"The Schweeb, it's economical, ecological and good exercise!"

You probably wonder what on earth could be economical, ecological and good exercise at the same time? The answer to this question is The Schweeb. This monorail technology is already fully operational in the North of New-Zealand. Schweeb is actually a human-powered monorail vehicle. As you can see on the picture below, it’s sort of a bicycle that’s enclosed in a plastic cage that hangs on a monorail. For the moment it is being used as an attraction, where people can race next to each other on two different rails. In the movie (link below) it is clear that the track is going downhill, to ensure speed and sensation. The Schweeb can reach up to 70 km/h on this track!

But how could a racetrack be a green innovation? Well, if we would implement this invention in our everyday life transportation methods, it could replace millions of cars worldwide. Like the inventor says, you could go by bike to your work, cycling above the traffic jams at a very high speed. If these tracks were installed in cities, many people would switch to the monorail transportation method, which would reduce the greenhouse gas emission.

In the below movie you can see The Schweeb at high speed! Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n27B9xtZMTE

Mathieu Biemans

Are you a smart ecologist?

Maybe you don’t have to pay your energy bills yourself yet, but next year, a lot among us will. And probably, you will have to deal with the question: “where does all off this electricity (and my money) go to?” Well, Electrabel came up with the perfect solution: the Smart Energy Box. With this device, you can keep track of your energy consumption and control it from a distance.

How does it work? It’s very simple. When you buy the box, you get 4 Smart energy plugs - which can measure your energy usage and which make it possible to switch on and off your tools automatically – and one gateway – which figures as an interface between the plugs and the web platform.

What does it do? It is possible to check the energy consumption of your devices online and spot unusual high expenditure. If that is the case, you can switch off the device in question, even when you are for example at work.

If you don’t get the whole picture, check out this funny commercial!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKRDc7X7nlk

One point of criticism already occurred: the box itself uses electricity. What do you think of the Smart Energy Box? Can it help you to limit your energy usage or is it just a marketing stunt and will it make no difference?

By Elien Lefevere

The fairy tale house

Dear bloggers,

Some of you may have seen this before, (since it has been circulating on Facebook and news sites for a while) but for those who haven’t, I present to you the Low Impact Woodland Home. It’s an eco friendly house in Wales, built by one man and his father in law (and some help from a few friend now and then). 

When I first saw the house, I thought: “Haven’t I seen this before? It looks so familiar.” After taking a good look and digging in my memory, it finally hit me!

IT’S SHREK’S HOUSE!!!

A few years ago, the Shrek movies were my favourite, so maybe that’s why seeing the Woodland home immediately rang a bell. But still, even for all those non Shrek fans, don’t you think the resemblance is freaky? 

Anyway, back to the Woodland Home. It was built in four months time and it cost about 3000 pounds (approximately 3500 euros). In other words: it was cheap as hell! The tools that were used to create this cosy little place were limited to only a chainsaw, a hammer and a one inch chisel (a tool used for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood). So, in what way is this house so eco friendly? The stone and mud from the diggings were used to retain the walls and the foundations and the frame of the roof was made out of wood from the surrounding woodland. The fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations, there is a compost toilet and the solar panels take care of all the devices that run on electricity. I could go on like this, but my blog space is limited so I’ll just give you the link to the website for more information. If there’s one thing about this house that’s most important, it’s the idea behind it: it’s possible to enormously reduce energy consumption and still live comfortably.

If you would like to know more about why this family built the house and why it’s important to meet the challenges of climate change, watch this video!

So that's it for today! Good night, sleep tight (don't let the bed bugs bite :))

Laura

Green beach girls

Fashion seems to be a hot topic on this blog. But the summer’s approaching so will have to change our wardrobe. Normally, we girls would be shopping for cute little bikinis. But girls, imagine this: you can look smoking hot AND save the planet at the same time! Forget about the stereotypical green girl with “geitenwollen sokken”. Let’s spice things up!

