Generally, claims of fuel efficiency to the tune of 170mpg are unbelievable, and more so if the said car comes in a decent-looking form that could actually be a “real” vehicle. While the high efficiency claims do make us a bit skeptical, Valentin Technologies says that the IngoCar will not only deliver the said efficiency, but it will do so with great performance and relative luxury, making us a lot more skeptical.

IngoCar relies on a “revolutionary” hydraulic fuel drive for the said performance and efficiency. This gasoline-hydraulic drive hybrid also claims a zero to 60mph acceleration in just 4 seconds. The mid-size passenger car’s gasoline engine pumps the fluid into an accumulator, where the wheel drives hydraulic wheel motors. During braking, the motors reverse and pump the recuperated energy into the accumulator.

The car exists only on the drawing board for now, or in these teaser images Valentin released today. A prototype of the IngoCar may be built, but it will cost $3.8 million.

Source: Autoblog Green

Agricultural Urbanism is designed as a huge project that would have a number of houses with terraced rooftop gardens, all arranged in a fashion to make the best use of available resources. The concept from designer Greg Chung Whan Park puts together the old concept of terraced farming, with modern architecture and housing, both above and under the same roof respectively.

As the designer sees it, the houses will be constructed at a number of levels, each level having its own terrace that could be used for farming. Terraces are arranged so as to provide the best available conditions to the growth of plants, and are designed in a way that follows the movement of the sun across the sky. The designer says the crops could be grown either individually or communally, and serve as great grounds for vertical farms.

Additionally, these farms will also provide great insulation for the houses. Vertical farms also have the advantage of being resistant to erosion due to their structure, and pests don’t really like that design.

Source: YankoDesign

A lot of natural gas is just burnt away, without serving any meaningful purpose whatsoever. The flares are a common sight on many such installations. In 2005, it was estimated that nearly 0.5% of the CO2 emissions from fossil fuels come from natural gas flaring. Today, it may be enough to power Germany. This natural gas could be put to perfectly good use, and that is exactly what Brazil’s Petrobas intends to do.

The Brazilian state oil company is looking for solutions that may come from the partnership of U.K.-based Compact GTL and Japan’s Sumitomo Precision Products, or from Columbus-based Velocys. It is expected that this “associated gas” can be turned into synthetic crude oil. This would be achieved by the use of compact GTL (gas to liquid) plants that the said companies are developing.

The process is commercially viable only on a huge scale, so the challenge facing the companies is to reduce the GTL plants into compact packages that can fit into an offshore platform, or on the floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels used to explore and service offshore oil fields.

Source: Technology Review/ TreeHugger

The Smart Energy Glasses from Dutch company Peer+ make a lot of sense, they give you the desired privacy, and they generate energy. Also, they don’t look like ugly or other-worldly appendages on your windows. With these glasses in place, you can do away with the need for curtains and blinds, and simply adjust the settings of the glasses to go from opaque, to translucent and transparent, courtesy of a “privacy mode” in the windows bearing these glasses.

As you select privacy to the highest, the glasses go opaque, while they turn transparent for the other extreme. Also, while the glasses are darkest, they are most efficient in generating power, probably because they get to absorb more of the solar energy incident on them. In terms of looks, these glasses go a step ahead and let users display text or logos through the windows. These indeed have to be the catchiest among the lot that offer similar services.

Smart Energy Glass from Peerplus on Vimeo.

Source: FastCompany, TreeHugger

Each house will use up nearly 18 tons of plastic waste, while the modular homes the company will put forward will use only 4 tons. Affresol claims that the modular homes will be 12% cheaper than the regulars, and could be set up within 4 days. What makes it even better, is that TPR is fully recyclable.

Source: Ecofriend

At the Shanghai Expo 2010, the Canadian pavilion will sprawl over 6,000 square meters, easily one of the biggest at the site. The huge structure though, carries a tinge of green to go along. The pavilion follows the theme “The Living City: Inclusive, Sustainable, Creative” and actually does that quite well. Constructed by Canadian company SNC-Lavalin Inc, the pavilion will have room for cultural performances, public performances and space for developing strategic corporate allowances.

Amazing as the pavilion’s exteriors look, they will also have a role in doing their bit for the environment. A part of the exteriors will be covered in special kind of plants, and drainage channels throughout the exterior will collect rainwater for use inside the pavilion. It all bodes well for a pavilion of these huge proportions, generating enough water for its requirement, or only a part of it, will eventually lead to great savings. The Canadian pavilion is situated on the Pudong side of the Huangpu river.

Source: designboom

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