40 years away from a serious problem: producing enough food for 9 billion mouths. But with climate change cutting more than a quarter of crop yields by 2050, innovators must devise...
Shaving for Sustainability
Source: dickinson.edu Published: May 25, 2016 Click here to watch “Donating Your Beard to Help the Environment”: https://youtu.be/iBh-BwG1XNM Find out how Associate Professor of Biology Scott Boback's "dope beard" is helping the environment Video by Joe O'Neill It’s...
Bottle Houses of PEI
Source: upcyclethat.com Published: May 22, 2015 Inspiration strikes in the most unusual ways. Édouard T. Arsenault began to build these incredible bottle houses in 1980. He was 66 at the time and had received a postcard from his daughter of a glass bottle castle in...
Review: XD Design’s Window and Port Solar Chargers
Source: gizmag.com Published: March 1, 2013 Gizmag reviews the Window and Port Solar Chargers from XD Design By Paul Ridden This time last year, we covered an interesting new solar charger that sought to avoid troublesome shadows from window frames, potted plants and...
Could This Be the World’s Most Efficient Solar Electricity System?
Source: theguardian.com Published: May 13, 2015 The 100 square metre mirror dishes being tested by Ripasso in the Kalahari desert. Photograph: Jeffrey Barbee Using military technology and a zero-emission engine invented by a 19th-century Scot, Swedish firm seeks to...
Dutch Solar Road Makes Enough Energy to Power Household
Source: aljazeera.com Published: May 10, 2015 by Tarek Bazley Engineers in the Netherlands say a novel solar road surface that generates electricity and can be driven over has proved more successful than expected. Last year they built a 70-metre test track along a...
A Rolling Garden On Wheels Recently Popped Up In The Middle Of Milan
Source: inhabitat.com Published: May 12, 2015 by Lori Zimmer A4A Rivolta Savioni studio’s urban garden solution popped up at Expo Gate Milano last month. Easily movable on reused bicycle wheels, the public garden—called 'Why not in the garden?'—was rolled out into the...
The Bike Washing Machine
Source: totalwomanscycling.com Published: June 18, 2014 Bike Washing Machine combines a stationary bike and washing machine so you can exercise at the same time as you wash your clothes. But hang on a second, can’t we do that already? I often flick on the washing...
UWE Students Test ‘Wee-Lectricity’ Power
Source: bbc.com Published: March 5, 2015 Prototype urinals have been set up "conveniently" close to the student union bar UWE A “wee-lectricity” experiment which could pave the way for urine to provide power in remote areas has been launched. The project uses bacteria...
Smart Filter Technology Uses Gravity, Not Chemicals, to Clean Up Oil Spills
Source: treehugger.com Published: August 29, 2012 © Laura Rudich Megan Treacy Oil spill cleanup can be a messy endeavor. With the Deepwater Horizon Spill, chemical surfactants and dispersants were added to the water to aid in collecting the oil, but they only helped...
MIT’s Solar-Powered Desalination Machine Could Help Drought-Stricken Communities
Source: ecowatch.com Published: May 1, 2015 Photo credit: Shutterstock Lorraine Chow A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Jain Irrigation Systems have come up with a method of turning brackish water into drinking water using renewable energy. With...
AirCarbon wins Popular Science Innovation of the Year
Source: matteroftrust.org Published: May 1, 2015 Every day, plants and microorganisms use greenhouse gases to make useful materials, from carbon dioxide-capturing redwood trees and coral reefs to deep sea methane-capturing hydrothermal vent ecosystems. Inspired by...
EPA Honors Disneyland For Reducing Waste
Source: ocregister.com Published: April 28, 2015 By Joseph Pimentel Walking around Disneyland’s Circle D Corral ranch, Jared Blumenfeld was in awe. A regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, Blumenfeld went inside the behind-the-scenes barn...
Apple Buys 36,000 Acres of Forest to Create Sustainable Eco-Friendly Product Packaging
Source: appleinsider.com Published: April 16, 2015 By AppleInsider Staff Apple and The Conservation Fund are partnering to purchase more than 36,000 acres of vulnerable forestland in Maine and North Carolina, and will use the land to sustainably harvest materials that...
