InhabitatsWeekInGreen
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Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar-powered planes, Audi EVs and custom-fit bikes
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. After months of preparation, a pair of Swiss aviators has embarked on the first-ever around-the-world flight in a solar-powered airplane. The Solar Impulse 2 took off from Abu Dhabi last week, and it already set a world record for the world's longest solar-powered flight when it landed in India a day later. Over the next five months, André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard plan to make 12 stops around the globe, showing the potential solar power holds. In other renewable energy news, Goodyear announced plans to develop a heat-gathering, electricity-generating car tire at the Geneva Auto Show.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: 3D-printed buildings, wooden skyscrapers and UFO-shaped tree tents
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. The big news out of Silicon Valley this week is that architecture heavyweights BIG and Heatherwick Studio will be collaborating to design Google's new Mountain View headquarters. Following the announcement, Google published a video providing a sneak peek at renderings and models of the forthcoming Googleplex. In other green architecture news, UC Berkeley just unveiled the world's largest building 3D-printed from powdered cement. The "Bloom" pavilion is made of 840 printed bricks, and it glows like a lantern when it's lit from within. Rüdiger Lainer just announced plans to build the world's tallest wooden skyscraper in Vienna. About three quarters of the 24-story tower will be made from wood, saving 2,800 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Google's new HQ, folding bikes and fancy beehives
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Buildings are among the biggest energy users, but new developments in the design world could help change that. ArchiBlox recently unveiled Australia's first carbon-positive prefab home -- in other words, the house produces more energy than it uses. The gorgeous 800-square-foot structure is now on display in Melbourne's City Square. In other architecture news, Google just unveiled plans to build a giant bubble in Mountain View! The new Googleplex headquarters will be a biosphere-filled utopia designed by Heatherwick Studio and BIG. Speaking of BIG, the Danish architecture firm recently unveiled plans for a luminescent, geodesic dome biomass power plant. The rainbow-colored dome wouldn't just produce green energy; it would also serve as a public park.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Solar-powered yachts, windmills and Apple car rumors
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Tesla has owned the electric car space in recent years, but another major Silicon Valley company could be nipping at its heels -- rumor has it that Apple is developing an electric "minivan-like vehicle" of its own. It's not clear if the rumors are true, but this week electric vehicle battery manufacturer A123 Systems sued Apple for poaching its employees. Porsche is also taking aim at Tesla with plans to launch an all-electric rival to the Model S by 2019. In other green transportation news, Volkswagen has announced plan to build 100 fast electric car-charging stations in the US, and it will invest $10 million to support electric vehicle infrastructure by 2016.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: RFID-blocking jeans, EV buses and mystery USB drives
The internet abounds with unlikely stories of how to make thousands of dollars by doing little or nothing, but here's one money-making scheme that's actually true: A Massachusetts-based nonprofit is paying people up to $13,000 per year for turning over their stool samples. The samples are then used to help fight a rare bacteria called C. difficile. In other science news, an eight-year-old girl may have just made some serious headway in finding a cure for cancer. Camilla Lisanti's parents are cancer researchers, and the child suggested to them that they use antibiotics, "just like when I have a sore throat." It just might be simple enough to work. UK lawmakers voted this week to allow in vitro fertilization using DNA from three people. The technique would be used to eliminate mitochondrial diseases in IVF babies. The FDA recently revealed that several herbal supplements found on the shelves of GNC, Walmart, Walgreens and Target don't contain the ingredients they claim. Instead, they're filled with cheap substitutes, like wheat and soy powder. On the green tech front, the folks at the Oakland-based 3D-printing firm Emerging Outfits have developed a 3D-printed ceramic "Cool Brick" that uses nothing but water to cool homes in hot, dry climates. The brick is now on display at the Museum of Craft Design in San Francisco. In wearable tech news, the PC security firm Symantec (best known for its Norton security products) has teamed up with Betabrand to create a pair of jeans designed to stop so-called digital pickpockets from poaching your personal data. And if you've ever walked around New York City and wondered why USB drives are embedded in building walls, click here for the full story.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar-powered planes, bamboo bikes and mud houses
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. One of America's most innovative solar power plants officially opened in the Mojave Desert this past week, and it's expected to provide enough energy to power nearly 90,000 homes. The Mojave Solar Project is a concentrated solar plant that uses parabolic troughs to create steam, which produces energy when passed through a turbine generator. In other renewable energy news, the folks at Solight have developed a compact solar-powered lantern that provides off-grid light to communities that lack electricity. The flat-pack, LED lantern was inspired by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and it's designed to replace kerosene lanterns. Swiss aviators Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are preparing for the first-ever flight around the world in a solar-powered aircraft. With the flight, the two pilots hope to gain broad support for solar energy. On the green transportation front, self-driving cars are widely believed to represent the future of transportation, but scientists at NASA are already looking further into the future. NASA and Nissan are partnering to research how autonomous vehicles could be used not only here on Earth, but also in space. And in Mexico, a company has produced a bamboo bicycle that generates energy as you pedal around town. The BambooTec bike captures and converts the kinetic energy into electricity, using that energy to charge mobile devices. Best of all, the designs are simple enough to be built by hand.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Fusion power, Drop-a-Brick and settlements on Mars
