this week in green
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Inhabitat's Week in Green: 2012 Detroit Auto Show, 3D-printed geometric kite and the world's largest battery
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. Green transportation kicks into high gear this week with the launch of the 2012 Detroit Auto Show -- and Inhabitat is set to bring you breaking coverage of this year's event! So far we've taken a look at 6 green cars to watch at NAIAS 2012 -- including Lexus' sexy LF-LC hybrid sports car -- Volkswagen's Beetle-inspired electric concept car, and Smart's For-US super-compact electric pickup truck. We also saw a MIT researcher explain why gas mileage is still low despite advances in fuel economy, Mexico unveiled the record-breaking world's tallest bridge, and we took Hyundai's futuristic Veloster coupe for a test drive. It was also a momentous week for energy news as China supercharged its grid with the world's largest battery and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded the first human waste to biodiesel plant in Ghana. Meanwhile, India announced plans to produce 33.4 gigawatts of solar energy by 2022, Onyx unveiled a plug and play 330 watt photovoltaic array that sets up in a snap, and we shined the spotlight on 6 of the world's most impressive solar powered projects. In other news, this week high tech designs reached for the sky as the world's first tower built by a team of flying robots rose in France, researchers developed a virtual cloud-like LED ceiling to make offices more pleasant, and we brought you a beautiful 3D-printed geometric kite. Finally, we brought you the latest dispatches from the field of wearable technology -- a set of jewelry made from recycled AK-47 rifles, a robotic exoskeleton that will help paraplegics walk again in 2012, and a LED television you can wear as a shirt.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Flaming turbines, seven eco-chic gifts and a winter wonderland of LED
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 past week saw several groundbreaking developments in climate news as the Chinese government said that it will control rainfall to generate 10 percent more precipitation by 2015. Stanford researchers developed a new type of concrete that removes CO2 from the atmosphere, and Facebook teamed up with Greenpeace to power future data centers with renewable energy. Japan also announced the cold shutdown of the damaged reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant and the US solar industry got a giant boost as it grew more in the third quarter of 2011 than in all of 2009. Wind power in Scotland had a rocky week as a turbine burst into flames during hurricane force winds. In other news, it was an intense week in the world of architecture as renowned firm MVRDV apologized for its "Cloud" skyscrapers, which many people found to resemble the form of the exploding Twin Towers during the 9/11 attacks. We also brought you two high-profile architecture interviews - one with Gensler's Chris Chan on the tallest skyscraper in Asia and one with HOK's Bill Odell on the world's largest LEED platinum project. Meanwhile, BIG unveiled a luxury resort topped with a functional ski slope and we saw a winter wonderland of LED topiaries pop up in Atlanta's botanical garden. As the holiday shopping season reached its peak we also highlighted some of our favorite green gadgets - don't miss these 10 great green gizmos and these 7 eco-chic gifts for techies. We also shared an exclusive tutorial on how to make your own pair of texting gloves, and we checked out Pong's iPhone and iPad cases, which reduce exposure to cell phone radiation. Finally, we saw scientists in Japan create the world's first renewable bio-based polyester and we brought you N-product's iPod watchbands, which are made from discarded backpacks and inner tubes.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: 5 megawatt solar roof, driverless electric cars and ten of the world's craziest Christmas trees
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. Solar-powered buildings heated up this week as Inhabitat reported that Apple will crown its new Cupertino headquarters with a 5 megawatt solar roof, and we took a peek inside a sun-powered prefab pod home set in the Italian Alps. We also showcased several fresh examples of wintry architecture this week as we brought you six amazing buildings made from ice and snow and we learned that BIG's waste-to-energy ski slope incinerator was scrapped due to environmental concerns. We also showcased an innovative shelf for interiors made from movable pins, a set of awesome night lights made from retrofitted vintage cameras, and since the holidays are on the way we shared a kit that will help you make your own geodesic gingerbread house! Speaking of the holiday season, this week we rounded up the world's 10 craziest Christmas trees made from recycled objects, and we brought you photos of a massive luminous Xmas tree in Lithuania made from 40,000 plastic bottles. We also brought you a guide for making your own DIY terrarium Christmas ornaments, and if you're looking for cool techy gifts to stick beneath the tree you won't want to miss Theo Jansen's 3d-printed miniature Strandbeest wind walking robots and this fun wooden iPhone toy for tots. In other news, eco transportation blasted off to the future as Zapata Racing unveiled a set of insane water-propelled rocket boots that will send you soaring like a superhero and Audi and BIG unveiled plans for a network of driverless electric cars and luminous high-tech roadways. We were also excited to announce that the Nissan Leaf was named Japan's Car of the Year at the Tokyo Motor Show, we saw Daimler unveil plans for a new E-Cell hybrid with inductive charging, and Smart shared a sneak peek of their upcoming "For-US" compact electric pickup truck.
