With the world facing a housing shortage, 3D printing is not only speeding up the automation of construction, but also reducing costs. In our two-part series we’ll learn how companies are using this technology to build functional, affordable homes.Sam Ruben, the co-founder and chief sustainability officer of Mighty Buildings, says, “With 3D printing, we're able to print exactly what we need

Vertical farming is a method of growing and harvesting crops on vertical shelves or towers rather than on land, as in traditional horizontal farming. Vegetables and other foods are produced indoors using controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology. Vertical hydroponic technology is favored by many agritech companies and home growers, as it requires 90% less water to grow food, and n

Fashions featuring faux or vegan fur designs are rapidly on the rise. This movement is occurring due to the growing global concern about animal welfare. According to the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), “85% of the fur industry’s skins come from animals living in captivity.” Apart from being made in a manner that prioritizes the welfare of animals, these anim

As we progress in the Golden Age of Technology, many prototypes of solar-powered cars are already available. One remarkable example, a new sleek-looking, three-wheeled solar car, was launched by Aptera Motors in San Diego, California, a company that manufactures solar electric vehicles. The Aptera solar car is powered by a specially designed system that combines solar and electric energy. S

At the University of Toronto, Professor Edward Sargent and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Yi Hou, together with Professor Stefaan De Wolf from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), have developed a unique, highly efficient and stable tandem solar cell. Another exciting solar advancement was reported in October 2020. The new innovation involves designing solar panels in checkerboard

On today’s program, we’ll explore zero-carbon hydrogen energy, how it works, and the technologies used to produce it. So, what exactly is hydrogen energy? Hydrogen energy is the process of using hydrogen, a clean fuel, to generate electrical power. It’s called a clean fuel because if the energy used to produce that hydrogen is from renewable sources, such as wind or solar power, then using that hy

The development of a high-tech mask was announced by the mask manufacturing company AirPop during the CES 2021 consumer electronics trade show. AirPop’s new product and companion app track the breath, the air quality, and the mask filter's effectiveness. The AirPop company’s reusable mask comes with replaceable filters. In mid-2020 another innovation was reported - a new self-sanitizing med

Why not produce your own electricity from wind energy? Wind power is one of the world’s most widely used renewable energy sources, and according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, it’s the top source of sustainable electricity generation in the United States. It is 100% renewable, eco-friendly, and free to generate. A group from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has developed a n

In today’s program, we’ll learn about wave power and how it could be the future source of clean energy for our planet. Wave power, also known as marine or ocean energy, captures the energy of tides, currents, and wind waves from the world's oceans, to generate renewable power. Unlike wind and solar conditions, the status of waves or swells can be easily forecast for periods of 48 to 72 hours in ad

Traditionally, waste disposal has simply involved throwing solid waste material into landfills. However, these sites emit harmful by-products such as methane, dioxins, and leachate, which are harmful to the health of humans, animals, and the natural environment. In an effort to reduce the environmental and health damage caused by waste disposal, scientists and engineers along with the waste manage

Flying is one of the fastest and most efficient ways to travel, especially for long-distance trips. However, conventional airplane flights are energy-intensive and depend on fossil fuels for power. Because aircraft emissions are released high in the atmosphere, they have a potent impact on Earth’s climate, triggering chemical reactions and atmospheric effects that add greatly to planetary warming. Currently, approximately 170 electric aircraft projects are underway around the globe – up by 50% since April 2018. Many of these efforts involve futuristic designs for urban air taxis, private planes or package-delivery aircraft. But major firms have also announced plans to electrify their commercial aircraft. Inspired by Elon Musk and the Tesla electric car, Harbour Air, the largest seaplane airline in North America has built and tested the first electric seaplane. In an effort to reduce emissions from its aircraft, Harbour partnered with magniX, a research and development firm with operations in the US and Australia, to develop the first fully electric commercial aircraft. In December 2019, the modest Canadian airline got its “e-plane” off the ground, pulling ahead of other electric-flight projects, including those by big-name companies Airbus, Boeing, and Rolls-Royce. Located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, the Israeli company Eviation hopes to market the world’s first all-electric plane, called the Eviation Alice, by 2022. In 2023, Eviation may bring out an extended-range aircraft capable of traveling a distance of 745mi (1200 km). Mr. Engler added that electric planes will provide lower emissions, reduced fuel costs, and lower noise levels for passengers and communities living under flight paths. We thank all the scientists, engineers, and aviation companies currently searching for alternative ways to reduce CO2 emissions and protect our beautiful planet. May your goals soon be reached.

