EnviroGadget » Alternative Energy

Piezo Shower – Self Heating Shower Concept

Anita (EnviroGadget Writer) — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:00:37 +0000

This Piezo Shower concept offers a shower structure that heats the water passing through it by taking energy from the movement of the water. The Piezo Shower does not use any electricity to heat the water, nor is any needed to power the touchscreen display that controls and provides information on your showering.

The designers of the Piezo Shower, Natalie Weinman, Victor Stelmasuk, Sebastian Jansson and Fernanda Pizá, created a working prototype in Paris. The shower derives power to heat the water and to power the touchscreen display from the movement of the water through the piping. The pipes have fibers enclosed within them and when water is pushed through the pipes friction on the fibers creates electricity and heat. However, I get the impression that some energy is required somewhere to at least get the shower started.

The touchscreen display for the shower is an additional aid to help make showering as eco friendly as possible. The display allows you to adjust temperature and water pressure. The display will also inform you of how long you’ve been in the shower and how much water has been used. This helps keep the user aware of just how much water they’re using for their shower, particularly for people who are prone to losing track of time when washing.

The Piezo Shower is a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing shower that should help to reduce the electricity bills of a household while losing none of the functionality of a shower. In fact the household would gain a modern touchscreen display for controlling and monitoring showering. It’ll be interesting to see if this design evolves into a mass-produced product.

Source: iGreenSpot

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Sony BRAVIA KDL-40VE5 – Energy Saving LCD HDTV

Anita (EnviroGadget Writer) — Mon, 10 May 2010 09:00:04 +0000

The Sony BRAVIA VE5-Series KDL-40VE5 is the smaller of the VE5 series with a 40 inch HD ready screen. The device uses less electricity than other LCD TV screens, and features a zero watt energy conserving standby switch.

The Sony BRAVIA VE5-Series KDL-40VE5 uses Sony’s exclusive micro-tubular Hot Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (HCFL) technology to provide you with the back lighting for the LCD set (most LCD screens use Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps). This helps the screen to exceed the Energy Star 3.0 requirements by over 50%, and to function using about 40% less electricity than other commercial LCD HDTV screens. This technology allows the screen to provide high quality image, giving 16:9 Full HD 1080p resolution (1920×1080) without the considerable drain on electricity other similar screens give.

The screen makes use of a technology Sony call Motionflow, this 120Hz refresh rate technology is meant to help alleviate any blurring in fast motion scenes, keeping the picture quality clear and more life like. The back light of the screen alters itself dependent on the ambient light at the time, helping give you the best picture possible while saving on electricity. The screen also includes a Zero watt standby function, to help make sure that when you are not using the screen you are not loosing any power.

The Sony BRAVIA KDL-40VE5 is available for $849.00 with free shipping!

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S0ccket – Ball Electricity Generator

Anita (EnviroGadget Writer) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:00:28 +0000

The s0ccket ball is a soccer/football that has been designed to take the energy of its movement and convert it into usable electrical energy.

The ball takes the energy of movement, by kicking it, passing it, throwing it about…you name it and converts it into electrical energy that is stored for later use. Using technology similar to that used in shake-to-charge devices the ball can help to power an LED light for up to 3 hours from around 15 minutes of the ball being played with. It can also be used to charge things such as mobile phones, but obviously would take a lot more play time to build up a reasonable amount of charge.

This may not sound like that much but in third world areas where lighting is often supplied with kerosene lamps it can make a big difference. Kerosene lamps are not only expensive to run but also pollute the air, helping to cause or exacerbate chest infections in children. By using the ball to power a LED lamp the children and their families get free, safe, green power to light their homes, and the children gain exercise and play.

The s0ccket ball currently weighs slightly more than regulation soccer/footballs, weighing a maximum of 1.31lb (where as a regulation ball weighs around 1lb) though the makers of the ball are currently working on reducing this weight difference. The ball’s movements may also be a little off due to the technology inside of it, still this difference is unlikely to cause many problems compared to the benefits it can provide in third world nations.

Source: Craziest Gadgets

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Eco Friendly Mobile Phone By Daizi Zheng For Nokia

Anita (EnviroGadget Writer) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:00:56 +0000

This conceptual mobile phone designed by Daizi Zheng aims to replace conventional mobile batteries with an eco friendly version. It was designed for Nokia as a phone battery that is cheaper to produce, uses less resources in its production and its life time of use, while also being able to be disposed of in an environmental manner.

The proposition is that it is possible to power a phone from a carbohydrate, in this case sugar which can be found in high levels in many drinks. The interaction of enzymes with the carbohydrate generates power through an electrochemical reaction. The Eco Friendly Mobile Phone should only produce oxygen and water, as a byproduct of the reaction, which can then be poured out of the battery and down a drain once the phone battery has finally run out of charge. It is hoped that charging a phone this way would give a longer lasting charge time, predicted to be 3 to 4 times the length of charging a normal mobile battery. The designer hopes that this type of battery would be fully biodegradable.

Mobile phones normally run from a lithium battery. It is well documented that producing these batteries, charging them and then disposing of them produces quite a high quantity of pollution into the environment. Unfortunately the manufacturing of many drinks have their own negative environmental impact, from the production of the drink to the issues that arise from the drinks bottles and cans especially when these are not recycled.

