Inhabitat’s Week In Green: eco abodes, world’s largest solar park and Axeon’s new EV battery

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green. It’s been an epic week for green building and clean-tech, as the 2011 Solar Decathlon showcased 19 of the world’s most stunning sun-powered prefab homes in Washington DC — and Inhabitat brought you up-to-the-minute coverage on winning home designs . Several of the houses feature remarkably unconventional designs — see Sci-Arc and Caltech’s puffy inside-out prefab and Team Canada’s teepee-inspired TRTL home — while others like Purdue’s INHome relied upon tried-and-true building typologies upgraded with state-of-the art solar systems. Ultimately the University of Maryland’s innovative WaterShed House won first place in the competition with their greenery infused, water-focused, living home. Purdue University’s more traditional INHome took second place, and Team New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington) placed third with their beautiful wooden First Light home . Speaking of major feats of renewable energy, this week Iceland announced plans to construct the first zero-carbon data center and Germany opened the world’s largest solar park on top of an abandoned open-pit mine. We also took a look at the innovative new SeaTwirl turbine , which could be the most cost-effective wind energy generator to date, and we watched Pavegen reveal plans to power a shopping center with tiles that harvest energy from pedestrian footsteps . Google also made a major investment to bring solar power systems to 3,000 homes, MIT developed a working ” artificial leaf ” that generates hydrogen fuel from water and sunlight, and Axeon unveiled a new battery that could extend electric car range by 35 percent. In other green transportation news, sun-powered vehicles soared towards the stars this week as NASA announced plans to launch the largest solar sail spacecraft ever created , and Japan’s TOTO unveiled a crazy talking poop-powered motorcycle topped with a toilet. We also took a spin in the world’s strongest electric train (which has over 10,000 horsepower), and we launched a competition to win a one year Zipcar membership . We also spotted a milk truck mobile breastfeeding unit, while scientists discovered a passive virus that can destroy breast cancer cells . Finally, from the realm of high-tech textiles we shared a student’s plan to turn textile factory effluent into clean water, we showcased Janet Echelman’s massive jellyfish-shaped string sculptures , and we dialed up an online tool capable of measuring your wardrobe’s environmental impact. Inhabitat’s Week In Green: eco abodes, world’s largest solar park and Axeon’s new EV battery originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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