3D-printing is an emerging revolutionary technology that could completely change the current approach to design and manufacturing, with profound geopolitical, economic, social, demographic, environmental, and security implications. 3D-printing technology is not only altering human life but is also significantly impacting the lives of animals. On today’s program, we happily share some of these great technological advances with our noble viewers. We’ll start off with a group of English scientists who have figured out a way to 3D-print cells grown in a laboratory to create living structures. This approach could revolutionize regenerative medicine, enabling the production of complex tissues and cartilage that could potentially support, repair or augment diseased and damaged areas of the body. “We were aiming to fabricate three-dimensional living tissues that could display the basic behaviors and physiology found in natural organisms.” In the United States, Harvard University researchers have also developed 3D-printed organs as an alternative to animal experimentation, having successfully made the first 3D- printed organs-on-chips. This new technology should help to reduce the rate of drug testing on animals by pharmaceutical companies and academic labs, as the organs-on-chips provide a groundbreaking substitute for traditional ways of testing. Supporting the use of technology to replace animal testing, Dr. Warren Casey, director of the U.S. National Toxicology Program’s Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods, which studies alternatives to animal use in chemical-safety testing, says, “In theory, non-animal tests could be much cheaper and much faster.” Testing on these simplified, miniaturized versions of our physiology could deliver more human-relevant results than animal experiments.

As we progress through the Golden Age, we’re seeing more and more advances in the area of green building technology. For example, the traditional machinery used for construction is now being replaced by 3D-printing or additive manufacturing, the process of making three-dimensional objects from a computer-assisted design (CAD) or digital 3D model. Carbon Asset Storage Technology(CAST) is among the range of innovative techniques developed by MIRRECO. The Perth-based company’s houses are made mainly from hemp, an eco-friendly building material. MIRRECO is involved in a collaborative venture with architectural firm Arcforms to showcase the 3D-printing of hemp biomass in the environmentally friendly construction. This amazing all-natural building material is made only of hemp pulp, lime binder, and water. Mr. Yves Béhar, founder of the award-winning design firm Fuseproject, claims, “Increased density in cities, rising housing costs, and homelessness present challenges that architects and urban planners must respond to.” Mr. Béhar proceeds with a brilliant plan to tackle the issues of those in need of homes. Fuseproject has combined forces with the homebuilding-technology company ICON and the non-profit group, New Story in a joint venture to build 3D-printed houses for an impoverished Latin American farming community. ICON’s large-scale portable 3D-printer, the Vulcan II, is designed to produce nearly zero waste and to function under difficult circumstances, such as limited water and power. The three companies revealed their plans to use the latest technology to form "the world's first 3D-printed community." The work is being done in close interaction with local residents to learn about their culture and surrounding environment. The first TERA accepts limited pre-bookings on the US crowdfunding website Indiegogo, and starting March 2020 will be available for habitation for one year before it’s recycled and reprinted elsewhere. Every stay in TERA contributes to the habitat's scientific mission: emphasizing the need for renewable technologies to save our planet, while researching what’s needed to enable life to exist on a new one. Many thanks to the inventors and architects who are advancing the sustainable lifestyle and presenting eco-friendly housing technologies. May your loving kindness benefit other beings, including our precious animal friends.

The ecocapsule is a smart, self-sustainable micro-house that uses solar and wind energy for power. The energy-efficient egg-shaped dome designed by Slovakian firm Nice & Wise which allows its inhabitants to live off-grid and enjoy the scenic beauty of nature. In a second example, a group of students constructed the “Waste House” at the University of Brighton, UK, from a variety of waste materials obtained from domestic and construction sites. The frame and floors of Waste House are made of recycled wood, and ten tons of chalk waste from another construction site were collected, pounded rammed-earth style to form a wall. In September 2015, Waste House was nominated for the Royal Institute of British Architects' Stephen Lawrence Prize. KODA is a sustainable and portable two-story mini house with built-in IT that enables the structure to learn from and adjust to its surroundings. According to Mr. Ülar Mark, a co-founder and system architect of Kodasema, 31 KODA modules have been built and installed in several European locations for different uses. He further explains, “There is a great advantage in using KODA modules for public buildings; the modules can be easily relocated and repurposed once they are no longer needed at the original location.” Essentially, Earthship homes are built with recycled materials, such as rubber tires, glass bottles, aluminum cans, and other re-purposed waste. The old tires were made into a powerful thermal mass by filling them with soil, hence making the room created from these materials cool in summer and warm in winter. The Sukup Safe T Home is a highly modified grain bin that is resistant to earthquakes, termites and moisture. Apart from security and comfort from the effects of weather provided to disaster-stricken inhabitants, T Homes can be purchased at a highly affordable price. In Oct 2016, the Sukup T Homes built in Haiti which protected the country’s residents from Hurricane Matthew, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in recent history.

