I never thought an eco-friendly gadget almost based on the same concept as the HyMini would become reality as quickly as this. Now already available from IWantOneOfThose, the Mini Kin Green Power Generator magically harvests wind power and stores it into its rechargeable battery pack so that when your gadgets need abit of extra power for that crucial moment, you can rest assure that you’ve got backup.
It straps onto your arm, bicycle, boat, dog – if there’s room you can pretty much strap it to anything. The wind turns the propeller, which in turn powers the turbine and creates enough energy to power up your rechargeable gizmos. All you need to do is plug the battery unit into your iPod, mobile phone or PDA and you’ll soon have enough of a charge to see you through the next phone call or playlist. Perfect for the little green person inside all of us and it’s incredibly satisfying to say that your mobile is wind powered!
Features:
- A wind powered rechargeable battery pack that can clip on to your arm, bicycle (pretty much anything that has space for clipping).
- Clip it on and let the wind do the rest.
- When your phone needs that extra bit of juice just 60 minutes attached to this charger can provide you with up to 150 mins of call time.
- This adds practically nothing to your carbon footprint, unless you charge the battery pack using the USB connection.
Compatible with the following devices:
- MP3 Players (including iPods)
- PDA’s
- Blackberrys
- Most models of digital camera.
- the following makes of mobile phones: Nokia; Samsung; Sony Ericsson; LG; Motorola x2; iPhone.
- Anything with a mini USB input.
- Size: 12 x 8 x 3cm
Though the Mini Kin Green Power Generator will set you back by an online price of £29, if you think it is exactly what you need to replace that lot of chargers that you carry around whenever you need to leave the house for more than a day or two just to make sure you stay connected, then use our source link below for more info…
I’m a keen cyclist myself and though the Pedalite don’t look exactly the most professional of all bike accessories, for those of you who enjoy or often cycle at night, my gut feeling is that safety should come first! Though these pedals are no candidate for being the latest in technology, they don’t actually require any batteries neither, they run ‘naturally’ by harvesting the kinetic energy produced as you ride. The brilliant thing is, even when you stop riding, it remains lit up so in situation where you need to stop at lights, cars will be able to see you!
So here are the main specifications…
- Flashes front, back & sides when pedalling starts for essential 260 visbility
- The only pedal that keeps flashing when pedalling stops (up to 5 mins)
- Visible 1km away
- Very simple, standard fit on all adult & child bikes (from age 9)
- No batteries, no maintainance: fit and forget!
- Tough and durable with 1 year full warranty
- Non-slip surface and supergrip studs
- Compatible with Pedalite Toeclip
- Detailed instructions inside the packaging
- Unique, patented technology to help you put safety first
- Product dimensions: (H) 12cm x (L)9.5cm x (D)4cm
- Box dimensions: (H)23cm x (L)14.5cm x (D)5cm
- Package weight: 637g
- Power requirements: Pedal power!
If you’re cautious about being eco-friendly and want to save money (don’t sure if you’ll save lots with this though), you might want to give this solar charging iPhone case a try. All you need to do is insert your iPhone, switch the power on and place it under a spot with as much sunlight as possible.
Here are the main features…
- Lithiumion polymer Battery capacity: 3.7V 1500mAh
- Output voltage: 5V (max)
- Output current: 600ma (max) + solar battery 100 (max)
- Charge voltage: solar battery 6V USB/DC 5V
- Charge current: 100ma (max) + 500ma (max)
- Charging ime: less than 3hours
- Peak power supplied by photocell: 0.61W
- Size: 125mm x 64mm x 25mm
- Weight: 100g
The solar iPhone case is also unique in a way, as you can see above in the specs, it’s also got it’s own built-in battery, which I think means it is possible to charge up the built-in battery using solar energy and then reserve it for your iPhone later on, very neat and handy to have!
I believe this sort of thing should relate to latest technology, afterall it is technology combined with clever scientist brains that’s making this possible right?
Solazyme is a synthetic biology company that’s been working on development of biodiesels for the past three years. Their main research has been aimed at unleashing renewable energy / power from tiny marine microbes locked up in the cages within their labs, the fuel produced which is then harvested are sold for use as industrial chemicals and to specialty ingredient markets.
So what’s the news? Solazyme has announced that it has produced the world’s first algae based jet fuel! The product passed all testing specifications for Aviation Turbine Fuel, which means that the aviation kerosene has passed all the major hurdles to creating a jet fuel that is compatible with the current commercial and military infrastructure.
While Solazyme isn’t the only company working on algae aviation fuel, they are the closest to achieving large-scale production which have actually passed through all the necessary tests (measurements for density, thermal oxidative stability, flashpoint, freezing point, etc…) and regulations, so that’s why they’ve now claimed the title as the world’s first. Though it sounds pretty disgusting to hear that jets will be feeding off algae poo, at least it’s eco-friendly and renewable!
Read more about this news here…
In the video below you will see it, a revolutionary solar island capable of floating out in the sea like a giant lily pad harnessing the suns rays for electrical gains. It’s been designed by Swiss inventor Thomas Hinderling, at the moment, a 5km wide, 20m high island prototype is currently being built in the UAE and is expected to generate hundreds of kilowatts of electricity at a price nearly five times cheaper than current electricity rates. If everything goes well, this might just be a concept that could become reality and full production of these islands could begin as soon as 2011. Watch this video…
[via Alternative Energy]
There is a process called the digital textile printing that allows designers to integrate solar cells into clothing or bags by printing fabric that matches the pattern of the solar panel and researchers of North Carolina State University are looking to exploit this idea into the possibility of charging your gadgets using this method in the future. You might argue that something like this is already available (ZegnaSport Jacket), but what we are talking about is actually having the solar cell technology incorporated into the fabric itself and not just having a solar ring wrapped around your neck.
At present there is no news on whether this will go into production of any kind, thus remain just an idea or concept, however the future of this does look bright as researchers have already demonstrated that this method does not cause any harm to those wearing it. The possibility of wearing a true ‘solar energy gadget charging jacket (please suggest a better name!)’ may not be too far away…
All the credits go to the researchers at the MIT this time. As you know, solar energy could become a very promising source of energy for the future, but up until this point, storing it away after collecting it requires expensive technology and its not simple at all. But now there may be another way, scientists at MIT have come up with an inexpensive new fuel cell process that’s similar to the way plants store sunlight energy. The process is indeed not simple but is environment-friendly which is what we need! The theory is that the system uses sunlight to separate water’s hydrogen and oxygen atoms and then puts them back together in a fuel cell, providing energy. If this method is truly sustainable and becomes popular, then its benefits will be so great that it can be extended to all parts of our dailylife – just think about the possibilities and what the future will be like then.
More details here…