Adidas Wants to Turn Ocean Plastic into Sportswear
Source: ecowatch.com Published: April 21, 2015 Adidas is trying to decrease the staggering amount of plastic waste that ends up in the world’s oceans every year. Photo Credit: Parley for the Oceans Lorraine Chow Would you buy shoes or clothes made from trash that is...
GoSol Could Be The Key To No-Cost Solar Heat Around The World
Source: inhabitat.com Published: April 22, 2015 Now, they have just released a free solar concentrator (Sol1) construction guide that aims to educate communities on the ability to harness solar energy through low-cost DIY tech. by Lori Zimmer Imagine a world where...
New Gosun Solar Cooker Is Bigger And Better And Still Absolutely Brilliant
Source: treehugger.com Published: April 20, 2015 © GoSun Lloyd Alter When I first saw the GoSun stove I thought it was absolutely brilliant. Inventor Patrick Sherwin took an existing idea for concentrating solar energy, the evacuated tube hot water heater, and adapted...
Cloud Lifts India’s Waste Pickers Off Trash Piles Without Ending Recycling
Source: goodnewsnetwork.org Published: April 16, 2015 Photo credit: I Got Garbage Facebook Page The third largest city in India piles up huge amounts of garbage every day, while recycling very little. Thousands of Bangalore’s poorest citizens pick through dangerous...
Coffee: The Fuel Alternative that Powers London
Source: starternoise.com Published: January 19, 2015 When it comes to green solutions, creating low-cost, renewable energy is an excellent choice for a startup business. Creating energy from waste, without tapping into needed consumer resources, makes that...
India Zero Emission Compressed Air Vehicle to Blow the Car Industry Away!
Source: Tekthink Published: April 14, 2015 If you are using your car in town to run to work or shopping everyday you know how the gasoline or diesel costs can add up. What if there was a car that only cost 2$ to run for every 125 miles of commute. Sounds great right?...
Korean Highway Has a Solar Panel-Covered Bike Lane Down the Middle
Source: carscoops.com Published: April 5, 2015 BY andrei Click here to watch “Travel from Daejeon to Sejong by bike Watch it”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LuYsYLqjUtU Not sure if this solution has been tried elsewhere, but there really...
WAACS Enables Green Energy Usage On-The-Go With Rollable Solar Charger
Source: designboom.com Published: February 11, 2015 This device enables you to use renewable energy anywhere. All images courtesy of WAACS Rotterdam-based consultancy studio WAACS has created the ‘rollable solar charger’ to enable green energy usage on-the-go. The...
Energy Positive Portable Classroom
Source: andersonanderson.com Published: April 9, 2015 The structure is topped with a distinctive sawtooth roof that uses north-facing windows to optimize ventilation and natural daylight to the interior. Click here to watch “Energy Positive Portable Classroom”:...
The Blue Diversion Toilet is an Off-Grid Portable Potty That Filters Waste Water For Washing
Source: inhabitat.com Published: April 9, 2015 by Charley Cameron According to the World Health Organization, some 2.5 billion people lack access to improved (ie., safe, clean) sanitation facilities, and so in 2011 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched the...
Roadside Billboard in Peru Doubles as Thriving Lettuce Farm
Source: mnn.com Published: April 1, 2015 Roadside salad greens, anyone? Air Orchard produces 2,800 heads of lettuce per week. (Video screenshot: FCB Mayo Peru/YouTube) Matt Hickman Bird feeders. Homeless shelters. Air purifiers. What could possibly come next in the...
How Good Design Helped Bring Light to a Remote Area of Indonesia
Source: magazine.good.is Published: April 1, 2015 The Cut Out the Darkness donation ceremony in Sone, Indonesia. Photo courtesy Panasonic 1.3 billion people around the world live without electricity. Here’s how a design challenge is starting to change that. Amie...
When It Comes To Putting Out Fire, GMU Students Show It’s All About That Bass
Source: washingtonpost.com Published: March 22, 2015 Senior electrical engineering students Viet Tran, left, and Seth Robertson, demonstrate extinguishing a fire with their wave extinguisher. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) By Tom Jackman It happens so quickly you...
