The Gesterbine Skyscraper is a design entry for the 2010 Skyscraper Competition organized by Evolo Magazine. Designed by Mode:Lina Architektura and Consulting, this tower is intended for Wielkopolska region of Poland. Rapid urbanization has led to water shortage and decreasing variety of flora and fauna. A problem further magnified by the regulation of the Warta river, which has led to the riverbed being pushed by 100 kilometers.

The skyscraper design intends to combat the above mentioned problem of steppisation by using wind turbines, human kinetics and water. Wind turbines on the structure stand out and are very clearly visible. These turbines will have enough energy to supplement the grid during the day and provide power for nearby areas.

At night, when the demand for power decreases, the excess power will be used to transport river water towards small retention reservoirs. Plants could be grown around these reservoirs, that would further help in tackling the issue of steppisation.

Source: designboom

Detroit is no more the industrial city it once was, and there can be no better proof than thousands of empty houses that litter the city. The city has over 33,000 empty houses and 90,000 vacant residential lots. As is clearly visible, those are huge numbers, and the city now plans to use such abandoned properties to create an urban farmland that would cover nearly a quarter of the city.

The idea isn’t exactly new, it has been around for more than a decade, and some “urban farms” already exist in the city. This however, seems like a much more concrete and organized plan to get things moving. Detroit plans to demolish over 10,000 houses and dilapidated buildings. Citizens living in areas which are to be converted into farms will be offered a buyout, or will be relocated. Abandoned properties may also be claimed as foreclosure.

An interesting plan indeed, but one of the biggest challenges for setting the wheels in motion will be the arrangement of required funds to see the plan through.

Source: PSFK

The Fiat 500 is one of the most popular cars in Fiat’s stable. Though the small car isn’t a huge polluter, it still runs on fossil fuels, and Fiat have as of yet not displayed any interest in putting out an electric version of the 500. It appears though that there is a market for a cleaner 500, and since Fiat won’t go there itself, Atomik Cars have created an electric version for the popular car.

Atomik Cars haven’t just plugged in an electric motor into the car, they claim to have made it more powerful. The modified Fiat Abarth 500 boasts of supercar performance in a city car package, all in an effort to show off Atomik’s motto “Anticipating the future.”

The car is set for a debut at the 2010 Top Marques Monaco in April. It will have lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries powering an AC brushless motor that will supposedly provide the car with power equivalent to a 300hp engine.

Source: Autoblog Green

The European Union has more or less assumed the role of a leader in green energy generation. With ongoing multiple projects for clean energy generation, it does look possible that the 27 nation block will beat its green energy generation targets for 2020, and do that by a comfortable 20% margin.

The latest forecast suggests the the EU will have 20.3% of its energy in renewables by the end of 2020. The charge is being led by the current leaders, Germany and Spain. It is expected that Spain will beat its targets by 2.7 percent, while Germany will exceed its renewable energy targets by 0.7 percent. While pushing up renewable energy generation, these nations will also cover for EU countries that are unable to reach their targets. As an example, it is believed that Italy will miss its targets by 1 percent.

A spokes person for EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger says countries missing their renewable energy targets will have to make up for the same by buying surplus clean energy from other countries, or face legal action from the commission.

Source: Reuters

The San Juan island is all surrounded by water, but that obviously isn’t potable. Water coming from energy hungry desalination plants of course isn’t a very elegant solution, but a necessity for supply nevertheless. The Natural Balance House designed by Core Design Inc. intends to change this by harvesting water from the plentiful rainfall that the island is blessed with.

Beneath the house, the designers have made room for a 19,500 gallon cistern, which is accessible through a floor hatch in the master bedroom closet. The rainwater collected by the house’s roof flows through a filtration system and a UV disinfecting chamber to finally reach the cistern. The water thus collected is free from impurities and bacteria and is safe to drink.

The architects estimate that the roof will collect 47,000 gallons of water annually, and the house makes use of water saving fixtures and appliances to bring down average daily consumption to just 62.5 gallons. To give the structure more of an eco look, the sustainable home also includes 3,000 square feet of a green roof planted with native grasses and sedums.

Source: GreenDiary

Reduced business travel can have a marked effect on the environment, and all the technologies at our disposal today would mean that businesses wouldn’t suffer for lack of such travel. Probably with this in mind, Arkadin Global Conferencing has announced the launch of Climate Care day, a day when businesses large and small, are urged to replace business travel with remote meetings, for one day.

It may work well to encourage businesses to move towards remote meetings, and what is asked for the “Climate Care Day” could well be applied for most parts of the year, except when travel becomes an absolute necessity. Businesses could not only reduce their carbon footprint, but also save time and cut back on costs associated with such travel.

The Climate Care Day would be observed on March 26, a day ahead of the WWF’s Earth Hour. The day is supported by WWF and will, hopefully, elicit a positive reaction from businesses.

Design firm H3AR have come up with a “skyscraper” water tower for Darfur, Sudan as their entry for the 2010 Skyscraper Competition organized by Evolo Magazine. The tower would provide surrounding areas with one of the most important assets for humanity – water. The tower will pump water from an underground lake, and supply it to people living nearby. It isn’t just a water pump and tower though, the designers have made the structure a lot more useful.

With inspiration coming from the African savanna, more specifically, from the Baobab, the tower also includes room for a treatment plant, hospital, school and a food storage. Effectively, making the tower a hub for activity rather than a standalone structure.

Quite interestingly, the designers envision the tower as sustainable, with a very low carbon footprint. The construction would me mainly done through compressed bricks made of earth, cement and water. On a similar note, the heating and cooling of the tower would be handled by a water channel accessible to all users, while another water channel would cater to the kitchens and toilets inside the building.

Source: TheDesignBlog

According to recent figures, nearly 35 million inkjet cartridges are disposed in the UK each year. That’s nearly 28,000 tons of plastic and e-waste for the landfills every year. It is estimated that up to 70% of these cartridges could be reused for up to four more times, without having to touch the landfill at all. The plan is to reduce the number of such cartridges ending up into the landfills by roughly 10%.

Participating schools would be paid £1 for each reusable inkjet cartridge, and £3 for each reusable mobile phone. A number of celebrities have come up in support of the eco friendly initiative, which really does sound worthwhile.

The image you see above, is the not-too-good-looking pest, Gribble. The marine pest that troubled seafarers by chomping on ships and wooden piers may soon become valued because of its wood-eating capabilities. Researchers from Britain believe that the enzymes produced by the Gribbles and the energy rich sugars that are then produced may lead to the path of energy, with these pests converting wood and straw into biofuels.

Researchers have studied the digestive track of Gribbles, and found that they break down the cellulose in wood without relying on any sort of symbiotic bacteria. Cellulose is typically tough to digest, and most animals with a high plant diet rely on the symbiotic bacteria to break it down, not so for Gribbles. This is what makes them ideally suited, and possibly provide a way towards the industrial deployment of such biofuel projects. Researchers believe that the process could result in an easier, and possibly better way towards biofuels.

Source: DailyMail

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