PET Bottle Chair

Polish designer Pawel Grunert has created the SIE43 Chair.

"Produced for the ‘Eco Trans Pop’ exhibition of ecological design at the Colombari Gallery in Milan, Italy. The chair is made from PET bottles with a stainless steel frame. The bottles can be easily changed if they show signs of damage. The seat is in the form of a flower. The rhythm of hundreds of PET bottles creates an organic structure. An ordinary form is transformed into an extraordinary form, standard form into a unique one."

Visit: Pawel Grunert’s website
Via Contemporist

Suzuki unveils e-Let’s - A motor assisted electric bicycle

A new contraption on two-wheels was unveiled at the Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan prototyped by Suzuki Motor Corp. known as the “e-Let’s”, this vehicle runs on electricity and has been officially registered and characterized as a motor assisted bicycle. Based on Suzuki’s "Let's4 Basket", this one though lacks the engine, tank, muffler and transmission of its inspiration and is equipped with a lithium-ion (Li-ion) rechargeable battery unit and a control circuit. About 2kg lighter than the "Let's4 Basket” bike that weighed 74kgs, the “e-Let’s” also boasts a detachable battery pack and a portable charger tucked below the seat. Connection to a 100V power outlet charges this one up in four hours. With a range of 30km and a speed of 30km/h, the “e-Let’s” is sure to find its place in the global market once placed on shelves for sale. We’d sure love to see more motor assisted vehicles like these powered by electricity on roads in future!
[Techon]

Boating goes green with Yachting Ideas’ Sly Yacht

Cutting through the waves now-a-days, is a lot more environment friendly than it used to be. Masters of the seas, the guys at Yachting Ideas are busy scratching their chins and chewing their pencil tops, designing a racing yacht with a greener shade. Known as the Sly Yacht concept, this one’s lightweight and works using an electric motor and its sails too. Made of PVC sandwiched between layers of carbon and basalt fibers, the yacht boasts a 30kw electric engine and can also be recharged using a diesel generator.

A great way to spend some leisure time off land on a truly green and eco-friendly vessel, we hope to see this one sail soon!
[trendhunter]

Battery-powered FlyRad allows you to skate to your destination

Skating to work has never really been an option before. Dressed up formally with a briefcase in one hand, a cell phone in the other and a pair of roller-skates on your feet would sure as hell look silly, if not stupid. The FlyRad changes things though. This contraption packs just a single wheel that power up. To travel, you need to hold on to it with a pair of roller-skates on your feet. Probably inspired by kids holding on to garbage trucks for an easy skate around the neighborhood, the FlyRad comes in three sizes, one for adults, teens and children. The adult version uses a 500W motor powered by a 36v battery. Weighing in at 24kgs, this one boasts a maximum speed of 25mph. charging it for four hours allows for a 31 mile range! More...

FLOATING WIND TURBINES IN THE NORTH SEA

While our oceans house not only diverse ecologies and possibly the lost city of Atlantis, they now have something else to brag about: serving as prime real estate for some very renewable energy. Norwegian energy group Norsk Hydro is to place giant floating wind turbines in the North Sea that will provide a reasonable, environmentally-friendly and economically feasible alternative to standard energy generation processes.

“It’s attractive to have windmills out at sea, out of sight of land, away from birds’ migration routes,” said Alexandra Bech Gjoerv, head of Hydro’s New Energy division at a signing ceremony to develop floating wind turbine technology.
The design by Norsk Hydro uses a three -able tethered system, similar to the ones used in oil rigs, that holds a 200 meter tall steel tube with an attached turbine and three 60-meter-long blades. Norsk Hydro expects to be able to use this technology on sites located 50-100 miles off shore, and with a depth of up to 500 meters. Norsk Hydro’s turbine will be the first large scale prototype of its kind, expected to be installed in the North Sea by 2009. If successful, Norsk Hydro expects a full windmill to be operational by 2012.

Read more: FLOATING WIND TURBINES IN THE NORTH SEA | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

Increasing the Trend of Eco-Friendly Luxury

The latest sleek superyacht design has been revealed to combine environmentally friendly aspects with opulent elegance. Similar to the Dubai Sea Limousine used for transportation to the isles of The World, this 45m super yacht designed by Dennis Ingemansson further emphasizes that luxury yachting and eco-friendly are becoming increasingly trendy. Designed for the Dutch company Esthec, the boat encompasses an on-board swimming pool and hi-tech interiors with functional qualities of a unique light-weight floor, the ability to recycle it and low maintenance. It also utilizes composite decking material with design freedom in form, colour and pattern. But most importantly, the Esthec superyacht treats you to eco-friendly luxury cruising with generation of solar energy to propel the electrical engine. It will be showcased at the 2009 Monaco Yacht show in the monter of Esthec.

Innovative technology for modern sea transportation

SkySails GmbH & Co. KG, based in Hamburg, Germany (www.skysails.com), develops, produces, and distributes towing kite wind propulsion systems for modern means of sea travel and transportation. These systems make the operation of ships more profitable, safe, environment friendly, and independent of scarce oil resources. The SkySails system consists of a large towing kite similar to a paraglider, which is navigated by a fully- automated control pod and is connected to the ship via a towing rope. The towing kite, an airfoil similar to that of a paraglider, or parafoil for short, generates propelling forces. The control pod performs similar tasks as a paraglider pilot - shortens or lengthens the control cords, thus changing the aerodynamic profile of the towing kite - and governs its flight path. The Control System controls the SkySail system, comparable to an aircraft’s auto pilot. The traction forces are transmitted to the ship via a traction cord made of modern synthetic fibers, ensuring high load capacity as well as low weight and low elongation under load. An automated routeing system, aligned with historic routes of large cargo sailers, will allow cargo ships to reach their destination as quickly, and at a much cheaper cost. Maple’s role in the simulation software SkySails used Maple to develop its simulation software. Maple was chosen for its symbolic computation engine, which considerably simplifies the derivation of the equations of motion for multi body systems. Editing the three-dimensional mathematical models by hand was not feasible within the company’s time frame. Many matrix operations and derivatives needed to be applied in order to set up the equations in three dimensions. SkySails said : “SkySails is grateful to Maplesoft, because Maple saved us a lot of time. Using Maple was very easy and quick. The computations we used are probably very basic for Maple, but they were extremely effective for SkySails. When testing the simulator, the correctness of the mathematical model is crucial. With Maple, there was nothing to worry about!” A flight simulator presenting the movements of the kite system in real time is under development. Updated: February 2008 First cargo ship run on wind power begins journey SkySails’ first cargo ship, with a huge computer-controlled kite, was flagged off in December 2007 by Eva Luise Koehler, wife of German President Horst Koehler. The ship MV "Beluga SkySails" started its maiden voyage from the city of Bremerhaven, Germany to South & North America (and back) and the SkySails-System with its 1,722 square-foot towing kite has been put into operation successfully. This new technology can tow cargo vessels and superyachts, reducing fuel consumption by 10 to 35% on annual average . SkySails used Maple symbolic mathematical software for engineers to develop its simulation devices.

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