Fly from Brussels to Sydney in less than 2 hours, without polluting the air.

Reaction Engines, a UK-based company, is developing A2, a Mach 5 civil transport plane that runs on hydrogen. The design calls for a precooled engine concept, called “scimitar” (developed by Reaction Engines), which exploits the unique thermodynamic properties of liquid hydrogen.

Unlike the Concorde, the A2 has exceptional range (approx 20,000 km, both subsonic and supersonic) and is therefore able to service a large number of routes while avoiding supersonic overflight of populated areas. And its good subsonic performance enables it to service conventional overland routes.

 The A2 is sized to carry 300 passengers, which is a typical supersonic transport design that achieves a competitive seat/mile cost. Currently the airframe does not contain windows, due to the sustained heat the plane would have to endure during flight. The only window technology that can withstand the required heat is presently only available on the U.S. Space Shuttle, which is too heavy to be used on the A2.

Analysis of costs suggests that the average ticket price would be comparable to an existing business class ticket.

EcoRock looks, feels and performs like standard drywall and is used the same way. However, it uses virtually zero energy in its manufacturing, resulting in zero CO2 emissions. This gives EcoRock the lowest carbon footprint of any drywall product. Using EcoRock instead of gypsum drywall could reduce U.S. CO2 emissions by as much as 25 billion pounds per year.

Serious Materials also manufactures high-insulating windows, which they call ThermaProof, as well as a line of Quiet® products, such as QuietRock soundproof drywall, and QuietWood.

Current manufacturing processes used for drywall production consume 1% of the total U.S. energy output.

How a nuclear “battery” could provide clean power.

Hyperion Power Generation, a U.S. company, is developing a Jacuzzi-sized cartridge reactor that has the potential to generate 27 megawatts of power, providing electricity to 25,000 homes, for five years.

Hyperion struck a deal with Los Alamos National Laboratory, and with the help of government funds designed to turn technology in government labs into civil applications, set out to develop their “battery”. It operates the same way pacemakers and smoke detectors get their power, but on a bigger scale. The Hyperion design uses uranium crystals to both produce the power and contain the reaction. Each reactor is self-contained, has no moving parts, and does not require human intervention. The units would be encased in concrete at the factory, would be trucked to the site, hooked up to a steam turbine, and buried below ground. The power would flow for 5 years, after which the spent units would be dug up, disconnected, and trucked back to the factory for refuel and reuse. No fuss, no muss.

As simple and elegant this concept is, detractors are already calling those who believe the company’s PR statement, naive. They claim that when it comes to nuclear power, nothing is simple.

Well, we here at Ekko are optimists and we incline to believe things that have solid science behind them and that make perfect sense.

If things go well for Hyperion, everyone will have a chance to judge for themselves. The company is planning to start production in 2012, at which time 4,000 of these units wold be rolling off the assembly line.

Gigantic, maglev wind turbines could be the answer to the world’s energy problems.

An Arizona-based company, called Maglev Wind Turbine Technologies, is proposing a vertical axis wind turbine that uses permanent magnets to levitate rotating components.

At the 2007 Wind Power Asia Exhibition in Beijing, a group of Chinese scientists were the first ones to demonstrate a maglev wind turbine. Scientists from Guangzhou Energy Research Institute and Guangzhou Zhongke Hengyuan Energy Science & Technology say that their design was up to 20% more efficient than a normal turbine and can utilize wind speeds as low as 1.5 meters per second.

Vertical-axis wind turbines have advantages. The main benefit is that the turbine does not have to face into the wind, and the generator and gearbox can be placed on the ground. The big advantage of a maglev turbine is that it reduces maintenance costs, and increases the lifespan of the generator.

The Maglev Wind Turbine Technologies design can generate one gigawatt of power - enough to power 750,000 homes.

Putting an end to Frankenfoods and monopolistic practices of Big Agra.

The anger and loud noise of activists protesting against genetically modified foods is no longer in the headlines. The dialog has been largely moved into the realm of behind-the-scenes politics, but the issue is still relevant. The patenting of genetic sequences and strains, and techniques to create them, has the potential to hold our food hostage, and could hand the power to control it, over to Big Agra or Big Biotech.

But, there is something that can wrestle control away from these businesses and improve our produce at the same time. It’s called “Super Organics“.

With super organics, genetic technology helps map out desirable traits in plants, after-which good old-fashioned crossbreeding takes over. By returning long lost genetic traits, fruits and vegetables can take back their flavor, higher nutritional value and pest resistance.

No genetic modification, and no Frankenfood.

Laying out homes in a honeycomb pattern creates livable, safe communities.

We have to face the fact that current urban and suburban designs create wasteful environments that do not address social problems, such as car usage, crime, healthy living and the family unit. Politicians, and organizations can talk and urge us to do things, but unless we begin to provide the kinds of environments people need to accomplish this, it’ll never get done.

Well, a visionary architect from Malaysia, by the name of Mazlin Ghazali, developed an urban development pattern that is shaped like the honeycomb. It’s called “tessellation” and it is based on an ancient Islamic artform.

