6 Futuristic Eco-Inventions (w/videos)

Image by crazyegg95

Over the years there have been many futuristic inventions or gadgets that we’ve read about, saw on different TV shows or even saw in the movies. Everything from robots that cooked and cleaned to cars that flew on their own. Much progress has been made over the years on bringing some of those inventions closer to reality. So let’s take a look on the environmental side of things and check out a few futuristic eco-inventions that are either very close or already exist.

1) Flying Car Gets FAA Approval: This isn’t your typical car, this car flies. Okay, so it doesn’t fly by itself, but when you can fly AND drive your car, that’s pretty awesome. This is definitely a futuristic vehicle.

2) Human-Powered Electricity: This one is perfect for hotels, gyms, office workout rooms, at home, etc. Get some exercise while generating power at the same time. One hotel even offers a free meal to any guest who pedals 10 watt hours on one of their energy-generating bikes.

3) Turning Landfills into Renewable Energy: In Back to the Future, they were able to take trash and use it to power the futuristic car. So, why not turn trash into energy on a larger scale?

4) Spray On Solar Technology: Who needs big solar panels on your roof when you can just have spray on solar? In the future you’ll be able to spray solar cell directly onto windows and walls. There’s even a plan to be able to give steel the capability to capture the power of the sun.

5) Robots that Clean: Well, these particular robots won’t be cleaning your house anytime soon. They are robots designed to clean up oil spills. Even better though is that they can do so on their own because they have built in solar panels that allow them to run for weeks. Deploy 5000 of them and a Deepwater Horizon magnitude spill would be cleaned up in a matter of weeks.

6) Solar Roads Double as Power Grid: Who would have ever thought of the roads we drive on as being a source of energy? Well, now that could be a possibility in the near future. Better still, these roads could also power charging stations along the road for owners of electric vehicles to use.

And big congratulations goes out to Solar Roadways who won the GE Ecomagination Challenge and will be receiving $50,000!

It’s amazing how many creative, futuristic and eco-friendly inventions have come about over the years. Just think how much further we can advance too. I look forward to seeing what other eco-inventions the future holds.