If this weather is any indication, we’ll soon be sunbathing at the Blaarmeersen. With this bikini you can get a sexy tan but at the same time you can make use of all that sunlight to recharge you phone, iPod, camera and other essential holiday gadgets. The little solar panels on the bikini use the sunlight to create electrical power. You can even cool your drinks with this bikini! The bikini comes with a USB drinks cooler that once plugged in, will act as a chiller for your beer.

Not every girl likes wearing a bikini. But don’t worry, Triumph designed this sexy swimsuit with incorporated solar cells. This swimsuit also allows you to recharge your phone or iPod.  

Leen Leus

Tomatoes from exhaust gas? A bit weird don’t you think?

While reading this title you all probably thought there’s no way tomatoes can grow in exhaust gas. Well, guess again. It all started when British Sugar, which produces about half of the UK's quota of sugar, decided to produce their own energy by means of an enormous gas turbine. A gas turbine relies on the combustion of gas to produce energy. We all know this technology from a jet’s engine, but here the energy released by the turbine isn’t used to propel a plane but to produce sugar.

So far, nothing green about their investment, but here it comes. The first ecological measure they took when using the gas turbine was recovering the heat that’s lost while producing the energy. People can’t imagine how much energy is lost by the inefficiency of machines of all kind. The second and most important step towards a green innovative way of producing energy was to use its exhaust gases. At about 2.5 km of the company, the largest greenhouse in Europe resides where they grow tomatoes. By chance, tomatoes happen to take up C0₂ in order to grow and release O₂. They even noticed that the tomatoes grew much faster in air with a high CO₂ concentration! The perfect invention isn’t it? Not only do they increase the efficiency of the turbine, they also use the exhaust for the growth of food until the greenhouse gas is neutralized.

Like the speaker stresses in the movie below: “It’s a good example of tens of thousands of companies that are moving from one sector to another.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fob4lal4Ro

Mathieu Biemans

Wash your clothes with air

Yesterday, I went to Ghent’s annual  Mid-Lent Fair. After visiting tons of amusement arcades and being spun around in the ‘Take Off’, it was time for the traditional doughnut balls with powdered sugar on top. While enjoying the finger licking good pastry, a little breeze must have thought that some white sugared spots would look great on the black top I was wearing!

Sounds familiar? The problem for those among us who have their own student’s apartment – such as I – is that you can only wash your clothes when you’re at home during the weekend. And going to the launderette to wash but one article of clothing is just fundamentally wrong for environment-minded persons as ourselves.

Luckily, an eco-friendly solution to this problem is afoot: the Airwash! This washing machine doesn’t require water nor detergents. Instead of these two ingredients, the Airwash uses negative ions, compressed air and deodorants to remove spots and to kill bacteria. Air will go in through an ionic filter and will be compressed to clean our clothes using pulsation and sweeps. The negative ions will remove dust, spots and bacteria; and the deodorants will give off a pleasant smell to our favorite garments.

Maybe students in 2020 won’t have to wait for their moms anymore to wash their clothes during the weekend!

Freya Van Durme

Smog-eating roof tiles

Dear fellow bloggers,

About two weeks ago we hopped on the bus, all acting like elated schoolchildren going on a trip, and we headed for Kapelle-op-den-Bos. We took off for another informative business visit at Eternit, a Belgian company founded in 1905 which is known for its roof covering (e.g. roofing slates) and wallboards. They gave us a presentation and a guided tour of the factory.  During the presentation, the slates called Activa, which are equipped with an air purifying layer, struck my eye.

How does it work exactly? The tiles are equipped with photocatalysts, which are activated by the UV content in daylight. These photocatalysts interact with harmful nitrogen oxides (NOX) in the air and help in converting them into innocuous nitrates (NO-3). While raining, these nitrates are washed off the roof.

This process repeats countless times, for as long as your roof exists. During the average life span of a roof covered with Activa slates, this brilliant roofing material will clean an amount of air equivalent to the amount of  harmful exhaust fumes a car emits during a 160 000 kilometres cycle.

The way I see it, these tiles could mean an important step towards living more green. It would partially compensate for the environmental pollution the human race causes. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the tiles, which cover thousands of buildings and we need for protecting our houses anyway, would have the gift to clean the air?

Eline Moens