Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is making use of a new form of road, and public transport to travel. Such roads and vehicles have shown up in a number of designs and concepts, but this appears to be the largest application of the technology. Basically, roads are paved with recharging strips that transfer electric energy to the vehicles passing over them.

The charging is done without any direct connection with wires, and the goal is achieved through magnetic connections, or as it is more commonly known, inductive charging. These strips are several meters in length and are placed along lanes and roads that lead up to intersections. As vehicles slow down over these points, “microchargers” are injected into them. These microchargers are much more efficient than the conventional charging process, and can charge the vehicles quicker.

The university is already making use of four prototype buses, and is in talks with the city of Seoul for implementation of the system. Electric vehicles can be made more efficient as they charge up quickly, and have to carry lesser weight in batteries.

Source: Reuters

Researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with a tiny solar power system, that could ostensibly keep itself powered for a long time. Theoretically, this could go on forever, but the batteries have to be replaced after a few years. The tiny system measures 2.5mm x 3.5mm x 1mm, with a volume of just 9 cubic mm, making it a lot smaller than conventional solar powered systems. The solar panel and battery are accompanied by an ARM processor that could actually get a few things done by the tiny system.

There are a number of cases where this system could be put to use, and there are some alterations that can be done to the system. For example, it could be made to rely on heat or kinetic energy in place of sunlight. Given the system’s high efficiency, it could work as a power source for pacemakers or be used in environmental sensors at a variety of locations. Commercial version of the system is already under development.

Source: Ecogeek

Over the past few weeks, we have been hearing a lot about IBM doing loads of green stuff, which is all good. Now, IBM and Stanford researchers have come up with a way that would allow for PET plastic recycling, and do that at much lower temperatures. Currently, PET plastics are downcycled, rather than recycled. Which is to say, that they are good only for a lesser use like carpets and clothing, and cannot be recycled again.

The new technology uses organic catalysts that are said to be highly active and better for the environment. These can chemically breakdown PET into monomers, that can later form polymers. As compared to the conventional method, low temperatures are required throughout this process, which eventually leads to closed loop recycling and low energy use. Considering that 13 billion plastic bottles are thrown away every year, this process holds a lot of environmental significance.

Source: TreeHugger

Proper insulation could go a long way in saving energy, but that isn’t easy to achieve, especially for large structures and buildings. The Media-TIC building designed by Cloud 9 architects could have a facade that would work well as insulation and save the building a lot of energy. Architect Enric Ruiz-Geli has designed an inflatable membrane facade for the building, which would help reduce energy consumption and lower its carbon emissions by as much as 37 percent.

The building will have four facades to serve for different levels of insulation. Longitudinal ETFE bags in the facade will be pumped with nitrogen when desired. Nitrogen, as a poor conductor, will provide insulation for the building by blocking the heat from the sun when required, and preventing internal temperature settings to easily escape.

These inflatable facades will generate their own power, by harvesting energy from the sun. To make the building greener, it will have a rooftop rainwater collection system. Water so collected will be used for landscaping and sanitation.

Source: Ecofriend

Texas has the largest wind power generation capacity in the USA, with nearly 9,410 megawatts available, leaving it’s nearest competition Iowa far behind, which has wind power generation capacity of 3,870 megawatts. And it appears that the installed capacity is being put to good use. On February 28, the state set a record with wind power electricity generation at 6,242 megawatts for the ERCOT grid. The record didn’t stay on long and was again broken on March 5, with a peak of 6,272 megawatts. The figures are only for the ERCOT, and do not take into account the power that may have generated at the Panhandle part as that goes to another grid.

Nevertheless, these figures show that nearly 19% electricity requirements of the state were provided by wind power, if only for a short duration of time. These spikes in energy generation also put forth the need for a viable storage and transmission system for wind power. Often, the spikes prompt shutting down of the turbines, or even paying consumers to use electricity. A storage system, would make the use of this energy more viable.

