by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2011-04-21 21:24:21 UTC
Nobody likes scratches in their car's finish. That's part of the reason why over the years, a number of research facilities have tried to develop self-healing paint. These efforts have resulted in products containing things such as microcapsules that burst open when scratched, elastic resins, and even a chemical derived from the exoskeletons of crustaceans. Now, scientists from the U.S. and Switzerland have developed polymers – which could be used in paint – that heal their own scratches when exposed to ultraviolet light...
Continue Reading New polymers self-heal scratches in UV light
Inspired by the classic solid wood slide top pencil case, designer and craftsman Santiago Morahan re-designed this ‘old school’ classic out of cardboard. Founder of Disenio Cartonero, a brand that makes everything out of the extremely versatile material, Morahan not only makes eco-friendly products, but he directly helps local people through this socially aware design project. The cardboard he uses is bought from local “cartoneros“ (independent urban recyclers or garbage collectors) for a higher price that they would receive if they sold it recycling centers, in turn shortening the process and making it even more environmentally friendly.
There are several simple, effective ways merchandising supply chain companies can work with their clients to increase sustainability. This joint-value model is becoming commonplace, not just for sustainability but across strategic initiatives.
Ethonomic Indicator of the Day: $15 billion - The amount China has invested in electric vehicles and infrastructure.
The U.S doesn't have much over China at this point. Sure, we have breathable air, but they have more clean energy funding, the world's fastest-growing economy, and at least for now, a head start on the vehicle electrification race. Unless we catch up, China may eventually invade us with their EV tanks and take our remaining natural resources to fuel their growing economy. What to do, what to do...
China's success with EVs, as reported by PRTM Management Consultants today, can be attributed mostly to its Ten Cities, Thousand Vehicles Program. Instituted in 2009, the program rolled out 1,000 EVs (mostly garbage trucks, buses, and taxis) in 10 major cities--all as part of an attempt to identify and solve technology and safety issues. Now the program has been expanded to 25 cities, and it's still growing.
The country is also making strides in charging-station infrastructure. The U.S. may have lots of slow-charging stations scattered across the country, but China has 75 charge stations that can juice up vehicles in just 10 to 30 minutes. And when China says "charge station," it doesn't mean a spot for a single car to charge; a Chinese charge station contains 40 to 80 charge spots for individual vehicles. It's like they're trying to embarrass us.
As it stands, China has more EVs--both of the fleet and consumer variety--than the U.S. But as eager car companies release a glut of EVs in the coming years, the U.S. may take the lead on consumer cars. Remember: China is focusing mainly on fleet vehicles.
We're still lagging in the infrastructure expansion part of things, though. The U.S. has invested $2.4 billion in EV development, $54 million for tax credits on alternative refueling stations (like EV charge spots), and $100 million on a five-city EV infrastructure program--a pittance compared to China's $15 billion investment in electric vehicle expansion.
The other thing holding us back is the turnover of our democratic government. "Every two to four years, we can have a change in legislature, so who knows in 2012 what would happen from a policy perspective," says Aaron Tweadey, a principal at PRTM. "What [China says] they're going to do for 2015, they're going to be marching towards that goal." China is reliable; the U.S is not.
Here's the bright side. Even a $15 billion investment in EVs doesn't mean that the Chinese public will start buying electric cars faster than U.S consumers. And in any case, the more EVs we have on roads the world over, the better--provided that the EVs are powered by a grid that uses mostly renewables. The bigger question: Who can switch to large-scale renewables and electric vehicles the fastest? That's the real winner. For now, we can gloat over the fact that China is still building coal plants as fast as they can. And we don't have to wear masks to go outside, so there's that, too.
Join Environmental Leader for a webinar tomorrow, Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 11:00 AM PST / 2:00 PM EST that will cover the business drivers for energy and sustainability optimization, and the strategies and best practices that are enabling organizations to achieve their energy and environmental management initiatives.
