New ways to get energy

HM Coolhunt 5 – new ways to get energy

Over the past few years companies and people have been inventing new ways of generating electricity. Everyone is looking for fossil fuel alternatives. At this moment solar panels are still very expensive but they are becoming cheaper.

A team of developers from the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) invented a small generator that can extract electricity from body temperature. A generator like this is not something new, but KAIST has made a version by which thermo electric substanceswere printed on fibre. Because of this, it is the first generator that is small enough to be incorporated into a smart watch. It’s also possible to bent the prototype. At this moment it’s still a prototype, so not for sale.

Another invention is to use plants as ‘biological solar panels’. Swiss designer Fabienne Felder has worked with University of Cambridge scientist Paolo Bombell to develop a way of using plants as a charger. Most people see moss as weeds.

During the photosynthesis process moss produces many so- called surplus (excess) electrons. Felder’s team captures these excess electrons, and uses them, in this case, to provide a radio from energy. So in this way they make a kind of organic solar panels from moss.

The technique is not ideal yet, the radio can be used only a few minutes at this stage. But the technique is still in it’s early stages.

Another example is Plant-E. It’s a company from Wageningen, Holland. They are also busy with the technology to create energy from plants. In Zaandam, Holland, there will come a charging point for mobile phones, that is fed by a park. The company devised a system whereby plants generate electricity.

‘At this moment you pay 60.000 euro for 100 square meters from their system, but if their technology develops further their energy will also be available for the normal consumer’.

A different way of getting energy from nature is the inflatable wind turbine, the Buoyant Air Turbine. The system generates power at a high altitude (300 meters above the ground) and is therefore cheaper, more flexible and more efficient than existing wind turbines.

Conventional wind turbines are standing on high masts and have an average height of 100 meters. The problem is that the wind speed close to the ground fluctuates very often.

‘The company Altaeros has designed the BAT to generate consistently cheap electricity for rural areas and microgrids including remote communities and islanders, oil en gas industry, mining, agriculture, telecommunication companies, disaster reduction and military bases’, said a spokesman from the company.  (aandrijvenenbesturen)

The BAT will, after an 18- month demonstration, be deployed on a site at the south of Fairbanks in Alaska.

Even more ideas were devised for the places where people have nothing and therefore don’t have the money for electricity. The Filipino entrepreneur and activist Illac Diaz has found a wonderful and inexpensive solution to enlighten dark spaces in slums, for example. The residents of these neighbourhoods often use kerosene candles or tapped electricity as a source of lighting with all safety risks of such.

Diaz uses as light source a transparant plastic soft drink bottle that is filled with water. Then the bottle will be affixed as a ceiling lamp, using glue and a roof covering plate. The water breaks the sunlight that shines into the bottle and spreads it in rays of 360 degrees, lighting the complete room. The solar bottle has become known as ‘liter of light’. It costs including maintenance are about one dollar and the lamp distributes a quantity of light similar to a light bulb of 55 wats.

The invention means a hughe saving on electricity, kerosene, candles or other fuel for the residents.

Diaz launched a succesful campaign in 2011 in which inhabitants of urban slums produced and installed the bottles themselves. Hundreds of people have been trained who earn money with installing the bottles. Tens ouf thousands solar bottles have been installed worldwide.

The bottle campaign started in the Philippines and has spread to India, Nepal, South America and Africa. The project ‘liter of light’ is conducted by the My Shelter Foundation.

Why is it cool?
Most of the time sustainability is about the over- use of energy. With the examples above, I was particularly pleased to see that there also are several new opportunities for the bottom layer of the population.

Because they now can see things again the dark, it’s safer for these people in slums in the evening. Also their days have become longer and they can better distribute their work. When energy will become cheaper for the slum dwellers, there can be done more technically and hopeflly also in a sustainable way!

Worldwide there are still hundreds of millions of people living in small structures in slums where they are exposed to risks due to the use of unsafe energy. Trough the new inventions it will be a lot safer there and they can work more efficiently.

