The Geek Church

Currently, the BP oil spill remains at large as a serious threat to the natural environment surrounding it in the Gulf Coast. Right now, more than one hundred and fifty gallons of oil is still flowing out of control. Although beaches are likely to be affected first, the wetlands of Louisiana are also in considerable danger. In comparison to sand, swamp areas and weeds would be greatly contaminated by the oil spill with little hope of ever being cleaned up. However, designers at a firm in Florida called Greenboat Scientific have devised a solution to oil pollution in swamps.

They’ve developed a watercraft called the Weedoo workboat. Initially, this vessel was created as a eco-friendly alternative to the gas-powered airboats commonly used in the South. The watercraft has been redesigned to carry several times its own weight in oil-soaked weeds, surface oil and other forms of swamp contaminants.

The Weedoo is made of ten foot lightweight fiberglass and foam and runs on a propulsion system powered by a rechargeable battery. Furthermore, this watercraft is operated with fingertip joystick controls, allowing it to maneuver through the shallow areas of the wetlands with great ease. The vessel actually works like a farm tractor. It has a quick-change system that’s able to connect to a variety of additional equipment as attachments, which include the extractor conveyor system, a forklift and a swing-arm cutter.

Greenboat is preparing to mass produce Weedoo waterboats by the hundreds and they expect to make one per day at this time. In addition to stopping oil pollution in the swamps, mass production of the watercraft would also provide employment for Florida residents afflicted by the oil spill. Thus, the creation of the Weedoo seems to be a big step in the right direction for solving the oil spill crisis.

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Even though it’s the location for the World Cup this year, South Africa is facing an energy crisis. Unfortunately, electricity is not an abundant power source for running machines and buildings within the country. So, a non-profit group called Solafrica has stepped up to help South Africa by developing a series of portable solar stations as an alternative power source.

These portable, power stations are made of a compact system with solar panels and accumulators without complex wiring to draw energy from the Sun and use it as a power source. Currently, Solafrica plans to use these power stations to entertain residents of the country who can’t afford to attend the World Cup and lack an electric-powered TV set for watching the games. Then they intend to set up the power stations at various schools in South Africa after the World Cup to satisfy existing energy needs.

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LG just unveiled a special hybrid air conditioner to help the people of Korea. This device is an environmentally-safe hybrid air conditioner called the F-Q232LASS, which uses solar energy as an alternative to electricity in powering the machine.

The F-Q232LASS works by collecting solar power through a solar cell module located on the top of the device, which is kept outside. LG claims that the special air conditioner will help people save money on their energy bill and of course, the machine is designed to be eco-friendly.

According to LG, the F-Q232LASS is also able to help reduce at least 212kg of carbon dioxide within ten years. However, the company has not given information explaining how this device works in reducing carbon dioxide pollution.

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In the pursuit of energy conservation and protecting the environment, researchers to explore the possibilities of safe, renewable sources of power. Of course, well-known options of clean, potentially plentiful energy include solar, wind and hydro power. But what about harvesting the power of underwater tides as another possibility for safe, renewable energy? Well, a company from Sweden called Minestro has found a way to make this concept possible.

They developed a new turbine called Deep Green and it was designed to function as an “underwater kite”. It works by staying underwater, tied to the seabed and generates energy derived from the motion of the ocean itself. The Deep Green turbine is relatively small in its size, which is measured at twelve meters across and it’s capable of generating five hundred watts of energy when it’s in active use.

Minestro recently receiving 2.5 million dollars in funding to begin testing of their underwater kite next year. If this project is successful, we’ll be using electricity generated from the oceans in the near future. However, I can’t help noticing that this underwater kite looks like a smaller version of the Enterprise spaceship from Star Trek. So, we could be entering a new and perhaps final frontier of energy usage.

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The search for a perfect human society. Scientists, philosophers and architects have all studied and explored the possibilities of achieving it. Furthermore, we also see depictions of this concept in the form of futuristic civilizations from science fiction in film and television. Now an Alabama-based company called Forrest Fulton Architecture has developed their own vision for an ideal utopia.

They call their concept Lace Hill and the city of Yerevan in Armenia was chosen as the setting for the design project. Forrest Fulton Architecture’s idea is to create a 900,000 square foot biomorphic spatial surface that connects the adjacent city and the landscape. Lace Hill would be a truncated hill along the natural amphitheater of the Yerevan and this model could support a “holistic, ultra-green lifestyle” with overlapping natural and urban phenomenon. Lace Hill is an artificial hill, clothed in native plants irrigated with a recycled gray water system to create outside seats for viewing the Yerevan and Mt. Ararat. It was designed to consist of exterior perforations based on the intricate details of traditional Armenian lace needlework and their purpose to serve as outdoor space to provide amazing views. Next, a series of tower-voids would function as cooling towers that allow light to completely fill the interior while cooling that space at the same time. Then northern winds passing over the tower-voids’ ponds would serve to generate a giant evaporative cooling mechanism for the semi-arid city.

