A house powered by exercise?
The JF-Kit House by the Spanish design firm Elii is an experiment in “domestic fitness,” rendering “the image of a possible future where citizens produce part of their domestic energy requirements with their own physical activities.” Each room features a fancifully named exercise station that would, theoretically, help create energy to power the home, including an “arm workout bureau,” a “spinning kitchen,” and a “triceps greenhouse.” A video shows the home’s imagined inhabitant lifting weights, cycling, and doing calisthenics as part of his house’s everyday upkeep and daily chores like cooking.
There are a lot of roads just sitting there in the sun, doing nothing with all that energy. Why not use them to collect it? Introducing the Solar Roadway, a road built out of solar panels.
The road is made of three parts: a hard-wearing translucent top-layer with the solar cells, LED lights (for road markings) and a heating element (to keep off snow and ice); an electronics layer to control lighting and communications; and a base plate layer that distributes power to nearby homes and businesses (and perhaps electric vehicle charging stations). Plus, there’s a channel at the edge to collect and filter run-off water (including anti-freeze and other chemicals that normally leeches into the ground).
Nuclear Fallout Kills 370x Less People Than Coal
A nuclear reactor meltdown is mankind’s worst sci-fi nightmare. And NASA says, it’s not nearly as lethal as the coal we burn every day…
Watch 1,200 Miles in 156 Seconds, Using Less Juice
According to the Association of American Railroads, freight trains are four times more fuel efficient than trucks, with 75% fewer carbon emissions for the same distance (it has a handy calculator here, if you want to plug in a few actual journeys). The video above shows off some new diesel locomotives that General Electric says are particularly efficient, using “11% less fuel than the existing locomotive average in North America.”
The creators of a self-sailing, data-collecting catamaran called Robotboat plan to collect data for scientists while making money by completing missions for offshore energy companies.
Forty years from now, how much will energy cost? What will happen with the climate? Most importantly, will you be richer?
The new SimCity will let you take control of a city’s environmental destiny:
“You start your city without any money, and you could exploit the coal seams underneath the city and start digging coal out of the ground and make a city that’s pretty filthy, one that’s built on burning coal for power, might have a lot of coal-sustained industries around it and would make me a ton of money as a player. In the long term that would sort of blight the prospects of the city.” In that coal-dependent city, there would be little natural beauty and excessive air and ground pollution, not to mention citizens suffering from coal-related health problems.
Alternatively, players could opt for other sources of energy—gas-fired power plants, solar panels, wind turbines, or nuclear power. All of these sources have their drawbacks. Solar panels, for example, take up a lot of space and produce less power for the money when compared to coal…
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Triad: An Energy Monitoring Device You Might Actually Use
A truck that travels 93,000 miles would save 528 gallons of diesel fuel and five tons of CO2.
The Best Thing About Plant-Based, Compostable Cups: You’re Not Drinking Oil
(Source: fastcoexist.com)
Energy efficient home improvements cost a lot up front, but eventually pay themselves off. Exactly how long does it take? Consult this handy chart.
Hacking the Internet!
What do you need to get online in rural Africa?
Find out from Boukary Konaté, from Rising Voices grantee project Segou Village Connection.
Hacking Together Rural Internet
The carbon-neutral economy is a dream of environmentalists everywhere—and one that may be critical to preventing climate change from reaching a nasty tipping point. Now the European Climate Foundation is trying to make it happen in Europe.
Is this possible?
These Beautiful Graphics Explain The Master Plan For A Nearly Zero Carbon Emissions Europe By 2050
Above: Desertec, a solar pipeline spanning from North Africa and the Middle East to Europe, is already in the works.
(Inhale deeeeeeply) Can you smell that fresh, clean coal air?
Today, Peabody Energy—the largest private coal company in the world—launched Coal Cares, a website giving away free, Justin Bieber-themed inhalers to asthmatic children and providing other, pro-coal info to kids everywhere. Yes, coal gives people asthma, but it’s still the “safest energy out there.” There are word searches, a Kidz Koal Korner, and a promise that “for every 1,000 inhaler actuators donated via Coal Cares™, Peabody will make a $500 donation towards the cost of one lung-replacement therapy.” It’s also totally fake.
More info on the Hoax of the Day at the click.