Quality of Life

In the ‘category’ material wellbeing it has to do with all the categories (food, possessions, transport, privacy, housing quality, income, security). When the people in slums have more light and electricity they can work more efficient and earn more money, with more money they can eat, can have a roof above their head, have an income, they can have more possessions (although I think that they are already happy with the roof and food) but they also have more chance at more safety. This way of energy is a lot safer than the energy they are using at this moment.

And because of the safety it can also be assigned to ‘personal safety and mobility’. The unsafe use of energy creates accidents and it can cause that this has consequences for people’s health and mobility.

Thanks for reading!!

For more information check out these websites:
– http://www.bright.nl/opladen-met-lichaamswarmte-thermo-generator-smartwatch-elektrisch-oplader
– http://fullinsight.com/blog/2014/3/plant-e-living-plants-generating-electricity
– http://www.dezeen.com/2014/02/10/moss-biological-solar-panels-radio/
– http://freshgadgets.nl/deze-futuristische-machine-haalt-energie-uit-de-lucht
– http://www.aandrijvenenbesturen.nl/nieuws/algemeen/nid6888-opblaasbare-windturbine-zweeft-300-meter-boven-de-grond-video.html?printversie=1
– http://www.summer-foundation.org/nl/Initiatieven/Liter-of-Light
– http://freshgadgets.nl/lightie-een-innovatief-lampje-voor-ontwikkelingslanden

Sustainable and Wearable tech

HM Coolhunt 4 – sustainable & wearable tech

Over the last few years, solar panels have become more and more popular. In every city you can see them on the roof, on the speed indicators, street lights etc. I already told in one of my previous blogs that they are also being used on airplanes.

This Coolhunt is about wearable tech and most of the examples are also sustainable.

The first concept is ‘Carbon’ from Energy Blinks – ‘It’s the only watch that can charge your smartphone’. Via solar cells in the screen it’s possible to give a smartphone around 3 hours more time to call. However, the ‘carbon’ is not available yet, it’s still a kickstarter project.

The carbon makes it possible to charge your phone everywhere, even in places without power outlets. Thereby, it’s very sustainable because of the solar cells.

Another example of wearable technology for charging your phone are the dresses from ‘Pauline van Dongen’, called ‘Wearable Solar’. She has two prototypes, a dress and a coat wherein solar cells are integrated. With this dress you can charge your phones’ complete battery.

Wearable solar is a collaboration between three companies: Pauline van Dongen, she is the fashion designer, Gert- Jan Jongeden from Exergy, as solar energy specialist and Gelderland Valoriseert.

A third concept is the Vega Edge, it’s an elegent and simple wearable light. When I got my new bicycle, after 3 months the light on the back broke already . Since then I have always been struggling with working back lights. The lights got stolen, I forgot to turn them off which emptied the battery or I forgot them at home. But now they have invented a good solution. You can wear the light with all your clothes, it just looks like an accessorize. The Vega Edge contains four strong magnets, making it click securely at your clothes. At this moment they are working with batteries that run for 20 hours. I think that if they are going to work with solar panels the lights will both improve people’s safety AND the environment.

I’ve also found two other examples that are not sustainable yet at this moment but have much to do with wearable tech. Thereby, there is a big chance that they will be sustainable in the future.

The first one is a design from Borre Akkersdijk. He designs clothes that are closely intertwined with technology. Borre Akkersdijk created a tech- heavy onesie. If you put the onesie on you will turn into a walking wifi hotspot. It’s called the ‘BB.Suit’ (Crunchwear).

‘Akkersdijk is more than a critic, though, and has designed a product that attempts to illustrate his vision for what truly wearable technology should look like’.

This onesie was shown off at SXSW festival two months ago and, as such, it is to be considered only a working prototype (Crunchwear).

The last concept for this has a lot to do with the sector Human Movement, the sector where we are busy with at school for the past 5 weeks.

It is called the Glowfaster smart jacket. ‘The jacket lights up and flashes to show if you’re quick enough’ (Dailymail). ‘The lights also show you how your training is going, whether your heart rate is at target and whether you are at target speed. The Glowfaster App controls the jacket via Bluetooth to allow the user to set up the smart clothing to their own settings and gain motivation intuitively from their own biofeedback’ (kickstarter). Ex- marine Simon Weatherall came up with the idea of the jacket, which has been designed by Joanna Kent. the jacket was seen on BBC Dragons Den. And at this moment it’s looking for funds online at Kickstarter. The jacket is already finished but now they are trying to combine the power unit and the control unit into one complete compact item. They also have massive plans to extend their smart clothing range further.