Forrest Fulton Architecture also intends to use eco-friendly techniques in the development of this project. Surfaces on Lace Hill would be painted to absorb solar heat, filter air and water-borne toxins and support insect and animal life while recycled gray water serves for irrigation of agriculture and plants on the hill. Lastly, the use of sunlight is meant to play a key role in the activities and events that take place on Lace Hill. Living spaces would be located on the long south face of the hill to maximize direct sunlight for views while offices are on the north face of the hill, using indirect light. A narrow office floor plate stepping down toward the south will provide adequate, diffuse daylight. Then retail, restaurants, exhibition halls, a cinema, and a health center line the promenade at the first level. Now, that’s quite a vision for a new, human utopia to revolutionize civilization as we know it. However, I wonder how much it would cost to actually create this ideal utopia and whether or not it could truly function effectively in the real world.

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Like most businesses, hotels commonly offer customers incentives and opportunities to save money to motivate them to become paying guests in their establishments. These incentives usually include special discounts, package deals you can customize and rewards for certain purchases. But what about free meals during your stay in the hotel? That kind of incentive would normally be part of a package deal, discount or reward for making a purchase. However, in Europe, guests in a hotel can get free food by bicycling indoors.

This unique incentive was found at one particular Crowne Plaza Hotel in Denmark. In this hotel establishment, guests can earn free food by spending fifteen minutes, pedaling on special bicycles designed to generate electricity. Fifteen minutes of pedaling produces ten watts of power, which is rewarded with a $36 meal voucher. This hotel also has solar panels on its roof as an alternative source of energy.

This free meal for indoor bicycling deal is scheduled to start on April 19 and it’s set to last for a whole year. Sounds like a pretty generous incentive for your hotel stay. You might even consider it a win-win scenario, getting free food for fifteen minutes of exercise. Hey, let’s hope that hotels in the United States will start using this incentive with customers too in the near future.

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The use of energy to power personal devices, buildings and cities is still an issue in today’s culture. Most concerns about energy use focus on subjects such as pollution of the environment, depletion of the Earth’s natural reserves and saving money. Research is still being done to find alternatives to the use of more common energy sources such as oil, natural gas and electricity. Some of these other options include hydro and solar power. There is also wind energy, which apparently is now being used to power buildings.

A recent example of this innovation with wind energy is the Strata Building, also known as the Razor. This building is forty-two stories high and has three extremely large wind turbines built into its facing, which fills eight percent of the building’s regular energy use. The turbines require winds of thirty-five miles per hour in order to generate power and they can produce up to 50MWh of electricity each year.

Thus, the Strata Building exists as a tangible example, showing the benefits of wind energy. However, you do have to consider how practical it is to use wind turbines to power a building. Would there be a back plan or failsafe to compensate for days when the turbines can’t get 35mph winds so they can function?

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They say that one of the biggest water wasting activities is long showers. Yes, I am guilty of this. Even hotel bathrooms warn us to use water sparingly. This is actually where Paul Priestman, director of U.K. design firm Priestmangoode, got the idea for the Waterpebble.

The Waterpebble is, for lack of a better word, a pebble-shaped device that is made for the floor of the shower. Some sort of special sensors in the Waterpebble can sense how much water has flowed past it and down to the drain, and shows this amount with an indicator light.

The green light means that your shower is the proper length. As long as it is still on, you are saving the Earth. The yellow light is, of course, a cautionary alarm, as you have used just enough. As you might have guessed, a red light means that you should stop your shower now.

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Technology continues to become more portable, providing convenience and easy access for people on the go. Such examples of this include laptops, cellphones, iPods, netbooks and digital cameras. However, the energy sources for the tech we rely on are usually not so convenient. Batteries have a limited charge, so they eventually have to be recharged or replaced and special power cords and adapters have to be plugged into a stationary wall socket. If energy sources need to become more portable for easy transport, how about a power generator you can carry on your back?

Of course, you may be wondering how this is possible. The answer lies with Bourne Energy’s new development called the Backpack Power Plant or BPP-2. It is a thirty-pound, hydroelectric device that generates fifty watts of energy. That’s the same amount of power you can get from sixty solar panels. The device is about the size of a tall airtank and can be easily carried like a backpack. It can be used in any stream of water deeper than four feet and runs quietly without giving off heat or exhaust.

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This next product is by Innergie, a company that is coming out with all new ways to charge things.

This particular one is the mCube Mini, a way of charging a laptop, netbook or other mobile device on a car or a plane.

I had a chance to try it out, and, if you’re interested, you can read my review here.