Chinese Scientists Have Built the World’s First Hydrogen-Powered Tram
Source: sciencealert.com Published: March 23, 2015 New China TV BEC CREW In an effort to mitigate the ridiculous amounts of smog that cloud China’s biggest cities, local scientists have teamed up to develop the world’s first hydrogen-fuelled tram. Manufactured by the...
89 Year Old Man Develops Bladeless Bird-Friendly Wind Turbine
Source: offgridquest.com Published: March 25, 2015 © Catching Wind Power The potential damage to bird and bat populations by large wind turbines is often used as an argument against more wind power installations, and serves as great fodder for comments here when we...
James Dyson Wants to Use His Famous Vacuum Technology to Clean Rivers
Source: inhabitat.com Published: March 21, 2015 James Dyson, inventor of the Dyson vacuum, wants to use a river barge with cyclone cleaning technology to clean dirty rivers. by Kristine Lofgren Dyson originally unveiled the idea for Time magazine, but the folks over...
How to Make A Difference with Used Shoes
Source: youtube.com Published: March 20, 2015 Waterstep train people in developing countries how to use safe water solutions like water purification, health education, and well repair, empowering communities to take care of their own water needs for years. They...
France Decrees New Rooftops Must Be Covered in Plants or Solar Panels
Source: theguardian.com Published: March 20, 2015 Solar panels in Crucey-Villages, central France, part of the building site of a photovoltaic park built by French Energy Giant EDF. New legislations forces all new commercial zone buildings to have panels or plants on...
Salt Water Flow Cell Car Gets European Approval
Source: intelligentliving.co Published: August 28, 2014 by Aaron Jackson A car which uses an electrolyte flow cell power system is now certified for use on European roads. The car is called the Quant e-Sportlimousine, which made its debut at the 2014 Geneva Motor...
Freight Farms: How Boston Gets Local Greens, Even When Buried in Snow
Source: npr.org Published: February 23, 2015 Freight Farms are shipping containers modified to grow stacks of hydroponic plants and vegetables — anywhere, 365 days a year. Courtesy of Freight Farms The United States imports more than $100 billion of food every year...
L.A. City Council Signs Off on Permit-Free Curbside Gardening
Source: mnn.com Published: March 17, 2015 The start of Ron Finley's famed parkway 'food forest' in South Los Angeles, 2011. (Photo: LAGreenGrounds/flickr) Once an act of guerrilla gardening, residents can now grow curbside veggie plots without permits. Matt Hickman...
Sonoma County Is Building the Largest Floating Solar Project in the US
Source: greentechmedia.com Published: March 11, 2015 Photo Credit: SPG Solar Julia Pyper California wine country is going solar. Specifically, floating solar. Sonoma Clean Power recently announced it has contracted to build the largest floating solar project in the...
These Modular Urban Gardening Growbeds Water Themselves
Source: treehugger.com Published: March 10, 2015 © Noocity Derek Markham If you'd like to get started growing some of your own food, but you don't have a lot of room or a lot of time, these wicking beds might help you quickly sprout a garden. I've been jazzed to see...
Vertical Farms Are Changing the Way We Grow Food
Source: ecowatch.com Published: March 10, 2015 The Vertical Harvest farm is a three-story hydroponic greenhouse on a 30 foot by 150 foot plot of land in Jackson, Wyoming. The company is capable of producing more than 37,000 pounds of greens, 4,400 pounds of herbs and...
This Natural Food Could Finally Put an End to Harmful Pesticides
Source: naturalsociety.com Published: February 25, 2015 And it could save the bees By Jefferey Jaxen Humanity is facing a toxicity problem as our immediate environment becomes increasingly riddled with pesticides. They are making us unhealthy faster than we can study...
A Norwegian Company is Transforming Deserts Into Farmland
Source: smithsonianmag.com Published: March 6, 2015 Seawater is piped to a concentrated solar power plant that powers an evaporative desalination system. The distilled water is used to irrigate plants. (Sahara Forest Project) Solar power plants in Qatar and Jordan,...
The World’s First Plantable Coffee Cup
Source: kickstarter.com Published: March 4, 2015 “A coffee cup that has native seeds embedded within the material to be used for reforestation in your local communities”. Reduce. Reuse. Grow. was founded during a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, landscape architecture senior...