* Why companies are treating energy utilization and sustainability as business imperatives
* How organizations are driving efficiencies and creating value through transparent, results-oriented strategies
* Why identifying, prioritizing and tracking resource reduction and sustainability initiatives can impact the bottom line
* How to demonstrate progress and best practices for use with energy and sustainability teams
* Ways to confidently communicate performance and achievements to all stakeholders
Speakers:
Karl G. Van Orsdol
Chief Global Strategist, Energy and Sustainability Management
Hewlett-Packard Company
Electronics manufacturer Dell is two-thirds of the way toward its goal of recycling 1 billion pounds of e-waste by 2014, the company has announced.
The Texas-based computer giant says it diverted 150 million pounds of used electronics from landfills worldwide in the 2011 financial year. That is an increase of around 16 percent on 2010, Dell says.
The company has partnered with charity thrift store chain Goodwill on an initiative that lets U.S. and Canadian consumers bring in unwanted computers and accessories for recycling, regardless of manufacturer. This program alone contributed 95 million pounds of recycled electronics to Dell’s 2011 global total.
“As we strive to reach our 1 billion pound target by 2014, we’re focused on educating people and creating awareness on the benefits of computer recycling and how Dell makes it easy to do so,” said Mike Watson, director of the Dell recycling program. “Dell’s responsible electronics recycling record in the industry is second to none.”
Dell claims it was the first major computer manufacturer to outlaw this practice.
The report also highlighted that Dell has designed PCs and laptops that consume 25 percent less energy than systems produced in 2008. Dell estimates that these efforts, along with others, have saved its customers more than $5 billion in energy costs over the past few years.
Dell was one of four electronics firms in the top five of the list, the three others being Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Intel. The fifth was pharmaceuticals firm Johnson & Johnson.
Retailer Target has also announced recycling progress this week. The company says it collected more than 1800 tons of shopping bags and 700 tons of bottles and cans in the first nine months of its in-store recycling program.
From the launch of its in-store recycling stations in April 2010, until the end of that year, Target says it also collected nearly two million pieces of small electronics, including MP3 players and cell phones.
The stations also allow customers to recycle ink cartridges.
by: Ecofriend, 2011-04-19 05:58:47 UTC
Dattatreya:
Advertising has been an intrinsic part of our modern life, whether we love it or hate it. And, in a way, it can be defined as a part of psychological communication that can directly relate to our collective actions, which in turn could have a significant impact on our economy. Whatever may be the case, statistical evidence says that spending on advertising was around a humongous sum of $500 billion ($300 billion in U.S. alone) in 2010.
Now billboards form an integral part of advertising. In fact, they may well epitomize advertising in many ways. On the other hand, it was only a matter of time that green technologies would make their spirited foray into this popular field of advertising. And what better way to do it then striking at its ‘heart’, i.e. the billboards? So let us check out the nine most fascinating albeit eco friendly billboards to ‘glow’ to the green tune.
1. New York City’s First Eco-Friendly Billboard:
The gargantuan dimensions of this 26-foot wide, 47-foot tall sign speak for themselves, but it is the fascinatingly advanced technology that exhibits its utterly sustainable side. This 35,000 pound billboard advertising the Ricoh Americas Corporation, will incorporate 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels and produce enough power to light six homes! Instead of being lit by LEDs, the system will have a huge floodlight, which can be lit for four continuous days without sunlight or wind. And here comes the ‘green’ part; according to estimates, this board can nullify 18 tons of carbon out of the environment.
2. Honda advertises cars with green hybrid billboards:
The collaborative effort of Honda and APN Outdoor has given form to Australia’s first eco-friendly outdoor advertisement. Now keeping in-sync with Honda’s dive into thin film solar cells market in 2008 (Soltec), this new board will also be solar powered, though not exclusively. Additionally an alternative backup electrical connection will be provided that gets its power from a green feed.
3. Introducing EcoFlexx an Eco friendly Flex Billboard Option:
Graphic designing company Circle Graphics had invested almost $8 million in development of new type of eco friendly printing substrate known as the EcoFlexx. According to their statement:
The EcoFlexx™ material has been approved by the leading outdoor companies and will replace PVC flex in our production during the next few months. There are no price changes associated with this improved material.