As new housing concepts emerge, housing designs focus resources and technologies with less carbon footprints and environmentally friendly. One of the world’s most ingenious eco-friendly dwellings has been designed by the Dutch company Wikkelhouse, was created by a team from the Fiction Factory in Amsterdam. The Wikkelhouse is a completely reusable modular home made almost entirely of recycled card

Today we will learn Incredible technology applied to clothing industry to achieve the “wasteless” target in a circular fashion movement. Well, Swiss-based Dimpora has developed a membrane which can integrate with any outdoor clothes through painting, spraying, coating, or printing. Different from other traditional types of membrane, Dimpora membrane is mineral-based, biodegradable, fluorine-free, waterproof, winterproof, breathable, and seamless. That means you will enjoy nature comfortably without causing any harm to the surroundings. With a zero-waste philosophy in mind, Hallotex – based in Barcelona, Spain, with a production station in Morocco – creates clothes from recycled raw materials. One of the company’s special projects is The Loop, a fascinating way of reusing fabric to recreate new garments. In Asia, Japan-based Synflux has developed a wonderful innovation to help clothing makers reduce waste in the cut procedure. Algorithm Couture allows the production of garments with minimal waste of material and energy. When it comes to a cruelty-free and sustainable way to produce stylish clothes, perhaps the first person who comes to mind is the award-winning and world-famous fashion designer Stella McCartney. A vegetarian and animal rights activist, Ms. McCartney does not use animal fur or skin in her creations, while she is also concerned with the final destination of what we wear as she knows the fashion industry is currently one of the most polluting industries globally. Bolt Threads is a state-of-the-art technological material company located in California, USA, and makes renewable and biodegradable fabrics in laboratories. One of their innovations is Microsilk, a vegan silk inspired by spider silk, but made by humans without harming any spiders. With Bolt Threads, Stella has designed incredibly modern and nature-respecting dresses using Microsilk. Those were just a few of many examples on how clothing manufacturing can go on without damaging nature and innocent creatures, while adopting concepts of “zero-waste” and “from cradle to cradle” with cooperation of consumers and material sorters. We would like to convey our sincere gratitude to all involved in the circular, planet-friendly, and animal life-sparing fashion industry.

A lot of what is produced globally in terms of clothing will not end up being recycled. That means a massive amount of fabric waste goes to landfills every years, polluting our soils and oceans. In order to tackle this issue, companies and start-ups have been working hard to offer technological solutions for a circular approach to fashion. Ryan Mario Yasin, Arabella Turek, Fanny Lefebvre-Nare, and Alicia Martinez-Rodriguez from UK-based Petit Pli have come up with an ingenious idea by combining Japanese origami folding techniques with space engineering. “Clothes That Grow” can accompany the growing size of a baby from 9 months up to 4 years of age. Apart from that, the outfits produced by this wearable technology company are windproof and waterproof, and all are made from recycled fabrics. German-based Circular. Fashion has invented a way to tag a circular identification, or circularity. ID on any piece of garment, making it easier for customers to trace the whole life cycle of their products. We give heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful tech innovators for making the fashion industry circular and eco-friendly for the benefit of all beings on this precious, life-giving planet.

In November 2019, the new California-based company Heliogen reported an exciting breakthrough in solar-concentration technology. The startup focuses on using clean energy to eliminate the need for fossil fuels. The breakthrough at Heliogen offers carbon-free, cost-effective solar technology to replace fossil fuels, thus bringing about the hope of decarbonizing these large emitters of greenhouse gasses. It was the potential of transforming heavy industry through renewable energy and mitigating climate change that motivated Bill Gates to invest in Heliogen. Using CO2 obtained from the atmosphere, solar fuels produced by concentrated solar thermal energy will be completely carbon neutral. “Our HelioHeat can be used by customers to replace their use of harmful fossil fuels. The world's first technology that can commercially replace fossil fuels with carbon-free ultra-high temperature heat from the Sun, taking a major step towards solving climate change.”

On today’s program, we’ll meet Mr. Artjoms Kurbanovs, the SkyWay Group of Companies investor from Latvia. He tells us about the Unifly, a vehicle designed to replace the family car. “We're now at our high-speed ‘Unifly,’ the transport that moves at 500 km/h. And to drive it, to operate it, will cost much less, because to build all this we need less resources, less time plus it’s total eco-friendliness: no pollution of either air or Earth.” In addition to its unique aerodynamic design, the Unifly has many other advantages over our traditional means of transportation. “It’s amazing: the weight is very low. So, we have great energy-saving for driving. This vehicle moves on solar batteries, on wind energy - this is transport that uses renewable kinds of energy.” One of the greatest benefits is that the entire system is elevated, which substantially improves its operational safety. One of the most exciting features of SkyWay’s system is that it will leave a minimal footprint on Earth. SkyWay believes that their unique system will make it much easier and faster for people to travel to work.

The SkyWay Group is developing a high-speed elevated urban and freight transportation system with vehicles that can travel up to 500 km/h. On today’s program, we’ll speak with Dr. Anatoly Yunitskiy, Founder, President, and Lead Designer of the SkyWay Group of Companies. For Dr. Yunitskiy, SkyWay has been a lifelong project. When Dr. Yunitskiy introduced the world to the SkyWay transport systems, his concept attracted global recognition. “We created a machine with no parallels for its parameters, and this is innovative. Since we are up to ten times more effective than a car, we need ten times less fuel. That means we’ll disturb the environment less, with less emissions.” Dr. Yunitskiy envisions a transportation system that would exist not only on land, but also through the ocean. Dr. Yunitskiy believes that with green technology, our future is bright.