Green Spot

The marketplace is full of great greencessories and items that are made from post consumer material and help to live a more environmentally favorable existence. Gizmodo recently had a “Best of Treehugger” list post sponsored by Kohler which detailed a few ‘green’ items and technology new to the eco-scene. Among the list was a park bench that you pay for to site and relax, a miniature trailer/tent, an iPod case that charges while it protects, and a few Apple iPhone/iPad/iPod applications (apps) that help you to go green. One app helped connect fishermen to buyers and another was a game that rewarded high scores of the week with the promise of planted trees.

Apple is renowned for software and especially hardware, and their famous App store has quite a few applications that can help you live an eco friendly life. Although most of the apps listed provide advice and tips towards living a ‘greener’ life, such as Green Tips, there’s an app that can help you read your power meter outside of your home or in the basement/carport of your building and help you determine what your energy output and costs may be. This can not only save you money and better help you and your friends and family know how to conserve more efficiently, it reduces energy waste and teaches. Another app uses the accelerometer in the hardware to understand your driving. The technology is profound, and as you drive, the app takes readings based on geo-locale and more to provide information on your gas usage, better routes, tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint and getter mileage out of your vehicle.

As time goes on, more innovative features in these pocket life-guides will help us better the world around us by having a plethora of good information at our fingertips to spread the eco-friendliness unto the world around us.

Apple's iPhone can help the world go green.

Concrete jungles, cement forests, metallic reefs, skylines of brick and steel. Cities exist in so many places, that buildings have become an almost unnoticeable part of the natural landscape. We might as well utilize them for something aside from living in them and working in them.

The wind uses them quite well actually. Their aerodynamic properties pushes small winds higher that quickly gain speed and are shot in to adjoining flows of air that rapidly rush off the top of roofs and antenna of skyscrapers everywhere. That’s where AeroVironment comes in. Although well known for their unmanned aircraft and electric vehicle technology, they know how to decorate a building to help the world and function uniquely.

Their AV Architectural Wind units are not only small wind turbines that generate energy for buildings they are placed on, but unlike other competitor units that are hidden from sight, the AVs are built to thrill - architecturally that is. They are shaped like sharp sculptures straight out of a science-fiction knife show, and are meant to be seen by the public through placement at the edge of buildings. The blades are usually crafted in an odd way to invoke noticeability but in fact also increase efficiency in capturing the wind as it rises off the building.

The fact that building owners are working with architects and environmental engineers is innovative and is hopeful. It is a good use of the space and creates good energy for use in the building and the karmic kind too. Rather than leave the roof of a building to hold air ducts and satellite dishes, there is a conscious effort to ensure it is used wisely and with the world in mind. A very good looking simply green solution.

AeroVironment is good lookin' on top of buildings.

What the heck is “Liquid Wood” you ask? You can watch that video in the link, or you can take a gander at this post and we’ll try to do our best to explain what it’s all about in a few short sentences. A German company called Arboform has devised a thermoplastic material made from 100% recycled materials to try and take the place of wood in many applications such as housing, furniture and more. Not only do they want to reduce deforestation, but they claim that the product biodegrades as would wood when thrown away, and would potentially replace a huge amount of the world’s plastic needs and production of plastic with oil too.

The material starts at about $1.70 USD per pound, whereas normal plastic costs about $0.70 to $3 a pound USD currently (estimate based on July 2010 pricing). The higher cost reflects why it may never become mainstream even though it is also made from a byproduct of papermaking that has no use now. Do not expect it to replace plastic water bottles either, as it cannot be made see-through or even the color white. That hasn’t been a problem for our reusable water bottles though.

The product may also see usage in generating cars and buildings to, as they seem to carry a product line of more than just Arboform but also Arbofill and Arboblend, which are said to be stronger materials.

A subsidiary of Gucci has signed on to make some of its shoes from Arboform and there are plans for toys and computer housing/casing from the material as well. The main substance, Lignin, is taken from the cellulose of wood and Arboform is made from a lot of recycled wood pulp, paper and non-toxic resin that will never degrade in to the water table. Here’s more on the material:

“By mixing specific types of lignin [from post-consumer paper pulp] with natural fibres from wood, flax, hemp, sisal or other fibrous plants and natural additives a composition is produced which can be processed at raised temperatures [and utilized in many applications that call for plastic].”

Save the trees, reduce oil usage and plastic waste - get the word out that Arboform is here on the market to help the world go green.

