With the cost of living going up by leaps and bounds every year, it’s no wonder people are learning to get thrifty around the home. From reusing basic everyday household items in innovative ways, to modifying your home to save on power, there are so many ways to be eco friendly around the house. Making small changes can save you money and save the environment!
It’s no secret that Madrid is one of the world’s most polluted cities. While city officials continue a long raging battle against air pollution, the country has come up with a fantastic smart parking meter system that will charge based on vehicle emissions! From the 1st of July, 2014, parking a diesel or any other high-emission vehicle in Madrid will cost drivers more than usual, with diesel cars requiring to pay at least 20% higher. Electric cars will park for free and hybrid cars will receive a 20% discount on parking.
The United States has long awaited the dawn of BMW’s greenest brainchild, the all-electric i3. Just recently, the German auto manufacturer has delivered the first batch of these energy-efficient little cars to the shores of U.S., many of which are now ready to be delivered to the first customers of this car. Boston resident and Tufts University professor of practice Charles Rabie received the first BMW i3 at the Boston dealership. Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW North America, said, “Today marks a big day at BMW of North America – What started out as a dream for an innovative sustainable vehicle under the BMW i brand can now be found on streets across the U.S.”
Remember how household trash always found its way to the landfill and probably remained there for years, choking the environment and stealing away its dear life? Well, not anymore! The Brits have decided to make use of all that trash lying around and will now power up their favorite airline with garbage. British Airways has recently joined hands with Solena Fuels and the two will together build a factory to convert trash into biofuel. The biofuel will then be used to power up British Airways aircraft, making the skies a greener place after all.
What’s energy-efficient, good-looking and sports a 3-pointed star? The brand new Mercedes Benz B-Class Electric Drive of course! The German automobile bigwig recently showed off its latest bundle of joy on four wheels, complete with a Tesla-developed electric motor and a 28-kWH lithium-ion battery! The new Benz produces 177 horsepower and 251 pound-feet of torque and is capable of crossing the 60mph mark in a pleasing 7.9 seconds. Sporting a range of 85 miles on a full and satisfied belly, the B-Class Electric Drive seems to have checked all the requirements of a nifty contemporary ride.
It’s no surprise that people working in manufacturing plants are exposed to various hazards throughout their career. Very recently, advocacy groups have pointed out the hazardous conditions workers in factories that assemble processor chips for Apple and Samsung smartphones are made to face. Many a times, workers at these plants suffer from occupational leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and more than 100 workers have fallen victim to these hazards.
Flushing a toilet has been known to serve just one purpose, until now. Besides taking away all your waste to a land where you never have to look at it again, toilet flushes will now help power up homes in South Korea. Scientists in South Korea have developed the means to harvest the mechanical energy generated from the flushing of a toilet and convert it all to usable electricity. From the experiments conducted, these researchers have concluded that the movement of a single droplet is enough to power up a green LED.
Soon, conventional-looking windows for homes and automobiles will begin soaking in the sun for the betterment of mankind, thanks to the efforts of researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Milano-Bicocca. Very recently, these brainiacs had a breakthrough in quantum dot research that will make it easier for transparent glass windows to generate solar power. For those who don’t know what quantum dots are, these nanocrystals made of semiconductor materials are used in solar panels to increase efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs of typical photovoltaic cells.
When BMW first unveiled its electric city car, the i3, the automotive world pretty much stopped in its tracks to have a long look at what this German manufacturer has brought to the table. The well-deserving car has now bagged prestigious titles, including the Green Car of the Year and the Car Design of the Year at the World Car of the Year Awards at the 2014 New York Auto Show.
Have you ever come across a motorcycle that looks nothing less than a ferocious bug before? No? Neither have we! This is just one of the reasons why the swanky new Johammer J1 is so eye-catching. The electric motorcycle is the first of its breed to reach the promised 200 kilometer range and owes it all to Johammer Motorcycles’ innovative and power-efficient energy supply system. The motorcycle sports a newly developed battery system, an aluminum middle frame, a high power battery pack and lots more!