By using left over bits of drink the impact is minimized to some extent. This design may well run from sugar dissolved in water which would also lessen the impact somewhat. The problem of disposing lithium batteries is rather serious, coupled with charging the battery from mains power for its life then the negative impact of a conventional lithium phone battery is quite high. Though there are a few unconsidered issues with this ‘eco friendly’ battery it is certainly a step in the right direction.

Source: Dezeen

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Dyson Energy Bracelet – Wrist Phone Charger

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:31 +0000

The Dyson Energy Bracelet is a pretty novel gadget that uses the thermoelectric effect to generate electricity to charge up your cell phone. Due to a difference in temperature between the surface of the skin and the ambient environment, a Peltier element converts that temperature difference into an electrical current, which is stored in a battery on the wrist strap.

When a mobile device needs charging, the wrist strap is just plugged into the micro-USB port of the gadget to charge it up. Although you won’t get hours of use, the charge should be enough for a few minutes talk time. A cool feature on the strap allows you to check the capacity of the battery with tiny LEDs too. As far as green gadgets go, its a very creative use of the thermoelectric effect, and I imagine we’ll be seeing more of this technology in the future.

No pricing or availability information was available at the time of writing.

Source: YankoDesign

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Swap And Go Green LPG Cylinders

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:00:31 +0000

If you use natural gas or low power gas for camping for BBQ stoves, then these funky low-pressure gas (LPG) cylinders are a simple way to use natural gas without the hassle of using normal cylinders. Rather than having to wait to get your cylinder refilled or checked, you literally just grab a new bottle and hand your old one back.

The newest addition is the Swap-n-Go Green range which is 100% carbon neutral LPG, since the company purchases carbon credits from the Australian Government equivalent to the emissions associated with production, transportation and use of this LPG. The Australian Government then uses revenue from those credits to fund carbon reduction programmes.

The cylinders are also made using recyclable materials with a very light construction. The materials include brass, fibreglass, steel and recyclable plastic for the outer shell. Unfortunately the cylinders are only available in Australia at the moment, but its a great idea. I get the impression that gas cylinder technology hasn’t really been updated in the last 20 years!

Source: iGreenSpot and Swap’n'Go.

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Roll Charger – Battery Charging with Chinese Therapy Balls

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:00:59 +0000

The Chinese therapy balls have long been used in Chinese medicine as a way to stimulate acupuncture points in the hand and to loosen stiff joints. As someone who suffers from hand pain on occasion, I think that they’re a great way to improve mobility in your hands and fingers. A product designer by the name of Jiang Qian has combine this hand therapy gadget with a battery charger!

Essentially the balls convert rotational kinetic energy (i.e. movement) into electricity that chargers the batteries internally. As you move the balls around each other, they drive a tiny dynamo internally. You can tell if the AA or AAA battery is charged or not due to the built-in LED light. I just wonder how long it takes to charge up a single battery!?

Source: EcoFriend

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Sunforce 12-Volt 400-Watt Wind Turbine Generator

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:00:54 +0000

If you ever thought about putting up a wind turbine in your garden, you might have been put off by the cost of them. Decent wind turbines easily cost in the thousands in most currencies. If you fancy playing around with a wind turbine, but can’t afford the thousands for a powerful turbine, then perhaps consider this smaller 12-Volt 400-Watt Wind Turbine, which only costs $570!

Ok, sure, you’re not going to be able to run your whole home of this generator, but it’s powerful enough to run a few of your gadgets. You can get the best of the energy it generates by dumping the energy into a high capacity battery using specialised charge controllers. You could potentially use this turbine for camping, sheds and cabins, or just for experimentation.

The turbine is capable of generating 12 Volts at 400 Watts, which is when the turbine blades are spinning at 28MPH. The 46in diameter blades are rated at 110MPH, so it should still be fine in bad weather. The tower kit allows the turbine to be mounted at 30 feet, where the turbine itself measures 15 inches in width, 9 inches in height, and 27 inches in depth.

The Wind Turbine is great value and practical at just $570, allowing you to experiment without breaking the bank. I suggest you read the reviews too, as they give you some technical tips and tricks.

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Lighting for your Swimming Pool powered by water

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:00:22 +0000

If you’re lucky enough to have your own swimming pool, then you’ll have some pool lighting. These clever EcoLights, designed by Lysandre Follet are powered by a built-in turbine that powers the bright LEDs. This means you don’t need to worry about installing electricity in and around your pool.

The Eco-Lights need to be connected to the pre-exisiting flow from the filter pump, which use the flow of water to drive the mini turbine. Therefore if your filter pump is switched off, the lights won’t be on. An interesting idea though. Perhaps another idea would be to combine solar power and tidal power (i.e. water lapping) to power the lights?

Source: Yanko Design

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Citrus-Powered Eco-Friendly Clock

Dan (EnviroGadget Writer) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:00:45 +0000

If you don’t already have a solar powered or wind powered clock, then you might fancy this rather odd lemon powered clock. The clock exploits the lemon’s citric acid as well as the copper and zinc on the clock to generate enough current to power the clock for a week.

However, a waste of lemons I think. Just think how annoying it’ll be to re-set the time whenever you replace the lemons?

Source: GearFuse

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