Volvo has made the decision that all their cars will be fully electric, or at least hybrid, by 2019. Not one car solely powered by internal combustion engine will come off a Volvo production line by 2020. This will instantly change the charging infrastructure for electric cars. Currently you can fully charge an electric vehicle ? one with a range of about 105 miles ? in half an hour from a supercharger in a garage, however there aren't enough superchargers. This move by Volvo will drive access to more high-speed charging points, as well as battery production and research and development into battery storage. http://www.inkl.com/newsletters/morning-edition/news/is-a-carmaker-about-to-save-the-planet?
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will be offering passengers who visit Amsterdam this September the KLM Care Tag, a smart audio luggage tag that provides you with location-based travel tips. The tag works with offline GPS and features a speaker that reacts with relevant information as you walk through certain places of interest in the city. https://www.springwise.com/luggage-tag-offers-audio-tips-tourists-visiting-amsterdam/?
A Nottingham Trent University student has discovered a simple trick to cut the weight of washing machines, making them easier to move and more environmentally friendly.
Most washing machines have a 25kg block of concrete near the top to hold the machine steady during a spin cycle. This significantly adds to the weight of the appliance. Much CO2 is released during the production of concrete and more is released by gas powered transport vehicles.
This simple change would replace the heavy concrete counterweight with an empty plastic container that is filled with water when the washing machine is installed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/08/04/students-simple-washing-machine-idea-could-save-thousands-tonnes
Chinese delivery firm Shentong is leading in automation. Orange robots at the company's sorting stations are able to identify the destination of a package through a code-scan, virtually eliminating sorting mistakes. They can sort up to 200,000 packages a day, and are self-charging, meaning they are operational 24/7. Shentong estimates its robotic sorting system is saving around 70-percent of the costs of a human-based sorting line. http://m.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/04/18/shentong-express_n_16087678.html
In Los Angeles, where summer temperatures regularly surpass 38 degrees Celsius, or 100 degrees Fahrenheit, workers are coating streets in special grey treatments in a bid to help reduce the heat. It?s the first major city to test the technology. Normal black asphalt absorbs 80 to 95 per cent of sunlight, while the gray ?cool pavement? reflects it - reducing ground temperature and urban street heat.
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2106692/los-angeles-coating-roads-reflective-paint-beat-heat?
