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While thinking about green energy vehicles, sometimes we also think about modest designs and vehicles having low speed. A new bike has been designed by the final year engineering students of Kingston University, which dispels all traditional stories about green vehicles. This bike has the ability to reach speeds of 102mph, race around a 38 mile mountainous course.

The bike is powered by batteries that can be easily charged from a household socket. It is a zero emissions bike. By Zero Emissions it means that it doesn’t emit any kind of gas and hence environmental friendly. This bike is an initiative to reduce CO₂ emission and it is a huge leap in that direction. The ideas were put to test on the racing circuit and are the ones most likely to become common place on the road.

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A laptop is personal computers designed for mobile use and small and light enough to sit on a person’s lap while in use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device, speakers, and usually including a battery, into a single small and light unit. The rechargeable battery is charged from an AC adapter and typically stores enough energy to run the laptop for three to five hours in its initial state, depending on the configuration and power management of the computer.

There are solar powered laptops as well that will allow a computer to be powered. This simply means that regular laptops will be charged with solar powered batteries through the use of a solar charger. But poor people can not afford it. There was always the need of such technology which poor people can also afford and they are also benefited from the uses of a computer. And can use easily in very remote areas. So, the solution is “pedal powered laptops”.

Pedal power laptop is a pedal powered machine that uses nothing but pedal power to operate the laptop. The system is set up so that just about anyone with two legs would be able to power the laptop and they claim that even a third grader can step up to the pedal power laptop computer and get to work with no problems. This type of laptops is best for poor countries like Afghanistan.

The model is called XO and it uses a hand crank to power the system. It needs no additional power sources at all and it easily transported through the countryside and rural areas where people may not have access to a computer or the power sources to run one traditionally. It is meant to allow children in schools to be able to have computer access. The prototype is hooked up so that the hand crank generator is underneath the desk for the children to use while they are seated at their desk. In addition, they are using software that would enable the students to basically be on a common server.

The model is presently under observation and there are about 2,500 of the prototype computers in circulation in different parts of Kabul, Heart and Jalalabad. The success of the system will be assessed and tweaked as required, to create a successful learning environment without the need for power.

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Algae fuel, also called as algal fuel or second-generation biofuel, is a biofuel which is derived from algae. During the process of photosynthesis, algae and other photosynthetic organisms capture carbon dioxide and sunlight and convert it into oxygen and biomass. Biofuel from algae could be a meaningful part of the solution in the future because of its potential as an economically viable and low emissions transportation fuel.

High oil prices, competing demands between foods and other biofuel sources, and the world food crisis, have ignited interest in alga culture i-e, farming algae. Algae fix the sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy very speedily. Algae are more suitable over other bio-fuels because algae can grow anywhere. Practically they can grow anywhere, in sea-water or salty water or polluted water or even in sewage. Even they have the ability to bear extreme temperature.

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Mobile phone chargers are not really chargers, only adapters that provide a power source for the charging circuitry which is almost always contained within the mobile phone. Nowadays mobile phones are essential part of life and it is one of the most important modes of communication.

Mobile phones are the cause of eco-pollution that comes from large number of still-in-use cell phones and out-of-use cell phones. The need is to curtail the use of cell phones. Toxic products like lead, mercury, cadmium and other materials pose a real threat to our ecosystem. Handset manufacturers are very interested and showing emphasis on manufacturing not only environmentally-friendly handsets but also eco-friendly chargers.

Mobile communication to go green has brought forward innovative new designs with latest technology and skills to please customers. Solar energy, wind energy and kinetic energy are energy sources that will be harnessed to power the handsets. India has largest markets for mobile phones and it has proposed plans for mobile towers that will be powered by solar energy. China mobile is the leading Chinese telecommunication operator and has already setup the world’s biggest solar energy powered base station in China.

Nokia, mobile phones manufacturer is trying to manufacture such cell phones that will use ambient radio waves. This type of mobile phones prototype can harness 50mW of power from radio waves which is ample to power the cell-phone in standby mode. Cell-phone manufacturing industry is busy in introducing solar-powered cell-phones. Pop by LG, Blue-earth by Samsung and two other Sharp Models are new prototypes using solar power.

Eco-friendly mobile phones are gaining popularity and now mobile phone chargers are also going green. Many chargers will be made with environmentally friendly materials and will be powered by renewable energy sources. As solar power is unavailable at night time, so the idea of using kinetic energy to generate electrons is now being explored.

There are some other plans on the anvil e-g, fuel cells which can generate power from water; generating power from sources that are unconventional like cold drink or alcohol. So the day is not so far when the mobile communication will totally goes green and it will use only power made from renewable energy.

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Rain is the great blessing of God. When it rains it is said that God is showering all his love and blessings on mother nature. However when it is acid rain, God is cursing the cruel manner in which man is exploiting the nature. Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, i.e. elevated levels of hydrogen ions. This can occur due to volcanoes and lightning strikes but the major cause of acid rain is the release of high levels of harmful gases by vehicles and factories. Acid rain is caused by emissions of compounds of ammonium, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids.

The damaging effects of acid rain are seen on the forests, soil, and flora fauna and on human health. It is also one of the main reasons of extinction of certain life forms. There are two forms of acid disposition

1. Wet deposition: It occurs when any form of precipitation i-e rain, snow, etc. removes acids from the atmosphere and transfers it to the Earth’s surface. This can result from the deposition of acids produced in the raindrops or by the precipitation removing the acids either in clouds or below clouds.
2. Dry deposition: It occurs through dry deposition in the absence of precipitation.This can be responsible for as much as 20 to 60% of total acid deposition. This occurs when particles and gases stick to the ground, plants or other surfaces.

Harmful effects of acid rain are as follows:

• Acid rain corrodes the protective covering of leaves of the plants, which affects the photosynthesis of the plants. Due to lack of nutrition, plants become vulnerable to diseases.

• Lack of nutrition for trees may be due to acid rain getting absorbed by the soil. The harmful acids can have hazardous effects on the roots of the trees.

• Soil has abundant amount of various metals and minerals, when these metals come in contact with acid rain there can be some harmful chemical reactions and leads to soil erosion.

• Acid rains affect the pH level of the water which reduces the absorption capacity of essential nutrients of the aquatic life. This also hampers the reproduction process in fish leading to weak or brittle eggs.

• Acid rains can pollute the drinking water which leads to various health hazards. The release of various gases in the atmosphere leads to lung problems. Some scientists have related the cause of premature death to environmental pollution.

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