The big news is – Google decides to go green. In an attempt to rescue the USA from the energy crisis before 2030, the largest search engine in the world has decided to pursue a new energy plan. Experts believe that the company is being a little too modest calling their effort as too small, when now they are supporting and promoting green technology like wind power, solar energy, geothermal energy etc like enevr before.

The idea here is to take pressure off the fossil fuel resources. Google has cut down on its servers and buildings, even their computers are more efficient now so as to decrease consumption.
A very simple approach by Google that is hoped to inspire many others to actually sit back and think about the amount of energy they consume. It has even partnered with General Electric Co to develop a power grid that will have real-time pricing to show people their energy consumption.
Via planetark

Now have an environment-friendly travel. In what can be treated as a step towards government’s endeavor to fight pollution by vehicles, Volvo announced the launch of its new entry into the diesel-electric hybrid bus market. The hybrid Volvo 7700 is a 12-meter low-floor city bus that gets up to 30 percent better fuel economy and emits 40 to 50 percent less nitrous oxide and 30 percent less carbon, the company said. In addition, a smaller engine and nearly a third of the bus’ components are developed in-house by Volvo.
The hybrid Volvo 7700 uses “parallel hybrid” technology which allows the bus to be powered by either the electric motor or the diesel engine or both at the same time. I-SAM, the company’s hybrid technology, plans to use the same technology in its trucks and construction equipment after the buses go into mass production in 2010. Though the hybrid bus weighs more or less the same as a diesel-driven bus, it has a better weight distribution, which allows the hybrid bus to take more passengers than a comparable diesel bus.  As a result, the bus’ performance is enhanced and fuel consumption is reduced.

According to a report by United Press International, the first of Volvo’s hybrid buses will begin testing on city streets in London and Gothenburg, Sweden, later this fall. Volvo is believed to start delivering hybrid diesel electric buses to customers in 2009 with mass production beginning in 2010.

Via igreenspot

Imagine you making an effort and 70% of the energy getting wasted. That’s the plight of your engine which blows about 70 percent of the energy it creates straight out of the tailpipe in the form of heat. As Eric Mattessich realized the truth, he marched on the journey to make power plants more efficient to work on hybrid cars by adapting the kind of heat-recapturing mechanisms. Though not an absolute innovation, Eric’s design is certainly a better packaged one as the size has been worked upon.

The mechanism uses two turbine generators; in the first, the pressure of escaping exhaust spins the turbine to generate electricity. The second uses waste heat from the exhaust to turn water into steam; the steam powers the generator before traveling into a condenser, where it turns back into water and starts the loop again. Both turbines feed electricity back into the hybrid system’s batteries for a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions and a 20 percent more efficient vehicle.

In the pipeline, Mattessich is working on a prototype and applying for a patent. With this he is also looking for an automaker interested in testing by incorporating the system into new cars thereby realizing the efforts put-in in working on the noble cause.

Via inventorspot

From being fuel based to natural gas, to electric hybrid, electric, and now a great possibility of a fueless cars running on air, technology seems to have come a long way. The Magnetic Air Cars, Inc., the San Jose-based company claims that it is working on the world’s first fuel-less car using no gas, fuel, or external recharging device, only air to propel the vehicle. Utilizing three on-board substations to harness compressed air, the resultant airflow is channeled, modulated, and converted to torque that propels the car. The Magnetic Air Car uses compressed air technology for propulsion, but unlike Tata Motors air engine, or DiPietro, theirs uses a different design.

Standing lofty in the San Jose’s West Coast Green conference last week, the car is one of a kind and is supposed to be produced by 2010. Using a silicon salt battery having 30% more mass power than a lead acid storage battery, it can completely charge in one hour. The battery is also environmentally friendly: it’s 95% recyclable, and it can be used in almost extreme conditions: from -40 to +50 degrees Celsius.
A prototype of the car is being built at Club Auto Sport in San Jose. So for all you lovers of innovation, grab this one and go green!!
Via Cleantechnica

Wanna Ride?? This one shall prove to be an eco-friendly one with an inveterate entertainment. Yahoo’s newest bike is a complete showstopper. Armed with solar panel, a GPS enabled mobile phone hidden and a script to constantly take pictures at 60 seconds, this bike will be able to map out route that you take (and geotagged it properly) and upload to Flicker account instantly. Beneath the installation on the bikes, there is a Nokia N95 (based on the meta tag found on the pictures), a Solar panels which power the camera phone and Custom Python script installed on the phone which fires off the shutter every 60 seconds while the phone’s accelerometer detects that you’re in motion, and uploads the resulting photo with geotags to the bike’s Flickr account.

Being launched as a part of the company’s new “Start Wearing Purple” marketing campaign, this does have a feminine angle to it but it is well-equipped with valuables to attract men as well. Though initially starting from San Fransico and New York, these bikes would soon be pedaling around the world in countries such as Singapore, Denmark and the U.K.



