New Green Tech That Could Change the World (at Least a Bit)
For Earth Week, here's a look at promising innovations that aim to make the world greener
By Suzanne Ciechalski ••
You can take three easy steps in your daily life to make tomorrow greener for everyone.
Companies around the world are taking steps to create cleaner, more sustainable ways of living through innovative technologies that might just change everyday activities.
Tesla is no stranger to such technology. The California-based electric automaker also dabbles, with its sister companies, in battery production, hyperfast train travel and rockets, and it's now getting ready to take orders on a new technology: the solar roof.
Several months ago, Tesla announced it developed glass tiles that add a bit of fashionable flair compared to the average shingle, but also allow homeowners to harness the sun's energy. Consumers should be able to place orders this month.
With Earth Week underway, here's a closer look at the tiles, plus six other promising green tech innovations happening around the world.
Solar panels, shrunk down Tesla's solar tiles aim to create a durable, more stylish option for those seeking to power their homes with solar energy. The goal of the tiles is to create what Tesla calls "the most beautiful and efficient roof ever."
"Would you like a roof that looks better than the normal roof, lasts twice as long, costs less, and by the way, generates electricity?" the company's CEO, Elon Musk, said in November. But even if the roof tiles are more sleek than the average solar panel roof, there's no definite answer on whether the tiles will be better than traditional solar panels when it comes to generating power.
Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File
In this Jan. 9, 2017 file photo, an automobile drives on a solar panel covered stretch of road, developed by Colas SA's Wattway unit, a subsidiary of Bouygues SA, in the village of Tourouvre au Perche, France.
Village-powering solar roads If solar-gathering roofs aren't hi-tech enough, France unveiled its first solar-powered road in Normandy in December. The idea behind the road, which is made of photovoltaic panels, is to gather enough power to supply a nearby village. Normandy's stretch is part of a promise to install 1,000 km of solar roadways throughout France over the next few years.
It’s not the first of its kind, though. The Netherlands debuted a solar-powered bike path in 2014, called SolaRoad. It generated enough electricity to power a small house for a year, which was better than expected, Forbes reported.
Courtesy UrbanX
UrbanX, a Kickstarter campaign, has created an electric bike wheel that can be swapped out for the wheel on almost any bicycle.
Pop-in electric bike wheels Electric bicycles are gaining popularity among the environmentally conscious, but UrbanX's Drop-in Wheel is a lot less expensive than most of the other options out there. That's because it's just a battery-powered wheel that bicyclists can pop into almost any existing bike frame.
But the Drop-in Wheel hasn't hit the market yet — it's the result of a crowdfunding effort on Kickstarter, where it's described as a "60 second solution to convert your traditional bike into an electric bike with a 30 mile range and a 20mph top speed." There are six different wheels for backers to choose from, and the estimated delivery date is this summer.
Thanassis Stavrakis/AP, File
In this June 5, 2014 file photo, a Google car is presented to the media in Athens. Google street-view cars are now being used to help detect methane gas spills across the U.S.
Methane-detecting Street View cars You may have seen Google's Street View cars roving the roads, photographing the area for the 3D component of Google maps. But the cars have a new mandate, according to the Washington Post: detecting methane gas.
The greenhouse gas is emitted during the transportation and production of coal, natural gas and oil, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The cars will be equipped with methane sensors to help pick up on spills in the surrounding areas, the Post reported in March. It's unclear when the program is set to start; Google didn't respond to a request for comment.
Lukas Schulze/Getty Images
In this Jan. 6, 2017 file photo, steam and exhaust rise from the chemical company and coking plant. A coal plant in India is using its own technology to convert carbon dioxide to baking soda.
Baking soda-making coal plants A coal plant in India is making what could be a major advancement in the fight to find a use for carbon emissions by converting them into baking soda, the Guardian reported in January. The plant, Tuticorin Alkali Chemicals, captures carbon dioxide from its coal-powered boiler and converts it into the household cleaning agent, the plant says.
The inventors of the chemical used to strip carbon, Carbon Clean, say that the new method needs less energy and is less corrosive than current carbon capture and storage chemical amine, according to the Guardian. According to Carbon Clean's website, "Carbon capture is estimated to reduce about 20 percent of the total global greenhouse emissions within the next four decades."
David Paul Morris/Getty Images, File
In this June 4, 2005, an electric powered bus drives down Columbus Street in San Francisco, California. Electric buses are increasing in popularity as people search for cleaner methods of commuting.
Battery-electric buses Buses that run on electricity, rather than gas, are gaining popularity across the United States. In Antelope Valley, California, electric buses with the ability to travel more than 160 miles debuted last year. Nearby Long Beach also recently started integrating similar buses into its fleet of public transit. Even some school buses are going electric.
Electric buses can reduce pollution. Massachusetts and New Jersey are among the states also working toward instituting more electric buses.
Courtesy Toyota
Toyota, known for its cars, is debuting a hybrid powered boat in Tokyo, Japan. The boat could lower fuel emissions and lead to higher fuel efficiency.