This Briefcase Is Actually A Complete Offgrid Micro Solar Power System
Source: treehugger.com Published: February 24, 2015 © Kalisaya Derek Markham In the event of an emergency, or in the case of an offgrid adventure, this little micro power plant can help keep the lights on and the gear charged. If you need reliable offgrid power,...
Another ‘Zero Waste’ Grocery Store Opens in France
Source: treehugger.com Published: February 24, 2015 Katherine Martinko High-quality bulk ingredients, as long as you bring your own container -- sounds like my kind of dream store! Alice Bigorgne worked in marketing until she read a book that changed her life. Bea...
‘Greener’ Plastic Recycling Uses No Water And Only Half The Energy
Source: gizmag.com Published: January 5, 2015 Discarded plastic items await recycling (Photo: Shutterstock) By Dario Borghino Mexican startup Ak Inovex has developed a new method of recycling plastic that does away with water and only consumes half the energy of...
The Fantastic Transformation of Subway Cars into Artificial Reefs
Source: citylab.com Published: February 24, 2015 Stephen Mallon/Front Room Gallery John Metcalfe A photographer spent years watching heavy machinery hurl MTA cars into the Atlantic. Few people can say they've journeyed far offshore to watch an excavator sling 18-ton...
Revolutionary Honey Harvesting Beehive Crowdsources $2 Million in First Day
Source: ecowatch.com Published: February 23, 2015 Cedar and Stuart Anderson share their excitement at the low-fuss system of honey-harvesting they invented. Photo credit: Flow Anastasia Pantsios Father and son beekeepers from Bryon Bay, Australia—Stuart and Cedar...
Intricate 3D Printed Ceramic Bricks Would Cool Homes With Evaporation
Source: treehugger.com Published: February 12, 2015 © Emerging Objects Kimberley Mok Though it promises to revolutionize design, manufacturing and distribution as we know it, the hype surrounding 3D printing has been rightfully criticized for using too much...
Israeli Solar Power Plant to Generate Electricity Around the Clock
Source: inhabitat.com Published: February 16, 2015 Israeli company Brenmiller Energy is building a 10-megawatt solar power plant in Dimona that will be able to generate electricity 20 hours a day. by Joshua Marks Israeli alternative energy company Brenmiller Energy...
Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Unveil A New Kind Of Battery To Power Your Home
Source: theverge.com Published: February 11, 2015 The eccentric CEO said the product will be ready for production in a matter of months By Ben Popper Tesla didn't ship nearly as many cars this quarter as it had projected, but CEO Elon Musk remained upbeat during...
Swedish Strawscaper Harvests Energy from the Wind With a Kinetic Hair-Covered Shell
Source: lemayonline.com Published: May 17, 2013 Every once in a while an idea comes along that is so unlike anything before that it defies reference. Take Belatchew Lab Architecture’s Strawscraper, a skyscraper covered in hair that can harness the energy of the wind....
Portland’s New Pipes Harvest Power from Drinking Water
Source: fastcoexist.com Published: January 23, 2015 “It’s pretty rare to find a new source of energy where there’s no environmental impact,” says Gregg Semler, CEO of Lucid Energy, the Portland-based startup that designed the new system. By Adele Peters If you live...
Technology to Recycle All Type of Plastics Without Using Water
Source: phys.org Published: January 5, 2015 by Investigación y Desarrollo Traditionally, plastic recycling processes involve using a lot of water. In order to avoid this waste, Ak Inovex from Mexico developed a new green technology that doesn't require liquids, and...
Solar Light Solution for 1.6 Billion People Living Without Electricity
Source: ecowatch,com Published: January 9, 2015 The Solar Puff's design and construction makes it easy to use anywhere. Photo credit: Solight Designs By Anastasia Pantsios In poor communities and developing nations, life can be dictated by the sun. When a village has...
Tiny Cardboard Battery Charges Your Smartphone
Source: fastcompany.com Published: November 17, 2014 By John Brownlee Having trouble keeping your smartphone charged throughout the day? Designer Tsung Chih-Hsien has created a Red Dot Design Award-winning concept for a tiny cardboard capsule that could juice up your...
