A while back, ecoIron calculated that if Google were to use a black background instead of a white background on its search page, over the course of one year 3000 megawatt-hours of electricity would be saved (assuming that 25% of people are still stuck with CRTs). And that’s the idea behind Blackle. Blackle is a fully functional Google clone, except it’s gray text on a black background. When your monitor displays a predominantly white webpage, it uses about 15 more watts than it does while displaying a predominantly black webpage. Google’s 200 million (ish) queries a day over one year adds up to something like $75,000 worth of energy spent on that white background. Not only does it save energy every time you use Blackle as opposed to Google, but it’s a good reminder that lots of people taking easy little steps to save energy can make a big difference. And, you know, it goes with my nail polish and eye liner.
An Industrial Design Engineering student in the UK has won the top prize in this year’s BSI (British Standards Institute) Sustainability Design Awards with his innovative take on the wind turbine. Not only is Ben Storan’s design particularly suited to urban environments where traditional windmills can be impractical but it’s also extremely easy to setup and take down when the weather gets nasty.
The result is a unique design which uses vertical, rather than traditional horizontal, rotation. This feature gives a slower rotational speed, which allows the turbine to capture more energy from turbulent air flow, common to urban environments. It also means quieter operation.
As a result, it is able to generate more energy than domestic models currently on the market. Similarly sized existing personal wind turbines claim to generate 1kW at a wind speed of 12 m/s, but typically produce just 40% of what is claimed. Ben’s design should realistically produce 3 times that (1.2kW) of those currently on the market.
The clever vertical rotation design uses lightweight materials, which means Ben’s turbine is more stable than other personal turbines leading to better energy capture and making it is easier to install.
Besides the £3,000 cash prize he took home Ben’s creation now has a much greater chance of actually being produced thanks to all the publicity its getting. Oh and I assume he’ll also get an ‘A’ in the course.
When it comes to alternative fuel sources for powering a vehicle I think pedal power has solar, hydrogen and electric all beat. Besides a bit of sweat there’s no harmful emissions to speak of and the driver and passenger both get a great workout. Unfortunately though pedal powered ‘cars’ usually look pretty dorky but the 2cycle from ZEM (Zero Emission Machines) doesn’t look half bad.
While I don’t recommend if for your daily commute to the downtown core it could make for a nice trip around the neighborhood, retirement village or even campground. Without any passengers the 2cycle weighs about 93 pounds but can support 2 riders with a combined weight of up to 485 pounds. It has 2 independent 7-speed hub gears with reverse gear for all speeds, 4 18 inch spoke wheels, 2 independent hydraulic disc brake systems, a parking brake, 4-point Elastomer shocks, 2 folding bucket seats with safety harnesses and even a large baggage platform.
But at about $4,500 for the 2cycle ‘red’ version pictured above, and about $7,100 for the more advanced ‘silver’ version you just might be better off taping a couple of bicycles together with some old lawn chairs.
I think the only reason I spend so much time in the shower in the mornings is that my mind seems to take a bit longer to wake up than the rest of my body. So half the time I’m standing there trying to remember where I am or what I should be doing. But maybe if I had a ticking clock staring me in the face I’d be more focused on getting the job done.
The Shower Timer is a pretty ugly looking large metal box that connects between your showerhead and the pipes in the wall and can be programmed to shut off the water after a set amount of time. So not only will it save you time in the mornings (or give you a few more minutes of shut-eye) but it also has the potential of reducing your water and heating bills.
I particularly like the built-in functions for those who try to ‘beat the system.’ Once the timer runs out it can be set with a waiting period before the water can be turned on again. Even better it also has a ‘discouraging’ shower function that I can only assume means a blast of cold water when the time runs out. To be honest I think that would be the only motivation I needed to get in and out of the shower as fast as possible.
The Shower Timer is available for about $340 and there appears to be quite a bit of ‘assembly required’ in order to get it working. Almost to the point of hiring an actual plumber to do it so you’ll want to factor that into the cost as well.
We all know that electric powered vehicles are currently the best option when it comes to efficiency and protecting the environment. But when you see the amount of batteries needed just to power an electric car you can only imagine what would be required to power something like an ocean going freighter.
However engineers have actually been looking into using highly efficient superconducting electric motors to power large ships as an alternative to diesel. Of course the main problem is that superconductors only operate at temperatures close to absolute zero, or about -273.15°C. But Siemens thinks they have found a solution with a new motor they designed that uses high-temperature superconductors that work at about -140°C. By placing these motors in large pods under the ship (like many cruise ships use these days) the surrounding seawater will work as a very efficient cooling system dissipating enough heat for the motor to function at the required temperature.
If you’re interested in the nuts and bolts about how this is supposed to work you can check out the Siemens Patent Application on the US Patent & Trademark Office website.
If Sony realizes it’s vision, pretty soon we’ll all be working up a sweat trying to get our gadgets to turn on. The “Odo” (?) concepts, which include a digital camera, a digital video camera, and a portable display, all derive their power from motion. Spin the “Spin n’ Snap” digital camera around your finger, for example, and it converts the motion into a charge to take a picture with. The “Push Power Play” display gets power from being rolled around. In a concession to the lazy, there’s also a “Juice Box” combined solar panel and battery, which can be plugged into any of the gadgets to power them. It’s an awesome group of concepts, but my only question is how many times am I going to have to spin that camera around to get enough power to take a picture?
It seems the latest trend in being environmentally friendly is to embed seeds in everything from business cards to stamps now thanks to the Dutch postal service, TNT Post. The photo of the mailbox overflowing with flowers and greenery is a bit misleading since the seeds are actually embedded in the stamp under a thin layer of plastic. The idea is that the recipient of your letter simply has to peel back the plastic and then plant the stamps and seeds for an instant garden.
It’s actually a lot better than my idea of stamps covered with Sea-Monkeys. The effect of seeing those little guys come to life after the letter arrived was pretty cool but the whole licking a stamp covered in brine shrimp just didn’t go over so well with the focus group.
The media has been getting a lot of mileage out of compressed air powered automobiles, touting (in the midst of remorseless witticisms of the sort that I was just guilty of) the fact that air is both plentiful and environmentally friendly… But I don’t entirely agree. The following video, from the Science Channel, profiles Motor Development International’s forthcoming Air Car:
After the jump, I hope you’ll enjoy a brief rant about why this sort of thing doesn’t entirely make sense.
The parasite charger, from Swedish design firm BRDA, was conceived quite some time ago, but damn if it ain’t an idea still worth talking about today. It’s a simple charger, much like the ones that you use to charge all your electronics, excepts it’s covered in a silicone-like material and is purposefully designed to look like a parasite. The reason that it’s covered in silicone is that as long as it’s plugged into the wall, a mechanism inside pulsates, giving the impression that the device is alive, and “feeding” on your electrical bill. Its disturbing kind of creepiness is really to remind you not to consume as much energy, and that chargers should be disconnected when the charging is done. At least, that’s what the designers had in mind.
What we’d like to know is if charger do in fact consume energy when they are not connected to their respective devices. If an electric loop is not closed, will current still flow? We think not, but the idea is still very cool. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though this product ever went past the concept/prototype stage, and as it’s been some time since its design, it probably never will be available for purchase.
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By Andrew Liszewski
By Andrew Liszewski
By David Ponce
