Agreed! The world is looking out for ideas of going green and these new ideas are being lapped up even as they are being thought of. This quest for providing benefits to humanity without affecting the planet by going green, sometimes heads in bizarre directions too. Brainstorming for green solutions is one thing, but then, their practicality and applicability have to be thought about deeply. Then, a multi-pronged approach has to be developed for sustaining the world. But as we said earlier, there is no shortage of wacky ideas for going green and we present five such bizarre green ideas here:
1. Hairy plants
Christopher Doughty from the University of California, which is located at Irvine, has come up with the idea of genetically modifying plants so that they grow hairier stems and leaves. The logic behind this idea is the follows. Plants grow in hot, arid and desert regions of the world grow stems that are spiny and hairy. The role of the hair is twofold. The lesser known reason is to reflect the harmful near-infrared light radiation from the sun. The researcher thus concludes that greater reflectivity of the plants will imply lesser radiation and thus a cooler earth.
Before the jump is made towards a furrier and hairier landscape, there is one major problem. The primary and well known role of the hair and spines is to reduce the water lost through evaporation and transpiration. Water evaporation is reduced is also reduced on account of the newly acquired, extra reflectivity. This by itself will reduce the cooling effect that the plants provide and increase the temperature of the locality. The ‘green innovation’ thus could be titled as ‘bizzarre’ at best.
2. Earth cooling via volcanic explosions
Mt. Pinatubo is a stratovolcano in the Philippines that had a major eruption in 1991. That event saw millions of tonnes of the sulfur dioxide compound being spewed out. This massive dust cloud blocked out the sun and created a cooling effect. That phenomenon has inspired geo-scientists to come up with an idea to blow up volcanoes to spew out enough ash to block the sun and cool the earth.
Geo-engineering is definitely a developing science but this is a wacky idea to say the least. Trying to trigger environmental catastrophes could lead to unknown and unprecedented dangers. It could alter the massive climate systems of the globe. It would be as foolish as trying to set right a watch when one has no idea of the time!
3. Human-powered floating gyms
Ready for another idea that exercises the body but does not seem to exercise the brains? There are suggestions to build a gym that floats downriver. It is being touted as a transport cum workout system. It is powered through the mechanical efforts and workout of the people in the gym.
The ‘encased shell with a dozen or more sweaty bodies’ will float on the river transporting them in the process! The idea appears novel only at first glance. A little thought will convince anyone about the safety aspects of such an uncontrolled venture. And if you tire out, you are stuck!
4. Super electricity-generators in space
The Space age has definitely arrived. But scientists in Japan are trying a technological miracle that could also turn into a technological and human catastrophe. The plan is to launch a packed satellite into space. Once in orbit, the satellite would unfurl giant solar panels to capture the limitless solar power.
The solar arrays are planned to be miles long in size. The idea is fine till here. The next part of the idea consists of beaming the electricity back to earth where it could be harnessed and used. The problem comes here. If the target is even slightly missed, the beam could theoretically miss the receiver and roast some other neighborhood!
5. Harnessing power from a tornado
Tornadoes are great powerhouses. They run at a speed exceeding 100 miles an hour and are capable of generating more than 10 megawatts of power, theoretically that is. Some scientists say that their work is yielding a machine that could trap a tornado and keep it going infinitely.
This could be used to generate power in a clean manner! Again, this is an idea that is outlandish for one has no idea about the strength of the tornado. It could simply destroy the machine and go out of hand. In such a case, the devastation will be tremendous. Again, this is playing with a completely unknown force.
