The world’s first hydrogen plane has been tested. The plane has 15 meter wings and a top-secret fuel tank design. A predicted flight time of 24 hours can be achieved using the unmanned craft.
Technology
Wind Power Potential!
According to a Stanford University study there is enough wind to generate five times more energy than the world currently needs. The total output of power is predicted to be 72-terrawatts – and that’s a conservative number.
The researches placed 8,199 wind monitoring devices around the globe to reach their conclusion. Wind monitoring devices used in the study were located primarily in the developed world, as a result they had to generalize in the majority world.
Environmentally Friendly AC
Some students have created an air conditioner that is more environmentally friendly than your common cooling unit. From the article: “[the students] won the first-ever Ricoh Sustainable Development Award in May when they competed against 1,400 other worldwide invitation-only entries at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix.”
More info on the Ricoh Sustainable Development Award.
Fueled By Garbage
It seems that the movie Back to the Future accurately predicted that cars will be powered by rubbish. NPR has a story posted on their website about an international contest to make a car run using a chemical reaction for a lengthy 16.5 meters.
Students from Oklahoma won the prize.
From Sails to Solar
As the price of oil increases (because we are running out of the stuff) some smart people are realising that we need to look elsewhere for energy. It is only suiting that the shipping industry does this since renewable resources for energy (wind) have been used longer than human-made forms of energy. One company, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, has designed a ship that uses three forms of energy: wind, solar, and water.
The linked article also has a list of other innovate approaches that have been spawned by this boating project.
Thanks, Emily!