Concept Aero Truck

Picture Gallery

Concept Aero Truck

The canopy styled roof gives increased vision on all sides to the drivers.

According to the designer, while travelling at high speed, the truck’s sleek design and wide arches will help in providing a weighted grip to the road. The roof of the Aero Truck is designed like a canopy, which will increase the vision of the driver from all sides. The new series of aerodynamic long haul trucks have been created, using both American ideas of power and strength and European ideas of performance and style. The concept Aero truck draws heavy inspiration from dynamic vehicles like Formula 1 car.

The concept Aero truck will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which will help in lowering down the carbon emission caused by the trucking industry on the whole. It will be installed with large hydrogen storage units in the floor plan that will extend the range when the truck will haul items.

There are many concept vehicles created by designers, but when it comes to trucks, designer Josh has designed the ultimate new range of aerodynamic long haul trucks.

Via: Tuvie

Oil Silo Home / PinkCloud.DK

Picture Gallery

Oil Silo Home / PinkCloud.DK

The Oil Silo Home, designed by PinkCloud.DK, recycles existing empty oil silos.

An oil silo is basically an LPG Vessel that contains and stores compressed liquefied petroleum gas. These structures are 100 percent water proof and are made as per industrial standards. There are around 660 oil refineries around the world, which are making use of around 49,000 oil silos. Over the course of time, oil will become a scarce resource and these oil silos will eventually be abandoned as they will no longer be needed for the purpose of storing oil. Not only will the Oil Silo Home serve the purpose of recycling, but being a carbon positive design, they can contribute energy back to the electric grid.

The spherical shape of oil silos is optimum in terms of orientation for absorbing maximum sunlight throughout the year. This feature can be used to harvest solar energy via photovoltaic panels. These panels and solar heaters have been installed along the periphery of the Silo. Apart from producing its own energy, the oil silo’s ball shape is great for effective heat distribution inside as well as great circular air ventilation.

For reconstruction, the contaminated oil silo’s first have to undergo detoxification with the help of bioremediation. After this, they are retrofitted on site and large scale components are pre fabricated off site. Finally modular assembly is used for final construction, which proves relatively cost effective and time effective.

The Oil Silo Home can be divided into three separate areas that could be accessed via an exterior walkway and a central pneumatic elevator. One full floor plate can be occupied by a large family whereas the smaller families can occupy homes on the other two levels. All the units have large openings with balconies for ventilation.

The Silo Home Community would be interconnected by means of a shared resource system. In this, all the resources would be pooled in by the members and would be equally shared in order to maintain optimum levels of clean air, water and energy.

Via: ArchDaily

Multiple Natures / soma

Picture Gallery

Multiple Natures / soma

The Fibrous Tower rises as a vertical typology.

The physical structure of the tower is a visual feat. It comprises of a fibrous tower that rises as a vertical typology and dissolves as it reaches the base, where the legs touchdown in a manner to let people stroll between them. The tower consists of eight tower legs in total that have been connected by diagonal beams for better stability and stiffness. The canopy below has a non hierarchical structure, which encloses open areas and green spaces. The outer legs of the tower have been expanded outward and create platforms that are to be used as observatories by the public.

What makes this design more special and worthy is its zero carbon orientation. The self sufficient structure produces it own energy on site from renewable sources. Photovoltic panels have been integrated into the roof of the museum and the exhibition spaces. For allowing natural light to drape the structure during day time, efficient crystalline modules are applied to the opaque roof area and it is fitted with semi transparent cells for letting the light permeate. PV system has been applied to the skin of the tower, making the entire structure a solar absorber.

The design of the tower is exemplary of how we can use natural resources responsibly for architectural innovation. Its piezoelectric halms produce energy by movement and can be seen as floating swarms of particles. Replicating the opening mechanism of flowers, the biomimetic lamellas open and close according to the weather conditions and protect the visitors from the wind and the sun.

The fibrous tower is indented to be a cultural landmark, which would be used as an observation tower and feature the Taichung city museum and a park. The concept has already won credibility and grabbed the second position at the Taiwan Tower International Competition in Taichung. Soma does not wish to accredit the structure with a particular message, but, instead wants people to use their imagination for interpreting the purpose openly.

Via: Archdaily

Apple’s solar powered data center

Picture Gallery

Apple solar-powered data center.

Apple reveals details on solar-powered data center.

Apple’s initiative will greatly benefit its billion dollar data center situated in Maiden, North Carolina. The news isn’t new, however, as reports of the solar farm were leaked in October, it was found that Catawba County approved permits for the electronics company to redevelop land owned by it for the installation of a solar array.

We don’t have all the details on the project, but what we do know is that it will be a 20MW solar installation situated on 100 acres of land and will be capable of supplying energy worth 42 million kilowatt hours annually. In addition, Apple will also be constructing a 5MW fuel cell installation to help power the data center. When completed, the installation will run on 100 percent biogas as well as provide 40 million kilowatt hours of energy every year.