Why are the concepts cool?
I think that not all the wearable tech innovations are cool, but I think that the examples I have given are good solutions.

The wearable tech encourages people to excercise more. The Vega Lite is a good example of wearable tech that promotes the safety of people.

The other examples ensure that having a smartphone don’t have to be harmful  for the environment anymore.

I showed a few concepts that are not yet sustainable but I think that in the future all the wearable tech gadgets will become sustainable. Solar panels have been invented in all shapes and sizes. I think that in the future all our phones will have solar panels so we don’t need to charge them anymore!

Why it has future growth potential:
Obese is a worldwide problem. Almost one and a half billion people over the world are overweight. A lot of companies are inventing a lot of wearable gadgets to stimulate people.

Thereby people don’t have to do much themselves with this wearable tech to save energy which makes it easier to be good for the environment.

Quality of Life
At last, these concepts can improve our quality of life.

Our physical wellbeing is improved for instance. It has a good effect on the parts Health and fitness because all the gadgets will make people move more which makes them more healthy and more fit.

In the ‘category’ material wellbeing it can be classified in the ‘category’ safety and transport. The new gadgets make it safer for people on the road.

It also can be classified in the ‘category’ social wellbeing to social involvement. It  makes it easier for people to be sustainable and more involved to the world.

 

Check the links below for more information:
– http://www.crunchwear.com/energy-bionics-presents-solar-watch-also-charges-phone/
– http://www.han.nl/start/corporate/nieuws/nieuws/jurk-met-zonnecellen-dwdd/
– http://design-milk.com/vega-edge-wearable-light-works-wardrobe/
– http://byborre.com/#/
– http://www.wired.com/2014/04/3-d-printed-fabrics-turn-body-suit-into-wearable-mp3-player/
– http://www.crunchwear.com/tech-heavy-onesie-turns-walking-wi-fi-hotspot/
– http://www.gizmag.com/glowfaster-fitness-jacket/31007/
– https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1944279378/glowfaster-smart-jacket-heart-rate-gps-gaming-and?ref=discovery
– http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/glowfaster-jacket

 

 

 

 

Building your house in a few hours

Coolhunt 3 HM – Building your house in a few hours

A lot of people live in cities and they all want their own home. There are still a lot of new houses being built while a lot of old crappy houses are empty. The prices of new houses are too high so people are searching for good looking affordable homes.

For building all those houses a lot of raw materials are being used.

In the future the term cradle to cradle will be used more often. Cradle to cradle is the biological cycle. All materials could be used, after their life in one product, in another product.

I found a few signals that will make this possible in the future.

The first one is a concrete eating robot. In the future it will be possible to demolisch concrete walls with water. At this moment the methods for wrecking buildings give a lot of mess and noise.

The Swede, Omer Haciomeroglu, from the Umea Institute of Design thought this could be done easier. He developed the ERO concrete recycling robot. At this moment it is still a concept.

‘The ERO robot uses water to disassemble concrete and then sucks all of the separate components — cement, sand, and aggregate — neatly into different packages for reuse’. ‘High pressure water jets attack the micro cracks on the concrete surface, making it come apart’, explains Omer Haciomeroglu. ‘It leaves the metal rebar inside naked and ready for reuse’.

In the future the robot will be able to recycle everything from the building.

I also found a signal that a bike ‘can turn plastic cups into a 3D printer Ink’ (PSFK).
‘Taiwanese design factory Fabcraft is making creative recycling a little more accessible’ (PSFK). The bike has a workstation that grinds plastic cups into a powder that you can put in a 3D printer.

In the future the different materials that come from the buildings may be perhaps ink for the 3D printer.

The last signal completes the circle.
In Amsterdam they are building a canal house with a 3D printer. Moreover, the construction site also funcions as an exhibition. The idea came from ‘DUS architects’ and the idea behind this project is to make a start at developing ways to make buildings in a fast and efficient manner using recyclable materials.

