Category Archives: Alternative Energy
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
Continue reading 
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.
Continue reading
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!
Continue reading
The world has on previous account depended solely on gas or propane-powered power generators for emergency backup supplies. Well, with the solar power industry quickly sprouting up, these noisy and particularly smelly and polluting generators could soon turn obsolete! Recently, we spotted this fantastic solar powered emergency power generator that provides energy with zero-emissions. Silent and green as a leaf, this solar powered power generator uses two 30-watt monocrystalline solar panels that require just 20 hours of direct sunlight to power up a 1250-watt battery, capable of lighting up your home for a good few hours! Also, the generator unit can be used indoors and hook up directly to the solar panels placed outside with 8-feet long cords, making this generator a perfect answer to energy woes.
Continue reading
New York City can add a big green feather to its cap as it can soon boast of a self-powered residential building. On 18th, Voltaic Solaire will unveil the first private building in New York City which will be powered by solar and wind energy only. Dubbed Delta, it is inspired by Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC goal of reducing New York’s carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030. With such green steps, we can certainly hope for a clean NYC in the future. Constructed using eco-friendly and recycled materials, the Delta also houses one grand triplex apartment, a studio residence, as well as a retail or restaurant storefront.
Continue reading
Formula 1 is known as one of the most expensive sports known to mankind and has never turned
to a more eco-efficient way of running the show before. British sports car manufacturer Lotus,
also a known name in the F1 circuit, is now looking towards energy-efficient possibilities for the
sport and has unveiled its new facility near the Enstone base, powered by solar energy. Using
128 solar panels arranged on its roof, the simulator building generates about 33,000kWh of solar
energy on a yearly basis, enough o meet 75% of the facility’s energy requirement. Also, Lotus
has on previous account been acknowledged as one of the first F1 teams to introduce solar panels
on its team trucks and the motor-homes used at race paddocks.
Continue reading
A simple modification of an everyday contraption could indeed result in a lot more and Korean
innovator Ryan Jongwoo Choi’s ES Pipe Waterwheel proves just that. In essence, this concept
uses the flow of water through pipes do generate hydroelectricity on a small scale and turns the
conventional water faucet into an energy generator of sorts! The concept can be attached to just
about any standard water piping apparatus and uses miniature turbines to generate the electricity.
The energy generated is then stored in removable light bulbs fitted onto the ES Pipe Waterwheel
which in turn can be removed and used as portable light sources!
Continue reading
Stumbling across an ATM machine in a far-off holiday resort isn’t always that easy and more often than not we’re left searching for a place to withdraw money while on vacation. Behold the Tiki Hut ATM, a kiosk that can very well operate without a grid connection and yet manages to keep its surroundings intact, without the usual concrete-jungle look. Built mainly from bamboo, the Tiki Hut ATM in Bali uses solar energy to operate its equipment, making it an eco-friendly way to banking transactions away from home. Perfect for a tropical holiday resort, the Tiki Hut ATM helps conserve the beauty of its surroundings with its design and eco-friendliness.
Continue reading
There are concepts and then there are concepts that simply leave us awestruck and wondering why no one had thought of it yet. Take Marjan van Aubel’s ‘The Energy Collection’ for example. This stupendous range of glassware function both as utensils to sip water from and as energy generators! Inspired by the photosynthetic abilities of plants, these colored glasses are capable of absorbing solar energy and using this to generate electricity which in turn can power up and charge a smartphone! Using a photosynthesis technology by Michael Graetzel that includes a porous Titanium dioxide layer soaked with photosensitive dye, these glasses each sport a different color for different light wavelengths and ‘The Energy Collection’ is indeed a concept that inspires and enlightens!
Continue reading
Japan has begun leaning on cleaner sources of energy and as per a recent move, Japanese power companies will now require to source energy only from renewable sources, which in turn has given impetus to the industry as several new players have begun sprouting up for a fortune in green energy. Kyoto has recently welcomed a new solar centre while Nippon Crucible Co Ltd is busy drawing plans for a PV power generation facility Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. And that’s not all. Mori Trust Holdings Inc and The Japan Wool Textile Co Ltd have also begun installing photovoltaic arrays at golf courses and have jumped aboard the solar-energy brigade. And to top it all, coal mine operator and construction material vendor Mitsui Matsushima Co Ltd is now planning to install 2MW panels, giving Japan a push towards its green-energy goals.
Continue reading