German company 'Arboform' wants to reduce plastic and save trees.

NASA has formulated an easy way to create biofuel with its OMEGA project. OMEGA is an acronym that stands for Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae, and through this program, NASA hopes to display that gathering and creating algae and synthesizing it for biofuels is easier and cheaper than originally thought. Algae utilized in biofuel processing for oil is one way for all of industrial society to power the modern world without using fossil fuels. There are issues such as the amount of water and space needed to to farm algae, and extracting and optimizing the oils, and that is where innovation comes in to play.

NASA’s OMEGA project is essentially this: A large membrane/substrate is strung out in to waste water or to sea where there is waste water currently flowing. Inside this see-through film, is algae. Wastewater provides the algae with nutrients and the sunlight spurs energy creation within the cellular construct of each organism within the algae. Algae feeds off the bad parts of the wastewater, and essentially treats it, while the ocean tide furthers the process through wave undulation.

What about the potential for oil?

“Algae’s biofuel yield could range from 1,000-4,000 gallons per acre each year, compared to just hundreds of gallons per acre annually from oil palm, sunflower and soybeans, according to a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report.”

Although there is algae out there is believed to produce toxins, as is the case with the recent Lake St. Mary’s, Ohio, case, much of it can be used to create different types of fuel, or algaeoleum.

With the recent BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the gulf as well as mentions of peak oil, pollution, oil-based warfare and rising gas prices - any idea at this point is considered innovative, and drilling for oil now seems like a fossil of an idea.

OH, that's MEGA.

Air conditioning is a necessity in modern-day Los Angeles (LA). When it takes an hour of sitting behind thousands of cars going 5 miles per hour to get home (which is 5 miles away - better than most in LA), it gets hot. Especially when Summer is upon us. There are millions of people in urban sprawls like the City of Angels that are apartment dwellers too, and have Air Conditioning (AC) units that pop put like eye sores, are heavy, and guzzle energy and cash like a starving Tasmanian Devil. With not much of a yard available to them, apartment dwellers can’t set up an area to cool off (sprinklers, a pool, slip ‘n’ slide) and rely on closing the shades, wearing less, and turning on the good old AC.

Something new is just around the corner, thanks in part to the U.S. Department of energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory: The DEVap Air Conditioner. ‘DEV’ stands for Desiccant-enhanced Evaporative, and thanks to Wikipedia, I can inform you that we have all dealt with a desiccant in our lives (an agent that dries the air such as the silica gel packet you may see in shoeboxes - it will chemically dehumidify the air).

According to initial results, it can reduce energy costs by between 50% to 90% through use of filters, coolers and “drying agents” in an evaporative cooling process involving the removal of heat from air with desiccating agents, a type of “Latent Cooling” (pulling moisture out of the air and using to lower the temperature). The DEVap also would not release the same chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in to the home or atmosphere like older AC units typically do, nor would the DEVap units harbor polluting microbes in air ducts as is a problem in some homes. The market currently has a competitor in The Coolerado, and it seems that there are still issues with replacing the desiccant material once it is consumed.

We’ll keep an eye on this technology as it seems to be getting better for the environment, less expensive, smaller and definitely COOLER!

AC is out of control - Time for it to cool off.

Self-Activated Building Envelope Regulation (SABER), is the name for the UC Berkeley-born photosynthetic film that could save energy, regulate heat and overall climate as well as light in homes and buildings in the future.

Like the skin of some animals, this film would adhere to the exterior of a building, the windows actually, and through the use of nanotechnology, allow cool or hot air in as well as light. There are two layers to the SABER material: The first layer of micro-lenses in a photo-sensitive gel opens as more light becomes available outside, this allowing the interiors to be brightened and lit. This should help to regulate office lighting energy expenditures and reduce energy waste. As this first layer opens, more air is allowed into the building (with a limit of course) to help cool hallways and office space. The second microscopic layer is composed of a polymer that pushes water-vapor and humidity out of the building as heat builds up in spaces meant for living and working.

This technology is in initial prototype stages but seems promising. As the recent oil spill in the gulf teaches us, renewable energy that can replenish itself is the only sustainable way to ensure the environment remains intact. Nature has always been able to regulate itself before industrial society, as is seen in the growth of plant life to battle Carbon Dioxide buildup. It’s time for human ingenuity to take over where nature has left off and regulate ourselves through the use of simply green solutions.