 

In China there are also people building 3D printed houses. The company Winsun Decoration can build 10 houses a day. The houses are very small, simple and not pretty. The chinese company will show that 3D printing is very practical and can be used for social purposes.

 

So in the future we can design our own houses, print them with old materials and when they are done with it they can break it down again and print a new house. That will create a city that is changing every day. But not only in the city they can print houses. It is now also possible to print cheap houses in developing countries, for example in disaster areas or in slumbs.

Why is it cool?
Waste is increasing and the damaging effects on the environment with it. Perhaps even more importantly, we are throwing a lot of valuable materials away. What if these materials can be used as a raw material for other products? And without the risk of losing any quality. So the focus is not on ‘less waste’, but on ‘no waste‘. So in the future all our garbage will be recycled into other products.

Why has it future growth potential?
Trough the overproduction of packages and products, that will be thrown away very quickly, a lot of noxious substances will come free that are bad for the environment. In previous blogs I already mentioned that it will accelerate the global warming and that we will not be able to leave our garbage anywhere. So cradle to cradle ensures that this will be delayed.

QOL
These signals also have an impact on our quality of life.

Within the category ‘Physical wellbeing‘ it has to do with your health. When you produce things, the bad chemicals will cause you getting sick.

In the category material wellbeing the housing quality is one of the things it touches upon. The global warming will cause a lot of natural disasters that can cause insecurity about having your own home afterwards. It has therefore also to do with your ‘Finances/Income’. It could just be that the products and commodities that your work needs aren’t available for a certain time or that your work is hit by a natural disaster. Therefore I also have to think about the categorie ‘Development and activity’. Can you save your work? And is it still possbile to do the things that you like in your free time?

Within the category ‘emotional wellbeing‘, it has to do with fullfillment and status, and in the category social wellbeing with community involvement, because your friends/ family/ relatives could be in trouble trough the global warming.

I hoped that you enjoyed reading this blog!

for more information:
– http://3dprintcanalhouse.com/barack-obama-views-3d-print-canal-house
– http://news.discovery.com/tech/robotics/concrete-eating-robot-recycles-buildings-140226.htm
– http://www.fastcoexist.com/3028697/this-concrete-eating-robot-can-recycle-an-entire-building-on-the-spot#5
– http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/03/16/kijken-in-amsterdam-wordt-momenteel-een-3d-grachtenpand-uitgeprint/
– http://numrush.nl/2014/04/30/chinees-bedrijf-bouwt-wel-tien-3d-geprinte-huizen-een-dag/
– http://www.psfk.com/2014/04/plastic-cup-recycling-bike.html#!GOPOf
–

Road to the future

Coolhunt 2 HM – Road to the future

Travelling and moving yourself by car for instance, costs a lot of energy. Not only for the means of transport itselves, but also for the streetlights, traffic lights and the electric information boards a lot of energy is needed.
Now, new manners are being invented in order to be more sustainable on the road.

The first parts of ‘smart hightway‘ were revealed in Oss, the 9th of April. This concept is designed by Daan Roosegaarde and it is being developed in collaboration with Heijmans (a Dutch construction company). Roosegaarde is one of the most innovative designers, he lets art and technology fuse together.

Together with Heijmans, Roosegaarde is busy to make his designs and ideas reality.

The N329 near Oss, in the Netherlands, is the first highway with ‘glowing lines‘, that is road marking which absorbs light during the day and releases it in the dark. At the moment, lines of 500 meters can be found on the N329.

The focus of innovation of transport has been mostly on the car itself until now. With the ‘glowing lines’, the road will be sustainable, safer and prettier. No energy has to be wasted for streetlights anymore.

At this moment the lines are not completely working because they can not yet tolerate moisture, but it was the first test and more tests will follow.

‘Glowing lines’ is not the only smart highway project.

Next to the ‘glowing lines’, they are developing a promosing technology for the smart highway: charging electric cars during driving.

One of the obstacles of the electric cars is that there is a limited distance (around 100 km) that you can drive electric. After that, the battery has to be reloaded.
The car will be charged wireless on a short distance due to induction charging.

Induction loading works as follows: Under the asphalt magnetic coils are placed in the shape of long cables. Which generates an elctro- magnetic field. That energy is transformed to a high frequency of a few hundred kilohertz and transported to the car.

