TOKYO: Self-cooling clothes may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but for one Japanese company they are not only good business but a way to help the environment.
Shirts and jackets made by Kuchou-fuku — literally air-conditioned clothes — keep the wearer comfortable even in sweltering heat while using one-50th of the energy of [...]
By tracing the expansion of the universe back in time, one can try to understand the physical conditions that would have existed in the past. Such an exercise leads to a very fascinating picture about the early universe.
The most important effect of expansion is the decrease in the density of matter and radiation present [...]
QUEENSFERRY: The world’s richest corporations and finest minds spend billions trying to solve the problem of carbon emissions, but three fishing buddies in North Wales believe they have cracked it.
They have developed a box which they say can be fixed underneath a car in place of the exhaust to trap the greenhouse gases blamed [...]
HAMBURG: Worm composting could be doing more harm than good to the environment, according to research in Germany.
“Worms produce a significant amount of greenhouse gases. Recent research done by German scientists has found that worms produced a third of nitrous oxide gases when used for composting,” an expert was quoted as saying.
In an [...]
Hyderabad scientists have made a fuel cell that uses industrial waste water as base. T.V. Jayan reports .
The waste water that you flush down the drain may light up your home in the near future. A team of researchers from the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) has developed a fuel cell capable of [...]
WASHINGTON: A Cardiff University research team is working towards creating greener energy by recycling precious metal like platinum from road dusts and vehicular exhausts.
Platinum is a rare metal and is used in fuel cells. Now, Dr Hazel Prichard and her team from the School of Earth Ocean and Planetary Science are working towards finding [...]
Three key patented technologies are being exploited to produce biofuels and other products. New IP has been identified and will be developed to make the system commercially viable.
Induced Blanket Reactor (IBR): A patented anaerobic digester uses a steady flow process to produce biogas from animal wastes such as those found in a dairy operation.
Solar [...]
AHMEDABAD: It’s possible to cool down your overheated home in the blistering summer months by making some simple changes. Experts at the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) say that co-ordinating lighting plan with the construction material can go a long way in building cooler homes.
Architects now have a ready guideline, called the [...]
NEW YORK: Solar power should become a mainstream energy choice in three or four years as companies raise output of a key ingredient used in solar panels and as China emerges as a producer of them, according to a report by an environmental research group.
“We are now seeing two major trends that will accelerate [...]
NEW DELHI: Commenting on the UN report on climate change, R K Pachauri, chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said: “It’s a stunning and razor-sharp report.â€
Pachauri told TOI from Bangkok: “It is a solid scientific document that clearly highlights the urgency with which the issue needs to be addressed by [...]
OSLO: Better architecture and energy savings in buildings could do more to fight global warming than all curbs on greenhouse gases agreed under the UN’s Kyoto Protocol, a UN study showed on Thursday.
Better use of concrete, metals and timber in construction and less use of energy for everything from air conditioners to lighting in [...]
NEW YORK: In the office of the future, desk jockeys who cannot live without cell phones, BlackBerrys and iPods will be able to charge up such devices just by putting them on their desks.
One office furniture maker Herman Miller Inc has a license from Fulton Innovation for eCoupled, a system that eliminates the need for [...]
The United States could generate as much electricity by 2050 as that flowing today from all of the country’s nuclear power plants by developing technologies that tap heat locked in deep layers of granite, according to a new study commissioned by the energy department.
There are already dozens of power plants worldwide that have long exploited [...]
EAST AMWELL, NEW JERSEY: Michael Strizki heats and cools his house year-round and runs a full range of appliances including such power-guzzlers as a hot tub and a wide-screen TV without paying a penny in utility bills.
His conventional-looking family home in the pinewoods of western New Jersey is the first in the United States to [...]