The human race has sadly been devastating the planet for a while now but clever bods are always working on ways to save the environment.
We’ve collected some of the most interesting uses of technology that mankind is currently employing to better our world and undo some of the damage we’ve done to it.
Ocean pollution removal
We all know how much of an issue waste is. Especially in the oceans and waterways.Plastic pollutionis especially problematic.
Seabinis one clever solution to tackle the issue. This is a simple, yet brilliant gadget that works like a drain. It floats on the ocean and functions like a drain. As water washes over the top it collections rubbish inside. Then can be emptied in a more environmentally friendly way.
Solar panel roads
Using renewable energies is clearly an important part of saving the environment and every little action helps.
Roads obviously take up a large amount of space in the developed world. Now researchers are attempting to make the most of them with tech.
Herephotovoltaic solar panels encased in textured glasscan be used in place of standard tarmac. The energy can not only be used to send electricity to the national grid but also to heat the roads and make them safer.
Battery bricks
Having solar panels on your house obviously helps as using the sun’s rays to generate energy rather than using coal or other fossil fuels is much better for the environment.
Researchers at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, have managed to create a material that can be used with regular house bricks to turn them into energy storing devices.
Combine these bricks with solar panels and the house can potentially store and distribute energy in many useful ways.
Solar glass panels
Researchers at the University of Michiganhave been working on transparent window material that can generate energy.
These glass panels could be installed in place of normal windows, making it much easier to add solar panels to your home.
The research suggests that this glass could account for as much as 40 per cent of US electricity generation if it was installed in enough homes.
Plastic eating microbots
Along with Seabin there are other technologies being developed to help deal with plastic waste in the ocean.
One such thing is the use ofself-propelled microrobotsdesigned to use visible light to break down dangerous plastic waste and help save the seas.
Carbon friendly computing
Google has been carbon neutral since 2007 but just more recently the company has also taken steps to move towards24x7 carbon-free energy.
This includes employing logic at its data centres where the heavy workloads are done during times when renewable energy is most abundant. This means when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, more work is carried out - using less fossil fuel power than it would otherwise.
This sort of attitude is obviously a great way for a business to help reduce its impact on the environment and the more companies doing this the better.
Tesla Solar Roof
Solar panels are great, but Tesla has been thinking even bigger with solar tiles that can cover your entire roof without ruining the overall aesthetic.
TheTesla Solar Roofis perhaps a vision of the future for homeowners too as it not only covers the whole house, but also generates and stores energy and allows you to have uninterrupted power even if there are issues with the national grid. The more people who have solar panels the better.
Tidal Turbines
This is theworld’s most powerful tidal turbine. It’s known as the O2 and was crafted by Scottish engineering firm Orbital Marine Power.
It’s 74m long and designed to work in the waters off Orkney for the next 15 years providing clean power for 2,000 homes.
The turbine is interesting as it will power the EMEC’s land-based electrolyzer which then, in turn, generates green hydrogen that can be used as a fuel source. That hydrogen obviously has the benefit of not being sourced from fossil fuels so there are essentially two sources of energy from one piece of technology.
The turbine works by generating energy as its blades are moved by the rise and fall of the tide and ocean’s currents. This is apparently better than wind and solar power as it’s more predictable.
Graphene isn’t a technology as such, but instead it may well feature in many future technologies and those with a wide range of planet-healing abilities too.
Graphene is a material that was originally discovered by theUniversity of Manchester.It’s made from an ultra-thin layer of graphite and is said to have many awesome qualities such as being flexible, transparent, conductive and more. Meaning it can be used in everything from water filtration to photovoltaic uses.
Electric vehicles
Cars and vehicles, in general, are a big part of the problem.
We need them to get from place to place, to deliver our goods, to go to work, to travel and more but traditional fossil fuel-powered vehicles are polluting the world.
Electric vehiclesare the future and the sooner we adopt them the better off the world will be.
