Toyota Prius is one of those Plug-In cars that has been eagerly awaited since a long time and while one is still waiting for the big electric vehicle that will apparently change the existing market ways and set a whole new standard, the wait is just cut short by one year. This is absolutely great news for all auto enthusiasts who were waiting for the Prius Electric with great anxiety. The important thing is not so much the fact that it will be out in 2009 but the fact that the stuff under the hood will also roll out a year in advance. This means a giant step forward for the Lithium-Ion Batteries which will be the heart of this beauty.

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Here is a green concept that seems to have been done many times before and yet with each new notebook that comes out in the green coat it still looks fresh and cool. Green Notebooks have become pretty fashionable in the last couple of years and the latest series of the ASUS Bamboo Series Notebooks shouts out the eco-friendly message it wishes to spread. Asus announced the launch of its Bamboo Series notebooks yesterday in the form of a 12.1-inch and an 11.1-inch model.

The series is based on the Asus Eco Book concept that we’ve only seen too much of in the past year. According to the company’s press release, the crux of the notebooks’ message is that “it’s easy being green”. The new series uses the company’s Super Hybrid Engine technology that makes them significantly energy-efficient. It has the capacity to observe current working environment and adjust the notebook’s settings in real time based on what the user needs. This technology can reportedly improve battery life and extend it by 35 to 70 percent.

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I was amazed to know that one of the very first oil droplets formed on our planet came from a pond scum! So far as I knew it, I remember learning about pigment producing algae in my junior science classes but this piece of news is quite good to note down. Why because algae could run your car in near future!

Some really hi-fi research is going on in Solazyme corporation-synthetic biology company that specializes in producing biodiesel (diesel oil produced from algae).

Jonathan Wolfson and Harrison Dillon at Solazyme have intriguing information to share about algae- like the mucky pond scum has a dynamic reproductive ability to double its cell mass within no time! Besides both have discovered how one can extract oil and pep up oil production by feeding algae with lots of sugars instead of sunshine! (Wow!) At the research centre of the company, small fermenters are already producing clean-burning biofuel from these microalgae. Dillon & Wolfson’s success at this procedure raises hope of large scale production of this neat, efficient and clean renewable energy source. And this is not all; industrial chemicals and household cleaners can also be produced by this algal oil which tastes like peanut oil!

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What kills roughly 2 million people but is not AIDS? Answer: indoor cooking related diseases. Shocked? This fact is found and recorded in a World Health Organization report. The problem aggravates in villages where modern gas burners are rarely available and the smoke chullas (stoves) are vicious enough to choke your lungs!
In an attempt to alleviate this situation, students from MIT have designed a clean solar cooker out of yak-wool canvas panels, for villagers of the Himalayan region. The panels are stretched over bamboo ribs and faced with reflective Mylar in a manner that in first look you might think it to be some sort of an umbrella!

But this unique light weight cooking device comes for only $17 and for an extra $26 one can attach a metal coil for heating one’s house. This solar cooker helps in cutting down carbon emission as opposed to the traditional yak dung or wood fuel the cooker uses solar power to make yummy food! Its design has won a prize and loads of public attention at the MIT IDEAS competition and in near future one may happen to find it in markets for sale. This means clean and green cooking at an affordable price and no more choking or coughing over horrible gas stoves!

Via: wiredscience

The scene is going to change on roads in a couple of years. In 2011 one will see Pivo 2, a robot-assisted, electric car on the streets of Portugal. Nissan showcased the PIVO2 Electric Concept Car earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show. The cute looking somewhat bubble shaped car in sparkling blue color was first introduced in the year at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show and seen then, the company has refined the car design and its capabilities to its present day state. Now, with last week’s announcement it seems the car will finally be launched commercially in Portugal in 2.5 years time by Renault and Nissan. The country has agreed to pep up its efforts in installing up a large network of electric charging stations for the yet to be launched bug-like car.

Pivo 2 is a 3 seater with lithium-ion batteries that infuse power in this electric vehicle. The car is fully rechargeable off household current and possesses regenerative braking system. Its cozy-looking passenger cabin can rotate whole 360 degrees as also the wheels, which can turn a full 90 degrees to facilitate flexible maneuvering during parking.  Robot assisted Pivo2 can thus be sneezed in the tightest of all parking lot corners!

A single entry/exit door along with the rotating cabin allows the passengers to exit from the side of the vehicle. While what I love the most in Pivo 2 is its design, I’m amazed to learn that through a communicating robotic instructor the driver can control the car’s different functions. The robotic instructor uses voice and feature recognition technology to sense the driver’s mood! Now hold on guys before you become a green-eyed monster getting jealous over the luck of Portuguese people, Nissan wishes to sell electric cars globally by 2012. The company is embracing green technology and is thus launching an aggressive drive to produce and popularize electric vehicles amidst concerns of global warming and skyrocketing gas prizes. Well, I’m impressed. What about you?
And by the way, there’s another version of blue Pivo2. It’s a white one! Check it out here.

Via TreeHugger