Cleaning the Atmosphere Through Bio-Synthetic Technology

Founded in 2003, Amyris Biotech is a company dedicated to bringing renewable diesel fuel to the public. Hoping to go public by 2011-12, Amyris Biotech deals in lower carbon-content, lab-created carbon fuels. By applying man-made molecular sciences to products and services, Amyris Biotech (headed by CEO John Melo) hopes to bring a renewable and much-needed solution to a few of the world’s biggest problems.

Amyris has already had some significant success in the work that they have done in reducing the cost of curing malaria – a disease that kills around 781,000 people a year, a figure equating to 2.23% of all annual deaths worldwide. Amyris is helping to produce cheaper and more effective synthetic pyridoxal-amino acid adducts – an artificial way of trapping the malaria parasites by injection into the system without harming the human body.

Of course, the main thing that we are interested in is the renewable diesel fuel! We all know that the fuel we use is a finite resource – whether it is petrol or gasoline (which are running out the world over and steadily rising in price) or diesel. Biodiesel is a man-made product, but one which uses alternative methods of production that do not involve fossil fuels. Rather, the preferable choice du jour seems to be to use biogas to create the liquid diesel. Biogas mainly comes from landfill – thus making new fuel from our rubbish dumps. This synthetic, non-petroleum based diesel is low in sulphur contents – a very good idea because while it is true that emissions from a diesel-powered engine are inherently bad for your health, with a diesel particulate filter these risks are almost completely negated.

Amyris is concentrating on replicating the hydrocarbons that are found in petroleum. By replicating rather than introducing a completely new product, Amyris ensures that companies will be able to keep to the same outlay costs as they currently have because their equipment would not have to be changed to deal with a differently-shaped element.

John Melo has gone from being president of U.S. fuels for BP to searching for a renewable solution to our problems. Not only that, but he has also focused his company’s efforts into curing malaria – a disease that everyone has heard of and most think is incurable. It is clear that Amyris Biotech is going to be a company to watch over the next couple of years.

Posted under Articles, Companies, Corporate, Product Innovations, Renewable Energy

Situated in the eastern chunk of England that verges on ancient marshland and earthy conservation areas, Sarah Green’s family farm possesses 25 acres of organic, Soil Association registered land, where seasonal and organic vegetables and fruit are grown. The kind of venture that is increasingly popular with families, foodies and anyone with an interest in food-miles, the farm’s shop in North Street, Tillingham, sells their varied range of greens, along with their own free-range eggs and plenty of other stocks, including meat, juice, cereals and cooking essentials.

Travelling only half of a mile to the shop, the produce is also available in the form of ‘veg boxes’ (although a lot more than just veg can be bought). Sarah Green can deliver these weekly to pretty much anywhere in the Dengie Peninsula- that’s the area of Essex between the tidal rivers of Blackwater in the North, and the River Crouch to the South.

Ranging in price from £8 to £20, there are five sizes of box available. The food is all seasonal, and a constant, weekly variation will keep the organic produce fresh and interesting. Potatoes and carrots are there as a staple every week- the winter months might see the addition of leeks, cabbage, parsnips, purple sprouting broccoli, curly kale, or celeriac. Summer might see bunched beetroot, cucumber, lettuce, spinach, radish, pepper, fine beans, aubergines, fennel, or many others. The vegetables are all harvested straight into your box.

For those wanting to try out Sarah Green’s produce before they commit to a box, the farm also sells their wares in Green’s shop at 74 High Street, Maldon, Essex and Lathcoats Farm Shop, Chelmsford.

A great way to support local farming in the east of England, and to bring home fresh and natural food without having to leave the house.

Visit www.sarahgreensorganics.co.uk for more details on Sarah’s box scheme.

Posted under Articles, Companies, Corporate, Gas & Electricity, House & Home, Product Innovations

Okay, now this is another one of those weird and wonderful greenfingered finds. If you think that you’ve got it all, seen it all and heard it all before, then the Logmaker is a green gadget for you.

