Australia’s Veolia World Solar Challenge just announced that it has crowned a new winner – team Tokai University from Japan! Team Tokai beat first runner-up Nuon Solar by a nose in this sun-powered vehicle race, sliding across the finish line in Adelaide just 30 seconds earlier. Rather than racing around a track, the unconventional race requires drivers to cross Australia’s natural terrain on 100% solar energy, facing harsh weather, inconsistent roads and even wild animals!

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Post tags: adelaide, australia, eco design, green design, HIT solar panels, Nuon Solar, panasonic, solar powered race car, sustainable design, Team Tokai, tokai university, Veolia World Solar Challenge

We’ll admit it: We’ve never totally understood Nascar’s appeal. I mean, come on, it’s just a bunch of cars going round and round a track like a zillion times! But the World Solar Challenge? Now that is one car race we can really get behind. The event, which started way back in 1987, features solar-powered vehicles created by some of the world’s top engineering colleges. Using the power of the sun instead of polluting fossil fuels, the cars race across thousands of miles in order to advance solar and electric vehicle technology — and to achieve the satisfaction of winning, of course.

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Post tags: chevy volt, delft university, Global Green Challenge, Nascar, solar vehicles, Tokai Challenger, tokai university, university of michigan, world solar challenge

Wave power is looking like the next big thing in renewable energy, as evidenced by PG&E’s recent announcement about their California wave farm. And now Yutaka Terao from Tokai University in Japan, has engineered a way to put wave power to its most obvious use — to power boats! He has created a propulsion system that will power the Suntory Mermaid II’s trip from Hawaii to Japan using wave power, the expertise of eco-sailor Kenichi Horie, and a little bit of sun.

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Post tags: Green Transportation, kenichi horie, mermaid, sailing, sailor, suntory, suntory mermaid II, tokai university, wave power, wave sailing, yutaka terao