Spanish Streetlight Powered by The Sun and The Wind
Source: newatlas.com Published: January 20, 2015 The UPC/Eolgreen streetlights incorporate both solar panels and a wind turbine (Photo: Eolgreen) By Ben Coxworth If you're trying to save power, you generally don't leave your lights on all night. With a few exceptions,...
New Zealand Company Has Developed A Way to Recycle Worn-Out Carpets into Children’s Bicycles
Source: theguardian.com Published: January 23, 2015 Wishbone Design creates bikes from old carpets. Photograph: Wishbone Elisabeth Braw A New Zealand company has developed a way to recycle worn-out carpets into children’s bicycles A bike may not not be the obvious...
How Mushrooms Can Save Bees & Our Food Supply
Source: collective-evolution.com Published: January 23, 2015 By Jefferey Jaxen As humanity becomes more conscious to the language of nature, it is clear that mushrooms in their many forms come in peace and are here to help. The uses, benefits, and applications of...
The SunSaluter
Source: idealist.org Published: January 21, 2015 The SunSaluter aims to increase energy and clean drinking water accessibility to off-grid communities, and thus mitigate the environmental and health implications from traditional energy and water sources. Furthermore,...
The Infinity Oven
Source: willhatcher.co.uk Published: January 21, 2015 The Infinity Oven is a low cost solution which enables bakery entrepreneurs and communities in the developing world to harness the power of the sun, baking and cooking more sustainably: smoke free and fuel free....
Solar Mamas Engineer Energy Security
Source: thehindubusinessline.com Published: January 17, 2015 Down-to-Earth Village women receive training for testing and wiring solar devices in Tilonia, Rajasthan Hema Yadav Ranjan K Panda, Hema Yadav To buck migration, the Barefoot College has turned to mothers and...
Green-Energy Inspiration Off the Coast of Denmark
Source: nytimes.com Published: January 17, 2015 By Diane Cardwell Before dawn one morning in October, a handful of Americans gathered at a lonely pier on Samso, a small Danish island about four hours from Copenhagen. Bundled in layers of fleece and wool, the...
Restaurants Give Back to The Land Through ReSoil Sacramento
Source: sacbee.com Published: January 3, 2015 Scott Thompson, program director for ReSoil Sacramento, transports scraps collected from Selland’s Market Cafe. Co-founder David Baker says ReSoil recently passed the 60,850-pound mark for its “pre-consumer waste” pickup....
Dutch Company Powers Streetlights and Phones with Living Plants
Source: goodnewsnetwork.org Published: January 12, 2015 In November, more than 300 LED lights were illuminated by a Dutch company that makes electricity from harnessing the power of living plants. This was the first commercial installation for Plant-e, a company that...
Save the Bees with Seed Bombs
Source: treehugger.com Published: January 12, 2015 © Seedles Margaret Badore Seed bombs began as a fun and friendly tactic for greening abandoned lots in urban spaces. “Guerrilla gardeners” throw balls of seeds and fertilizer into fenced-off spaces that are otherwise...
Environmentally-Friendly Bioplastic Created from Shrimp Shells
Source: cbsnews.com Published: May 8, 2014 Over 300 million tons of plastic is produced annually, and only about 3 percent of it gets recycled. The rest is simply trashed, taking centuries to degrade, or left adrift in the ocean. An estimated 24,000 tons of...
Wakati Solar-Powered Food Preserver Keeps Produce Fresh Longer in Developing Areas
Source: treehugger.com Published: December 31, 2014 Screen capture Wakati Megan Treacy The Wakati isn't a refrigerator, but it does keep fresh fruit and vegetables from spoiling quickly without refrigeration. In developing countries where electricity is scarce, a...
Green World Rising
Source: greenworldrising.org Published: December 19, 2014 Green World Rising is a series of short films on the state of climate and solutions to the climate crisis. All the films of Green World Rising are for global distribution, free to the public and hold a Creative...
Green Light for World’s Largest Planned Tidal Energy Project in Scotland
Source: theguardian.com Published: December 19, 2014 The coast of Caithness, Scotland, near where the tidal project will be based. Photograph: Albaimages/Alamy MeyGen project could power nearly 175,000 homes through network of turbines on seabed at Ness of Quoys off...
