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Inhabitat's Week in Green: LAVA's geodesic home, solar skyscraper glass and fear of nuclear power
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 showcased several groundbreaking feats of high-tech architecture - starting with plans to transform the United States' tallest skyscraper into a soaring solar farm. We also saw a vision for a geodesic home of the future that is popping up in China this year, and we learned that scientists in Qatar are developing a series of solar-powered artificial clouds that will cool the country's stadiums during the 2022 World Cup. It was a big week for energy news as well as Germany and Italy announced plans to abandon nuclear power in the wake of the crisis in Japan. Tata & MIT also announced a breakthrough technology for generating power from water, and we saw solar energy reach new heights as Suntech set off to install the world's tallest solar plant on the Tibetan Plateau. Speaking of soaring green designs, we watched a brand new electric vehicle take to the skies as the solar-powered Elektra One airplane successfully completed its maiden flight. This week we also showcased several cutting-edge examples of wearable technology including an app that instantly transforms any drawing into a made-to-measure dress. We also learned that Virgin Atlantic now offers passengers bespoke shoes while they wait, and we took a look at a futuristic pregnancy belt that offers an inside look at the womb. Finally, we saw several amazing examples of recycled design - Chinese artist Wing Wah has created a set of scrap metal transformer robots that look just like the movies, and designer Mati Karmin has transformed defused land mines into an edgy set of interior furnishings.
PC-Aero ready to fly the Elektra One, Germany's latest electric-powered plane
Germany started with electric cars and bikes, and now it's taking things to the air with the PC-Aero Elektra One. This single-seat ultralight plane has a composite airframe, 16-kilowatt motor with a range of 400 kilometers and a max flight time of three hours. At a cruising speed of 160 km/h (about 99 mph for us anglophiles), the aircraft won't be setting any speed records, but given that it's being designed as an eco-friendly way to enjoy "leisure aviation," you should've expected it to travel at a leisurely pace, indeed. The Elektra One hasn't taken to the air just yet, but PC-Aero plans to perform the first flight test later this month, so we can look forward to seeing another electric plane flying overhead in the near future. Check the video after the break to see and hear the future of aviation for yourself.
