3D printing Archives – The Green Optimistic

3D Printing Could Be Key to Sustainable Manufacturing

Janina Lazo-Cruz — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 17:57:30 +0000

An inkjet printer creates a two-dimensional or planar figure using digital information of the desired output. Similarly, 3D printing creates a three-dimensional object, an actual physical material, based on a digital model. This ability to produce products and components by forming successive layers of material under computer control, enabling the creation of objects with almost any […]

The post 3D Printing Could Be Key to Sustainable Manufacturing appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

New 3D Printer Filament Made from Recycled Potato Chip Bags

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:30:00 +0000

While often criticized for its not-so-green nature, 3D printing is one of the best liberal means of quickly creating objects from various materials right out of your mind. Now, 3D printing can offer a solution for some non-recyclable plastics, such as various potato chip and other quick snack bags, which usually end up in landfills […]

The post New 3D Printer Filament Made from Recycled Potato Chip Bags appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

How 3D Printing Could Stop Rhinoceros Poaching

Annika Tostengard — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 05:19:49 +0000

Every eight years, a rhinoceros is poached. Wildlife experts worry, since, at the current rate, the animal will be extinct within a decade. The rhinoceros is primarily poached for their horn, which is used mostly in Asian countries for medicinal purposes where it is also seen as a status symbol (which is no wonder, since […]

The post How 3D Printing Could Stop Rhinoceros Poaching appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Apis Cor 3D Printer Can Build House, Only Uses 8kW of Energy

Annika Tostengard — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 05:46:45 +0000

3D printing is taking off in a big way, and will soon be the foundation of manufacturing, medicine and home repair. One industry that will be changed by this innovative new technology is construction. Soon houses will be built by 3D printers instead of laborers and the Apis Cor is the most advanced of its kind yet, demonstrating […]

The post Apis Cor 3D Printer Can Build House, Only Uses 8kW of Energy appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Cheap Portable 3D Printed Wind Turbine Generates Clean Electricity and Saves Lives

Mila Luleva — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 10:38:25 +0000

Only a few months after the great success of Windpax, the portable wind turbine that managed to raise almost double the amount that the inventors initially asked with their Kickstarter campaign, the competition from other teams has already started. A new mobile wind turbine, called AirEnergy 3D, is already gathering supporters simply by being much […]

The post Cheap Portable 3D Printed Wind Turbine Generates Clean Electricity and Saves Lives appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

MIT Students 3D Print Ice Cream, But Is It Green?

Mila Luleva — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 09:31:51 +0000

Ever since 3D printing hype began to grow, scientists have been questioning the claim that the process is environmentally friendly. However, while this debate is still ongoing, 3D printing technology is bombarding us with incredible results. The technology holds a great potential to form the basis of a green industrial revolution. Initially used in manufacturing objects, […]

The post MIT Students 3D Print Ice Cream, But Is It Green? appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Vehicle Fuel Economy Could be Improved by 3D-Printed Composites

Benji Jerew — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 15:38:03 +0000

Lightweight and strong natural design, as found in balsa wood, has been replicated in the lab, and could improve vehicle fuel economy, in addition to other applications. Hollow-core construction, the same natural design found in avian bones, also enables man-made flight and lighter and safer cars. Balsa wood, 95% of which comes from Ecuador, is […]

The post Vehicle Fuel Economy Could be Improved by 3D-Printed Composites appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Chinese Company Uses 3D Printer to Construct 10 Houses in 24 Hours

Leigh Hutchens — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 18:20:28 +0000

The small houses that the Chinese company Winsun New Materials is building may look plain, but they represent a huge breakthrough in rapid construction. Amazingly, or scarily, enough the company used a giant 22 foot tall 33 foot wide 3D printer to create 10 small houses in 24 hours. Each home is made from recycled […]

The post Chinese Company Uses 3D Printer to Construct 10 Houses in 24 Hours appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Emerging Objects’ Cheap 3D Printing Material Made from Salt, Recycled Wood and Clay

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:44:58 +0000

3D printing these days is not actualy… um… green. Because it uses plastic. However, a team at Emerging Objects, a small fabrication studio in Oakland, has developed a material made from salt, wood and clay that can be (greenly) used to make 3D printing a lot greener and cheaper. “Many people are focused on machines […]

The post Emerging Objects’ Cheap 3D Printing Material Made from Salt, Recycled Wood and Clay appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

3D Printable Thin Film Thermoelectric Generator is Flexible Enough to Install Anywhere

Benji Jerew — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 07:28:51 +0000

Most energy systems are extremely inefficient, but flexible thermoelectric generators could recover some of that lost energy and put it back into the system. If we’ve ever seen steam billowing from a cooling tower or felt the hot exhaust coming from an automobile, what we’ve really been seeing is lost energy. According to the US […]

The post 3D Printable Thin Film Thermoelectric Generator is Flexible Enough to Install Anywhere appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

How Recycled Milk Jugs Can Make 3D Printing Cheaper and Greener

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:24:11 +0000

By recycling milk jugs, Joshua Pearce, a DIYer and researcher from Michigan Technological University is working on a method to drastically cut down costs associated with 3D printing. 3D printing is the new way of bringing things into existence by laying down thin layers of plastic in a specific pattern, ordered by a computer. However, printing objects […]

The post How Recycled Milk Jugs Can Make 3D Printing Cheaper and Greener appeared first on The Green Optimistic.

Urbee: World's First 3D-Printed Hybrid Car Does 200 MPG

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 06:01:05 +0000

Urbee is the name of world’s first 3D-printed hybrid car, designed by mechanical engineer Jim Kor, who spent his last 15 years building it. Kor recently unveiled a fully functional prototype at the TEDx conference in Winnipeg, Canada. The body is entirely made of polymers shaped by a 3D printer, part by part, layer by […]

The post Urbee: World's First 3D-Printed Hybrid Car Does 200 MPG appeared first on The Green Optimistic.