Promising innovations: watch this space in 2019
The new year is already a couple of weeks underway. As such, the time to reflect on the past year has passed. The ‘happy new year’s’ and ‘all the best for the upcoming year’ have been safely put away in storage, not to be used anymore until 2020 rolls around. Our focus has largely shifted to the future, looking ahead. In that spirit, we will be happy to highlight a number of recent tech innovations that are looking very promising and might just be that thing to shake up the world.
All of these innovations were presented at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, held between January 9-11. Here, name and reputation did not matter as the huge multibillion dollar corporations stood side by side with entrepreneurial individuals and innovative start-ups.
A refreshingly large number of these 4,500+ innovations presented in the gambling capital of the world were focused on saving the planet. On driving back emissions, cutting waste, cleaning up our water, and guaranteeing a sustainable energy supply. Amongst the virtual assistants, robots and smart devices were a significant number of devices that were touted by their developers as having an ultimate sustainable purpose.
Smart food storage through smart tags and recipe suggestions
One innovation, developed by the start-up Ovie, enveloped the idea of a series of so-called ‘smart tags’. These serve the overarching purpose of tackling food waste. Every year, a staggering one-third of all food produced worldwide is wasted. This is unacceptable and impossible to justify, especially towards the billions who go to bed hungry. The smart tags will combat this issue at its heart, which is in the homes of all of us.
The tags pre-warn customers through Internet of Things technology, letting them know that their food is about to expire. Red tags are given to food that has most likely gone bad, with orange warning that it should be consumed as soon as possible. A connected third-party app takes these orange labelled food stuffs and comes up with delicious recipes.
Robot dogs bringing deliveries to your doorstep
Many retailers are trying to find more effective ways of delivering their products to the consumer. While overnight-delivery was a breakthrough concept only a few years ago, it is already on its way to becoming obsolete. Same-day delivery or even as quick as within-the-hour delivery are on the rise. For this, manufacturing company Continental Corporation has developed actual dog robots to assist in last-mile deliveries.
Its workings are quite ingenious: a driverless electric vehicle is sent on the road, accompanied by a herd of smaller delivery robots that look like dogs. While making its round, the electric vehicle drops off the dogs at a point closest to the customer - after which the dogs complete the last-mile run. And say, what would be more pleasant to find on your doorstep than a robot dog?
Hydrogen e-bikes running on a clean, efficient battery
The fuel of the future, according to most, is hydrogen. Which is really good news, as hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element in the universe. The French fuel cell firm Pragma Industries has worked on an innovative hydrogen-powered pedal bicycle. Dubbed the Alpha Bike, it is capable of reaching 150 km on a fully charged battery and can, if the bicyclist so desires, alternate between pedal power and its hydrogen battery - a trait that is commonly found in e-bikes.
This range is definitely very acceptable, as it is about double that of a regular, lithium-ion battery fed bike. Furthermore, it builds on a much cleaner technology, granting it the highly sought-after certification of being a zero-emission vehicle. According to its manufacturer, it will be the very first commercially available hydrogen e-bike.
Blockchain and gamification for wildlife protection
One of the more remarkable initiatives can be attributed to the start-up Last of Ours. Their digital tool ‘Nature Needs Half’ uses blockchain to connect the general public to a number of wildlife preservation projects for endangered animal species. Users can earn a special cryptocurrency called LAST (Living Animal Social Tokens) by completing surveys and playing games.
With this cryptocurrency, all kind of projects aimed at protecting these endangered species can be sponsored, including habitat protection, reforestation and anti-poaching. LAST tokens can be traded and displayed on social media, or purchased using credit cards or PayPal.
Portable solar chargers
As we are trying to find ways of making the world a better place, finding more sustainable sources of energy ranks on top of the list. Thus, any gadget that is focused on renewable energy is guaranteed to be a hit on conferences like the Consumer Electronics Show. Just look at the clean tech start-up Goal Zero, focused on finding renewable ways of bringing power to off-grid homes in developing nations. They presented their Nomad 5, a small, portable solar panel connected to a USB charging port.
While it is only small, its impact could potentially be huge. Just considering the huge number of people that do not have access to any form of electricity in their home, put at some 1.2 billion according to the UN’s latest numbers, and one could only imagine the effect of electricity-generating devices like the Nomad 5. It could lead to a situation where polluting diesel generators or kerosene gas applications are no longer needed - a clear example of a product for which the knife cuts both ways.
Is there anny sustainable innovation or idea you want to share with us?
Add value to the world 
https://www.whatsorb.com/community/the-best--green-innovations-of-the-week