Sustainability Matters

Two US companies have been busily cranking out their own designs to meet the demand for customers that like the idea of a solar powered electric cargo bike in the form factor of a micro car, but that don’t want the hassle of an actual car to deal with.

North Carolina-based Organic Transit developed the ELF, while Massachusetts based Better Bike offers the PEBL.

https://electrek.co/2018/06/04/solar-powered-electric-bike-cars-elf-and-pebl-might-just-be-weird-enough-to-work/

Transportation geek Wanis Kabbaj thinks we can find inspiration in the genius of our biology to design the transit systems of the future. In this forward-thinking talk, preview exciting concepts like modular, detachable buses, flying taxis and networks of suspended magnetic pods that could help make the dream of a dynamic, driverless world into a reality.

Lightyear, a startup in the Netherlands, is developing a four-door car whose solar cells can generate enough electricity to power brief outings after a day of sitting in the sun. While the company’s Lightyear One resembles a conventional sedan, Aptera Motors Corp. of San Diego is taking another route. It is stretching the traditional image of a passenger vehicle by developing a two-seater featuring three wheels and a dolphin-shaped body.

In Paris, a mayoral candidate is proposing to turn abandoned subway stations into art galleries, nightclubs, restaurants, and pools. 

Source: https://interestingengineering.com/energy-storage-trains-work-power-gravity

https://aresnorthamerica.com/news/

Other ideas from GI Gadgets:

http://gigadgets.com/2018/11/27/boeings-solar-powered-autonomous-plane-can-stay-in-the-air-for-months/

⁣⁣ The cereal residue has little commercial value for farmers, but for Bisman Deu, she hopes to change that by providing cheap and affordable housing material to people who otherwise live in homes made of mud, which can’t always withstand the weather. ⁣

Deu says the product is fungi- and mold-proof, making it a viable option for building houses. Deu also plans to use the material to build low-cost school furniture.⁣⁣

Source: The Better India

A patch of oil the size of a thumbnail can cause their feathers to separate and get matted together, allowing the cold to reach their otherwise protected skin. Penguins who are covered with oil will instinctively try and clean themselves by picking at their feathers with their beaks, this causes them to ingest oil which can damage their digestive system. Placing sweaters on rescued penguins prevents them from ingesting any oil while preening and keeps them nice and warm.⁣

Alfie’s knitting skills and dedication to the penguins is truly inspiring. Though there is no longer a need for knitted penguin sweaters, let's continue to help the Penguin Foundation.⁣

In non-scientific terms, they grind up seed husks and glue the small pieces together with the mushroom root, yielding a product that’s natural and completely compostable. Unlike other sustainable inventions, like ethanol, their product doesn’t come from anything humans or animals can consume, so their materials are available in abundance.⁣

⁣Greensulate and a packaging product called EcoCradle are aerobically and anaerobically compostable, which means they will biodegrade  in a garden, home compost pile or landfill. That’s a big plus compared to many plant-based plastics being proposed for packaging applications. There are no spores in the material and it's even fire-safe.⁣

Extension: Path that generates electricity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCTmpZ_PmwI

That path 6 month later - still working: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjkTNNl9n9g

Solar is expensive: est. to last for 20-25 years (will pay off in 15 years)

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23536914

A video of Jannat cleaning the lake went viral in 2018 and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lauded her efforts on Twitter and also spoke about it on his monthly radio talk show. ⁣

Janna hopes to become a scientist one day.  She says, “I want to become a scientist, a good scientist so that I can find ways and means to preserve the Lake. I dream to come up with a remedy for growing weeds in the Lake, which make our efforts difficult when it comes to cleaning it. Unnecessary weeds are growing just because of pollution in the Lake.”

The plastic alternative takes around 2-3 months to break down in soil and even less time if soaked in water or put in compost — about 7 days. It’s also non-toxic and edible -- which may help mitigate some of the hazards for sea creatures since so much of our plastic winds up in the ocean.

