Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay opened in the summer of 2012 and was quickly recognised for its innovative design. Awarded World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival 2012 and best display buildings for the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome, Gardens by the Bay are examples of eco friendly architectural initiative.
The epicentre of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan is undergoing drastic changes. Following the disaster in Fukushima, Japan is shifting its reliance on controversial nuclear power to renewable energy. The largest development is a proposal for 143 wind turbines on platforms 10 miles off the coast of Fukushima. If plans go ahead, this will be the world’s largest wind farm, surpassing Britain’s Greater Gabbard farm on the Suffolk coast, which has 140 wind turbines.
We recently reported on Beijing’s environment being choked out of life recently. As air pollutions soared to a hazardous 993 micrograms per cubic meters, the city was engulfed with pollution. This led to traffic pulling off streets, flights being cancelled and people locking themselves indoors.
And as the rest of the world is diligently moving towards a greener tomorrow, folks in Beijing are suffering from a terribly polluted environment. The city experienced extremely high pollution levels that actually led to the government setting up emergency measures. The city was choked with smog with air pollution levels crossing the 300 mark, considered dangerous by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), finally touching a hazardous 755 level!
Norway will soon bring to the waters of the world the first electric ferry that will show up in 2015. A car-carrier that measures in at 262.5-feet long, this catamaran can easily carry 120 cars and 360 passengers. Kicking away the gas-powered engines for two humongous 11-ton electric motors that drive a propeller each, this vessel will make its maiden journey from Lavik to Oppedal.
100 W incandescent bulbs have always been energy vampires, sucking out energy and lengthening electricity bills. Researchers at the University of Toronto recently came up with a fantastic solution to replace these bulbs and fill in the 75 to 100-watt range. Called the NanoLight LED light bulbs, these were designed by Gimmy Chu, Tom Rodinger and Christian Yan. These 12 W LED bulbs provide the equivalent of 100 W classic bulbs with 1600 lumens.
Mercedes Benz is going the fuel-efficient way and ha just unveiled to extremely green BlueEFFICIENCY Edition models, the A180 and the A180 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Edition. The A180 petrol model boasts a consumption of 5.2 l/100 km and 120 g of CO2/km and is easily one of the most efficient in its class. The A180 CDI on the other hand has a consumption of 3.6 l/100 km and CO2 emissions of just 92 g/km, making it the most efficient Mercedes-Benz car!
Plugging into a grid connection for a bit of juice isn’t always a luxury one can enjoy. There are times, particularly during emergencies, when grid connections fail the best of us. As a solution to off-grid power requirements, Goal Zero recently unveiled the Yeti 150, a solar energy generator, at CES 2013. In essence a portable plug-and-play solar generator, this one powers up your devices on the go without harming the environment.
People living in slums and makeshift houses have their fair share of trouble trying to stay connected with urban grids. Giving the inhabitants of in the windswept slum of Enkanini, South Africa, some respite, is the iShack. A clever overhauled version of a slum, the iShack uses solar energy to its advantage. By researchers at the University of Stellenbosch, the iShack sports a rooftop solar panel that soaks in the sun to generate enough energy for those living inside to use.
If you’ve been looking for a fantastic way to blast out those beats in a clean and green manner, here’s one you’re bound to find interesting, the Rugged Rukus! Designed by Eton and unveiled at CES 2013, the Rukus is a solar-powered Bluetooth boombox that can be carried to the outdoors. The Rukus sports an IPX-4 shell that makes it shockproof and water proof. While the Rugged Rukus is a smaller entertainment solution for the outdoors, the Rukus XL sports a 72-square-inch solar panel.
