The most stunning of the bunch is the solar tower. The 377ft tower is surrounded by hundreds of ground level solar reflectors that beam reflected sunlight onto one point of the tower. The tower transforms this concentrated sunlight into steam, which is then fed into turbines:
From a distance, as we rounded a bend and first caught sight of it, I couldn’t believe the strange structure ahead of me was actually real.
A concrete tower - 40 stories high - stood bathed in intense white light, a totally bizarre image in the depths of the Andalusian countryside.
The tower looked like it was being hosed with giant sprays of water or was somehow being squirted with jets of pale gas. I had trouble working it out.
In fact, as we found out when we got closer, the rays of sunlight reflected by a field of 600 huge mirrors are so intense they illuminate the water vapour and dust hanging in the air.
I used to do a bit of skateboarding when I was in college. Back then, we didn’t have anything like this electric skateboard from Altered Skateboards. With a top speed of 20 mph, and a wireless rc car style controller, these things look like a blast. If you are looking for some eco-friendly personal transportation, this might be a less pretentious alternative to a segway.
My advice to Altered, send one of these to Kevin Rose in San Francisco to ride back and forth to the Digg headquarters. Kevin’s got a huge following, and this kind of thing is right up his alley.
Read on for some more pics and a link to an impressive video of the company’s founder hanging ten on one of these. (more…)
Engadget has posted some information about a new three wheel electric vehicle called the Triac, with a nice gallery of pics. I have been fascinated with the Sparrow for a while, and this looks like an evolved version. These motorcycle/cars are have some interesting advantages beyond being eco-friendly and not dependent on foreign energy. In some places, vehicles like this are technically motorcycles, meaning they can use the HOV lanes, and here in Washington, get preferential treatment on the ferry system.
We can’t help but find Green Vehicles’ Triac three-wheeled highway-capable electric car anything but stupidly adorable, and it looks it’s is even better than we hoped. Our friends over at Autoblog Green scored some more info on the buggy, and found that the top speed it actually 80mph, and that range is just about 100 miles on a full charge, down from 120 miles as originally estimated. The Triac will also roll with a five-speed transmission, and charge from either a 120V or 240V power source. On top of all that, Green Vehicles is apparently working on a truck called the Buckshot based on the same motor, but with a three-speed transmission that will enable it to be a “true work truck.” Sure, sure — but when can we have a Triac? Seriously, we want to hug it
Luxim labs recently unveiled an incredibly energy efficient light bulb that packs more luminosity than a street lamp into a pill-sized form factor. Each bulb is filled with argon gas, which turns to plasma when electricity is focused through it. The energy is driven to the bulb without electrodes. The resulting light is intensely bright and mirrors the quality of light radiated by the sun, yet is produced by one of the smallest, most energy efficient light sources we’ve seen.
ZeroHouse, a concept for a prefabricated eco-friendly mini-house is intriguing for a number of reasons. It is intended to be a module based system that can be delivered on two trucks and erected in a day. The 650 square foot concept house is self sufficient, meaning that it doesn’t need to be connected to sewers, electricity or water. Water is collected from rain, power generated from solar cells, and waste composted with the need for disposal only twice a year.
ZeroHouse is possible due to a variety of technologies. Led lighting lowers power consumption. High efficiency insulation in the walls and windows allows the climate to be controlled (both heating and air conditioning) without the need for outside power. Advances in solar technology allow enough power to be collected for a family of four to live, and batteries allow storage of up to a week’s worth of electricity for when sun isn’t available
Quote from Inhabitat: “If you like the idea of solar power, but aren’t convinced by expensive, clunky solar panels just yet, here’s a more manageable option: print your own on an inkjet! Konarka Technologies has just debuted a printable solar panel film that uses a common inkjet printing process to manufacture paper-thin photovoltaic solar cells. Using the existing and very simple technologies of your office inkjet printer, Konarka has essentially replaced ink with the solar cell material, and paper with a thin flexible sheet of plastic.”
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
0 Comments