From Amazon to FedEx, this eco-friendly transport pod concept is the solution every shipping company needs!

Posted on 12/10/2020 by Jay Alba

When you order a package online, it likely travels hundreds (maybe thousands) of miles to reach your doorstep. Until Tesla unveils a fleet of eco-friendly delivery trucks, designers should focus on smaller-scale solutions to reduce carbon emissions. For instance, you don’t need a gasoline-powered truck to drive through residential neighborhoods, stopping in-between each house. Instead of burning fossil fuels to travel those short distances, the POD electric-powered delivery vehicle offers an alternative solution.

The POD was designed for the final leg in a shipment’s journey. Its main draw is that it is easy to operate. It doesn’t require a license or insurance … in fact, it might be easier to ride than a standard two-wheel bike. (As someone who refused to take the training wheels off hers, I would confidently choose the POD’s three-wheel vehicle any day.) Additionally, the POD has placed its cargo hold in front of the bike’s pedals, a strategic choice to keep the packages secure during travel. The POD vehicle comes with its own cargo container, which clips into the flatbed. The container has two compartments: a shallow tray for long/thin items and a large rectangular box that stacks on top. The larger compartment also comes with removable dividers, allowing you to organize the items into five separate groups. According to Statista, Amazon was responsible for 45% of US eCommerce spending in 2019 – this number is sure to shoot up in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic shooing everyone from young to old into their homes. If a giant like Amazon decides to update their model of the ‘last mile delivery’ to this eco-friendly solution, the numbers should help you imagine the scale of the change this idea can make!

If the POD delivery vehicle enters mass-production, I could imagine it being adopted by a variety of companies: bike messengers, food-delivery drivers, postal service workers, and more. The product seems very easy to operate and inexpensive, allowing for easy integration into an existing business. These qualities, I think, set the POD apart from other clean-energy vehicles … and I would love to see this concept manifested into an actual product (or, at the very least, inspire other developers’ electric-powered designs).

Designer: Juan Jose Foc

House Democrats’ climate plan calls for 100 percent EV sales by 2035

Posted on 30/06/2020 by Engadget RSS Feed

House Democrats want to eliminate the US economy’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Two ways they hope to achieve this are: reaching 100 percent electric vehicle sales by 2035 and 100 percent clean electricity by 2040. Today, House Speaker Nancy Pel...

Aurora recycles nuclear waste into clean energy while supporting local art!

Posted on 10/03/2020 by Ruchi Thukral

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in America has been crucial in shaping the future of nuclear energy technology ever since its inception. With all that experimenting and development, the lab has generated several tons of toxic uranium waste that can longer be efficiently used. The problem is, nobody knows where to bury this gigantic amount of waste and it is currently being piled up in temporary storage facilities – but we know nothing good comes out of bottling up toxic waste (or emotions). There has to be a better alternative than having our homes and schools being built on a sea of uranium waste.

The scientists at INL are working on ways to use the spent uranium and one of them is recycling it for the fuel needs of new smaller commercial reactors. INL reached out to Oklo, a nuclear energy start-up, to explore this opportunity using their Aurora reactor – a revolutionary clean energy plant the company made to power communities with affordable, reliable, clean power. The advanced fission plant has many advantages apart from its ability to produce clean power for lifetimes despite its small size, it can go decades without being refueled and the design allows it to be underground which means it can operate without cooling water. The Aurora will be converting nuclear waste to clean energy while posting as a cabin in the woods that generates 1.5 megawatts. “The cool thing about advanced reactors is you can go to those higher levels of enrichment and make things smaller, which helps drive the economics of the system,” says Jacob DeWitte, CEO and co-founder of Oklo, about using ‘Haleu’ (high-assay, low-enriched uranium) as their choice of fuel.

Aurora powerhouse is also designed to be the focal point for community interaction while keeping practicality in mind. The sloped modular roof works for most weather conditions and also serves as a support for solar photovoltaic panels. In turn, the solar panels also serve as a canvas for local art and the front of the Aurora can be used by the people as a community spot. “We are excited to think about how fission could both enable human development while preserving the environment on earth, and even enable deeper space exploration,” said Caroline Cochran, COO, and co-founder of Oklo. when talking about Aurora’s well-rounded presence in the low-carbon microgrid and we couldn’t agree more! Idaho will be home to this beautiful cabin-in-the-woods shaped clean reactor and also the giant potato-shaped Airbnb, we don’t know how that happened but it is a lovely juxtaposition.

Designer: Oklo

Amazon plans new solar and wind farms in Ireland and Virginia

Posted on 01/08/2019 by Engadget RSS Feed

Months after Amazon shareholders turned down a plea by employees to do more about climate change, the company announced two new renewable energy projects. Today, Amazon shared plans for a wind farm in Ireland and a solar farm in Pittsylvania County,...

Look! It’s a Tesla Boat!

Posted on 15/06/2016 by Sarang Sheth

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There isn’t anything Elon Musk wouldn’t do. He’s just successfully wrapped up the field testing for the hyperloop, Not to mention the successful SpaceX landings. It wouldn’t seem out of place imagining a conceptual boat design powered by Tesla Motors innovation, now would it? The E-Vision Granturismo Boat concept runs on Tesla’s Lithium Ion batteries. The concept boat has two powertrains mounted symmetrically on the left and right, providing speed that is independent of vibrations or engine noise. Solar panels on the front of the boat just sweetens the deal, making the E-Vision Granturismo a boat that runs on completely clean energy. A first of its kind, and exactly what Mr. Musk would have wanted!