Located in the same island country that the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed, the "Tree Church" is formed by this man almost entirely from living trees with thick leaves covering its shady interior! ⛪ 🌳 ⁣⁣⁣

64-year-old New Zealander, Barry Cox, a former dairy farmer, has created a green church made entirely of living plants on his property in the town of Ohaupo. He built the church around an iron frame that he will remove once the trees and other plants grow strong enough to support the structure on their own. ⁣⁣⁣

The 100-seat church is just a small part of his three-acre sanctuary. He intended that the structure would be a personal retreat, but increasing interest from his friends and family prompted his decision to open the church and gardens to the public. The venue will be available to rent out for weddings and other events!⁣⁣⁣

Over 80% of the urban population in Kenya uses firewood and wood-derived charcoal for cooking and heating. This led to mass deforestation – a loss of 310,000 ha in the past years. This college student  has developed a solution that responds to these issues - fuel briquettes made of post-harvest biomass waste! ⁣⁣

Few years after college, Chebet Lesan, founded her own company, BrightGreen, that produces fuel briquettes made of post-harvest biomass waste which farmers, who have no use for it, would typically burn off in the open air. By upcycling this agrowaste – a mix, among other materials, of sugarcane and maize stalks – BrightGreen produces a range of briquettes under the brand name MOTO, which means “fire” in Swahili. ⁣

The briquettes, sold under the name MOTO, have been selling for around $0.50 per kilogram. Families living on $4 a day won’t have to sacrifice their health or entire income for a cooked meal! ⁣

A woman from Alberta, Canada is finding a way to ensure a good harvest while also saving money by re-purposing old school buses and turning them into greenhouses! ⁣

Doni Rae Franklin has upcycled two yellow buses into greenhouses: a longer one that is now stationary after the drive-train was removed, and a shorter bus that’s still mobile so the family can actually drive their fresh produce to market. ⁣

The roof on the longer bus, replaced with polyethelene plastic, creates an ideal environment for growing crops and plants. In true upcycling style, the family put the tin roof from the longer bus to good use by making planters to grow crops in.⁣

At the age of just fourteen, this creative girl from India came up with her first invention: a pedal-powered washing machine made from recycled bike parts that makes laundry easier for families without electricity. ⁣⁣

Remya Jose - from Kizhattoor Panchayat, India - came up with the idea after her mother fell ill. Instead of washing clothes by hand in the river, Jose has created a solution that saves time and effort!⁣⁣

⁣⁣Clothes and detergent are placed into the cylinder, and the aluminum cabin is filled with enough water to immerse the clothes. The washing cycle then begins, soaking the laundry for 10 minutes. The cylinder moves fast enough to scour off dirt with constant beating against the mesh. Once the water is drained, the machine can used to even dry the clothes! ⁣⁣

Every time the dogs correctly identified the bacterium in a tree and sat down next to it, their owners rewarded them with play time with a toy!   

Plant epidemiologist Timothy Gottwald and colleagues at the US Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce, Florida trained 20 canines to help detect a disease that is destroying the world’s orange trees.The disease named as 'Citrus greening' prevents fruit from ripening and eventually kills the tree. ⁣

The dogs were able to detect diseased trees with about 99% accuracy – within two weeks of infection, and help the farmers treat the infection immediately.

These four engineering students, while studying at the Technical University of Munich, shared a common vision of revolutionizing the way people travel. A few years later, they founded Lilium and developed the world’s first electric, zero-emission, vertical take-off jet!⁣

Co-founded in 2015 by four visionary founders, Daniel Wiegand (CEO), Sebastian Born, Matthias Meiner and Patrick Nathen, this well-funded German startup is working on creating a sustainable “Air-Taxi”, a new type of aircraft that can travel up to 300 kilometres (186 miles) per hour. The futuristic-looking vehicle doesn't need a runway because it does vertical takeoffs and landings like a helicopter, except safer, quieter and more efficiently. ⁣⁣

The 36-engine, all-electric aircraft can hold four passengers plus a pilot and hopes to eliminate short-distance flights by offering an easier solution. Currently, the team is working on finishing their prototype and achieving scalable production. They are looking to roll out their fleet of Lilium Jets around 2025. In the meantime, a few days before this episode was published, Lilium raised an additional $35 million and has achieved unicorn status - valued at $1 billion!⁣⁣

As populations continue to increase and cities become denser, transportation - whether public or private - is drawn into the limelight of discussions. We want to reduce and avoid carbon emissions from cars, eliminate traffic jams and keep noise pollution to a minimum. Is the future closer than we think? We’re talking about flying cars…well almost.⁣⁣