Essentially, what the Logmaker can do for your household is provide it with – yes, you’ve guessed it – logs! But what for? You may ask. Well, the Logmaker is a green gadget to help you put some of that rotting recycling to direct use in your own home as fuel cells.

By collecting household and garden waste from around your grounds, you can use the Logmaker to provide your log furnace with fuel packs that will burn for up to an hour – depending on their contents.

The following burnable waste can be turned into logs:

• newspaper
• junk mail
• paper shreddings
• cardboard
• wood chippings
• sawdust
• dry leaves
• twigs
• chopped branches
• coal dust
• tea bags
• stones from fruit and olives

The way the Logmaker works its magic is it transforms the waste gathered from around the house into compact, log-shaped blocks, wrapped in a newspaper casing, by simply pressing mulch into burnable blocks. It is the perfect present for the eco-enthusiast who wants to help the environment, reduce deforestation, reduce Greenhouse gases and save money on their fuel costs through the winter months and beyond.

And if you’re unsure of the environmental benefits you’ll be encouraging, here are some facts provided by DEFRA:

On average each person in the UK produces just over 1/2 a ton of waste every year – that’s enough waste to fill dustbins stretching from the earth to the moon and back.
And every year we produce 3% more waste than the previous year.
78% of UK household waste goes to landfill and 9% is currently incinerated. Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany dispose of a quarter less of their municipal waste in the same way.
Only 12% of UK household waste is currently recycled, compared with 19% in Denmark, 22% in Switzerland and 40% in Japan.
Paper and card are the main materials in our household rubbish bins. They make up almost 1/3 of UK household waste.
It takes 17 trees to make one tonne of paper.
The amount of paper burned in landfill sites each year would fill 103,448 double decker buses, which if lined up, would stretch from London to Milan.*

The Logmaker retails for around £19.99, and is sold across the country in various distributers.

*Statistics and waste facts taken from DEFRA (http://www.defra.gov.uk/) – and Recyclezone http://www.recyclezone.org.uk/

Posted under Articles, Product Innovations, Uncategorized

There isn’t a home in Britain that doesn’t have an extension cable or two running through the office, or tucked modestly behind some household appliances. In fact, the average home is choc-a-block full of appliances all needing their share of domestic juice. So it’s not uncommon to have a busy plug socket in each room that at one point in the day is running on idle.

This, unfortunately, can be one of the leading causes to household energy waste. And if you don’t want to spend your day running back and forth on ‘plug socket duty’, ensuring that each is flicked to Off and that the only electricity being used is that which is needed, then you’re going to have to come up with something pretty special. But guess what? Now, you wont have to: intellipanel is the automatic monitor that is here to save you money and prevent any unnecessary waste.

It looks just like any other extension cable: white, long, extendable and fitted with plug dockets running right down the line. Recommended by the Energy Saving Trust, the intellipanel isn’t just an ordinary cable. By using patented technology the intellipanel monitors when your desktop computer is running happily and waits for the moment when it is switched off – then, because the supporting peripheral equipment is harboured along the intellipanel dockets, it is able to shut down the surrounding appliances, meaning that you wont have to, or wont be left to forget!

And if we’re honest, most of us do forget: it is part of human nature to do so. But lucky for us, it is the only thing the intellipanel has been designed for.

Electrical equipment left on standby wastes a considerable amount of energy throughout the day, and even over night. If one PC monitor is left on standby over night, then this wastes the equivalent energy of microwaving six home dinners. So, if we imagine, at the end of the day when its time to leave the office, how many computers are left with their little red lights bleeshing, and how much energy is going to waste just because the equipment has not been turned off properly.

Using its full range Auto Calibration, the intellipanel can automatically determine the on and off power level of any desktop computer (any make, any model) and can delivery energy accordingly. Its zero-crossing detection is another great feature which automatically determines when the power being supplied to the peripheral appliances is at an optimum level; thus maintaining the least amount of stress to components.