His way of laying out housing units creates highly desirable cul-de-sac neighborhoods that are inherently safe, functional, comfortable, and support family and community values. It can be applied anywhere in the world, with any kind of architectural look. However, because cul-de-sac developments utilize only attached housing types, Ghazali developed duplex, triplex, quadruplex and sextuplex building units, that can be used to accomplish the required pattern.

There are many sustainable community designs out there, but none of them address the fundamental requirements of socially conscious living, the way Ghazali’s does.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of those nasty chemicals in plastics that can turn a man into a woman. Well, okay… maybe not exactly, but BPA certainly mimics estrogen and has a feminizing effect on men, reducing sperm count and increasing breast size. In women, this same chemical increases the chance of hormone induced cancers because of the same estrogen mimicking effect. Nalgenes and Phthalates are another group of nasty chemicals that are commonly used.

Companies, like Green to Grow and Camelbak, are now making plastic bottles out of plastics that are free of these chemicals.

Green to Grow’s baby bottles are made of BPA and Phthalate-free plastic and use pharmaceutical-grade silicone nipples.

And Camelbak has switched to Nalgene-free plastic for their innovative water bottles.

In case you didn’t know, you can help the environment a lot by using reusable water bottles (such as Camelbak’s) and by buying a water filter that you can attach to your faucet, like the Pur waterfilters.

Buying bottled water is a waste of money, energy and the manufacturing process and transportation of them contributes to global warming. So, don’t do it.

Aquaponics is the environmentally responsible way of farming fish.

Fish farms have a bad reputation around the world. Effluent discharged from these farms pollute waterways and current methods waste water, too.

There has to be a better way…

“Nature knows best” goes the saying, and we have to realize that most of the time (if not ALL the time), mimicking nature is the best way to go. The word “aquaponics” was coined from “aqua farming” and “hydroponics”, and it is designed to recreate the symbiotic relationship that exists between animals and plants. In a closed aquaponic system, fish provide nutrient-rich fertilizer for the hydroponic section, where plants, like vegetables, herbs or flowers, are grown. The plants filter out nutrients from the water, and this cleaned water is returned into the fish tanks.

Any kind of fish or plant that is currently grown in a closed system can be grown with aquaponics with virtually no water waste, and without the usual problems soil-based cultivation deals with.

Aquaponics is still in its infancy, but it is the most ecologically sustainable way to farm fish and grow plants. Systems are currently available to fit on a desk, to fit families who want to grow their own food, or to accommodate small commercial growers.

Deep Sea Water is all the rage.

Japan is the land of unique products, and the current rage is desalinated Deep Sea water, and products made with it.

Deep Sea water can be used everywhere regular water is used - baking, drinking, cosmetics, sake and beer production… you name it. The byproduct of desalinating Deep Sea water is Deep Sea salt, which is also being marketed for more nutritional value than regular sea salt.

Deep Sea water has a low-temperature and is stable. It contains rich inorganic nutrients, and is very pure. (Contaminants do not reach the depths where Deep Sea Water is taken from.)

Because of its low-temperature stability, Deep Sea water is utilized in cold water aquafarming. Deep Sea water is also receiving attention for its balance of essential minerals, including calcium and magnesium, and is being used in health drinks and foods, pharmaceuticals, and other products. Also, due to the beneficial properties of Deep Sea water, it is being used for thalassotherapy in spas.

Industrial, academic, and government bodies are collaborating in research and development and commercialization activities to release the unlimited potential of deep seawater.

Nuclear power is on the rise again.

Nuclear has a dirty past in some countries, and while Europe and Japan invested heavily in nuclear reactors, America lags far behind.

The reason is largely political and has to do with the radical green movement, who put the mother of all fears into Americans, which still lingers today. But, even once ardent detractors are now convinced that opposing nuclear power was one of the biggest mistakes we had ever made.

Nuclear power is clean, non-polluting, and despite what some supposed “experts” are saying, radioactive waste can be managed safely, if it’s done responsibly. Just ask the French. In the 1970s, France made the decision to become oil-independent and they are almost there. (All this, without a single mishap.)

For these reasons (and because of the intense scrutiny global warming is getting these days) people’s minds are slowly changing about nuclear power. Several companies have taken advantage of this and submitted papers to the Department of Energy to get permission to build next-generation nuclear reactors.

And no other next generation design is as safe and efficient as the Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor, or GT-MHR, from General Atomics. This reactor is inherently safe and meltdown-proof and the most energy-efficient out of all current designs. If a catastrophic coolant leak develops (the most serious and most feared) the reactor automatically shuts down, without any outside intervention, and without reaching dangerously high temperatures.

As the name suggests, this reactor is modular, so you can keep adding new reactors as needed. And unlike traditional designs that are manufactured individually at enormous costs, the GT-MHR can be mass produced on assembly lines, making it far cheaper. Best of all, the General Atomics design produces no weapons-grade plutonium, so terrorists (or underhanded governments) are out of luck.

General Atomics has partnered with Russian and Japanese companies to finalize their design.