Byron Eco Park: Green Technology Seminars
About Hybrid Cars
What are hybrid cars?
Hybrid cars are vehicles that use both gasoline and electricity for power. Hybrid cars use both electric motors and gasoline engines to make the vehicle move. "Range Anxiety" is an issue in Australia because of the relatively larger distances we travel outside of the cities. Because electric vehicles use electric power alone, there's no backup engine to help you out when the batteries run out of juice. But usually they have more room for batteries, since they don't have to make space for the gasoline engine. That means EVs offer a longer electric-only range than plug-in hybrids.
EcoCrete
The concrete industry is well known for its 'less than impressive' environmental impacts; it constantly emits significant amounts of CO2 mainly through the processing of its raw materials. And yet, it is currently indispensable to the way the building industry operates. Of course, worldwide, attempts are being made to off-set key material ingredients in the production of concrete in order to lower the impact of CO2 emissions and, at the same time, maintain structural standards. The use of alternative binders such as geopolymer, along with alternative aggregates like hemp, kenaf, basalt fibre, carbon fibre and char are just a few of the ingredients currently being researched. Each alternative material has its own history and qualities, and each provides potential for the production of Greener concrete.
In the Byron Bay Shire, Northern NSW, Australia, there is currently a drive to improve new housing development through the use of greener concretes, particularly by utilising industrial hemp as a viable structural material. For the last few years, at Byron Eco Park, initial research has been underway to find ways of utilising hemp to create a structurally sound concrete that is lightweight, less labour intensive, and greener than traditional concrete (greener insofar as it acts as a CO2 sink). The information below is an outline of some of the results.
Aero 2019 - a step towards co2 free aviation.
Germany’s largest ultralight aircraft manufacturer, Comco Ikarus in Mengen, was able to announce the first flight of its successful two- seater C42 / CS as an electric version just before the start of AERO, the annual aircraft exposition in Friedrichshafen, Germany.