It also comes with quality surge protection, a cable length of 2 metres, telephone cable length 2 metres, a green neon indicator to display when the unit is active and surge protector is on, and a red neon indicates when the peripheral sockets are on.

The intellipanel retails for approx. £29.99 from a variety of UK distributors. We think it is a great addition to the office and a fantastic way to cut down some of that unnecessary energy waste, and reduce that heavy carbon footprint.

*not suitable for laptops

Posted under Articles, Product Innovations

A traditional and effective method for drying your clothes for over a 100 years, and its only now that we’re once again valuing the full benefits of using, once again, a laundry airer. The Sheila Maid is a time old method for dealing with heaps of dripping laundry, and it has also been raised to eco-heights both sides of the energy wasting tumble dryer.

It is rare to find a modern home without a tumble or spin dryer. It is probably the fastest method for drying clean clothes without having to leave the laundry room. But the environmental impact of a nation all setting their cycles to Quick Spin is proving to be catastrophic.

On average, a traditional home clothes dryer has a carbon footprint of approximately 2 kilograms (that’s 4.4 pounds) of CO2 per load of laundry dried. And if you consider the routines of most households, it would not be ridiculous to suggest that a load of washing is dried every other night or so. Adding this consideration to the net total of households there are in England and Wales (22,539,000) and you start to get an idea of the bigger picture that these white boxes begin to mosaic.

Unfortunately for our generation, we’ve become reliant on the technology that has supported a growing culture of unconsidered solutions. Not necessarily our own fault, which is true to some extent, but the fault of our methods of living. However, there have been some technological innovations that looked to tackle the problem of inefficiency and energy waste. Such as, sensor dryers: these are an automatic sensory device that detects when clothes are dry and switches off the dryer. This is a good way to cut down on energy waste, and an ingenious invention to help cut back on over drying. But still, sensory dryers are not fitted in every dryer and are actually quite rare.

So what’s left to do? Well, as we are becoming increasingly aware, we’re having to look at alternatives that work, ecological alternatives that consider their everyday use as well as the time we have to use them. So, therefore, if we were to ask ourselves the question: How am I to cut out unnecessary energy loss? Then one step towards the Sheila Maid would make a considerable contribution to your home’s carbon footprint.

The Sheila Maid is a genuine eco-alternative to the tumble dryer. What is essentially a ceiling-hung clothes rack, uses common sense and simple science to dry your wet clothes. By using the pulley to raise the Sheila Maid to the ceiling’s height (where convection dictates that the hot air will be) you laundry loads can be out of sight and out of mind, until you need them down again.

Available in a variety of sizes and pulley lengths, the Sheila Maid is made from pine rails and cast iron rack ends. It is simply to install and easy to construct; retailing for around £60, it is a superb way to save energy and show everyone else how drying clothes should really be done.

Posted under Articles, Product Innovations

Autumn’s here, and boy does it want you to know about it! As well as dropping the temperature degree by degree, this season is infamous for making a mess of all that Spring cleaning and cluttering up your green grounds with leaf by leaf of garden gruesomes. But here at EcoSwitch, we have found the ideal solution to help you tackle that ever-growing garden filling up with foliage: the Composphere.

With an almost extra terrestrial look about it, the Composphere appears to be just like a Bio-Dome of some sort. A spherical garden composter that has taken an ingenious approach to the practicallity of composting.

Especially in the later months of the gardening year, maintaining your compost can be at least a bit tiring and in some cases almost back-breaking. Lifting and mixing your garden’s gifts is without a doubt rewarding but it is hard work at the best of times. The Composphere works in the same way a compost tumbler would work, but unlike the conventional tumbler, the Composphere is not restricted by a frame: you can easily mix the contents of your compost by rolling the sphere around your garden directly from its standing position.

The more you roll, the more the mix accelerates the composting process. It’s great! If you add an organic accelerator, you can prepare compost within a matter of weeks – just what your flowerbeds need towards the wicked winter months.

