Mission Motors, the American motorcycle organisation was set up in 2007 and its focus is to create high performance electric motor bikes. The Mission One EV which is an electric sports bike was revealed at the 2009 TED conference in San Francisco. The Mission One has a lithium ion battery that has it going for 150 miles with a charge time of 2 hours if plugged into a 240 V outlet. The bike has a top speed of 150mph and the designer looks have been created by industrial designer Yves Behar.  50 limited edition bikes are being created for delivery this year and this range is not currently available unless pre-ordered.

The Opel Ampera which was introduced at the Geneval Motor Show will go into production from 2011. This will be the first electricity driven (at all speeds and time) emission free vehicle for everyday use in Europe. The sporty Ampera comes with 5 doors, a Voltec electric propulsion system and an extended range in excess of 500 kms. The onboard battery is a 16 kWh lithium ion. A gasoline E85 fueled engine generator provides electricity to run the drive unit when the battery power runs down and it also charges the battery at the same time. A standard household 230 volt outlet can be used to charge the battery normally. The car can do a top speed of 161 km/h and 0 to 100 in about 9 seconds. Every aspect of the car has been designed to maximise performance.

An Ancient Forest is one that has very old trees and associated structures with unique ecological features associated with the old flora. These forests are also called old growth forests, primary forest, virgin forest, primeval forest, frontier forest or ancient woodland. Typically the forests contain old trees which are alive, large dead tress or snags and large logs. Excessive logging is a constant threat to these forests that threatens to destroy the habitats and biodiversity. Ancient forests are replete with rare, threatened and endangered species of flora and fauna.

A team of researchers and scientists from BBC’s science show Bang Goes The Theory, have developed the Carpuccino, a car that runs on coffee grounds. A 1988, Volkswagen Scirocco has been retrofitted to adapt and run at approximately 56 espressos per mile. Coffee with its carbon content is dried, made into pellets and then has air passed through the pile as it burns. The Carpuccino uses 1 kilo of ground coffee for every 3 miles and does a top speed of 60mph. At present the price of this fuel is exorbitant but it does come under the alternative fuel heading and may be viewed at the Big Bang Science Fair in Manchester.

Locavore or Localvore are words used to denote the practice of eating food that is harvested from within an area extending to about a 100 mile radius. Locavore was coined by Jessica Prentice on World Environment Day 2005 and refers to people who eat locally produced food.

The movement promotes farmers markets and the habit of eating fresh, local products either self grown or bought from within the radius of 50, 100 or 150 miles. This type of consumption ensures better quality of the produce while also cutting down on emissions associated with transportation of the goods. The word Locavore was also chosen as word of the year 2007 by the New Oxford American Dictionary.

The term Staycation has recently been added to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and has come up in the last few years due to the recent global financial crisis. It refers to the period of time that a family or an individual stays home and relaxes or does day trips to areas of attraction with the home as a base. These vacations eliminate expensive travel costs and also the emissions associated with long distance travel. They also benefit the economy of the town as people do a lot of tourism related business within their localities.

ECOSAN stands for an ecological sanitation toilet. The United Nations has bestowed the UN Water Conservation Award on the Kulgaon Badlapur Municipal Council (KBMC) who created an ECOSAN on a tight budget with the help of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Environment Society in 2008. The ECOSAN toilet recycles and reuses human household waste and excreta for agricultural purposes and for gas for cooking. Research has shown that the yield from the plants fed on biogas water containing phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen is better than the regular crops. The KBMC has also implemented a successful rainwater harvesting project.

The Keibul Lamjao National Park is a 40 Km2 floating park, the only one of its kind in the world. Located in the Bishnupur district of Manipur in India and a part of the Loktak lake, the chief characteristic is the floating decomposed plant materials called Phumids. The park was initially in 1966, declared a Sanctuary to protect the endangered species Eld’s Deer or Sangai ( Dancing Deer) and was later in 1977 declared a National Park.

The swamp that makes up the park comprises of vegetation created by organic garbage and biomass phumids. This park is distinctive in that it is too shallow to be termed a lake and too deep to be a marsh. Conservation efforts are on in the area to protect this rare type of vegetation.

Supertech Limited is a real estate company in India who has recently announced the launch of an eco development. This eco project estimated at Rs. 650 crores, is called Eco Citi and is located in Sector 137, Noida. The residential project spread over 12.6 acres; aims to be a zero carbon emission building that will use special generators, machinery and ecological sanitation. The Eco Citi has been accredited by CDM-Gold Standard Foundation Switzerland. This citi promises to be a self sustaining eco system.

The Fava Rocker created by Knoend as a part of its Bean Rocker Series, in addition to being a kid friendly, multitasking rocker – it works as a back bracing support and an exercise balance board -  is also eco friendly. The Fava is created with maple wood that is procured from a certified forest and has a Forestry Stewardship Council certificate in the United States. The finishing is done using linseed oil and padding uses organic cotton.