Our Top 5 Energy Stories – 9th January 2013

It’s our first top 5 of 2013! With portable power packs, hybrid planes, tornado power stations, illegal plastic bottles and hi-tech tyres!

The portable power pack driving the developing world

We spotted this on Wired.com a while ago. It’s a power pack that plugs into just about anything — a solar panel, a mini wind turbine or a bike — and will power just about anything.

Read the story behind ReadySet here

The plane that plugs-in like a Prius

SUGAR Volt hybrid plane

Developed as part of the SUGAR (Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research) project, this concept hybrid plane could reduce fuel usage by a whopping 70%! Don’t expect to see it in your local airport until at least 2030 though.

Read more on Gizmodo

Tornado power station

We’ve all heard about wind power, but how about a power station that creates a controlled tornado and uses it to generate clean electricity? That’s the idea behind AVE — The Atmospheric Vortex Engine.

Read more on Wired UK

Ban the bottle

The US town of Concord, Massachusetts has banned the sale of small plastic water bottles in an attempt to reduce waste and encourage the use of tap water. The new law has produced mixed reactions, as you can see in the article comments over on the BBC website.

Full article on BBC news

Tyres are the latest renewable resource

Tyre recycling is nothing new, but a US company have devised a way of fast-freezing old tyres and grinding them into an incredibly fine powder, making them suitable for more high-tech uses.

Read the full article on FastCo Exist

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