4. Billboard Made by using Used Electronic Devices:
Whenever we think of recycling, those inconspicuous elements come to our mind, like paper cuttings, plastic bottles and polythene wrappings. But what if we make use of entire components to be revitalized for a new design? And that is exactly what this remarkable billboard stands for. It utilizes used electronics, such as monitors, processing units and VCRs to compose the phrase ‘e-cycle’. Poetic, isn’t it?
5. World’s largest advert is high on sustainability:
Okay, let us go back to the preeminent city of Dubai, and this time it’s not about Burj Khalifa or Masdar City. The world’s largest billboard also happens to be in Dubai, and quite coincidentally (or perhaps not) it also happens to be made from biodegradable and recycled PVC materials. Even eco friendly inks, structure, transportation, cleaning and chemicals have been used for this gigantic board. Now gigantic may be an understatement, as the $3.2 million billboard is around a whopping 1.5 km in length! Moreover, 100 sponsors, including 40 premier sponsors, will fund the billboard and the advert will be promoted in 40 different countries over a period of 12 months.
6. Lamar Advertising going green with new solar-powered billboards:
Another collaborative effort, and this time it is from Lamar Advertising and Israel-based magink. They contrived an advanced digital billboard that sort fuses the technology of solar energy and light-reflecting digital light. This gives the billboard a unique paper like appearance, with much higher resolutions and lower energy consumption than that of conventional LED boards.
7. A 33-story-high LED-lit billboard to glitter in Dubai:
So it is not really a surprise that the name of Dubai crops up again in this list, and this time is because of its upcoming 33 floor high LED powered monstrous billboard, connected with a building. The unique feature of this billboard will be its indirect effect on sustainability, as the board will be adroitly integrated with the facade of the building, which in turn allows its daily intake of natural lighting and ventilation. Furthermore, the energy efficient arrangement of LEDs on the board will make sure that the carbon emission is not too high.
8. Outdoor Ad Companies Debut Recyclable Eco Billboards:
Sustainability certainly did go up a higher level, when three of the world’s largest advertising (outdoor) companies Clear Channel Communications, CBS Outdoor, and Lamar Advertising decided to use Eco Posters made from fully recyclable polyethylene (PE) substrate, for all of their billboards. Additionally these materials take much less time to be installed and are 3 times as durable, though they come at more than double the conventional cost. But most importantly they can save up to 150 million pounds of the non-biodegradable material that can wind up in landfills!
9. Recycled Billboard Vinyl Becomes Public Art:
In the previous entry we mentioned how those non-biodegradable heavy-grade vinyl material ends up in landfills, in effect polluting the surrounding environment. In a righteous bid to somewhat rectify this situation Peter Schulberg make the fervently conscientious approach. He invited artists to use the discarded vinyl as a canvas for their work, which he would then display on the exterior walls of his gallery in Los Angeles. Art meets sustainability; now that’s not a bad idea.
by: Ecofriend, 2011-04-19 14:46:50 UTC
Atulagupta:
Most data centers have been cooling there servers using air cooling method. While the method is used widely, it is not very cost-friendly and green because many times the cooling cost is almost equivalent or even higher than the equipment cost.
To solve this problem a company called Green Revolution Cooling has introduced a radical new approach to cooling via a liquid dielectric coolant in which the data server can be submerged.
The greatest advantage of this technology is that it reduces cooling energy use by 90-95 percent and the total energy usage by almost 50 percent. The fluid used for the cooling system is a clear, odorless, non-toxic, and low-cost non-conductive white mineral oil that can hold 1200 times more heat than air when the server is submerged in it.
There are certain visible advantages of the fluid cooling system over traditional air cooling methods:
•With liquid cooling environment servers do not gather dust on them and they remain virtually dust-free.
•There are no fans that can wear and tear and fail to work leading to server heating. Therefore, the servers’ life is indirectly increased.