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Why can't Tesla's sales model catch a break? The automaker is paving the way for the future of electric vehicles, however states keep stepping in the way. This week, Michigan passed legislation that essentially bans Tesla from selling cars in the state due to a last-minute addition by a legislator who receives contributions from the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association. In other transportation news, Italy has long been the Mecca of souped-up sports cars, but surprisingly the country has never produced a fully electric supercar. That all could change soon, now that the Italian company Tecnicar has unveiled a new electric car with a 789-horsepower electric motor.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: hydroelectric house, human hamster wheel and a saltwater-powered car
Salt water covers the vast majority of the Earth's surface, making it one of the most abundant and under-appreciated resources on the planet. Taking advantage of this resource, Nanoflowcell has developed the world's first saltwater-powered electric car! The vehicle, known as the Quant e-Sportlimousine, can accelerate from 0-62MPH in an impressive 2.8 seconds, and it just received approval for testing in Europe. In other green transportation news, designer Dominic Wilcox just unveiled a self-driving car with a bed inside -- so you can catch up on sleep while you commute to work! The real kicker? It's made from gorgeous panels of stained glass.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: plastic bag ban, solar briefcase and gold in the sand
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. It's been a bright summer for solar energy -- Samoa just cut the ribbon on the largest solar array in the South Pacific, and even Saudi Arabia -- the country with one of the largest oil reserves in the world -- is investing heavily in photovoltaic technology. We also showcased an awesome energy-generating briefcase that lets you carry solar power everywhere you go! In other renewable energy news, Seoul, Korea, is planning to install new hydro-powered charging stations so that residents can keep their mobile devices charged. The city will install mini hydroelectric turbines embedded in the Cheonggyecheon River, which runs through the capital's downtown. And a town in Denmark just unveiled an amazing Energy Tower that transforms trash into electricity!
Inhabitat's Week in Green: biofuel, supersonic submarine and a 3D-printed home
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Mobile technology continues to expand and evolve, but until we develop a way to charge our devices on the go, we'll continue to jockey for outlets at airports and coffee shops. Enter Angelo Casimiro, a 15-year-old who has developed a shoe that harnesses the power of footsteps to charge your phone. The youth of today continue to be at the forefront of renewable energy innovation; a 14-year-old named Gregory Martin recently made a major biofuel breakthrough with a technique that boosts the amount of lipids in algae by over 500 percent.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Naturbad pool, Dyson's river vacuum and Legos lost at sea
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the automaker would deliver 100,000 electric vehicles in 2015. That's a big jump up from the 22,000 EVs the company currently produces, and the news sent Tesla's stock soaring. In other green transportation news, the Texas Central Railway is planning to develop a 200MPH bullet train that will connect Houston to Dallas. The project is expected to cost about $10 billion, and it will be funded entirely with private money.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: bonsai in space, rising sea levels and the blood of horseshoe crabs
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Google has a long list of environmental initiatives -- and its latest project is to outfit its Street View cars with environmental sensors to track down methane emissions that contribute to climate change. But when it comes to futuristic transportation, there's no greater innovator than Elon Musk. The serial entrepreneur recently appeared on The Colbert Report, where he discussed Tesla, the Hyperloop and SpaceX.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: stadiums with modular housing, Tesla Model 3 and a tower of mushrooms
Soccer fans around the world are going through withdrawal now that the World Cup is over, and in Brazil, people are beginning to think about what should be done with the 12 stadiums that were built or renovated for the tournament. A pair of French architects has come up with a brilliant idea: Convert the stadiums into affordable housing. Solar panels come in all shapes and sizes -- but rarely do they come in the shape of a huge duck. A team of London-based designers has submitted a proposal to build a 12-story duck-shaped renewable energy generator for the Land Art Generator Initiative, which will be held later this year in Copenhagen.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Terrapin Camper, glow-in-the-dark roads and the world's fastest bike
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. The world's first glow-in-the-dark roads were recently installed in the Netherlands as part of a month-long trial -- and now, the team behind the project will take what it's learned and incorporate it into an updated smart highway that will roll out later this summer. Driverless cars are the future of transportation, and Michigan is gearing up for them by developing a 30-acre urban environment for testing autonomous vehicles. Toyota just unveiled its new hydrogen fuel cell sedan, which will go on sale in the US next summer. Germany has long been a leader in renewable energy, and now the European country is breaking its own records.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: vertical farm, solar energy funnel and a brainwave monitor
