Green design Archive

Natalie Jeremijenko: Environmental art + science

Natalie Jeremijenko: Environmental art + science

Meet Natalie Jeremijenko, a new media artist who works at the intersection of contemporary art, science and engineering. But this is no ordinary artist, by any stretch. She was recently named one of the 40 most influential designers by I.D. magazine, and her background includes studies in biochemistry, physics, neuroscience and precision engineering. Her projects—which explore sociotechnical change—have been exhibited by several museums and galleries, including the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the Whitney, and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt. A 1999 Rockefeller Fellow, she currently has an exhibition at New York’s Neuberger Museum of Art entitled “Connected Environments.”

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Swarms of marine turbines could ‘tap the Gulf Stream’

By Lakshmi Sandhana, BBC News Technology,

Darris White is a deep thinker.

The engineer at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the US is currently finalising designs for a series of turbines that could be used to harness the immense energy of the Gulf Stream, flowing deep in the Atlantic Ocean.

The underwater stream roughly contains around 21,000 times more energy than the Niagara Falls and by some estimates, could potentially provide up to one-third of Florida’s electricity needs.

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Electricity Collected from the Air: Our Newest Alternative Energy Source?

via ScienceDaily (Aug. 26, 2010)

Imagine devices that capture electricity from the air—much like solar cells capture sunlight—and using them to light a house or recharge an electric car. Imagine using similar panels on the rooftops of buildings to prevent lightning before it forms. Strange as it may sound, scientists already are in the early stages of developing such devices, according to a report presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

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200-Fold Boost in Fuel Cell Efficiency Advances ‘Personalised Energy Systems’

via ScienceCentric.com,

The era of personalised energy systems—in which individual homes and small businesses produce their own energy for heating, cooling and powering cars—took another step toward reality today as scientists reported discovery of a powerful new catalyst that is a key element in such a system. They described the advance, which could help free homes and businesses from dependence on the electric company and the corner gasoline station, at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, being held here this week.

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Power Seas: Harvesting Clean Energy From the Ocean

By Jon Bowermaster, via TakePart.com,

Our dependence on fossil fuels for energy can only lead to more harm to the ocean.

Oil leaks, abandoned infrastructures, deep-sea mining and myriad forms of industrial pollution are all inevitable if we continue on the fossil fuel course. All are potentially disastrous to the ocean.

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Gasoline from Thin Air?

By Eric Bland, DiscoveryNews

An enzyme found in the roots of soybeans could be the key to cars that run on air.

Vanadium nitrogenase, an enzyme that normally produces ammonia from nitrogen gas, can also convert carbon monoxide (CO), a common industrial byproduct, into propane, the blue-flamed gas found on stoves across America.

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Bicycle City: A Place for Car-Free and Sustainable Living

By Salvatore Cardon, via TakePart.com

America, say hello to Bicycle City—Gaston, South Carolina’s entry into sustainable, green living. The planned bicycle-only development, which will not allow cars, will be home to 10 eco-friendly houses and 4.5 miles of interconnected bicycle and walking trails.

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Green Power Island: A Vision for Renewable Energy Storage

by Tom Schueneman, via PlanetSave.com

Are energy storage islands the green solution we need?

Denmark is a windy place. Windy enough to provide 20 percent of the country’s power generation from both onshore and offshore wind farms. As growth in wind power continues, the problem of large-scale energy storage from wind becomes an increasing challenge.

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Plugging in Your Hybrid without the Plug

Via (PhysOrg.com) -

Evatran, a company from Virginia in the US, has developed a working prototype of a plugless induction charger for electric and hybrid vehicles, and demonstrated the system at this week’s Plug In conference in San Jose, California.

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The Zero-Emission Hydrogen-Fueled Chevy

It’s been said many times in the last decade: our reliance on fossil fuels must end. In pushing forward this goal, many vehicle manufacturers have marketed their offerings in alternative-fueled vehicles—most of them hybrids combining the use of battery power with traditional internal combustion for lowered use of gasoline. If we are to truly reach this goal, however, we must eliminate the use of fossil fuels altogether—and that is where future solutions such as the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell SUV come into play.

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