Go eco racer, go!

Electric cars are known for relieving drivers of their reliance on petrol, but not for performance. Drayson Racing Technologies is looking to change this with their electric Le Mans prototype racing car, the B12/69EV, which made its debut at last month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed hill climb event.

The zero-emissions racer set a new record for electric cars with a timed run of 53.91 seconds, which made it the eleventh quickest vehicle overall. The B12/69EV is powered by an electric drivetrain, which delivers an astonishing 640 kW of power (more than a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta), enough to propel the green rocket from standstill to 100 km/h in just over three seconds and on to a top speed of 320 km/h.

T-shirts to power our gadgets in future?

In the future, road warriors won’t need to pack a car charger to keep their gadgets charged while on the go, just their favourite t-shirt. Researchers from the University of South Carolina discovered a method of using an inexpensive t-shirt to store electrical power. They soaked a plain t-shirt in a solution of fluoride, dried it out and baked it in an oxygen-free environment.

This resulted in the fibres of the cotton fabric being converted from cellulose to activated carbon, whilst maintaining their flexibility. The scientists then utilised parts of the fabric as an electrode, illustrating that the material could be used as a high-performing capacitor. Capacitors store an electrical charge and are used within nearly every electronic device.

Green label NB for Apple customers

Last month Apple withdrew 39 of its products from the electronic product environmental assessment tool (EPEAT) green registry, a US government-backed group that rates PCs and other electronic equipment according to how eco-friendly they are. The move backfired, with the company not only having to contend with backlash from an eco-conscious user base, but also officials from the city of San Francisco that ceased allowing municipality staff from purchasing Apple computers as their work PCs.

A week later Apple issued an apology, with Bob Mansfield, senior vice president of hardware engineering referring to their decision as “a mistake”. All eligible Apple products were relisted.

Green living tip of the month

The more spread out everything in your fridge, the more efficiently it’s cooled, which saves you power. This is also true of leftovers. Rather than keeping food in a narrow pot that will be difficult to cool, decant food into a thinner, flatter Tupperware, which will retain less heat and probably be easier to store too.

Ti from Going Green by Simon Gear, Penguin Books.

Article first appeared in TechSmart 107 during August 2012.