The first hybrid boat Toyota is known for its cars, but now the company is testing out what it says is the first hybrid boats. Like the Prius car, the prototype uses two types of power generators, an engine and an electric motor, according to a company news release.
The electric vehicle mode has the potential to lower emissions and raise fuel efficiency. A feasibility study of the boats is being conducted from July 2018 through March 2021 in Tokyo, Toyota says. Tokyo's Metropolitan Government will provide Toyota with data on the boat's performance, and to verify its convenience and areas of potential improvement.
AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach
The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) was listed as endangered on Feb. 10, 2017, according to the U.S. Environmental Conservation Online System. Rusty patched bumble bees once occupied grasslands and tall grass prairies of the Upper Midwest and Northeast, but most grasslands and prairies have been lost, degraded or fragmented by conversion to other uses.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources via AP, File
The northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) was listed as threatened on May 4, 2015. Federal officials issued regulations designed to protect the species, one of several types of bat that have suffered steep declines because of a rapidly spreading fungal disease.
AP Photo/Cornell Lab of Ornithology, J.R. Woodward, File
The red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) was listed as threatened on Jan. 12, 2015. States from Maryland to New York have joined with environmental groups to try to protect the bird by reducing the number of horseshoe crabs taken by commercial fisherman. The birds feast on the crabs' eggs during their migration from South America to Canada.
Bjorn Lardner via FWS
Slevin's skink (Emoia slevini) was listed as endangered on Nov. 2, 2015. The reptile's biggest threats are rats, typhoons, brown tree snakes and monitor lizards.
AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye
The green sawfish (Pristis zijsron) was listed as endangered on Jan. 12, 2015. Narrow sawfish, dwarf sawfish and smalltooth sawfish are also listed on the endangered species list by the Environmental Conservation Online System.
FWS
The humped Tree snail (Partula gibba) was listed as endangered on Nov. 2, 2015. Agriculture and urban development, rats, pigs and non-native plants are some of the elements that threaten the snails.
FWS via Flickr
The Rota blue damselfly (Ischnura luta) was listed as endangered on Nov. 2, 2015. Ongoing threats for the Rota blue damselfly are habitat loss and degradation due to development, military activities and urbanization, according to the federal register.
FWS
The Roy Prairie pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama glacialis) was listed as threatened on May 9, 2014. Each pocket gopher has two fur-lined check pouches, extending from the lower portion of its face to its shoulders. These pouches are used to transport food, and can be turned completely inside out.
Stacey Stanford/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP
The New Mexico meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus) was added to the endangered animal list on July 10, 2014. The federal government has set aside nearly 22 square miles across three western states as critical habitat for the rare mouse that has already pitted ranchers against the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico.
AP Photo/David Zalubowski
The Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) was listed as threatened on Dec. 22, 2014. The Bureau of Land Management released a nearly 1,000-page document late Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016, proposing restrictions on energy development, roads and grazing to protect the rare grouse, a bird found only in Colorado and Utah.
AP Photo/Point Blue Conservation Science, Mark Dettling
The yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) was listed as threatened on Nov. 3, 2014. The migratory bird, which otherwise lives in Latin America, has seen its population dwindle in the past few decades because its habitats have been marred.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP, File
The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) was listed as threatened in May 2014, but the chicken's status is now under review. A federal court in Texas on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015, has vacated Endangered Species Act protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a victory for oil and gas companies that argued conservation efforts are working.
Tom Brennan via FWS
The narrow-headed gartersnake (Thamnophis rufipunctatus) was listed as threatened on July 8, 2014. The snake is known or believed to reside in Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico.
Rob Grasso/NPS via FWS
The Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus) was listed as threatened on June 30, 2014. Threats to the toad include destruction, modification and curtailment of the species' habitat and range.
FWS
The Georgetown salamander (Eurycea naufragia) was listed as threatened on March 26, 2014. A window of opportunity exists to design and implement measures to protect water quality in Georgetown, Texas, and conserve the salamander, according to the federal register.
The mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) was listed as endangered in northern California on June 30, 2014. It was also listed as endangered in southern California in July 2002.
The Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) was listed as threatened on Sept. 29, 2014. An analysis by the Department of Interior found that property inhabited by a threatened or endangered species, or which lies within a critical habitat designation, could have a lower market value than an identical property that is not inhabited by the species or that lies outside of critical habitat.
The Dakota skipper butterfly (Hesperia dacotae) was listed as threatened on Nov. 24, 2014.
USGS
The Florida leafwing butterfly (Anaea troglodyta floridalis) was listed as endangered on Sept. 11, 2014. The Florida leafwing lives only within pine rocklands that retain its hostplant, Pineland croton. Pineland croton, a subtropical species of Antillean origin, is the only known host plant for the leafwing.
FWS
The Poweshiek skipperling (Oarisma poweshiek) was listed as endangered on Nov. 24, 2014.
FWS
Bartram's hairstreak butterfly (Strymon acis bartrami) was listed as endangered on Nov. 11, 2014.