Entrepreneur Changes Life in Uganda by Turning Waste into Fuel
Source: news.nationalgeographic.com Published: December 16, 2014 A fascinating article has just appeared on National Geographic’s website which tells how one entrepreneur has found a way of providing fuel and saving local trees from being felled. Sanga Moses grew up...
Just Add Compost: How to Turn Your Grassland Ranch into A Carbon Sink
Source: grist.com Published: January 16, 2014 Shutterstock Nathanael Johnson When UC-Berkeley ecologist Whendee Silver first heard about the idea behind the Marin Carbon Project, she was pretty skeptical. The group wanted her to study the land they were ranching to...
EXHIBIT – Green City Maps (now part of The Hum Sum) – 2013 – 2016
Come visit the Eco-Home to see our Eco-Maps Exhibit. Learn ways to eat local and connect with the farmers who produce our food. We have a map of all the Farmers Markets in the city, with information about hours and featured items at each location. We are also...
Cheap and Solar-Powered Material That Could Solve India’s Sanitation Woes
Source: takepart.com Published: December 12, 2014 The portable bathrooms are painted to match graphics commonly seen in Indian culture and incorporate tiles and murals from Indian painters to help reduce the societal stigma of using restrooms. (Photo: Facebook) An...
The Wonder Box
Source: ourldsfamily.com Published: December 11, 2014 The Wonder Box recipes and instructions originated from a booklet published by “Compassion” of South Africa in 1978, 1979 and 1980. “Compassion” registered the name Wonder Box and the logo of the kneeling figure....
Stanford Engineers Invent High-Tech Mirror to Beam Heat Away from Buildings into Space
Source: news.stanford.edu Published: November 26, 2014 Doctoral candidate Linxiao Zhu, Professor Shanhui Fan and research associate Aaswath Raman are members of the team that invented the breakthrough energy-saving material. A new ultrathin multilayered material can...
A Decade After Asian Tsunami, New Forests Protect the Coast
Source: e360.yale.edu Published: December 4, 2014 These mangroves, at Lham Ujong, were planted in fish ponds, increasing fish productivity. FRED PEARCE Fred Pearce The tsunami that struck Indonesia in 2004 obliterated vast areas of Aceh province. But villagers there...
Sainsbury’s Powers Entire Supermarket with Food Waste
Source: positivenews.org.uk Published: November 21, 2014 A Sainsbury’s store in Cannock has become the first supermarket in the world to derive 100% of its power through its own food waste The first ever 100% food waste-powered supermarket has opened its doors in...
Scientists Develop ‘Wind Tree’ With Plastic Leaves That Can Generate Electricity
Source: architectureanddesign.com.au Published: April 12, 2014 A group of French engineers has produced a prototype of an artificial tree that uses leaf-shaped turbines to generate power from air currents. The ‘Wind Tree’ prototype stands at nearly eight metres tall...
World’s Largest Solar Power Plant Is Now in Operation
Source: cleantechnica.com Published: December 2, 2014 by Jake Richardson Originally published on Solar Love. Did you hear about the largest solar power plant in the world and how it is now producing electricity? Did it make the nightly broadcast news? Probably not,...
Solarella: The Solar Umbrella
Source: Getsolarella Published: December 3, 2014 Solarella is a high-powered beach or garden umbrella equipped with solar modules so that you can charge your phone, tablet pc, or even camera all while relaxing, undisturbed in the sun! Pop those earplugs out and groove...
All-Natural and Reusable Bee’s Wrap
Source: inhabitat.com Published: October 1, 2014 Bee's Wrap sheets are made from organic cotton with a coating of bee's wax, jojoba oil and tree resin. by Lea Stewart Clear plastic wrap is both really convenient and really wasteful. However, Vermont farmer Sarah Kaeck...
FILM – Racing to Zero – 2015
Racing To Zero is a quick-moving, upbeat documentary presenting new solutions to the global problem of waste. By simply substituting the word RESOURCE for the word GARBAGE, a culture can be transformed, and a new wealth of industries can emerge. Three years ago, the...
Skysmart Could Be A Pedal Powered Game-Changing Personal Rapid Transit System
Source: treehugger.com Published: November 25, 2014 © Shweeb SkySMART Lloyd Alter Remember the Shweeb? It's the pedal-powered monorail transit system that won a million bucks from Google. It started in an amusement park in New Zealand, but now it's being proposed as a...