SABER Technology Could Reduce Energy Waste in Buildings

A few days after the recent oil rig catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, there was more breaking news. Although surprising at the time, it wasn’t the fact that Iran offered to help the United States contain the spill, it was something very different. The headline read:

“BREAKING: Large Air Spill at Wind Farm. No threats reported. Some claim to enjoy the breeze.“

But there was no cause for alarm. In fact, other than the occasional Santa Ana winds and those pesky gusts that blow at the wrong moments, wind is pretty harmless. In fact, we’ve promoted use of natural energy resources that the planet offers before, namely the wind.

Companies such as Finavera, Acciona, Sway and more, develop relationships with governments and municipalities to place wind turbines in windy places. These turbines collect energy from wind that spins the turbine blades, thus generating backup power in the turbine’s generator. 3Tier, a renewable resources information and consulting company has provided and mapped locales that are ripe for harnessing wind power. Greenland, Cape Horn in South America, New Zealand, the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, and more, are all places where turbines can prosper.

Once the recent oil spill is contained, it should hopefully create enough popular demand for wind power and natural energy resources, and one day we may live in a world where the only environmental disaster are large gusts of wind.

Wind Speeds are highlighted in red.

Imagine a box, about the size of a refrigerator, that held thousands of thin fuel cells and powered about 100 homes. Without inducing the process of combustion (which is grimy and has a lot of emission), it combines air and different types of fuels to generate clean power all day long, and even store power. It’s proprietary electro-chemical process can reduce an entire manufacturing plant’s emissions by over 30% and reducing large amounts of electrical costs.

You actually don’t have to imagine it because its real. It’s the Energy Server developed by Bloom Energy. This Silicon Valley startup with origins in NASA, has developed the energy server with office buildings in mind. Lights, computers and action - can all be powered with the Bloom Energy Server, and save companies nearly a million dollars in energy costs in a matter of years.

Take a peek at the future of renewable energy, and implore your city councils and state governments to review Bloom Energy for a simply green solutions today.

Bloom Energy Servers powering the EBAY Headquarters

General Electric (GE), an American innovator since the early 19th Century, plans to further develop and expand research within its facilities in Shanghai, China. Rather than use its global offices as simple support hubs for its New York headquarters, GE plans to make the Shanghai location a keystone locale for product creation.

Since 2008, the facilities have developed new imaging techniques including a portable ultrasound device called the Vscan that has brought marvel to the medical world. The portable ultrasound device weighs one pound, and has a USB port to instantly transfer data to laptops or other computers. It also has touch screen controls and voice annotation for recording what doctors are seeing on its screen, whether its a prenatal checkup or an inflamed appendix. It is the smallest ultrasound scanner and has given the Shanghai offices the next steps it requires to compete with other local companies in China for the government’s push to promote clean energy.

The GE office in China is involved in the offshore wind farm development near the Yangtze delta, in direct competition with Sinovel and other companies to harness wind energy. Allowing this satellite location to lead and gain ground in new technology development gives it the authority required to bid and establish a good reputation for doing more business in China, and making the world a better place.

Check out the below commercials to get an idea of what GE has been up to in China:

VID: GE Brings Better Medical Imaging (and love) to Rural China

VID: GE’s Shanghai Offices Developed the Vscan

GE Healthcare at Work in China for the World

China, one of the world’s largest market for wind power, will be pushing the power button this month (April, 2010) on a huge wind turbine farm near Shanghai. The wind farms are produced by Chinese energy innovators Azure International and Sinovel. As leaders in renewable energy resources and technology, these companies have transformed local chinese economies to become self-sustaining societies that in-turn, have helped their country’s government better understand and fund more energy creation projects.

The idea is spreading beyond just the Atlantic Ocean and Shanghai, which is a good thing.

Venezuela is currently developing its first wind turbine farm to help produce energy from naturally occurring phenomena as well. There are drawbacks though - China’s Yangtze Delta is not only prone to typhoons, which have damaged previous carnations of wind turbines, but the ground at the bottom of that area of ocean is unstable. These problems have only called for more creative green solutions, and floating wind turbines, such as the ones developed by Hywind, have been considered for the project. These types of turbines aren’t restricted by land masses near shorelines which can actually reduce wind, and have access to nearly all parts of the ocean.

As we move towards a more sustainable and a cleaner future with more renewable energy resources, more creative and effective yet simply green solutions will help the Earth and its people prosper.

China's seas to create energy from wind.