The electronics giant has more up its sleeve, including, a white cool roof to reflect sunlight, a chilled water storage system that will transfer 10,400 kWh of power from peak hours to off peak hours daily. Also it will funnel outside air at night and during cold weather. The use of the water system and the funneled air, will allow the chillers to be switched off for more than 75 percent of the time. The LED lights are equipped with motion sensors and they too help in cutting down on power use.

Apple’s efforts to make its data center as energy efficient as possible will go a long way in ensuring that power is conserved. The center has also earned LEED certification, giving fillip to the company’s aim to become as green as possible.

Via: Smartplanet

will ryman: anyone and no one

Picture Gallery

will ryman: anyone and no one

Two new sculptures by american artist will ryman.

American artist Will Ryman has completed work on two sculptures, which are now being exhibited at the Paul Kasmin Gallery. The works will be on display till March 24th of this year. The huge installations have been titled ‘Bird’ and ‘Everyman’ and have been crafted out of everyday objects.

Such efforts do a lot to further the cause of recycling and reusing. Of course, Ryman’s sculptures being very large, had to be made out of custom fabricated products at Demiurge studio. The ‘Bird’ was built using 4,500 nails that were custom made to create the 12 foot tall sculpture, which can be witnessed at 515 w 27th street. Incidentally, the avian piece was inspired by American poet Edgar Allan Poe’s poem ‘The Raven’.

The reclining ‘Everyman’, meanwhile, is made out of household products like bottle caps, paint brushes and work boots. Much bigger than the ‘Bird’, ‘Everyman’ measures 90 feet in length and is installed in 293 tenth avenue, curving around the perimeters of two gallery rooms. One of the arms – which is made entirely out of bottle caps, extends into the gallery.

‘Everyman’ is more than just a reclining figure, however; Ryman also worked on the brain by creating it out of thousands of paint brushes. Visitors to the gallery can take a walk inside the head and admire the work that went into creating this gigantic installation.

Via: Designboom

Artificial leaf; an energy source

Picture Gallery

Artificial leaf

Artificial leaf eyed as holy grail in energy research.

Scientists have come up with the concept of an ‘artificial leaf’, which will turbo charge photosynthesis for producing a good energy yield for commercial power. The foremost thing here is to understand the real potency of the process and how it can be harnessed for increased production.

Photosynthesis is synonymous with carbon fixation, and during this process the production of carbohydrates slows down due to the saturation of the catalyzing enzyme, Rubisco, and the light energy is lost as heat. On sunny days the plants produce larger amounts of electrons that cannot be handled by Rubisco and thus these electrons go waste. Scientists aspire to manipulate this enzyme for increasing the overall efficiency of photosynthesis.

Luckily nature has already endowed certain plants like sugarcane and algae with relatively better performing varieties of Rubisco enzyme and if successfully manipulated in other plants, particularly rice, these plants can become a major source of biofuels.

Director of the Institute of Molecular Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Glasgow, Richard Cogdell, wishes to upgrade this theme by using an artificial leaf we talked about in the beginning. This leaf would directly produce biofuel by making use of water and carbon dioxide. The technology is still in the nascent stages of development and hopefully it will transform the way we produce biofuels.

Via: AFP

Car free zones

Present condition of highways

Air quality issues: The most adverse result of congested roadways is, air pollution. It’s no secret that poor quality of air has the potential to cause many ailments ranging from heart disease and respiratory infections to cancer. While a highway’s contribution to carbon emission levels is lower than that of city roads, owing to near constant speeds maintained by vehicles, pollutants are more likely to be concentrated in areas that witness highway congestion.

Habitat fragmentation: Habitat fragmentation is also one of the outcomes of increased expansion of highways. Wildlife is affected owing to human intrusion and since so many species are at risk of extinction, there needs to be another way out of this conundrum.

Difficulty in building dedicated lanes: We’re seeing an increase in the number of high occupancy lanes being constructed to facilitate mass transit and car pooling. While this method helps to a degree, it is difficult to build such lanes in densely populated areas, making the exercise not much feasible.

Delay on national highway systems: Congested roadways have cost motorists and offices thousands of dollars. 1997 alone saw a massive loss of $72 billion incurred owing to people not getting to work on time and wasted fuel. If this trend could be slowed, we would see increased productivity and fuel conservation. Some cities, however, make use of integrated Intelligent Transportation Systems to aid in traffic flow and increase the system’s capacity.

Green Transportation: Still not gaining traction

The world is slowly realizing the benefits of green transportation, but one of the main reasons discouraging complete dependence is, expensive costs. EVs aren’t cheap to build and many lack the performance that conventional cars have. As of 2011, Pike Research estimated the existence of 479,000 neighborhood electric vehicles on the roads, a small number compared to the annual sales figures of fuel based cars. From 1998 to 2010, the top selling NEVs were those produced by GEM which sold 45,000 units.

EVs have a short driving range and need regular recharging in order to operate. This can be problematic during long trips as charging stations are few and far between. The time taken to charge an EV is a long three hours, nowhere near the time taken to refuel a car. The batteries electric vehicles run on don’t come cheap and each lithium ion battery pack will set you back by $10,000. Since they have a life of just about four to five years, maintenance cost is very high. Lastly, these batteries contain toxic elements that do cause pollution, making green cars not so green after all.