Source: TreeHugger

The Diamond Lil is a restaurant that comes to you rather than having you going to the restaurant. Created by restaurateur Kai Schoenhals, the restaurant is a 1957 GMC Greyhound bus that was salvaged and its fate turned around from rotting to becoming an eatery on wheels. Schoenhals, along with his partner Daniel Isberg thought that a little inspiration from the Napa Wine Train could go a long way for this bus in the Bay Area.

As a first impression, a restaurant that drives around cannot be green, and be quite a lot expensive. It’s the duo’s solution to this problem that makes this restaurant remarkable. In a way, it powers itself. The fuel for the bus is its own used cooking oil, and their colleagues supply them with more. To add more eco friendliness to the bus, it has interiors built out of recycled materials. It may be 57 years old, but this Greyhound is an entirely new idea.

Source: Good, Automotto

Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, has made an odd statement today – saying that poor countries need nuclear power in order to develop properly. He’s urging rich lenders to support a global nuclear expansion, which should help fight climate change problems, and satisfy the ever-growing demand for energy in the world.

Sarkozy made it clear that he’s familiar with the dangers associated with running a nuclear power plant – as well as worries related to the nuclear program run by Iran. He expressed strong criticism against those who use nuclear technology for means of destruction instead of development.

His vision won over international energy officials from India to Brussels, as well as French executives eager to market their skills to foreign countries.

On the other hand, some experts are being skeptical to Sarkozy’s push, stating that it’s paving the way for a deadly nuclear disaster, should the technology fall into the wrong hands – and to add to that, the price of nuclear energy growth is increasing dramatically – up to $3.9 trillion worldwide by 2050.

[ Via Yahoo! Green ]

Two companies that provide solar power systems have decided to expand the availability of solar leases with no down payments. The company Sungevity has just launched a new 10-year residential solar lease, which has no upfront costs.

The fee covers absolutely all costs related to maintenance, monitoring, cleaning as well as insurance of the panels, and the company has also made some changes to the way it operates with its customers.

It now provides the proposals for solar systems to their customers within 24 hours, regardless what day of the week it is, and now they’re using satellite maps instead of personal visits to the homes in order to odesign the systems. They also have consultants available 12 hours a day.

The other company, TXU Energy, are delivering solar power to Texas residents, making it possible via a partnership with SolarCity. Again, there’s no upfront cost for the lease, and it’s all covered by a monthly fee, which comes down to approximately $35, according to the company itself.

[ Via GreenBiz ]

Lead has been a major concern of environmentalists lately – many efforts have been put into getting rid of it in the development of electronics, and it’s certainly quite a problem. The metal pollutes the soil, as well as ground water tables, and this is due to the disposal of electronics in landfills. Not to mention that it’s a toxic substance in e-waste dumps.

At the University of Maryland, a new possible solution is brewing – a material replacement for lead, which can be used in transducers, actuators, sensors and various other electronic components. Researchers have been experimenting with bismuth ferrite as a replacement for lead in pizoelectric charging in devices. And researchers from Yale have invented a new material for soldering, which could eliminate the need for lead in this area of electronics, by using magnets instead of heat to bind materials together.

This is a great advancement in the way technology developers work, and if the trend continues, we may see a lot more environmentally-friendly devices being produced in the near future – and we certainly hope so.

[ Via Treehugger ]

E. coli and salmonella, as well as other food-borne diseases, are costing the US $152 billion every year in health care and other losses, as indicated by a report which was released this Wednesday by a food safety group.

The US Senate is currently considering a legislation which would make governments inspect food manufacturers more strictly, and it’ll also give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) increased power, including the ability to order recalls.

The estimated affected consumers anually are 76 million, of which hundreds of thousands are hospitalized, and there are roughly 5000 fatal cases. Some of the most recent outbreaks have lead to the recall of peanuts, spinache and peppers in large quantities.

The conclusion from all this, according to Sandra Eskin, director of Pew Charitable Trusts’ food safety campaign, is that this is a very good demonstration of how food-borne diseases affect our society and why they must be fought at all cost. It’s definitely good that the government is looking to move in this direction, and we’re eager to see the results of their actions soon.

[ Via HuffingtonPost ]