There was a time when all we commoners could do was talk about environmental degradation and heave a sigh that nothing much can be done about it. “If we need development, we need to sacrifice the environment!” That was the standard refrain. Fortunately, things have changed for the better off late, and for all of us who care about the earth, there is a new way – ‘Sustainable development’. It means there is a way to develop our society using some good ideas that can enable us to lead a better life without harming the environment. Fortunately, these eco-friendly ideas are not such a burden on your budget!
Here is a growing list of simple yet innovative idea collected from all over the world. Some of them are ancient and some are modern. If you find a better idea than these, please mail us the details. We will reward you and put up the idea on our site with your byline!
Turbo Ventilator
A strange looking device is dramatically changing the ambience in buildings! ‘Wind Driven Turbo Ventilator’ is a mechanical device that provides continuous airflow on any roof with a high capacity per vent. Made of stainless steel or aluminum, it offers maintenance free performance. This ventilator does not require electrical energy; instead, it operates utilizing wind energy to induce airflow by centrifugal force.
The Turbo Ventilator’s operation is shockingly simple! Inside a building, hot air rises up and collects underneath the roof. The hot air pushes itself out and starts running the ventilator. Immediately, fresh colder air rushes in from the windows below. Today, you can see many factories that have installed these Turbo Ventilators which gives a return on investment in a short period of time.
Details – http://www.anantlaxman.com
Bamboo Architecture
Can the humble bamboo be a construction material in modern housing? Due to its strength and durability, bamboo has been extensively used for scaffolds and supports in construction of permanent structures since ancient times. how can forget the chinese bamboo hut! Today, Bamboo reinforced houses are built by a firm named ‘WonderGrass’. This new concept is enabled by light weight architecture and treated bamboo. Clubhouse inside a corporate house such as Cisco Systems in Bangalore built completely out of bamboo.
The Composite Technology park in the TIFAC lab inside RVCE College in Bangalore has created various types of bamboo composite building material embedded in a plastic polymer.
Details – www.tifac.org.in | http://www.bamboo-inspiration.com
Bamboo Cycle
Can you use bamboo composites to create anything else… the possibilities are mind boggling!
In Bangalore, Vijay Sharma, a manufacturer of office furniture, and Vaibhav Kaley a bamboo architect, have developed a bicycle made of bamboo and fibre, by replacing 3.5 kg of steel chassis.
Details – http://handcraftedbikes.blogspot.com/
Concentrated Solar Thermal Power
All of us know that sun’s energy can be converted to electric power by using Solar Photo Voltaic cells made of silicon chips. However, since these cells cost a lot, the idea has not gained much acceptance. Thankfully, there is another idea which can create enormous amount of power using solar thermal power. Remember the solar water heater… The thermal power unit takes the same principle of converting solar power into latent heat; rather it concentrates the heat and creates super heated steam. The steam is then run through a turbine which creates electric power.
The Solúcar PS10 project is an 11MW Solar Thermal Power Plant in Southern Spain plant, which is a first-of-its-kind Solar Central Receiver System using glass-metal heliostats to produce electricity. Google.org is investing in eSolar Inc., a California based company specializing in Solar Heliostat Concentrators which are power plants of 25MW base units consisting of several thermal receiver towers, each with a field of heliostat mirrors and a central power block. In India, Gadhia Solar is implementing smaller thermal power units of around 1-2MW in rural areas.
Details – http://en.wikipedia.org | http://solarcooking.wikia.co