Sydney’s One Central Park Wins International Best Tall Building Award
Source: theguardian.com Published: November 11, 2014 One Central Park, which was named the best tall building in the world, has a heliostat that at night turns into an LED artwork. Photograph: Murray Fredericks/PR An apartment block in Chippendale impressed jurors for...
UK’s First ‘Poo Bus’ Goes into Service
Source: bbc.com Published: November 20, 2014 The 40-seat "Bio-Bus" runs on biomethane gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste. The UK’s first bus powered entirely by human and food waste has gone into service between Bristol and Bath. The 40-seat...
New ‘Solar Cloth’
Source: thinkprogress.org Published: November 14, 2014 A Solar Cloth array over a parking lot. CREDIT: SOLAR CLOTH COMPANY/SCREENSHOT A British start-up has developed a way for parking lots and structures with roofs that can’t take much weight to harness the power of...
5 Futuristic Food Wrappers That You Don’t Have to Throw Away
Source: wired.com Published: September 2, 2014 photo credit: Image credit: Tomorrow Machine via ScienceAlert Margaret Rhodes You wake up, eat some Greek yogurt, then throw out the plastic cup. Later on, you get a salad and a mini-bag of chips, and then you throw away...
The Netherlands Just Got Greener with Solar Powered Bike Lanes. Rest of World Hangs Head in Shame.
Source: greenerideal.com Published: November 11, 2014 Photo via SolaRoad By Sarah Burke The Netherlands are renowned for their huge population of cyclists. In fact, 27% of all trips nationwide are taken by bicycle, with higher numbers in cities and rural areas, such...
Pacific Domes Has Developed an Innovative Line of Self-Sufficient BioEnergy Domes
Source: inhabitat.com Published: July 18, 2014 by Lori Zimmer Pacific Domes has already installed a BioEnergy Dome that helps feed and supply energy to the residents of the Navajo Indian Reservation in Naatani, Arizona. The interior hosts a fresh pond, which provides...
Urban Algae Farm Gobbles Up Highway Air Pollution
Source: iflscience.com Published: November 4, 2014 Cloud Collective A French and Dutch design firm has come up with an elegantly simple way to harness the wonderful power of nature in order to clean up the environment: an algae farm suspended over a small stretch of...
Amazing Shipping Container Transforms Into 15,000 Watt Pop-Up Solar Power Station with Wifi!
Source: offgridworld.com Published: November 4, 2014 ByEric This has to be one of the coolest pieces of solar powered off grid technology ever seen. It’s basically a 15kW power station housed in a shipping container, which makes it easily deployable to any location in...
World’s Largest Tidal Energy Project to Start Construction Off Scottish Coast
Source: ibtimes.com Published: August 25, 2014 Construction of the world’s largest tidal energy array is ready to begin offshore Scotland. Atlantis Resources Ltd. (LON:ARL), the project’s developer, said it raised the £51 million ($85 million) it needs to launch the...
A Sprinkle of Compost Helps Rangeland Lock Up Carbon
Source: sfgate.com Published: October 20, 2014 Photo: Leah Millis / The San Francisco Chronicle. Jose Jimenez drives the windrow turner, used to rotate rows of compost. By Carolyn Lochhead A compost experiment that began seven years ago on a Marin County ranch...
Massive Green-Roofed StreetDome Skate Park Pops Up in Denmark
Source: inhabitat.com Published: October 17, 2014 by Lidija Grozdanic The project is part of an initiative to create a new urban space for recreation, led by the chairman of the SkateCity association Morten Hansen. CEBRA and Glifberg+Lykke designed a...
New England Hydropower – Archimedes Screw Generators
Source: nehydropower.com Published: October 16, 2014 The New England Hydropower Company, LLC (NEHC) develops, operates, owns and manages small-scale regional and local hydroelectric facilities. We provide the renewable energy market with a fresh, environmentally...
A Kid With 10,000 Magnifying Glasses To Capture The Sun
Source: america.aljazeera.com Published: January 24, 2014 Kyle Hill speaks with SolarReserve's heliostat technician, William Allen. 2013 by Kyle Hill In one day, the sun bathes the earth in more energy than we have cumulatively produced in the history of electrical...