And because of its innovative design, you don’t have to lug the compost from one end of your garden to the other. Simply roll the entire lot like a gigantic ball right to where it’s needed. There is a flat-bed underside to the Composphere, so it will settle on standing once you’ve finished unloading your garden’s goodies.

Made from 100% recycled plastic, the Composhere has a total capacity of 315 litres and has an easy twist lid. The Composhere comes with a 5-year guarantee, and retails for around £98. We think its an ingenious innovation, and without a doubt, a great eco-alternative to more conventional composts.

But before you rush off to pick one of these great gizmos up for your garden, there’s more!

To help you gather all those laconic leaves from your lawn we’ve found a Leaf Sack made from a loose weave jute – which are 100% biodegradable too. Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em leaf sacks are a great addition to your gardening shed and a fantastic form for collecting the fallen leaves and shrubs for you to store and apply to your compost when you see fit. The Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em leaf sacks have a great hands-on, roll up your sleeves appeal to getting on with some Autumnal gardening. They retail from around £5.00, come in a variety of sizes, and are a must have for any keen gardener.

One thing you can be sure of this Autumn season is that, here at EcoSwitch, we wont let your green fingers go to waste, or your garden get the better of you! So keep up to date with the Green innovations, by logging on again soon.

Posted under Articles, Product Innovations

Now that the last traces of summer have truly disappeared, the days being that bit colder, and the mornings that much harder to get up for, we’re more inclined to treat ourselves to those creature comforts, those little things in life that make the day seem a bit more bearable. But, unfortunately, this can sometimes lead us to be a little less careful about our more wasteful habits. Never fear! Thanks to innovations like the Nordic Eco Shower, you can spend that little bit longer doing the things you love, without having to worry about waste.

Just like a normal shower, the Nordic Eco Shower applies a constant flow of warm water jets that these chilly early morning starts require. But there’s one difference: using technology developed in Scandinavia, the Eco Shower can provide an effective stream at half of the traditional flow rate – thus saving water and energy!

Unlike other eco showers available on the market, which exposes the water stream to a circulation of air in order to reduce volume, the Nordic Eco Shower does not aerate its flow, and therefore does not compromise on temperature. The Nordic Eco Shower delivers healthy sized drops of water through a concentrate spout design, keeping its flow rate to a minimal 6 litres per minute, compared to a traditional shower that has a flow rate of around 12 litres per minute.

So How Does It Work? The design of the Nordic Eco Shower relies on a patented screw-like turbine device located in the shower head. Not only does this mean you wouldn’t have to change you entire shower fitting, but the Eco Shower is relatively simple to install. The turbine component waits for the water to reach its head and then redirects the flow from the underside of the screw and is held, building up pressure, in an expansion chamber. Whilst pressure levels are monitored, the water rebounds back and forth inside the chamber, maximises the effect of each droplet, enhancing the performance of the overall water flow.

The Nordic Eco Shower doesn’t attempt to minimize water usage by filling the shower-flow with air. It retains the warmth you’re looking for, increases the impact of a refreshing shower, and uses innovative technology to deliver something worth getting out of bed for each morning.

It may seem like a trivial change to worry about what type of shower head your shower has, but the Nordic Eco Shower is a genuine water saving device accessible to anybody concerned about their environment. The product retails for around £39.99, and is suitable for mains pressure or pumped showers, and for all types of hose and cradle.

It will save you more than any other eco shower, retain those precious pre set shower pressures, cuts traditional water waste incurred through showering in half, and even is recorded to be 14% more efficient than other leading eco showers. It comes with a 5 year performance guarantee, and no limescale maintenance to worry about – this could be the ‘cleanest’ water you’ve ever washed with.

Posted under Articles, Product Innovations

If you’ve been walking the streets of London recently, you might have seen more and more silver Toyotas tucked in amongst the ranks of parked motors. It’s pleasing to see the Prius hybrid, along with other dual and fully-electric cars, infiltrate the transport norms of urban and sub-urban society.  But while the hawk-eyed may have seen these slowly multiplying series-parallel hybrids, they might not have heard them.

