Recently Chetwood Architects unveiled a stunning proposal for a futuristic London Bridge that sprouts a towering vertical farm in the midst of the Thames river. The bridge’s solar-powered spires are crowned with wind turbines and house a self-sufficent organic farm and commercial center that takes advantage of renewable energy generation, efficient use of water, solar heating, and natural ventilation.

Read the rest of Futuristic London Bridge Sprouts Solar Powered Vertical Farm

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: bridge, bridge design, Design Competition, hydroponics, london bridge, londong, rainwater, solar, vertical farm, Wind Power

Solar Ivy (or SMIT Grow) is a spectacular system of thin, fluttering solar panels that generate energy by sparkling in the sunlight. The wind and solar power generating photovoltaic leaves can be easily integrated on the side of a building to produce energy. The concept, designed by Brooklyn based SMIT (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology), consists of a layer of thin-film material on top of polyethylene with a piezoelectric generator attached to each leaf. When the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, energy is being generated via Solar Ivy.

Read the rest of ‘Solar Ivy’ Photovoltaic Leaves Climb to New Heights

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: modular, piezoelectric, piezoelectric generator, renewable energy, SMIT, solar, solar ivy, Wind Power

The Firewinder is an innovative outdoor light solution, powered entirely by the wind! Inspired and developed by young British inventor Tom Lawton, the Firewinder spins as the wind blows, turning into an eco-friendly night light. Lawton developed the light with a wish to highlight the invisible beauty and endless resource of alternative energies, and what a great job he did! Find out more about the Firewinder light here, and get your hands on one from the Guardian EcoStore for a mere £99.95.

+ Firewinder

+ Guardian EcoStore

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: energy efficient lighting, Firewinder, green design, LED lighting, Light, London Design Festival, Renewable Energy, sustainable design, Tom Lawton, Wind Power, wind powered lamp

This past February, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce authorized the development of a “free zone” dubbed Food City. GCLA, a green landscape architect firm, proposed a master plan for the city sector to turn it into an incredible off-the-grid, self-sufficient metropolis. GCLA’s future-forward urban quarter incorporates an extensive list of sustainable urban planning ideas, including vertically stacked landscape surfaces, artificial roof landscapes, renewable energy systems, aquatic farms, and thermal conditioning.

Read the rest of Food City: Dubai’s Self-Sufficient Ecotopia

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: dubai, energ, gcla, landscape architecture, solar, Sustainability, uae, urban, Water Issues, Wind Power

Traditional three-blade turbines are great if you have lots of space to play with, but the Optiwind Compact Wind Accelerating Turbine is ideal for high-density, low-wind areas. The turbine’s series of small, five bladed fans funnel in wind and accelerate it, thereby cranking up wind speeds to generate more power.

Read the rest of Optiwind Accelerating Wind Turbine Taps New Energy Fields

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "wind power", alternative energy, jellyfish, optiwind, renewable energy, turbine, wind energy, Wind Power

Swedish company Home Energy recently revealed an innovative wind turbine that spins in a spherical formation. Eschewing traditional rotors for a sleek orb structure, this beautiful rethinking of conventional wind turbine design utilizes the Venturi principle, which funnels wind within the turbine’s blades. The resulting spherical wind turbine features increased efficiency and lower noise levels – making it ideal for small scale energy needs such as personal home use. Best of all it’s called the Energy Ball: the fun name is an added bonus.


Read the rest of Groundbreaking Energy Ball Wind Turbine for Home Power

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "wind power", alternative energy, energy ball, home energy, Sweden, wind energy, Wind Power, wind turbines, windmill

India’s air-powered four wheel marvel, the MDI Air Car, will be coming to the United States in 2010! The eco-friendly air-powered vehicle will be manufactured by Zero Pollution Motors, who just licensed the technology from MDI. It’s another entry in the growing field of the subcompact class, and another challenger to the title of world’s most fuel efficient vehicle.