Daan Roosegaarde also invented a few other things, but for this coolhunt I stay with these two.

Another company, ‘Tvilight’, invented intelligent lighting controls to make the street more sustainable. The intelligent street lighting system consists of dimmable lights and wireless sensors and the lighting is controlled by motion detection. ‘During off- peak hours lights dim to a pre- defined level. Upon detection of a pedestrian, bicycle, or car, all lights in the vicinity increase to full brightness. In this way the solution combines safety with saving’ (Tvilight).

There are also efforts made to fly more sustainably.

The Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard and his partner André Borschberg are going to try to fly around the world, without using any fuel. They will be using the Solar Impulse II, an airplaine that is provided with four electric motors that get its energy from the more than 17,000 in the wing-mounted photovoltaic solar cells.

These are all good examples that make transport more sustainable.

Why is it cool & has it future growth potential?
I already told in my previous blog that we are using to much energy which has a bad effect on the global warming. It is good that the focus is not on the car itself anymore but also on the other elements that have to do with transportation.

It is possible that we take a different direction in the future. We can still all have our own car because the road is sustainable and the electric car will be more sustainable. Everything is provided in a natural way of producing energy which has no bad effects on the earth. Solar cells will be able to be everywhere in all shapes and sizes. But I think we also are going to use the bike more often. People also want to stay fit and feel healthy and because off the ‘fietsklik’ (read my previous blog) it is more likeable to take the bicycle. So for the short distances everyone is going to take the bike but for longer distances they can use their cars. On the road there will be a totally new experience due to Daan Roosegaarde’s glowing lines and other things he will invent in the future. In the future the earth will be healthier because there will be no more emission of toxic substances. Nature will grow, together with sustainable technology.

QOL
These signals also have an impact on our quality of life.
I think that I can place them in the same category as in my previous blog.

Within the category ‘material wellbeing‘ it has to do with security/ safety. People want to feel safe and they don’t want to worry about natural disasters or that a part of the land at a certain moment no longer exists which will deprive them of having their own homes.

It also relates to transport. Everyone is trying to get from A to B in different ways, people should be flexible in that because it effects health and the environment. In the future they will get a new experience on the road and cycling path. 

In the categorie physical wellbeing it has to do with personal safety. Trough natural disasters a lot of people are losing their lives or they get injured. But also because of the toxins people get sick which also touches upon human health.

It also relates a bit to social wellbeing both in the parts social involvement and activities. To undertake things that are not in the neighbourhood you need transport. You don’t want to be hindered in doing activities and with social involvement it is important for you that everyone can live without natural disasters or a poor health.

And in the categroy Emotional Wellbeing I think it has to do with satisfaction, you are feeling better when you can do little things for a better environment.

This was my second blog for my fifth block of school already!

Check these websites for more information about this coolhunt:
– http://tweakers.net/nieuws/95362/team-toont-zonnevliegtuig-solar-impulse-2-dat-wereldreis-moet-maken.html
– http://www.kennislink.nl/publicaties/snelweg-van-de-toekomst
– http://mashable.com/2014/04/22/glow-highway-netherlands/#:eyJzIjoidCIsImkiOiJfeXppaWNvMDhlcmdlYW9nbjh0dzdhXyJ9
– http://www.tvilight.com/nl/

 

Transportation

Coolhunt 2 HM – Road to the future

What is it?

Air pollution is a big problem in the word. Exhaust gases from cars are one of the causes. When noxious subastances (pollutants) have fallen into air, water or soil (land), it’s very hard to get these substances away. Smog from the exhaust gases can cause major health problems.

I read an article at a Dutch news site – Nos.nl –  about the smog problems in China.
They were telling that a lot of prosperous Chinese leave China and go to live somewhere else because of the thick smog that hangs over many cities.

And also in the Netherlands there is to find a lot of Smog. In the Netherlands people use the car more often than before. Trough the extensive use of cars, the roads in Holland become overcrowded and there often arise files. Even for short distances people are taking the car now.

Around the world, they have been thinking about new possibilities and they are inventing new things. This ensures that the world will change, and look differently, in the future.