Designer: BelKharmoudi Aziz

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Made in the USA: Four stories in four days

Posted on 01/07/2013 by Engadget staff

Over the past two years, the United States has seen a return to American manufacturing by some of the biggest names in tech. In 2012, Google introduced the ultimately failed Nexus Q, while Apple's Tim Cook teased an American-made Mac. One year later, Lenovo cut the ribbon on a new plant in North Carolina; Motorola announced plans for a Made in the USA flagship; and Apple made good on Cook's promise with its latest Mac Pro. However, even with President Barack Obama backing a return to American production and moves from big players like Apple and Google, the fear of skilled labor shortages persists. In the lead-up to July 4th, we'll bring you four stories in four days that explore what innovation in the United States looks like today and what that means for you.

In our first installment, Jason Hidalgo sits down with theoretical physicist Michio Kaku to talk about the dangers of a Silicon Valley brain drain and building the Death Star. On day two, Darren Murph takes a tour of Babcock Ranch, the once-hopeful site of "America's most sustainable city." On day three, we'll bring you Jamie Rigg's look at tech's reshoring efforts. And on the Fourth, Brian Heater will explore how one non-profit harnessed the power of big names like Bill Gates and Jack Dorsey to help bring coding to classrooms nationwide.

For more from the field and the factory floor, keep it locked here as we explore what it means to be Made in the USA.


Future Soldier: Michio Kaku	A Green Dream Deferred	American Redux	Coding is Fundamental
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Filed under: Apple, Google, Lenovo

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Inhabitat’s Week in Green: solar panel printer, gold producing bacteria and a life-size of horse made of computer keys

Posted on 07/10/2012 by Inhabitat

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

Inhabitat is always interested in finding innovative uses for old technology, and this week we saw artists and designers from around the world produce new things from old, unused or outmoded gadgets. In Osaka, a local goldfish club has been transforming old phone booths into gigantic public fish tanks. In another large-scale art installation, Babis Panagiotidis used 18,000 recycled computer keys to make a life-size rocking horse. London artist Leonardo Ulian also makes beautiful, ornate mandalas from bits and pieces of old circuitry. And Benjamin Yates makes his unique coffee tables from recycled circuit boards, old VCRs and computer components.

Continue reading Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar panel printer, gold producing bacteria and a life-size of horse made of computer keys

Filed under: Misc, Science

Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar panel printer, gold producing bacteria and a life-size of horse made of computer keys originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 10:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fraunhofer black silicon could catch more energy from infrared light, go green with sulfur

Posted on 04/10/2012 by Jon Fingas

Generating solar power from the infrared spectrum, or even nearby frequencies, has proven difficult in spite of a quarter of the Sun's energy passing through those wavelengths. The Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications may have jumped that hurdle to efficiency through sulfur -- one of the very materials that solar energy often helps eliminate. By irradiating ordinary silicon through femtosecond-level laser pulses within a sulfuric atmosphere, the technique melds sulfur with silicon and makes it easier for infrared light electrons to build into the frenzy needed for conducting electricity. The black-tinted silicon that results from the process is still in the early stages and needs improvements to automation and refinement to become a real product, but there's every intention of making that happen: Fraunhofer plans a spinoff to market finished laser systems for solar cell builders who want their own black silicon. If all goes well, the darker shade of solar panels could lead to a brighter future for clean energy.

Filed under: Science, Alt

Fraunhofer black silicon could catch more energy from infrared light, go green with sulfur originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 05:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Greenpeace: Apple’s energy policy has improved, still needs to remove the coal smoke from iCloud

Posted on 14/07/2012 by Brian Heater

Wondering where Apple stands environmentally after the recent withdrawal (and subsequent return) of its laptops and desktops from the EPEAT rating system? Greenpeace has issued a well-timed report, outlining the company's broader back-end energy policies. According to the organization, "Apple's clean energy policies have significantly improved, but the company still gets low scores for its energy choices when compared with sector leaders." Greenpeace applauds Cupertino's commitment to goal coal-free by next year, but wonders aloud how the company will get there, noting that while it has invested in solar and other renewable energy sources, it still buys power from outlets that rely on coal. The organization also took the time to admonish Apple's lack of transparency on its environmental plans.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Greenpeace: Apple's energy policy has improved, still needs to remove the coal smoke from iCloud originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 20:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First solar-geo plant blooms in Nevada’s high desert

Posted on 13/07/2012 by Jason Hidalgo

First solargeo plant blooms in Nevada's high desert

Drive west on US Route 50 through a stretch of Nevada highway known as "The Loneliest Road in America" and you'll eventually find yourself in the rural county of Churchill. Once a solitary leg in the Pony Express route, irrigation transformed swaths of Churchill's high desert areas into thriving agricultural communities more than a century ago. Fast forward to today and Churchill finds itself playing host to yet another interesting dichotomy -- a first-of-its-kind power plant that generates electricity by harvesting renewable resources from both earth and sky.

Gallery: First solar-geo plant blooms in Nevada's high desert