Jun 23

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: flying bicycle, tattooed fruits and a wireless EV-charging system

Posted in: Today's Chili

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.

DNP Inhabitat's Week in Green TKTKTK

This week, the MS Tûranor PlanetSolar — the world’s largest solar-powered boat — docked in downtown Manhattan, and Inhabitat was on the scene to tour the 115-foot Swiss catamaran and learn about its latest trans-Atlantic voyage. The PlanetSolar team isn’t the only one pioneering new technologies, though. Google announced plans to deploy fleets of solar-powered balloons to bring the internet to remote locations around the world. A pair of British men debuted the world’s first flying bicycle, which combines a bike with a fan-powered paraglider. A 16-year-old developed a cleaner, more efficient way to create biofuel from algae, and Coca-Cola produced a classic Coke bottle that’s made entirely from ice that melts away when you’re finished with it.

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Sep 07

Airbus imagines ‘smarter skies’ by 2050: reduced emissions and shorter flight times

Posted in: Today's Chili

Airbus imagines 'smarter skies' by 2050 reduced emissions and shorter flight times

Airbus has been crafting its plane of the future for some time now, and while earlier visualizations focus on see-through aircraft with shapeshifting seats, the aviation company’s latest ideas have the environment — and passengers’ precious time — in mind. Airbus just unveiled its “Smarter Skies” conceptualization of what air travel will look like in 2050, and all signs point to shorter flights and less energy consumption. For one, the aircraft manufacturer imagines an assisted takeoff, dubbed “eco-climb” mode, where smaller, lighter airplanes would depart from shorter runways and reach cruising altitude faster. Once in the air, planes could pinpoint the most direct route and travel en masse — a la a flock of birds — along “express skyways” to reduce emissions and arrive at their destinations sooner. (That idea’s totally gonna fly, right?) And when it comes time to land, aircraft could descend into airports with engines running in idle, allowing for reduced noise and emissions. Take a look at all five concepts in action in the video below the break.

Continue reading Airbus imagines ‘smarter skies’ by 2050: reduced emissions and shorter flight times

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Airbus imagines ‘smarter skies’ by 2050: reduced emissions and shorter flight times originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 05:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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