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Post tags: bicycle, bicycle power, bike design, eco-friendly bicycle, eco-friendly film festivals, electricity generating bike, film festivals, french design, green bike, green films, green transportation, pedal power, pedal powered projectors, wood bike st etienne

A team of Yamaha motorcycle designers have put their experience to the test in a new field by developing an ultralight airplane that’s powered by a simple set of pedals – just like your bike! Constructed from superlight polystyrene and carbon fiber, the plane weighs only 81 pounds despite a wingspan of 117 feet. Encouraged by mostly successful test flights, Team Aeroscepsy will attempt to set a new world record by flying Gokurakutombo (which means “happy-go-lucky” – and apparently also “happy dragonfly” in Japanese) 75 miles over the Pacific Ocean.

Read the rest of Ultralight 81 Pound Airplane to Attempt World Record For Human-Powered Flight

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Post tags: airplane, Gokurakutombo, human powered, pedal power, styrofoam, Team Aeroscepsy, yamaha

Farmers market produce is always better than the grocery store, but it’s not always as convenient. A Boston-based nonprofit design collaborative called Building Research + Architecture + Community Exchange (BR+A+CE, or “brace” for short) recently unveiled a pedal-powered alternative that allows the farmers to bring the goods to you instead…without a huge truck or nasty carbon emissions. The Mattapan Mobile Farmstand is a human-powered mini-market. Using smart design principles, BRACE outfitted a typical trike with a folding system of trays that allows a single person to haul up to 150 pounds of fruit and vegetables.

Read the rest of The Mattapan Mobile Farmstand Uses Pedal-Power To Bring the Farmers Market To Your Door

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Post tags: boston, Br+a+ce, farmer's market, food dessert, human power, mobile farm stand, pedal power, Produce

A dual purpose bicycle (DPB) is a bicycle which can be used for both transportation and for power production. The modification consists of a free wheel, a bottom bracket and a “V” pulley. The DPB can power a rice thresher, a peanut sheller, a circular saw, a wooden lathe, a piston pump and many other implements that require rotary motion.

+ Technology for the Poor

The article above was submitted to us by an Inhabitat reader. Want to see your story on Inhabitat? Send us a tip by following this link. Remember to follow our instructions carefully to boost your chances of being chosen for publishing!

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Post tags: "sustainable development", bicycle, bike, developing world, dual purpose bicycle, energy efficient design, energy generating bicycle, green design, pedal power, power bike, renewable energy, sustainable design

So Bruce Wayne didn’t get to realize his dream of supplying Gotham with endless amounts of clean energy. Maybe he should have started smaller in his efforts to go green, like swapping out some of those gas guzzling vehicles for less carbon-intensive alternatives. If Batman was ever to give his fleet a green upgrade, we think the Bomber from the UK’s Stealth Electric Bikes would be the perfect addition.


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Post tags: batman, Bomber, Dark Knight, electric vehicle, gotham, green transportation, pedal power, Stealth Electric Bikes

In April, Denmark completed the first of what will eventually be a network of 26 bicycle “superhighways”—smooth routes exclusively for Danes who wish to commute into Copenhagen by pedal-power alone. The $47 million, publicly-funded project will provide additional safe, well-equipped paths to the over 10,000 kilometers of bike paths already in place in the country. Although Denmark already has a sizable bike commuting population—some half a million each year—the superhighway is designed to encourage individuals who live more than five kilometers outside of the city’s capital to leave their cars at home and cycle to work.

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Post tags: bicycle paths, bicycle superhighway, bike-friendly cities, carbon emissions, copenhagen bike, cycle share, denmark cycle, exercise health, Green Cities, green commute, pedal power, public transport, urban planning

Read the rest of Top 6 Sensational Pedal-Powered Designs

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Post tags: eco transportation, gas free transportation, google schweeb, green transportation, pedal designs, pedal power, pedal powered designs, pedal powered helicopter, pedal powered porsche, pedal powered transportation, scubster, zero carbon transportation, Zero Emission Transportation

Read the rest of Magnificent Revolution’s Pop-Up Cycle-In Cinema Runs on Pedal Power

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Post tags: bike power, bike powered, bikes, cinema, cycle-in cinema, eco design, green design, human power, human powered, London, magnificent revolution, movies, pedal power, pop up cinema, pop up theatre, renewable energy, sustainable design

Read the rest of Oracle Beater: Bike-Powered Paper Mill Turns Invasive Plants Into Paper in Ghana

