Venture Vehicles has in development what appears to be a fantastically green and cool new mode of transport. You can now pre-register for the VentureOne’s e50 and Q100 hybrids or the Venture EV (all electric)
The hybrids have a 300+ mile range and can get up to 100 miles per gallon with a top speed of over 100mph. It is a 3 wheeled vehicle that is fully enclosed with state of the art steel safety features and includes airbags and side impact beams, making it much safer than a motorcycle.

This mini-cooper sized vehicle seats two with sleek wrap around windows. The videos on their flytheroad.com website make this trike looks a blast to drive, the front “cab” driving area is able to lean up to 45 degrees on turns while leaving the engine area horizontal. The videos on the VentureOne website shows this very well.

The planned price tag of $23,000 for the EV model and 18K for the hybrid might be a bit steep for such a small “car” but your savings on gas and the good karma you’ll have by not adding to greenhouse gas pollution makes it a serious temptation. They plan to release this in late 2008.

Where are the Green Early Warning Systems?

I was a kid in the 50′s when air raid drills and “duck and cover” were the norm. There was something about air raid sirens that continues to invade my nightmares. This isn’t just a test of the early warning system, we need ear piercing air raid sirens to blast suburbia awake over the coming global warming disasters.

Victor Mobilae

There are a few artists and designers who put out their global warming early warning devices, like this one by Designer Rene van Corven from the Netherlands. Called the “Victor Mobilae” which is a mobile garden that moves 65 inches north each day, apparently representing the speed to which global warming might cause vegetation to adapt northwards as the climate shifts. No doubt this art piece is well intentioned but it seems a bit benign, almost celebrating the happy gardens the frozen north will soon be blessed with. Those chilly Eskimos will be soon able to add some peas and carrots with their walrus blubber.
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BigBelly Solar Trash Compactor from seahorsepower.com

Readers who regularly follow my posts here at Great Green Gadgets might wonder what’s up with no posts in the past several days. The reason is that my wife and I have been moving from our place in Boston to San Diego (where we will get to in a few weeks, right now we are starting a very slow journey across the country) Now that all the packing is done and the movers have taken away all our stuff we can turn our attention back to Great Green Gadgets.

Speaking of Boston – we lived in Jamaica Plain where a great green inventor,James Poss, also lives. He invented the BigBelly made by Seahorse Power Company which is a solar powered trash compactor bin that is becoming more popular in urban areas. Here is a good article from our Boston Globe on the BigBelly. and another more recent article from the BBC.

The BigBelly is becoming a welcome visitor to busy urban settings, popular beaches, and other areas that generate large volumes of trash from pedestrians that necessitate the garbage cans be emptied frequently so it doesn’t wind up looking like this picture.

The solar powered trash compactor might be emptied only once or twice a day, not the 15 or more visits by greenhouse gas emitting sanitation trucks seen in some downtown trash cans. Some as in this Treehugger post might object to the fact that all this trash is just being put in the landfill but realistically, that trash would have never made been recycled anyway in our current level of mass eco-consciousness. Perhaps someone could find a means to separate and then recycle the components of BigBelly’s compacted trash to make it even more eco-friendly. As a person commented on the Treehugger post, Perhaps a way could be found to convert the compacted garbage into fuel pellets for plasma arc gasification systems.

While its great to reduce trash and greenhouse gases with the BigBelly, bigger solutions to our cities’ trash woes will be needed, like ways to reduce the paper and plastic trash from convenience stores and fast-food restaurants as well as figuring out a way to educate and encourage people to take great pride and responsibility for our communities.

Sun Jar Solar Light UK£ 19.99 or $39.69 at nigelsecostore.com

Perhaps you have heard of carrying moonbeams home in a jar? Almost as cool is the Sun Jar a solar night light inside a jam jar from Designer Tobias Wong. Simplicity is the word here, all you do is set it down in the sun somewhere during the day and then when night comes it will automatically turn on for up to 5 hours. The frosted glass diffuses the light to a romantic glow from the energy efficient let light inside. The orange light is similar to that of a candle.
Also available at SuckUK - with lots more info and photos.
$29.99 at Amazon

Solar Two, an “older’ concentrated solar power plant in the Mohave Desert – (replaced by newer technology)

In yesterday’s post I revealed how little I knew about concentrated solar power. In fact I had never heard of it before saw the video clip posted yesterday. Presumably there are more people out there who are like me and are curious about this technology. This wiki link is a comprehensive look at solar thermal energy.

What baffles me is why hasn’t there been more attention to this proven source of renewable, clean energy? Why when we think of solar power don’t we think of solar power plants just as much as we think of panels of photovoltaic cells on rooftops? Concentrated solar power can involve a huge array of hundreds or thousands of mirrors that concentrate the solar rays reflected by mirrors to heat molten salt to 565°C (1050°F). The salt then boils water which drives a steam turbine to generate electricity. There are other ways to do this as well.

Wired has a good article about the huge Solar Plants in the desert. Currrently, there are at least nine solar power plants in the Mojave Desert known as the Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS). It uses parabolic trough solar thermal technology along with natural gas to generate electricity. The facility has a total of 400,000 mirrors and covers 1,000 acres. These plants produce 354 MegaWatts, making the system the largest solar plant of any kind in the world.

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