Looking for the perfect way to protect your shiny new electric car from the harsh elements outside? Well, this development is bound to suit your taste! Called the V-Tent, this fantastically designed collapsible canopy envelopes an electric vehicle as it’s being charged. What sets it apart from a conventional car-cover is the fact that the V-Tent sports photovoltaic cells that soak in the sun’s energy, converting it all into electricity to power up you EV!
As the world raises its head to solar power and embraces green energy, California will welcome home the world’s largest solar power towers. These will be developed by sustainable development company Abengoa and BrightSource Energy, a concentrating solar thermal technology company. The project called the Palen Solar Electric Generating System will include two 250 MW units located in a Department of Interior Solar Energy Zone in Riverside County.
BMW, one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world, has jumped aboard the electric-bike bandwagon. The German auto manufacturer has unveiled the Cruise, a 250-watt electric motor-powered bicycle that can touch nearly 25km/h! the bicycle’s motor is an assist and has four different modes to choose from that include Eco Tour, Sport or Speed/Turbo.
Rural areas are usually detached from proper health-care facilities, causing a rise in the number of diseases and illnesses and the casualties that result from these. South Korean electronics giant, Samsung, has recently come up with solar-powered health centers that will cater to the people of areas as such. Samsung Electronics Africa unveiled its Solar-Powered Health Centre model in Cape Town as a kick-start to its large-scale medical initiative.
Sweden seems to have taken the cause of going green seriously. Recently, the Swedish company Scania and German company Siemens have joined hands to develop electric-powered commercial vehicles that power up with a roof-mounted apparatus connected to wires. These will be similar to the Muni buses that do the rounds in San Francisco Bay Area and will be used by commercial trucks on Sweden’s highways.
The state of Gujarat in western India has come up with a fantastic way to make use of free space to generate green juice. Up ahead, the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, will inaugurate an innovative project that simply works as a canopy over the Narmada canal. This canopy sports solar panels and works as a full-fledged array! Called the Canal Solar Power Project, the project could very well use the 19,000 km-long network of Narmada canals to its advantage.
Mumbai, India’s financial capital, is a quickly growing city that has begun sprouting up vertical architectural wonders off-late. Most recently, we came across this new development that could soon stand tall in Mumbai’s skyline. Called the Namaste Tower, this high-rise by WS Atkins, is planned to be completed by 2015. Besides its phenomenal shape that depicts two joined hands positioned in the traditional gesture for a “hello”, this tower is green and eco-friendly!
While most of the countries around the world are realizing the true potential of clean and green energy, a few countries are struggling to keep up, including the economic superpower, India. The country is one of the most populated in the world and to keep the lives of its people powered up, the nation continues to resort to coal-fired power plants. However, this has led to the deaths of nearly 120,000 people a year, says a report by Greenpeace!
Holidaying could soon be a not-so-environmentally-harmful affair, thanks to this development by the Dutch design studio, Tjep. A self-sufficient retreat, the concept manages to brilliantly combine technology and integrated design and can be set up in a remote area without the need for grid connections! Called the Isolée, this three-storey structure is designed to cause as less harm to its surroundings as possible.
Skyscrapers in the future will be more than just structures carved out of steel, glass and concrete. These energy-efficient buildings have been envisioned to have a mind of their own, with robots working as the nervous systems. According to the Foresight + Innovation team at architecture/design firm Arup, these futuristic buildings will resemble living organisms and will function on a “synthetic and highly sensitive nervous system.” The buildings will function in a green and environment-friendly way, blending into the surrounding eco-system.