•Liquid cooling makes it easy to recover the heat produced and use it for some other useful purpose.
•Overheating of the server and failure is minimized because the liquid cooling is more controlled than air cooling method.
•The use of digital technology is increasing every day and therefore the fluid cooling method gives a greener and energy efficient choice to maintain the server cloud than the air cooling system.
•Servers cooled with mineral oil are more safely overlocked therefore the same chips are run at a higher speed.
According to the manufacturers,
Our system will cool up to 100kW in a 42U rack in its current configuration. This is equivalent to an air-cooled system near 120kW since nearly 20kW of that 120kW would be used by server fans. Our system offers orders of magnitude better convective cooling than an air-cooled system and thus can handle higher densities.
The cost-wise advantage of this system is also noteworthy. For a brand new data center the upfront cost can be drastically reduced with smaller generator, smaller UPS, no CRACs, no chillers and no need for raised floor. Add to it the low energy usage and high performance and it is a complete win -win situation.
The liquid cooling system for data servers is surely a next generation green technology.
by: Ecofriend, 2011-04-19 22:16:14 UTC
Deeparaajan:
Could you possibly just envision a life without science and technology? Today, it is ridiculous to think of this question, since human life and science are merely inseparable. Life is strikingly glad, content and effortless because of scientific inventions and discoveries. Obviously, the words in dictionary aren’t enough to explain the delight which science has showered on us. Yet, there are many jobs in this world that a human can’t take up. One such trade is segregating debris. Recycling debris is of course a brilliant process, but then involving human capital on the same is ruthless. Anyways, Finland’s Zen Robotics is going to unveil a superlative robot shortly that will sort litters for recyclability.
Every single robot is contained by a cell and it probably comprises a screened in framework to facilitate process, when placed over a categorization line. The system is supposed to recognize and spot several items like plastics, PVC’s, pipes, stones, concrete and many others effectively without the need for human intervention. The AI system has its base from the human cerebellum and therefore it can get accustomed to new situations easily. It can ponder huge volumes of data perfectly and presently it handles diverse data inputs from a variety of sensing systems. The Recycler is in its alpha test since February 2011 and is said to spot almost fifty percent of the inputs given absolutely!
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2011-04-29 08:56:57 UTC
This week I visited a lecture of Daan Roosengaarde in Shanghai, showing his interactive art/products which are, very often also sustainable. Above ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2011-04-26 01:54:44 UTC
EcoGen is the product of a worldwide team of scientists, engineers and designers. First developed by British scientists in the late 1980s, recent patented ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2011-04-24 03:29:25 UTC
Pollution due to contamination in building interiors continues to be a relevant topic. Numerous studies have proven that off-gassing in interiors has ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2011-04-19 00:29:50 UTC
The panels/tiles are made from bamboo pulp, and have the feel of solid fibreboard.
- Original colour: off-white
- Paintable with wall paint
- ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2011-04-13 01:28:19 UTC
Trap Light is the result of an exciting collaboration between Gionata Gatto (Pedalator, Urban Buds) and Mike Thompson (Latro, Blood Lamp), proposing ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2011-04-12 12:12:08 UTC
The styrofoam that is usually used in packaging is basically solidified oil -- not so good for the environment. Ecocradle, by contrast, takes hardly ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2011-04-11 01:52:31 UTC
The USDA, US Department of Agriculture, is pushing forward with its bio-based procurement program. But is bio-based preferable over a technological ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2011-04-09 07:06:09 UTC
Gocycle is a lightweight electric two-wheeler that combines on-demand power, portability and city-specific design innovations for an easy and no-emission ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2011-04-08 00:46:53 UTC
Ecoyaa uses wine and korean traditional herbs based dyes to dye jeans. Colors vary between flesh pinks and bright reds to blues, deep indigo and pale ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2011-04-02 02:40:39 UTC
*Economic frameworks to inform decision-making*
Growing competition for scarce water resources is a growing business risk, a major economic ...
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