Electronics

The Incredible New World Of Eco-Friendly Living

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The world of tomorrow is just around the corner. You have probably heard that be said until you are blue in the face but this time, we assure you it’s not another sales pitch. You really are lucky to be alive in this century. Why? Well take a look at the world around you and see how fast it is moving; in the right direction (finally). It is now slowly but surely, heading to a leaner, cleaner, greener lifestyle that is not only going to be better for future generations but better for those that have become familiar with living in the old ways. This goes for cars, how we drive, how we heat our homes, how we fuel our vehicles and how our cities and countries are powered. Everything you once knew is going to become old news in your lifetime. To show you we’re not making this up, we’re bringing to light some amazing advances in eco-friendly technology.

A rival to Tesla?

We have all heard about Tesla. It’s the first true all-electric car brand that shook the world. First they laughed at it, then they got concerned and then they followed Tesla’s lead. Rival car companies have been desperately trying to catch up to Tesla. In truth, they really can’t. Why? It’s because Tesla’s technology is about 10 years ahead of legacy car makers. Think about it; Tesla has the largest range of any electric car, they have the best performance of 0-60mph in 1.99 seconds. They have a lot of space and they have their very own charging network. It seems like Tesla is going to own the market for some years, maybe meaning consumers have less choice.

However, there is another car company called Lucid which has just released their own series of cars that are ultimately one model just with different ranges and luxury features. Funnily enough, the CEO is actually a former Tesla design leader who worked on Tesla model X and more. They have made a very small electric motor package which allows them to save weight and include more batteries. This has allowed Lucid to make a car with over 1,000bhp and with over 500 miles of range. They may not have the top 0-60mph performance but by no means is 2.5 seconds a walk in the park. So it seems like we are going to be enjoying an almighty battle between Lucid and Tesla in the next couple of years.

Air travel will never be the same

Billions of people fly every single year. Half of them fly due to business but the rest fly due to holidays and needing to meet relatives. However, there are lots of things changing in the aerospace world. Firstly, airlines are thinking about doing away with the first class. This is because business class has just gotten so much better than where it was 5 years ago even. Many of the bonuses and features of first class, business class already enjoy. This would mean that instead of the 20 first class seats on an airplane, there could be 40-50 business class seats injected in. 

This would mean that instead of the normal 300-350 people on board a plane like the Airbus a350 or Boeing 737, it could mean close to 380 or more. This is going to save a lot of money for airlines and mean more people can affordably travel.

Speaking of Airbus, this brand is going to be making hydrogen planes. Yes, for the first time in human history, the cleanest and one of the most powerful energy sources is going to be used for air travel. Airbus is going to make 3 new planes, one of them will be driven by turbojet props, another will be the classic turbofan engines and another will have hydrogen and electric engines on board but have a flying wing or blended body design. These planes will first hold about 200-300 passengers but as the storage and delivery of hydrogen onboard aircraft improves, this could be increased to the numbers we see now.

Solar power is here to stay

Solar power is in the middle of a second or possibly third revolution. Solar power has become incredibly affordable now and companies that are offering solar tiles and solar panels are seeing a drastic uptick in desire for their products. Modern solar energy is incredibly widespread. The average homeowner can buy solar panels and have them professionally installed. The teams will come over to make small holes into the tiles or the roof so the solar panels are securely fitted. They will make sure that there are no potential leaks that could really harm your home, which is why it’s not often advised to fit solar panels yourself. There is a technique to it!

Solar is going to be an incredible source of power. The first generation panels only produce about 5-10% efficiency. Modern panels produce 15-20% efficiency. You can only imagine in 5 or 10 years time, the panels could harvest 20-30% of the sun’s energy. This means that out of 52 weeks, you could power your entire home for 2-3 weeks at the current efficiency. You can use solar energy to charge your car as well. Most home charging units will only be 7kWh so they will need to charge your car up for about 8-12 hours. 

Solar power is also taking a turn for the best because panels seem to be giving way to tiles. Tesla tiles are the new solar power technology that can harvest a lot of the sun’s power because, unlike panels that don’t cover the entire roof, these do. So no matter what side the sun is on to your house, you will still collect power. However, because it’s new it’s expensive and can cost up to $40K. Tesla says that in 5 years or so, the tiles begin to pay themselves off.

New nuclear plant cleaner?

Nuclear power has always held a very strong stigma in the public’s eyes. Everyone knows about Chernobyl and Fukushima. However it must be noted that these reactors were built with very old technology, tech that isn’t used today. In fact, there is a revolution in nuclear energy thanks to two new designs.

The first is the tried and tested, salt reactors. These don’t use a special kind of cooling water, but instead use molten salt. This prevents temperatures from rising to dangerous levels. Not to mention, salt reactors can have a slower reaction and thus not need as much fuel or as much potent fuel. So they can even run on nuclear waste from older reactors.

The other design is modular reactors. These are smaller reactors that essentially, can be made on a production line. This is unheard of as many reactors needed to be made on-site and could not be made by anyone other than nuclear engineers and scientists. These modular designs can be shipped anywhere in the world and assembled on-site as needed. This means that smaller, safer and less complex reactors can spread nuclear energy around the world faster than ever before.

The world is heading toward an incredibly exciting new era of eco-friendly energy and living. It’s essential that we become used to this fact and begin to open up our homes and ourselves to better and cleaner lifestyles. Which of these which we have mentioned, are you most excited for? Lucid might change the car landscape but nuclear might change the world. 

 

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