I am going to show you 3 signals which show us that.

The first one:
‘Fietsklik‘ (Bike Click) makes sure that you are going to take your bike faster (quicker).

We already have seen a lot of crates which you can put on the front or at the back of a bike, but they never fit well on the bike and are not easy to take on and off, lock on your bike, or to take with you during shopping.
It’s even a lot of work to change the crate into a childseat, so a lot of people take the car when they have to pick up their child or are going to the supermarket.

Grocery shopping will become easier with the ‘fietsklik’. You don’t have to put your groceries in a shopping cart or basket when you have payed  and to put them after that in your car or in your panniers.
It’s easy to take the ‘fietsklik’ inside the grocery store, it has wheels and extandable handles, and now you can roll your groceries trough the store. For the men you can even put a beer crate in it!

At this moment they are at the prototyping stages of the childseat. ”When it’s finished, the parent can bike to school, pick up their child, put them on the bike an ride back home and if they want to do their groceries afterwards they only have to exhance the child seat with a simple click, pick it off and put the crate on it. The system is multifunctional and so you don’t need the car anymore” (youtube).

Another invention is ‘zipcar’.
You sign up online, you type in the date or time, you can look up cars, based on locations and ones it’s reserved, walk over the car and open it up. The key is right in the car and you’re off and driving. At the website or the mobile app you can see which cars are available. They have all sorts of cars for a variety of purposes.

The ‘zipcar’ is very useful because it’s only there when you need it and you don’t have to worry about the extra costs for the car.

Because of the ‘fietsklik’ you don’t need the car very often and the zipcar makes it easier to don’t have a car.

And last but not least, they invented a car seat which inflates in 40 seconds, a new concept which Volvo revealed. Because it’s inflatable it fits in a bag what will make it easier to take it with you en you don’t have to use your own car for the normal heavy child seat which is made of metal and plastic.

These inflatable childseats are simple to use in the ‘zip car’ and so even with a child they don’t need their own car.

Why is it cool?
At this moment we’re using to much energie and fossil fuels. Because of the car more nuxious substances come free and more people will become ill.

The Co2 emissions also have a lot of impact on the global warming. Co2 arises upon the combustion of fossil fluels, like coals, oil or gas. Trough global warming the earth heats slowly. Due to the warming of the oceans, the polar ice caps will melt, causing the water level that rises. The consequences are clear: low- lying areas will be flooded. Holland is a low- lying country, he west coast will end up flooded/ swamped if no measures are taken.

So I think that it’s very important to try counter all of this. The three signals in this blog are a good example of it. They make it easier for people to change their daily routines.

Future growth potential
In the next few years the global warming will still increase and we really don’t want a part of Holland having flooded or a lot of natural disasters occurring.

In the future the number of cars has dicreased and also in other countries they are cycling more often. In mountain areas they invented new things, like bike lifts or other transportations. Holland will make good economic advances because all around the world they want the dutch bikes and want to know which cycle paths works the best.

QOL
These signals also have an impact on our quality of life.
Within the category ‘material wellbeing‘ it has something to do with security/ safety. People want to feel safely and don’t want to worry about natural disasters or that a part of the land has to stop existing.

This also has to do with living, being able to retain your own home or possessions, not having your own car anymore, but how can you personalize for instance the zip car?

It also relates with transport. Everyone is trying to get from A to B in different ways, people should have to be flexibel in it because it effects health and the environment.

In the categorie physical wellbeing it has to do with personal safety. Trough natural disasters a lot of people are losing their lives or get injured. But also, because of the toxins people will get sick and so it also belows to people’s health.

It also has a bit of social wellbeing as well at the parts social involvement and activities. To undertake things which are not in the neighbourhood you need transportation. You don’t want to be hindered at doing activities and with social involvement it’s important for you that everyone can live without natural disasters or a poor health.

Thanks for reading!

Links:
– http://freshgadgets.nl/fietsklik-briljante-fietsaccessoires-van-nederlandse-bodem
– http://www.fastcodesign.com/3029010/volvos-new-child-car-seat-inflates-in-40-seconds
– http://www.zipcar.com
– http://nos.nl/artikel/616699-smog-jaagt-chinezen-weg.html