For the electric motors used in these cars are notoriously silent; stealthy, in fact. Indeed it is often touted in associated marketing as a good reason to buy one- less noise pollution for your street when starting the car at 6am, lighter on your eardrums, etc.

But just as speedy cyclists can slice into oblivious pedestrians who cross the road without looking, hybrid and electric cars can be a danger. Cyclists at least have the option of a bell; these cars, at present, have nothing. The silence of electric and hybrid cars has in this way been called into question.

Hybrid cars, running on their electric motors when travelling at low speeds, generally don’t make use of their louder internal combustion engines until a higher speed has been reached (this engine is what charges the internal battery).

The United States Congress is already considering legislation that would require an audible warning being built into electric cars to alert pedestrians of their approach. The English Ministry of Transport is also addressing the issue, drawing up a report to be published by the end of the year. The issue of blind persons, who often use their ears to listen out for approaching traffic before crossing a road, is one of the key concerns. The car manufacturing industry, however, is split on how to approach the issue; Nissan, for example, have been developing a range of sounds that could be added to the vehicle (including a ‘chime’, a melody, and a ‘whir’), whilst other engineers are reluctant to spoil the accumulated development of specialised engineering, decades in the making, which has finally seen the results of their ideal made manifest: a silent and smooth car engine.

One possible solution is the inclusion of a sound-emitting device, stimulated ‘on demand’- a built-in noise-maker that emits a personalised sound (perhaps even one recorded by the driver) when a button is pressed: thus allowing drivers to alert oblivious pedestrians if necessary but without creating an uncontrollable, unstoppable noise for the car that might counteract the benefits of a quieter engine.
A ringtone for your car? Let’s hope that instead we’ll be hearing simulated warp-speed and the soft bleeps, hums and clicks of docking spaceships.

Posted under Cars & Transport, Environmental News, Product Innovations, Uncategorized

Picture this: you’re pedalling down a long and winding cycle route, coasting around sweeping corners and enjoying the bumps and bends of a good old bike ride. When, as quick as that, you hit some glass and get a flat. Not expecting the worst, you realise that you didn’t pack any tools, let alone a puncture repair kit; and what’s really taken it, thanks to all the excitement, is that you’re completely lost. In fact, you’re as good as stranded.

Sound like something that might happen to you? Well not any more. The award winning Pedal & Power has made days like that a thing of the past. It is a fantastic little gizmo that straps on to you cycle as a renewable energy source and a power-dock for your portables.

The energy is generated via a small and subtle black dynamo which is fastened to the upper side of the bike’s front fork. Thanks to its small size and black colouring it sits happily camouflaged, easily missed, and works in exactly the same way an old fashioned light dynamo works. The 6v / 3w bicycle dynamo conforms to european standard K101 and runs a wire wo a charger unit which hangs at the centre of your bike’s frame.

The unit will charge all types of mobiles, all you require is a cigarette cable suitable for your phone’s make and model.

Pedal & Power will charge cell phones, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), cycle computers, notepads, netbooks and many more low powered devices. But what’s really great is that the Pedal & Power gets you and your lifestyle out-and-about; keeping you healthy and happy; widening the boarders of when and where you can go, without having to make any unnecessary compromises.

Unfortunately its manufacturer does not sell directly to the public, so you’ll have to contact one of ikon’s distributors if you want to get your hands on one of these little gizmos.

Bikefix, London, stock the Pedal & Power, and the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) also sell this product – but remember to contact them directly in order to check for availability whilst stocks last.

The Pedal & Power bicycle accessory and power dock is a perfect gift for any bike lover or green-gadget enthusiast wanting to stay fully-charged whilst out in the great wide world. It is simple to apply, easy to use and instantly accessible to the gadgetry hungry for a full charge of energy, or a top up of juice.

Now when you take to the hills again, cycle to the seaside, or just pop to the shops, with the Pedal & Power accessory strapped to your bike frame you can be sure to keep your batteries charged, and never feel lost, stuck or stranded ever again.

