Here is an interesting article from the UK's Independent (http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1359779.ece).
THE ECO KETTLE
It is estimated that, on average, we boil twice the volume of water
needed every time we use our kettles. With a 3kW kettle that's the
same as wasting the energy of around 50 light bulbs. And standard
kettles are often highly inefficient - a stove-top kettle, for
instance, requires energy to heat the handle and shell in addition to
the water. But British designer Brian Hartley's Eco Kettle solves
these problems at a stroke. You fill it up, and then use the
measuring button to release the exact amount of water you require -
from a single cup to a full jug - into a separate chamber for
boiling. It is also insulated to keep the water hot. The result is an
energy saving of up to 30 per cent.
www.ecokettle.com
GREEN ROOFS
Cities may be losing their green spaces to development, but all is
not lost. Look up to the roofs of buildings, especially office
blocks, and there, where once there was dead space, you could now
find a "sky garden" (Barclays' HQ in Canary Wharf, London, has one).
They could be used as community spaces, chill-out areas for hassled
workers, or even to grow food. But there are other advantages for the
bottom line, too: they reduce run-off in periods of heavy rain, and
they cut back on the heat that gets trapped in built-up areas, thus
reducing the need for air conditioning. They could even improve air
quality in congested cities.
www.greenroofs.com
FRICTIONLESS WIND TURBINES
The problem with wind turbines? Often, it's just not windy enough to
get them turning. It's not really the lack of wind that is the
problem, but the friction in the turbines themselves. Chinese
scientists may have cracked this problem with the first "magnetic
levitation" (or MagLev) wind turbines, which replace ball-bearings
with the technology used in advanced monorails, making a frictionless
turbine that can generate electricity from winds as low as 1.5m per
second. They're ideal for low wind areas, such as mountain regions
and small islands. The MagLev wind turbines could also use the
airflow caused by passing cars to generate roadside lighting.
SOLAR-POWERED CELLPHONES
Germany's Fraunhofer Institute, an alliance of 50 technology research
organisations, is looking at how to integrate solar cells into mobile
phones, allowing them to be powered continuously on just two hours of
sunlight a day. The big manufacturers are interested, as the more
software that's packed into mobiles, the bigger batteries they need.
www.fraunhofer.de
ICE ENERGY
Air conditioning can be a huge drain on electricity supplies. Enter
Ice Energy's Ice Bear, which integrates with a standard AC unit. The
water in the Ice Bear is frozen overnight when temperatures are lower
and electricity, in many countries, is cheaper, and the ice then
cools the AC unit's refridgerant during the day. This results in a 30
per cent saving in energy use. An AC unit should last 15 years, by
which time the Ice Bear will have paid for itself several times.
www.ice-energy.com
GREENER AIRCRAFT
Conventional airliners are heavy, thirsty, noisy and polluting,
despite aeronautical designers' best efforts. But in the future we
may be travelling in a flying wing or batwing (in which the entire
fuselage becomes the means of lift) - an idea first suggested by
Frederick Handley Page in 1961. Made of plastic and with areas of the
surface punctured with tiny holes to reduce drag, the wings would be
much lighter and so more fuel efficient, and the engines would be
mounted on top to deflect noise away from the ground. And they would
be flown differently, too: in formation perhaps, which would reduce
fuel consumption, and at different altitudes to prevent the formation
of polluting condensation trails. The result could bring aircraft
emissions below today's levels by 2025, despite an expected doubling
in the amount of passenger air traffic. Both Boeing and Airbus are
already working on flying-wing projects.
DESIGNER CARAFES
It's ironic that in our bid to become healthier by drinking more
water, our conviction that only bottled water will do is causing
increasingly precious plastics to be thrown away (oil being an
essential component in plastic's manufacture). Fashion designer
Pierre Cardin may have the solution. He has just distributed 30,000
of his Eau de Paris designer carafes for free in a bid to convince
Parisians that the local tap water is just as healthy. The idea is
that many people buy bottled water in response to marketing, so
getting them to drink tap water requires a similar strategy. It's a
simple idea that, if it spread around the world, could keep millions
of plastic bottles out of landfills.
THE SUPER-POWERED ELECTRIC CAR
For the rest of the article click the link below (reached limit of characters on one post).
Independent (http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1359779.ece).