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/

 

Coolhunt 5 – Against Global Warming

Sustainability is a long term trend and the past few years there have been invented new ways to deal with it. There are two trends I would like to share with you.

The first trend is about package waste. I already showed you a few cool things that are designed against food waste. In the past two years, there also have been invented products against packet waste.

The fast food firm ‘Bob’s’ came up with an edible wrapper. In the video below you can see that the people not only eat their burger but also eat the wrapper. It’s made from rice leaves and it tastes just like a normal burger.

There is also an ice cream shop, Coolhaus, that wraps it’s ice cream in edible paper.

The company ‘Monosol’ creates dissolvable packages for hot chocolate powder, oatmeal and other things. You can put the plastic into hot or cold water and it slowly dissapears.

Food package is a big part of the waste in our homes. Packings for the school lunch, or packages in the evenening during cooking. I’m always thinking about what can be done about this and the edible or dissolvable packages seem like a good solution to me.

At pinterest I have also seen a lot of pictures of nice ways to package your food, like eatable spoons or chocolate boxes.

The second trend is Urban Farming. I think everyone recognizes that title.

Anywhere in the western world, there have arisen vegetable gardens. At empty places in the city, in empty buildings or even on roofs. It’s also possible to make a vegetable table on balconies or even in the kitchen.
Urban farming has many advantages: it provides fresh and affordable fruit and vegetables. The city will become healthier and cleaner.

Another example are the string gardens from Fedor van der Valk. It’s kind of the same as the Bonsai- technique where roots are growing in a ball of moss. You can hang the plants in your home. It’s a new way off gardening.

Why is it cool?
This year there were people who thought that there was a pause in the climate change. Since 2001 global warming has been slower than predicted. Research shows that the global warming hasn’t stopped in the past decade, but that the heat has been pushed below the surface because of the strong wind (Volkskrant, 2014)

This is why we still have to live more sustainable. It’s nice that they invent new ways to get people’s attention.

Why has it future growth potential?
An article in the Volkskrant says that the earth will heat up very quickly if the winds slow down in the coming years. The global warming hasn’t stopped and will not stop in the coming years. So everyone has to become more aware of it and the new inventions will help in this process.