With the current fast-paced lifestyle that most of us lead, it isn’t unusual to ask for 1-2 minutes products and services. Be it surfing, vehicles or gadgets, we are ready to pay the prize for speedy net connections, traveling by fast-speed bullet trains or super cars or a washing machine that promises to wash our laundry in just a minute. The last one though is still a concept but an ingenious one to find a place on Greenlaunches. Jung Hyun Cho and Bo Ram,Hong from Korea have dubbed their project as ‘1 minute washing machine’ for the homes of 2020. Inspired by the digestive system of the human body, the duo has designed this in-a-jiffy washing on the same lines. The form also signifies the alphabet E that deliberately stands for Electrolux. Eliminating the need of soap and significantly reducing the amount of water used, this washing machine aims to churn out clean laundry with the help of other ground-breaking features.
Keeping up with the digitalized fad, this time almost 20% of Americans will be forced to swap their outdated broadcast television sets for the upgraded digitals one. From 18th Feb onwards, all the analog signals will be terminated. Though such digitalized television viewing can be a pleasure to be entertained, it will lead to an unwanted eco-problem. All such discarded sets will find their way to landfills which are already overflowing with e-waste. Toxic components like lead, mercury and cadmium along with plastic and other metals will do more harm to our race. However Environmental Protection Agency has offered a solution with its Plug-In To ECycle website. The site suggests that most of the components from the old idiot-boxes can be reused and recycled. This will help to cut back on greenhouse gases, reduce pollution, save energy, and save resources by extracting fewer raw materials from the earth.
Following closely in heels of the post of the F3DM car made specifically by China for China only, today it is time to know that Canadians too can drive electric cars flaunting the made-in-China tag. Changan Automobile has teamed up with Electrovaya to roll out 30 electric cars in Canada before the year 2008 comes to an end. Though the F3DM couldn’t qualify to the standards of North America and also other parts of the globe, once this new green vehicle hit the roads of Canada it will honored as the first Chinese vehicle to enter the North American market.
Volkswagen is synonymous to luxury but this time the company is flaunting the ‘Eco’ tag too along with that. Sporting a glossy grey body trimmed with black chrome for the elegant touch, the Performance CC features an upgraded green engine, suspension, and interior under its hood. Tweaked to run in three different modes, the 2.0L TSI engine renders the 311 hp and 313 lbs. ft. torque in Full Power Mode. While the GT gives out 252 hp and 268 lb-ft of torque. The term ‘Eco’ in the title stands for the Eco mode that further brings down the figures to 222 hp and 236 lb-ft. This is eco-friendly setting also gets up to 33 mpg on the highway and 27 mpg in city driving, which is definitely green. Roll over for the rest of the standard auto features…..
Most of us answer the nature’s call without given a second thought to the amount of water wasted in doing so. I am not suggesting that we stop or avoid relieving our bowels, but certainly we can pull ourselves up for using water efficiently while doing so. With the onset of the 8th annual World Toilet Summit in Macau, issues related to affordable and environmentally-friendly sanitation will be tackled. The meeting will also focus on the grave problem of about 2.5 billion people worldwide who still do not have access to hygienic toilets. Developed countries like U.S is also struggling to tackle water efficiency and clean complete flushing issues. A study states that inefficient toilets are responsible for most of the water wasted in American homes. Though we have seen water efficient flush systems and dual flush systems hit the shelves in the recent past, this meet will focus on newer sustainable technologies. A few noteworthy ones are – self-cleaning toilets, solar-powered commodes that run without water, units that can convert waste into bio-gas, to heat water for bathing and washing.
It is time to introduce eco-awareness amongst humans from a very tender age. As the graph of global warming is escalating rapidly, we cannot wait to teach our kids about the need to change their lifestyles after they grow up. And Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies has some real interesting educational toys that aim to teach young eco-tots everything they need to know about renewable energy. Designed as the “chemistry sets” of tomorrow, the company offers various kits to do so. I had to force my self to pick up only one right now and that is Hydrocar. Zooming straight out of future, this vehicle is powered by water only and solar energy. It runs on clean hydrogen fuel using a next generation reversible Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell.
After penning down superlative terms like fastest and greenest, it is now time to bring our eco-readers’ attention to a project that flaunts the tag of being the largest. SolFocus, the makers of solar concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems, has signed a 100 million dollar ($103 million to be precise) deal with EMPE Solar. This mega project will help to generate substantial energy for a population of 40,000 folks. It involves installation of more than10 megawatts of CPV power at sites in southern Spain. Already basking under the success of their recently completed smaller projects in Spain for the Institute of Concentration Photovoltaic Systems, SolFocus aims to carry on their lead in this field by spreading their expertise on a larger scale. Though the company is modest enough to declare that this the largest CPV project in Europe, the eco-buzz is that it will be the largest in the world. Roll over for a brief account on the functioning of CPV system.
Flaunting impressive tags like fastest and greenest, Savvio’s latest entrant in the techie world, the 15K.2 HDD, certainly promises to live up to every geek’s expectations. This second generation green hard drive is exclusively designed to deliver the industry’s highest hard drive performance and reliability. Functioning at 15,000 RPM (rotation per minute), it also comes with SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) 2.0 interfaces. It can also be optionally provided with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) hardware-based self-encryption. Making use of the PowerTrim technology, the upcoming Savvio 15K.2s consume up to 70% less power than 3.5-inch 15,000 RPM drives. Expanding the line of 2.5-inch SAS 2.0 enterprise solutions and reduction in size as well as energy consumption has placed this fresh green drive in the top slot of eco-tech division.
With increased dependence on portable and remote-controlled gadgets, we cannot do without the batteries. Though we cannot change our wire-free lifestyle, we can atleast do our bit for the environment by switching to eco-friendly versions. Professor Chungpin Hovering Liao of National Formosa University in Taiwan has recently unveiled the latest green battery – World’s First Chlorophyll Organic Battery. It just needs to be wetted with any kinda liquid, juice, water, or any beverage and it can power your gadgets within 10 seconds. When no liquid is available on hand, even urine can be used to charge this organic battery.
Another ‘Made-in-China’ product hits the shelves but this time it’s only for China. Since products labeled with this tag are recently facing a lot of criticism, this one too may face similar welcome in other countries. We are talking about the eco-friendly F3DM car. Made by BYD Auto, this car is based on their popular F3 model while the “DM” stands for Dual Mode. Racing down the red carpet at the 2008 Geneva International Motor Show, this plug-in hybrid vehicle boasts of a 70 mile range per charge before the engine kicks in. However it’s the low safety standards especially with reference to crash tests that will keep this car out of Europe and U.S.A and Canada at least.