If this happens to interest you, you can actually download the software to your symbian phone and capture the images yourself.
Via ohgizmo

Classy and efficient is how one can define this one. With startling looks, it is sure to take you on a ride. For travelers, this is an avant-garde vehicle, offering a great speed yet being environment friendly. With masters in industrial design, its designer Robert Nightingale is a much-talked about luminary these days. Drawing upon his experience in sustainable research, creative thinking & design method he has been consistently providing innovative concept. This futuristic concept is designed to take you miles and that too without causing any hazards like non-reversible carbon footprints & global warming which are the gifts of the aviation industry to the environment.

Aptly named, The Environment by its creator, this invention provides the travelers with an environment conducive for work as well as leisure besides zooming at a marvelous speed. Always banking upon the concepts, Robert’s innovations have brought him various applauses and acclamations all across the world.

From the Hitch Concept to Water Shelter Concept to the current transport innovation, his products have always been an affix to the advanced technology. And when they couples with environmental benefits, they surely are adorable.
So now you don’t have to think before to decide your next trip.
Via robertnightingaledesign

Israel celebrated its very own ‘Public Transportation Day’ on September, 23rd. An event that saw a professional conference being organised by the local green groups, plus a 6km drag race in Tel Aviv between different modes of transportation. The race was symbolic because Israel’s transportation has been bogged down by the increasing traffic and air pollution. The promised subways are just being built extremely slowly.
On the other hand, the rail system is witnessing a lot of delays and cost overruns. So, it was time the public decided for itself, which is the best mode of conveyance. The bright Tuesday morning, saw a race between a bus, which only travelled in its designated lane, a bicycle and a car. The three vehicles started out from the outskirts of Tel Aviv going towards the central train station.

The bike won and people saw how it was the best, quickest as well as green way to get to one’s destination. The bus came second while the car took the longest time struggling in the endless traffic.

Via treehugger

There is good news for all the Chrysler fans. The famous car brand has decided to present an electric version of its Voyager MPV to the world by 2010. Research is on and eco-lovers even got a peek of its looks at the Detroit Motor Show, yep this new eco-car will be based on the ecoVoyager concept.
Information is limited at the moment. But we do know that this zero-emission car will have range of 300 miles. A neat deal for an MPV that can accommodate the entire family plus the luggage!

As if this wasn’t enough. Chrysler is also working on a model that will be a good reply for rival Chevrolet’s Volt, which will be launched in 2012. A small gasoline engine in the Chrysler model will be busy topping up batteries when they drop below 40% charge.
Via http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/38272

Saab, the company with a reputation for safe and reliable automobiles, with a notable competition history is all set to unveil its new 9-X Air BioHybrid concept in October at the 2008 Paris auto show. Celebrating 25 years of convertibles, the 9-X Air BioHybrid is a step ahead of the 9-X BioHybrid Concept hatchback unwrapped last March at the Geneva Motor Show, in the development of an all-new Saab 9-1 to expand the lineup.
The car is billed as a design study, with a unique canopy top, wraparound windows, and a driver-centric cockpit. The gauges appear frozen in ice replacing the original concept’s closed roof with a flat-folding canopy top. The 9-X Air is a four-seater, two-door convertible styled and uses powertrain, a turbocharged 1.4-liter that runs on E85 bioethanol fuel, and it is coupled with hybrid technology producing 197bhp. It is a mild hybrid system, saving fuel with its start/stop capability, but cannot propel the vehicle on electricity alone. The mild hybrid system is expected to be on the market in GM vehicles in 2010 as the next generation of the system in such cars as the Saturn Vue and Chevrolet Malibu hybrids.

Not only this!! With more cars to be launched in near future, the brand is essentially seeing a real overhaul over the next 14 to 18 months as indicates Mr. Mark McNabb, GM’s North America & vice president in charge of the premium channel.

Via flylyf

Japan’s standing rail system, already considered to be one of the most efficient in the world, has proved its metal yet again. The country’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd, recently announced that it is developing the country’s fastest high speed train, offering a speed of 217 miles per hour much above the previous record-holding Shinkansen’s 186mph ! This “Environmentally Friendly Super Express Train” (efSET) not only promises to be less noisy, more energy efficient, and will feature a state-of-the-art electrical control system, this streamlined design also will feature an extremely lightweight and aerodynamic profile in addition to a regenerative braking system that will recycle the kinetic energy generated by its movement. So this one is a positive eco-friendly system.
The company plans to freeze the design by 2010 after which they shall start the production & sales. Estimating that 10,000 km of high-speed railways will be deployed over the next 20 years, the company has already announced that it plans to prepare the efSET for international release.

Let’s hope they turn soon towards the states. Moreover, if trains were so, who’s got the need to travel in airplanes?
Via Inhabitat