BMW sure knows how to show off the fruits of its labor and in an eco-friendly and energy efficient way! The German automobile manufacturer has recently unveiled the BMW Group Pavilion at the London Olympics that’ll have on display the carmakers latest automobiles with the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre as the backdrop. The pavilion, bought to live by a renowned British architecture firm, is located on an elevated platform on the Waterworks River and has a flowing-water façade that’s more than just eye-candy. With interactive displays and the London Olympics fleet on display, the pavilion also has the BMW E-Scooter and the BMW i Pedelec concept along with the MINI Rocketman Concept on-stage alongside the BMW i3, i8 concepts.
And that’s not all. Besides showing off a bunch of eco-friendly transport solutions, the pavilion also reuses and recycles the river water and is made from recycled steel with carbon-intensive building materials given a skip.
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American hospitality honcho Marriott International has on previous account shown its green side, installing EV charging stations at its hotels in Hawaii and at the Courtyard in Hadley. The firm has now pulled the veil off its latest eco-friendly installation, an EV charging station at the Tysons Corner Marriot that will offer complimentary charges for guests. With two 30-amp charging stations set up in the hotel’s parking area, donations for the same were received from Nissan North America, Inc. also, this will be one of Virginia’s 100 EV charging stations and we hope to see more such businesses promote the use of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the United States and around the globe.
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The Danes love their bicycles, so much that a 11 mile bicycle superhighway built between Copenhagen and Albertslund faces regular two-wheeler traffic every day. Uninterrupted by busy main streets and gas-powered traffic, this superhighway passes through nature’s very best and is the first of the 26 bicycle routes to be built connecting Copenhagen, encouraging people to choose their bicycles above gas-guzzlers. As fossil fuels quickly near extinction, the world’s been looking for cleaner and greener ways to get around, and the good old bicycle still remains an unbeaten mode of transport for many. All said and done, we applaud the Danes and the authorities in Denmark for this spectacular and visionary project being undertaken and hope that these bicycle superhighways show up around the globe too!
Bicycles are indeed one of the best ways to get around town in today’s day given the fact that these clean and green modes of transport quickly beat packed streets and the like. Giving bicycles a retro-look, Ideo came up with the Faraday, an electric bicycle that more than just a blast from the past. Built by Portland’s Rock Lobster Cycles, the bicycle is currently on KickStarter looking for funding with designer Adam Vollmer running the show. Sporting lithium-ion batteries that provide a throttle assist with a range of up to 10 to 15 miles, the Faraday charges up in 45 minutes and sports a pair of LED headlamps. Priced at $3,500, this electric bike will cost $300 when it hits production lines by next year.
When General Electric first introduced the WattStation home charging station, electric cars around the globe breathed a sigh of relief. However, Nissan Leaf owners have recently begun facing issues with this home-based charging system and have brought it to the notice of the car manufacturer and GE who together will begin working on the problem. The GE WattStation is said to damage on-board chargers included in the Nissan Leaf that could very well disable the car from being able to be recharged! Currently, the Nissan Leaf is the only electric car facing the issue and GE has addressed the same and is expected to quickly come up with a solution for users around the globe.
Sailing the seas isn’t really an eco-friendly affair these days with fossil fuel prices rising out of the roof, even the richest treat travelling the high seas as a not-so-leisurely experience. Dutch design studio Van Geest has now pulled the veil off the 32M motor yacht Global Explorer that’s set apart from the rest, using energy from the sun to partly power up. sporting Caterpillar C18 Acert 2x 448kW (609 BHP) at 1800 rpm powered by diesel and solar panels cleverly arranged on the bridge deck that power up the lights onboard the yacht, the Global Explorer packs two guest cabins, one owner’s stateroom, a captain’s cabin, a cabin for crewmembers, two lounges, a laundry, crew mess, galley, storeroom and large lazarette. Beautifully built and energy-efficient indeed, the Global Explorer is an environment-friendly way to cruise the blues.
Climbers hiking the Alps between the French and Italian sides can now breathe a sigh of relief. Designed by the Italy-based Leap Factory and commissioned by the Italian Alpine Club, this cleverly engineered hotel will now provide shelter to climbers in event of blizzards and nightfall. Powered by solar energy, this eco-friendly hotel seems to balance precariously on a cliff edge 1,000ft above jagged rock faces and is bound to leave quite a few visitors awestruck and frightened. Sporting a kitchen, dining room, storage racks, a living room and bunk beds, the hotel however is secured to the rock face using heavy-duty bolts and can play home to 12 climbers at a time. With internet connectivity and a digester system for waste, the hotel was built at a cost of 250,000 Euros ($304,425) and costs 30 Euros ($37) a night with reservations to be made online.
And as the world’s biggest cities struggle to reach ‘100% Renewable-Energy Reliant” mark, a tiny village in Hyogo Prefecture in Japan has gone ahead to be crowned the first 100% solar powered village. Called Sanno, this little village, with just a dozen households, is now reliant on renewable energy. After Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, the village folk joined hands to construct a solar array priced at a whopping 17 million yen (around $215,000). Now completed, this solar power plant provides the village with 40,000 kilowatt-hours, enough to satisfy the electricity needs of the village’s 42 residents. With clean, green and environment-friendly energy
Heat pumps have generally never really been energy friendly before and more often than not, the ones we use domestically lend a hand in lengthening our electricity bills. Now, WaterFurnace International, Inc. has pulled the veil off what is termed as the world’s most energy-efficient heat pump. A manufacturer of geothermal and water-source heat pumps, WaterFurnace International’s 7 Series 700A11 exceeds quality star requirements too! With a 41 energy efficiency ratio and 5.3 coefficient of performance, this super green heat pump is available with a 30% federal tax credit and is quieter than the conventional heat pump.
Ice cream is universally accepted as one of the best ways to beat the heat and Dutch design house Springtime has now come up with a sound way to use the sun to keep ice cream frozen! This ice cream cart design makes use of solar panels carefully propped up on its roof to generate energy, which in turn is stored onboard and used to work the freezers. Completely green and CFC and emission free, this solar powered ice cream cart was developed as part of a joint venture between IJS & Zopie and Odenwald Organics and works as an eco-friendly way to keeping the heat away with icy treats!