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: air car, air compressor, air powered car, air-power, car, power, Tata MDI, tata motors, Wind Power, zero pollution motors, zero-emissions

While the potential of electric cars is obvious, one of the main concerns is battery life, both in its ability to hold a charge, and its shelf life before needing a replacement. But the new =UltraBattery, developed by Australia’s CSIRO, is a high-performance hybrid storage cell that runs for 100,000 miles without recharge or replacement. It combines a supercapacitor with a lead acid battery in one unit cell, providing higher power discharge and longer life.


Read the rest of Transportation Tuesday: The UltraBattery Hybrid Storage Cell

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: CSIRO, electric, HEV, hybrid, power, solar, ultrabattery, Wind Power

Still think wind power isn’t mainstream? Think again. The United Kingdom’s Energy Secretary John Hutton unveiled a set of proposals to encourage the uptake of offshore wind turbines in England. The proposals call for the offshore wind industry to provide up to 33 gigawatts of energy by 2020, enough to power every home in Britain!

Read the rest of Thousands of Wind Farms to Power England

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: alternative energy, Electricity, England, norsk, off shore, power, turbines, Wind Power

One of the coolest sights in the Sydney Harbour (aside from the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the Pirate Ship) is the fully solar-powered ferry known as The Solar Sailor. This rather unique boat, designed by Robert Dane, uses both solar power and wind to reduce its emissions by half compared to standard ferries. What better way to travel?

Read the rest of TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: The Solar Sailor

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Electricity, ferry, solar, solar ferry, solar powered boat, solar sailor, Wind Power

Green towers are popping up everywhere, boasting laundry lists of green features, and wind turbines seem to be a smart energy option for any tower over 20 stories. Castle House, a new residential tower project designed by Hamiltons of London and located at Elephant and Castle in South London, not only advertises itself as an eco-machine, but will generate its own power on site through a series of wind turbines and a heat and power plant.

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable architecture", "wind power", Castle House, Castle Wind, Green Towers, Sustainability, sustainable design, Wind Power

We’ve seen wind turbines fit for backyards, balconies, even oceans- and now pioneering wind-power engineers are looking to take wind turbines to new heights—15,000-30,000 feet in the air! Harvesting just 1% of the energy from jet-stream winds could produce enough power for everybody on the planet. Sky WindPower and Magenn Power are just two of the companies in the race to develop flying generators for high-altitude winds.

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "wind power", Add new tag, Flying Electric Generator (FEG), Sky WindPower, wind energy, Wind Power

Developed by Moteur Developpement International, the Compressed Air Engine might just be best thing to have happened to the motor engine in years. And now, one of the first commercial applications for the zero-emission engine, the Air Car, will be starting production relatively soon, thanks to India’s TATA Motors. There’s fuel, there’s renewable fuel, and then there’s uber-renewable fuel- and a car that runs off of air is sure to fall into the third category. Here’s hoping we see these on streets all over the world sooner than later!


Read the rest of MDI COMPRESSED AIR CAR

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: air-power, car, compressor, power, tata motors, Wind Power, zero-emissions

While David Fisher’s Twirling Tower is not the first rotating tower we’ve spotted (Dubai Tower Clocks the Sun), and not the first that generates power from the wind (Wind Shaped Kinetic Pavilion), it’s definitely the first to pack this type of power. Designer David Fisher claims his Twirling Tower can not only generate enough energy to power itself, but it will also generate enough energy to power ten additional buildings similarly sized. While details on the tower’s true ability to generate electricity have not been proven, we are definitely a fan of those willing to search out new ideas.

Read the rest of DAVID FISHER’S Twirling, Wind-Power Tower

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "wind power", chicago, David Fischer, eco archtiecture, Twirling Tower, Wind Power

If you’re anything like me and find windmills both genius and oddly calming, the residential Skystream 3.7 windmill by Southwest Windpower may be the perfect addition to your backyard landscape. Available in 35-110 foot heights (determined by your site characteristics), this slim yet high-performance wind generator can produce 400 kilowatt hours of energy per month, up to 90% of an average household’s energy consumption. Skystream works efficiently with your local utility grid, too, switching back to grid power when wind speeds drop below 8 miles per hour.


Read the rest of SKYSTREAM RESIDENTIAL WINDMILL

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "wind power", renewable energy, SKYSTREAM RESIDENTIAL WINDMILL, SkyStream Windmill, wind energy, wind mills, Wind Power