Taking the extreme route: Car free zones

Many countries have designated car free zones. Venice is one such country known to host these zones, which allow two wheelers at times, but no cars. This greatly reduces congestion and improves air quality. Such zones also see many people walking or cycling which increases fitness levels as well as acting as outdoor play areas for kids. They also leave room for more green spaces which is especially important in concrete urban areas.

Increased air quality and better health of a region’s citizens is likely to heighten production. Since every country is looking to boost its economy, car free zones may just be able to aid in the process. These zones also help in maintaining greenery which could in time attract creatures like birds and butterflies, further boosting the state of the environment.

Trends

The largest connected pedestrian zone in Switzerland

The Old Town of Winterthur

Switzerland’s Old Town of Winterthur boasts of having the largest connected pedestrian area. The streets are filled with pedestrians surrounded by a mix of stores and cafes, drawing tourists and citizens alike from far and wide.

The world’s longest pedestrian street in Strøget, Copenhagen

Strøget

Back in 1962, Copenhagen’s City Council decided to pull vehicles off the street between Town Hall Square and The King’s New Square in Strøget. The decision proved to be greatly beneficial and Strøget now boasts of having the planet’s longest pedestrian street.

‘Pedestrian Area’ between Marienplatz and Karlsplatz Tip in Munich

Pedestrian Area

Munich’s ‘Pedestrian Area’ running from Marienplatz to Karlsplatz Tip sees many people strolling around and shopping. The air is much cleaner than zones that see vehicular traffic and there is more interaction between people.

The Zeil in Frankfurt, Germany

Zeil

The western part of the street of the Zeil is a well known pedestrian zone and a famous shopping hub that sees bustling activity throughout the year.

Buchanan Street in Scotland

Buchanan Street

Like other pedestrian zones, Scotland’s Buchanan Street sees plenty of activity. Being one of Glasgow’s main shopping thoroughfares, Buchanan Street boasts a range of upmarket shops.

The impact

Car free zones have a two sided impact on residents. If parking is managed well, there’s nothing to complain about. But, if it isn’t, residents of such areas face the problem of over spilled parking. In North America, Canada has the most number of car free zones. While the United States doesn’t have such a large number, it does attempt to establish transit malls and pedestrianzed single streets. These see a lot of interaction between peoples and heightened healthy activities.

However, there have been instances of matters going drastically wrong in areas dominated by pedestrians. For instance, the Japanese region of Akihabara witnessed a brutal incident after a man drove a truck into pedestrian traffic and knifed over 12 people. In Hong Kong, Sai Yeung Choi Street witnessed three acid attacks from 2008 to 09, prompting authorities to install CCTVs which did little to curb consequent attacks.

Plastics from Biomass

These scientists in collaboration with Dow Chemicals, discovered a process to make chemical raw materials from biomass. The main element is nanocatalyst, which is produced when 0.00002 millimeters of iron particles are stabilized on carbon nanofibers. SynGas, a gaseous mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide synthesized from biomass, is passed across the catalyst, converting it into useful end products, ethylene and propylene.

The series of reactions that result in the conversion is called the Fischer – Tropsch process. The process can be implemented on crop remains, grasses, trees,etc. Instead of depending on limited raw materials to create plastic, companies can use discarded non consumable biomass for bioplastics.

The end products of the SynGas reaction are more advantageous as they do not pose health hazards. Petroleum contains many carcinogenic and other harmful components that make it unsafe to work with unless it is properly cleansed. Though ethylene and propylene molecules are similar in structure to petroleum derivatives, they are devoid of the harmful components that make petroleum.

The research is still in the testing stages, scientists still need to understand the risks and possibilities of the conversion method, the cost involved and other factors before it can be adopted on a wider scale.

Meanwhile, bioplastics continue to face hurdles with regards to pricing, performance, high standards of biodegradability and other issues. Nevertheless, they remain the prime eco friendly choice that can replace the environment damaging plastics.

Via: TreeHugger

1 MW PEM Fuel Cell

Picture Gallery

1 MW PEM Fuel Cell

It also produces good amount of heat that is used in the plant’s production processes.

This PEM fuel cell generates electricity by converting the chemical energy of hydrogen through an electrochemical reaction with oxygen. Apart from electricity the fuel cell system also generates heat, which is also well utilized for the production process of the plant. As per Nedstack, being an energy intensive industry, power is needed from time to time. Hydrogen being one of the byproducts of chlorine industry, the fuel cell system now allows Solvin plant to self generate 20 to 40 percent of the energy it consumes. The total operating efficiency of plant is 80 percent with the current electricity efficiency being 50 percent.

The cell is a unique example of European collaborative effort. The MEA (Membrane electrode assemblies) have been manufactured by Solvicore using Solvay’s polymers in Germany. The fuel cell is then built by MTSA and Nedstack. The only byproducts being water and heat, fuel cells are one of the exciting sources of clean technology. So far emphasis has been on developing fuel cells to power automobiles etc., but their big size can be an option to provide green energy for homes and buildings as well.

Via: Earthtechling