Posted under Articles, Product Innovations

Shoes, in my opinion, should aspire to be like a piece of furniture. Let me explain- I’ve had shoes that wear at the toe, or tear slowly and horribly along funny creases, after fairly short lives. I look for shoes that age well, shoes of substance. Shoes that withstand the rot. All shoes die of course, as will any textile, and as a genus they have shorter lifespans than a mahogany desk, or a marble paperweight- but shoes should at least be repairable. Their parts should be upgradable like a well-built piece of machinery. I think of the ideal shoe as being something solid; something deeply coloured and of an esteemed nature. A practical thing, to be admired like a piece of decorative art. An investment. Looking for a green or ethical pair like this- now that’s a whole other nightmare.
Having scoured retailers on the high street (I caught wind of an ethical Australian shoe maker from a friend, only to find out they’d moved their production to the far east), I found- whilst browsing for an ethical winter coat, having given up hope on the shoe front- a green shoe company that outdoes the rest. Let me set the scene.

England: the present day. In rural Devon, by the banks of the River Dart, there is a workshop. Inside, a small group of artisans work, making shoes by hand. Not only are these shoes handmade, by craftspeople, in the country of their sale, but they are made using materials that would please a range of green-minded people. The reason why these green shoes seem to be a cut above the rest is that you can go for a naturally-tanned leather option, if that pleases your reason, or else, a vegan one. So, depending on the shape of your principles, there will be a shoe that fits.
Further, the soles can be made in crepe rubber, wedge rubber, or Vibram tractor (the toughest-wearing). Further customisation is possible- the crepe can be made into a classic looking sole with heel (E.g. for a smart shoe) or a wedge. You can specify the width of the shoe, and they do half-sizes. Part of the ordering process consists of drawing your foot: and measuring your calf, for tall boots. Now that’s a custom job.

What else makes these green shoes so flexible? You can choose the colour, the shoes can be completely repaired (even the elastic and the eyelets) and re-soled, and the children’s shoes can be stretched to incorporate a growing child’s feet- that might come in handy.

This kind of choice is the kind of thing one would expect from a Jermyn street tailor; to have bespoke shoes made to order like this, and to have this choice for *green shoes*- that’s what makes this company extra special, and why I’ve chosen to write about them here.

(Plus, these are handmade. Not, ‘made with hands coming into the process somewhere’,  but handmade- made with hands, by maker-designers; shoesmiths; William Morris types (stop me here).

Some notes on the materials: the eco-leather option (eco-tan) consists of a soft leather tanned using only plants- as opposed to harsh chemicals and energy-draining methods. The leather comes from a small-scale, artisan tannery in Europe with excellent eco-credentials. The vegan shoes are made from Lorica, which is a Roman word referring to flexible yet protective body armour. Lorica is made from microfibres which are dyed and softened in Italy. The glues, soles and threads in the vegan shoes are also non-animal derived. The rubber for the crepe soles is from renewable plantations in Sri Lanka.

The shoes are made to order, so there is no excess energy used and minimal waste. Leftovers and scraps are used to make accessories and jewellery rather than being thrown away.

This, to me, is what green manufacturing is all about- buying for life, or, at least, for a long time. Unrepairable items end up in a bin, with a massive waste of material, and of money; cheap and unrepairable goods have to be bought again and again when they inevitably break.

Ethics, choice and sustainability. With a thoughtfully designed style that make one feel swish and comfortable while the shoes are doing their job of supporting their owner and repelling the aqueous and earthen elements. Head through to the Green Shoes website to have a look at the footwear designs on offer.. www.greenshoes.co.uk

Also, if you live near the area, then check out the shoemaking workshops! The one day programmes are held throughout the year. Visitors can also visit the workshop Monday-Friday 9.30-5.30 to get professionally measured or try on some of their stylish and supple shoes.

Posted under Companies, Eco Reviews, Lifestyle & Fashion, Product Innovations