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", a better world by design, A Better World by Design conference, bicycle powered, bike powered, brown, brown university, Competition, conference, design for a better world, developing world, eco design, Expo, fine art paper, fine paper, Ghana, green design, handmade paper, inhabitat, Kumasi, Lee McDonald, Mary Hark, mulberry plant, Oracle Beater, paper-making, pedal power, pedal powered, product design, recycled, Recycled Materials, recycled textiles, responsible design, rhode island school of design, risd, social design, social entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, socially conscious, socially-conscious design, student conference, Sustainability, sustainable design, Sustainable Materials, textile scraps, world design

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Post tags: "green furniture", Art, beehive, biodegradable materials, biomimicry, Botanical, central st. martins university of london, degree show, Design for Health, eco-design toolkit, Gardening, Green Appliances, green graphic design, green interiors, green products, green resources, green technology, humanitarian design, Interactive Objects, kinetic energy, locally sourced materials, London, london design, mud houses, New Materials, pedal power, recycled art, recycling / compost, scrap wood, social design, Sustainable Materials, Urban design, vertical garden, Zero energy

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Post tags: "green furniture", airport park, Design Academy in Eindhoven, dutch design, eco-travel, good air quality, Green Appliances, green interiors, green lighting, green technology, kinetic energy, LED lamps, mixed reality, pedal power, schipol airport amsterdam

We’ve seen some incredible innovations in bicycle technology lately – from self-charging components such as the Copenhagen Wheel to designer fixies by Diesel. But what happens to these and all other bikes when their owners move on? That’s where Guatemalan NGO Maya Pedal comes in – they transform donated bicycles into pedal-powered machines including water pumps, blenders and tile makers for use where electricity is too expensive or inaccessible. We say more (pedal) power to you, Maya Pedal!

+ Maya Pedal

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Post tags: "clean energy", Bicimaquina, bicycle, bike power, bikes, green technology, green transportation, kinetic energy, maya pedal, mayapedal, pedal power

Nokia has released a pedal powered cell phone charger kit slated for developing nations where the power supply is limited, unreliable or expensive. The kit includes a bottle-dynamo, like the ones used to power a bike light, plus a cell phone holder that attaches to the handlebars. Nokia hopes to begin selling the kits by the end of 2010 for around 15 euros in countries that have a large bicycling population. These dynamos are great sources of renewable and human power and make it that much easier for people to want to choose biking as their main mode of transportation.

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Post tags: bike charger, bike-powered cell phone charger, cell phone, dynamo, eco design, Eco Travle, green design, green gadget, Greener Gadgets, human power, Nokia, pedal power, sustainable design

We just got a tip from reader Selvan about a dual-purpose bicycle that can be used for transportation as well as for energy production. Using a stand that fixes the bike in a stationary position and a pedal power attachment that can be fabricated from widely available parts, the DPB can be used to power numerous small‑scale mechanical devices such as grain threshers, grinders, water pumps, electrical generators, and furniture making tools. Because the bike is low-cost and pretty simple to fabricate, it’s ideal for developing nations.

READ MORE >

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Post tags: "clean energy", dual purpose bicycle, dual purpose bike, eco design, green design, green transportation, kinetic energy, pedal power, sustainable design, technology for the poor

Now that it’s clear that the flying cars we were promised as youngsters are not going to appear anytime soon, we can perhaps take comfort in the arrival of the brilliant HEPAV 1.1, a human-electric powered amphibious vehicle from the creative mind of Czech designer and inventor David Buchwaldek. Like an eco-superhero’s signature ride, the HEPAV 1.1 can travel the streets in style and drive straight into the water without missing a beat. Sustainable, human-powered locomotion never looked so good.

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Post tags: amphibian velomobile, bicycle, bike, boat, green design, Green Transportation, hepav 1.1, pedal power, sustainable design, water bike

Who knew that pedal-powered flight would have such a sudden resurgence in popularity? Recently we looked at a Dutch teenager who is making waves with his pedal-powered plane made out of balsa wood and foil, and now we’ve learned that the American Helicopter Society is trying to garner even more interest in pedal power with a $250,000 prize.

Read the rest of Competition Offers $250,000 to Design Pedal-Powered Helicopter

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Post tags: flight, green design, Green Transportation, helicopter, igor sikorsky, pedal power, sustainable design, x-prize, yuri

Lots of kids wish they could build an airplane and fly away, but Dutch teenager Jesse van Kuijk has become one of the rare few to make it happen with his pedal-powered plane made out of balsa wood, polyurethane, and rip-resistant foil. The most impressive part? Van Kuijk built his plane without ever having flown in one before!

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Post tags: dutch, flight, human powered flight, Netherlands, pedal power, plane, van kuijk