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week Inhabitat reported live from the Los Angeles Auto Show as we brought you the hottest new green cars -- beginning with the 2013 Fiat 500e electric vehicle. We're also eagerly awaiting the unveiling of BMW's new i3 Coupe concept. In other green transportation news, JR Tokai unveiled Japan's new lightning-fast 310 MPH MagLev train, while Amtrak announced that trains traveling between Chicago and St. Louis were cleared to accelerate to 110 MPH on a short stretch of track. It's no MagLev, but we'll take it! Designer Jeffrey Eyster also unveiled the MRV-1, a recreational vehicle that doubles as a sustainable nature retreat.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: 30-foot-tall 'BUCKYBALL', diatoms and zombie pumpkins
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. In one of the week's biggest green architecture stories, Inhabitat reported that Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill unveiled plans for Chengdu Tianfu District Great City, China's first self-sufficient, carless city. Singapore also unveiled the world's first commercial vertical farm, Facebook's green cred got a boost when it was announced that its Prineville Data Center in Oregon achieved LEED Gold status, and architecture firm HNTB won a contest to redesign Los Angeles' Sixth Street Viaduct with a gorgeous high-flying ribbon bridge that promises to be one of the hottest new pieces of urban infrastructure in the US. In another exciting West Coast development, the San Francisco Planning Commission signed off on Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects' 61-story Transbay Tower. And at Madison Square Park in New York, Leo Villareal created a 30-foot-tall "BUCKYBALL" geodesic dome sculpture with pulsing LED lights.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: the world's tallest skyscraper, mind-controlled robot exoskeleton and a Lego Bat Cave
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. At Inhabitat, we always keep our ear to the ground for new green building techniques and technologies as we look for more sustainable ways to shape our world. For the past year, we've been following the story of the Chinese developer BSB, who is planning to build the world's tallest skyscraper -- the entirely prefabricated 220-story building is set to break ground next month, and the building is expected to take just 210 days to build. In Chicago, transportation officials held an official groundbreaking ceremony last week for the "greenest street in America," a 2-mile stretch of road that is paved with permeable, smog-eating pavement.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Bicymple, computer-age fossils and an underground mushroom tunnel
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. We tend to look to green designers and architects to inspire us and reshape our understanding of what's possible, and this week we've seen plenty of visionary green designs over at Inhabitat. First, JM Schivo & Associati unveiled ambitious plans for "Earth City," a futuristic green city that would be entirely powered by renewable energy. Then, inspired by NYC's High Line, Fletcher Priest won the Green Infrastructure Ideas Competition with his proposal for an underground mushroom tunnel beneath the streets of London. At the World Architecture Festival, Nikken Sekkei took home the sustainable building award for its evaporative cooling bioskin building in Tokyo, and science fans successfully purchased Nikola Tesla's old Long Island workshop to turn it into a museum.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: ECOLAR house, transparent solar panel and Star Wars terrariums
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. For the past two weeks Inhabitat has been reporting live from the Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid, where 18 student teams from around the world have been competing for the title of the world's most efficient solar-powered prefab house. As usual, suspense was running high in the final days of the competition, and we're excited to announce that Team Rhône-Alpes' Canopea House has been named this year's winner! The beautiful modular house took top honors in the architecture and sustainability categories, and it features a 10.7 kW photovoltaic array on the roof that produces more than enough energy to power the home. Some of the other standouts at the Solar Decathlon Europe include Germany's ECOLAR House, which features a flexible, modular design that can expand or shrink to accommodate the needs of its owners. It came as no surprise that the German team was tops in the engineering category, and the team incorporated hemp insulation in the floors, walls and ceiling to prevent thermal loss. Team Andalucia's Patio 2.12 House, which consists of four separate prefabricated modules built around an interior courtyard, scored high marks for energy efficiency and innovation. And although Italy's MED in Italy House might not look like much on the outside, step inside and you'll enter a different world altogether. The highly efficient home features a central courtyard and a rooftop photovoltaic array that generates about 9.33 kWh of energy per year -- roughly double what it needs. Team Rome also added wall layers that can be filled with heavy materials to provide high thermal mass once the home is installed.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: rotating house, desktop 3D printer and a Star Trek-style warp drive
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Mid-September is a busy time of year in the world of design as the Solar Decathlon Europe takes place in Madrid and the London Design Festival kicks off -- and Inhabitat has correspondents on the ground at both events bringing us a steady stream of photos and updates. At the Solar Decathlon, Team Portugal designed an innovative house that can actually rotate to follow the sun in order to increase energy production and adjust interior daylighting. Team Valencia developed a modular home that can grow or contract depending on the family's needs. And the team from Tongji University produced an eye-catching house that embraces both Western and Daoist principles. In the competition, Rome's super-efficient MED in Italy house jumped out to an early lead -- but it's still too soon to call the winner so stay tuned.
