If you were wondering how one could stay warm and cozy right on top of an ice-capped mountain, you must seek the advice of the Department of Architecture at the Swiss Federal Technical University. They have constructed the autonomous alpine shelter at a height of 2,810 meters above sea level. Many students and researchers have already started to use the facility and have spoken of its convenience and safety. They surely were awed, too, by its majestic perch on a snowy peak.

Situated right at the tip of a glacier, it is as remote and far away from any energy source as it could get. However, an innovative mind can take one a long way on the journey towards energy self-sufficiency. The building could be used by mountaineers as a base camp before making an ascent on the Alps.

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If you had wanted to live in a futuristic house that not only looked extra-terrestrial but is also green and sustainable, you may consider the awesome looking dome homes from Solaleya. The dome home rotates and faces the sun right from morning till evening and also saves on electricity that way. The domes are built using a special FSC-certified wood.

If that isn’t all, the dome can withstand hurricane and cyclone level rains. Designer Solaleya is proud to say that the energy saving device produces low consumption levels. The house is both admirable and worthy to own. Looks like Solaleya has a number of plans and designs up its sleeve. The fact that the dome shaped house is a sustainable one makes it all the more attractive and must prove to be an inspiration to other designers who could also go ahead and design buildings and houses that are sustainable.

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Antarctica has been man’s last unchartered territory but only till sometime ago. Now the cold continent is seeing unprecedented growth in tourism and up to 40,000 people visited Antarctica in 2007. However, the tourists have a negative effect on the ecology of Antarctica and environmentalists have started to worry. Maastricht University in Holland seeks to solve this problem by dramatically controlling the number of tourists to the continent.

The problem lies in the fact that Antarctica has no government of its own and hence, no regulatory body. The university has proposed to auction off parts of the continent and limit tourists and their numbers in the auctioned parts. This could have a positive impact on the way the continent sustains itself and protect the unique fauna of Antarctica. Perhaps tour organizers and travel agencies must get in touch with the regulatory bodies in their own countries and inform prospective tourists about how their visit to Antarctica can affect the continent.

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The kind of megapolises we live in makes us wonder what is going to be like after a few decades. We may imagine crowded streets without enough space to move our toes. However, Nobel-Prize winner Dr. Daniel Kammen believes the cities can in fact be self-sustaining eco hotspots and can allow people to lead a healthier lifestyle than we do today.

Any of the polluting and energy consuming devices and technologies may be phased out and the cities would be blessed with cleaner air and water. Urban gardens could provide as an alternative to farm products, which strip the soil of its nutrients. Alternative fuels, good waste disposal systems, and also mass housing may help our future cities sustain themselves and not leave ugly carbon footprints. In fact, carbon footprints are left by each individual, even when one drives to the supermarket.

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Imagine finding a light bulb which is more efficient, less polluting and comes with a facility of data transmit. If you thought I am talking in my dream, you ought to read on and find out that Researchers at Boston University’s College of Engineering are working on a Wi-Fi replacement technology they call “Smart Lighting” that sends data not via the radio spectrum, but the visible light spectrum. The idea is that standard dumb light-bulbs would be replaced by LED “smart lights,” which flicker at imperceptibly high rates as a way to transmit data within an office. This means the moment you tap a light on, you can access data on any device with wireless capability anytime without the use of wires. Researchers believe initial speeds would hit between 1 and 10 megabits per second.

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It surely won’t get greener than this with Dell launching a “never before seen” eco-inspired computer with a bamboo casing. A machine which is 81 percent smaller than a standard desktop, uses 70 percent less power, is filled with recycled materials like old bottles, milk jugs and detergent cases and is still a computer- what more can one ask for?? Not willing to divulge the details of the name for this eco-friendly device, Dell’s CEO Michael Dell confirmed that the product would come out later this year and would likely have a price tagin between $500 and $700.

The industry has coined such phrases as “ecolutions” - short for the rather long-winded eco-friendly and environmental evolution and solutions - “cooler and cleaner,” and “hi-tech, low carbon” in its attempt to plug the message that emissions can be reduced without computer users having to sacrifice functionality or style. Use of similar products, he said, could reduce a family’s electricity bill by 40%. Calculated on the grander scale of a multi-national company, the savings could run into millions.
With such benefits to offer this one is going to be your hi-tech, eco-friendly purchase.

Via treehugger

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

With the benefits of Windmills come common concerns like the whooshing sound that regular turbines produce, as well as their divisive visual aesthetics. Keeping in mind the volatility of the speed of wind in the urban environment, the QR (Quiet Revolution) has been designed. A new type of wind turbine intended to address both of these issues, Quiet Revolution’s QR5 Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, or VAWT for shawt, is smaller, quieter, and way better looking than your typical windmill, plus it should produce the equivalent of its £25,000 price tag in clean energy within 15 years or less. The elegant helical (twisted) design of QR ensures a robust performance even in turbulent winds. It is also responsible for virtually eliminating noise and vibration.

At five metres high and three metres in diameter, it is compact and easy to integrate, and with just one moving part, maintenance can be limited to an annual inspection.

Though the energy output will vary according to the wind speed but is likely to be between 6,000 and 10,000 kWhrs on a typical site. And if that wasn’t all, according the usage of such windmills will also lead to reduction in CO2 emmisions.

Via trendir

With the West in a water crisis, it’s not surprising to see a machine that pulls water from ambient air at West Coast Green. Though not an innovation, these machines require a lot of energy which has been dealt with by Element Four who have addressed the issues of energy use for creating water. The unit uses just 300 watts; a relatively low amount for these machines, the Watermill senses its environment and acts accordingly.
The Watermill checks its environment every three minutes to determine the dew point and keeps itself operating at just a few degrees below that dew point. This way, it maximizes efficiency of the energy it uses to operate by maximizing the amount of water it can pull from the air 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
It can pull an average of 13 quarts of water each day, which is plenty of potable water for an average family of four. The water is essentially distilled, but a filter can be added to restore organic minerals if the user wishes.

And if that wasn’t all, a solar powered version of the machine is in the works and will be available in about six months. So, this one is sure to tackle the water needs and the environmental issues with utmost efficiency.

Via geekologie

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