3 amazing inventions to take care of the environment

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We are going through an environmental crisis, but not everything is negative. Scientists and entrepreneurs have taken the situation as an opportunity to improve the planet

The environmental crisis, produced to a greater extent by human activities, has led us to experience serious consequences worldwide. The melting of the glaciers, the increase in the level of the seas and oceans, the low quality of the air we breathe, the accelerated disappearance of flora and fauna species, the contamination of water sources, are just some of the problems to which we face.

Leer en español: 3 asombrosos inventos para cuidar el medio ambiente

For this reason, scientists and entrepreneurs worldwide have put into practice the popular adage that crises are opportunities to create, innovate, improve, and transform. Here we tell you 3 inventions that are helping to improve the current state of the planet.

1. Bluestar Bus

Like any vehicle, buses also pollute and produce gases that degrade air quality and contribute to climate change. To change this situation and counteract toxic emissions, the British company Bluestar launched a bus capable of eliminating pollution as it travels.

Last September, the Go-Ahead Group launched a bus that filters the air and makes it cleaner as it goes. The vehicle has a filter located on the roof and specially designed to remove fine particles, which allows the bus to emit cleaner and pure air.

"We want this pilot to show that buses should be considered not only as a solution to congestion in cities, but also as a solution to the problem of air quality," said Go-Ahead Executive Director David Brown, in statements collected by the company. The efficiency of this filter is 99.5%, so installing it on more vehicles would help solve pollution and health problems generated by pollution.

According to the UN, air pollution causes 7 million deaths annually. Even more shocking is that 9 out of 10 people breathe air of poor quality.

2. Air purifying curtain

Pollution not only affects the quality of the air outside. There are also toxins that affect our health inside our homes. Daily activities such as cooking or cleaning can produce toxic particles, according to a study by the University of Colorado.

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In fact, pollution inside homes is responsible for the death of 4 million people a year. This situation occurs especially in developing countries where firewood and kerosene are still used to cook and heat spaces, explains the UN .

To counteract the harmful effects of pollution inside homes, IKEA announced an air purifying curtain that works with a process similar to that of photosynthesis. This purifier is called GUNRID and was developed between IKEA and universities in Asia and Europe. "One of our focus areas is to improve access to clean air, our goal is to actively reduce air pollutants and allow people to purify the air in their homes by the year 2030," said Lena Pripp-Kovac, responsible for sustainability of the Inter IKEA Group.

This company also invites its buyers to give a second use to the paper bags they receive when they purchase branded products.

3. Wind drone

The generation of renewable energy is a challenge to eliminate dependence on fossil fuels. Part of the transformation and change to sustainable energies is to reduce costs and make it accessible. With this idea in mind, engineers from the Carlos III University of Madrid developed a drone capable of producing wind energy.

According to Ecoticias, "airborne energy generation systems (AWES) are a new technology for producing electricity using wind power. In them, the expensive tower of the conventional wind turbines is replaced by a cable, and their blades by an aircraft that can be a flexible kite or a giant drone subject to that very fine 'tower'".

This university is a pioneer in the development of self-transporting energy. Additionally, the good news is that the sector is growing and has the support of the European Commission and Google.

Share with us the initiatives you know and let us know what we should document.

LatinAmerican Post | Marcela Peñaloza
Translated from "Por un mundo mejor: 3 inventos para cuidar el medio ambiente"