Energy Efficient

Aqualia and SEAT are teaming up to develop a sustainable fuel from wastewater. The project, known as Life Metha-morphosis, is aimed at creating a biofuel from treated organic waste, which can then be used to power CNG cars, whose CO2 emissions would be cut by up to 80 percent.

​Ordinarily, when ceramic items are manufactured, the raw material has to be fired in a kiln at temperatures exceeding 1,000 ºC (1,832 ºF). Now, however, scientists have succeeded in doing away with the kiln, replacing it with a much more energy-efficient room-temperature technique.

Evolution Design recently completed work on a unique glass home dubbed Flexhouse. It boasts a stunning design, energy-efficiency, and great views. All it really lacks is privacy – this is clearly a place both to see and be seen.

Belgium-based firm Studio Farris Architects offers a nice example of a barn conversion done right with this recently-completed project in West Flanders. The firm turned a dilapidated farm building into an attractive office space with a Jenga-like mezzanine made from stacked timber beams.

House on the Cliff is a cave house like no other. The recently-completed Spanish home features a zinc tiled roof that lends the appearance of a dragon looking out to sea.

The recently-completed Pond House at Ten Oaks Farm is located on a large rural plot in Southeast Louisiana, USA. Created by Louisianan firm Holly & Smith Architects, the stunning home boasts an enviable blend of luxury and energy-efficient design in a bid to reach net zero energy consumption.

Two Fraunhofer Institutes and their partners are working on a self-sufficient floating home that creates its own water, electricity, and heat without looking like a works barge.

Ecuadorian architects Luis Velasco Roldan and Ángel Hevia Antuña have joined forces to develop a tiny green roofed home which boasts a minimal ecological footprint.

Researchers at the University of South Florida believe they have found the answer to how jellyfish and eels propel themselves so efficiently. Rather pushing against the water, the animals actually suck water toward them.​

Engineers have come up with a different type of wireless communication that sends ultra low-power magnetic fields through the human body. This makes it extraordinarily more energy efficient and secure from prying eyes than comparable wireless communication technologies.

Researchers at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin has developed a "smart window" technology that allows the passage of visible light while blocking heat, or vice versa.

Scientists have developed an approach that could lead to a muscle-targeted injection therapy that enables people to take a shot in the arm or leg, go about their daily tasks or engage in mild exercise and lose more weight than they would otherwise.