Solar wind is a plasma stream which is radiated continuously by the Sun and the changes of their properties cause auroral brightening and magnetic storms. The solar wind helps electric sails to move around which means that these electric sails don’t need any other type of fuel.

The developer of this fuel-free electric sail if Dr. Pekka Janhunen from the Finnish Meteorological Institute and this invention could revolutionize the movement across space. These devices consist of long metallic tethers and a electron gun powered by the Sun.

According to Dr. Janhunen, his team didn’t “encountered major problems in any of the technical fields thus far” and he also added that the will begin testing in the near future and the researchers are sure that this technology is cheaper and it can lead to a faster space exploration.

Mobile phone coverage can become energy efficient thanks to a brilliant idea for a Swedish company called Flexenclosure. According to the company, in Africa you can find about 40,000 base stations powered by diesel engines and each station needs 5200 gallons of oil which means about 210,000,000 gallons yearly in order to be able to use cell phones.

Their technology is called E-site and it consists of adding to the conventional base station, solar panels on the roof and wind turbines at the top of the antennas. The E-site is helped by an intelligent operating system which is also very adaptable. If it runs low on energy, but the sun will shine soon, Flexenclosure’s system will not switch to the diesel generator.

According to Flexenclosure, their technology will lead to a decrease of 80 percent of the use of diesel and they will begin to sell the technology by the end of this year in suitable countries.

When you hear about toys, you do not take them very seriously because only kids play with them. Actually, the story is a little different, as Horizon Fuel Cells is going to provide toy cars with small fuel cells. Their idea is to make educational toys because nowadays not many read books and what’s the best way to connect the people to the future technology?

According to Taras Wankewyecz, vice-president of Horizon Fuel Cells, the big plan of the company is to fund researches for boats and vehicles that can run on hydrogen-based technology.

The fuel cell-developer signed a deal with toy-maker Corgi that will use fuel cells to power up remote-controlled toys. The new toy is going to be better than a previous product of Horizon, the H-Racer which also runs on small fuel cells.

It seems like from now on, we will take toys more seriously because they are a big educational step for green and clean technologies.

Source

Everybody knows that computers generate a lot of heat which doesn’t serve for anything but only for global warming. Now some people in Switzerland have come up with the perfect solution - the heat coming from an IBM-based computer center is going to warm up a local swimming pool.

The heat from the equipment will be piped through a system that will send the heat to its neighbors. Although there was some investment for the tools and equipment, the environmental benefits are more important.

Source

Here is an interesting idea which could allow sustainable agriculture to be deployed even in the most arid places on Earth. The project is called Fog Tower and it consists of a helical structure that absorbs and sewers water from surrounding areas. The designers of the Fog Tower are Alberto Fernandez and Susana Ortega and they are planning to install the concept in some areas in Chile.

The Coastal Fog Tower could provide a sustainable agriculture at the edge of Atacama Desert and its technique was inspired from a unique fog type specific to Chile called “Camanchaca”. This bizarre fog spreads from Northern Chile all the way to Peru and it’s condensed into a cloud at 200-400 meters above the surface.

The technology of the helical tower consists of channeling the moisture and sending the water to the basement then the minerals in the water are filtered through reverse osmosis system which is also very efficient. After these processes, the water is distributed via a system that produces 2-20 liter per square meter which means about 20,000 to 200,000 liters per day.

I guess we will have to wait for more information about the tower because if it were to rely only on these details then this technology looks almost perfect. Also, it would be a huge step if it could help to the development of sustainable agriculture near desert areas.