Design student Dean Benstead has produced a bike that runs on nothing but compressed air.
He says that with further development there is a place in the future for compressed air as an economical and environmentally-friendly option.
“I wanted to explore the viability of compressed air as an alternative fuel, and my childhood experiences riding dirt bikes led me to design the motocross bike based around the Engineair engine,” says the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Industrial student.
General Motors has long been pursuing a more environmentally friendly business model, producing electric vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt in landfill-free facilities. However, they can now add solar charging canopies to their achievements with the Tracking Solar Tre which was recently installed at GM’s Company Vehicle Operations site in Warren, Michigan.
Developed by American company Envision Solar, the Tracking Solar Tree features a hybrid multi-axis tracking design that enables the entire canopy to track the sun over the course of the day. This increases the renewable energy production by about 25 percent as compared to traditional solar panels. Over the course of a year, the Solar Tree will produce up to 30,000 kilowatt hours – enough solar energy to charge six electric vehicles per day.
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