5 Eco-Friendly Technologies That are Changing the Game

When rolled out, the mat expands to 7 feet by 19 feet. It connects to a power hub which stores the energy. It has ports on it that allow for connection to any machine or appliance that needs powering. This hub, when combined with the solar mat, make a totally off-grid power system is fairly portable and practical for the average consumer – especially those that heavily rely on electricity.

The unit provides 10kWh of energy storage and up to 3kVA AC output.  Their product page boasts that “Just one of these systems could provide power for:

The solar mat and hub together weight about 260 pounds (the hub is about 200 lbs and the mat is about 60 lbs). Granted, this may mean that the solar mat is not a feasible solution for everybody, as that may be a little too much weight for some people to handle on their own. Storage space can also be a concern for smaller vehicles. However, there are plenty of people who can make it work and who are thrilled with what the system allows them to do.

If you’d like to see a product demonstration, here is a VIDEO that demonstrates how it works. 

So, why hasn’t wind technology spread more widely than it has? You’d think that free energy would be a little more popular, right? Especially when we are constantly searching for ways to replace fossil fuels. The truth is that wind technology, despite its proven usefulness, has always been associated with a fair amount of drawbacks, like:

1. Intermittence – Windmills are dependent on wind and can only provide energy during the right atmospheric conditions.
2. Intrusiveness – Common complaints of windmills are that they are noisy, unsightly, and have adverse environmental effects.
3. Costliness – Windmills typically have large upfront (and ongoing) costs. Many of the giant windmills you see (such as the ones pictured below) cost upwards of a million dollars each.
4. Transience – Battery life is often an issue. The batteries in these giants (above) have a lifespan of roughly ten years. By the time a windmill has generated enough electricity to pay for itself, a new battery is often needed, adding yet another financial setback.
5. Maintenance – Windmills also typically have many moving parts, such as gears and blades that are subject to corrosion, degradation, and wear from resistance. To keep them functioning, it requires continual lubrication and upkeep.

So, while wind technology has come a long way, there is plenty of room for further advancement.

Consider also that traditional windmills require an orientation system to keep them in line with (and facing) the wind. But due to their unique design, Vortex Bladeless Wind Turbines do not need to face any particular direction. They work the same – no matter which way the wind is blowing.

Not only is this design more efficient at capturing wind energy, it is also quieter, more compact, and less intrusive to people and wildlife. It is also totally noiseless, opening new doors for its use in many locations where traditional windmills might not work.

No complex manufacturing process is required either. No lubricating. No super heavy-duty anchoring. No large, unsightly construction that occupies enormous volumes of space. Just wind power that is more efficient and more affordable. To us, it sounds like an innovation worth mentioning.  

In the late 1800’s, Hydroelectric plants began popping up elsewhere. By the early nineteen hundreds, hydropower accounted for approximately 25% of electricity generation in the US. By 1980, that amount had nearly tripled. Now, it accounts for nearly 16% of the entire world’s electrical energy production. In the US, it supplies power to state grids in all states but two – Mississippi and Delaware.

Hydropower clearly has some appealing benefits. For one, it is a totally renewable energy source. While fortunes are commonly spent in the drilling and mining of combustible fuels, hydropower uses resources that are already there. Moving water is part of nature. It always has and always will be. And when you use it, it’s not spent in the process of creating energy. It simply returns to its source, unchanged and uncontaminated.

Hydropower can also work regardless of weather conditions. It can keep delivering energy when the wind isn’t blowing, the sun isn’t shining, and even when river levels are low. Thanks to the help of reservoirs that are capable of storing large amounts of water, many hydropower systems are able to keep plenty of water in reserve. This makes hydropower a far more stable source of energy than wind and solar, which are more intermittent and dependent on atmospheric conditions.

Hydropower is also considered to be a cleaner energy source. It doesn’t emit any harmful pollutants into the water or air. While there are some considerations as to the ways it can impact the environment at local levels, hydropower itself does not burn any fuel or release any toxins into the air. 

There are, however, a few drawbacks to hydropower. One is that it can be quite costly to construct and maintain. Since water is always moving, there are always objects in the water that can impede their function. Components within the system can break due to normal wear and tear. Having the equipment and personnel to fix them can create some substantial overhead.

Hydroelectric systems can also have negative impacts on local environments. Consider the Hoover dam, for example, which made drastic changes in the geography of its surroundings. While it may have created many benefits for those near it, it has also created new threats for both people and wildlife alike.

The CO2 is then purified, concentrated, and compressed through various chemical processes. After that, it becomes a form of gas that can either be stored or used. The salt from the solution is extracted as pellets and heated in a calciner, releasing the CO2 in gas form. In short, the process takes something harmful (carbon dioxide) out of the atmosphere and turns it into something useful (i.e., carbon). The benefits are manifold – far greater than those of wind power, hydro power, or solar power.

In addition to the benefits we’ve already mentioned, carbon capture and storage is capable of capturing between 50-98% of carbon dioxide. And, according to the IPCC, it could account for 10-55% of the total carbon mitigation effort.

5. Reflective Color LCD Displays

LCDs (or liquid crystal displays) are a very interesting type of technology. As the name suggests, they use liquid crystals – a material that was first observed in 1888 by Friedrich Reinitzer, a botanist from Austria. He noted bizarre properties in the material that were characteristic of both liquids and crystals.

For many years, however, these liquid crystals did not seem of much relevance to researchers or scientists. In fact, it took about eighty years before they began being analyzed more closely. And, it wasn’t until the 1960s when institutions began recognizing their true capabilities. That’s when RCA introduced a brand-new type of display to the world – the liquid crystal display.

It was more lightweight than the displays anyone had previously seen. And, it was sleeker and slimmer than the boxier TVs that they watched the Honeymooners on. Not to mention, it consumed a whole lot less power, which was a very noteworthy perk to most people. Suddenly, the world began paying very close attention to liquid crystals.

From then on, LCD demand exploded. They began making their way into millions of homes across the world. We now see them nearly everywhere we go – in our phones, our cars, our watches, and everywhere else. And, because they have been in such high demand, manufacturers have found ways to keep making them better, brighter, and cheaper.

To some, it may seem as though liquid crystal displays have reached their peak. They had a great run, but now they’re phasing out. Not so. In recent years, new breakthroughs have occurred in this technology that are changing the game all over again. 

Reflective LCDs are a type of liquid crystal display that operate without one of the primary components that all other LCDs rely on – a backlight. Rather than being illuminated by a layer of high-powered LED lights, they have a reflective layer that rebounds ambient light from the display’s environment.

Sun Vision Display believes that when great innovation successfully combines with an eco-friendly aim, the world wins. SVD is at the forefront of creating large-format reflective LCD panels that can replace most high-brightness displays. If you’d like to learn more, inquire at www.sunvisiondisplay.com. Sales and staff will be glad to tell you more about this game-changing innovation.

So, we hope you have enjoyed reading up on these 5 eco-friendly technologies. We will keep our eyes out on the horizon for new innovations that show promise. In the meantime, let’s keep our zest for finding methods of doing business that conserve and preserve the world we live in. Thanks for reading!