Tech & Gadget Stream

Louis Palmer from Switzerland will be attempting to go around the globe in his solar-powered car. His long journey began last year when he set out from Lucerne, Switzerland last July, and over a year he has traversed Europe, the Middle East as well as India. This three-wheeled, two seater comes with a "Taxi" sign that offers rides to whoever is interested in his journey to create history. Louis will be in Bali, Indonesia this week. The Solar Taxi pulls a trailer along with additional solar panels, resulting in a total cell area of 65 square feet. To date, Louis has covered nearly 9,000 miles and ought to make his way to the US sometime next year before he reaches home sweet home.

It's hard to believe that a car a little more powerful than the average Bugatti Veyron (if not, reportedly, as well engineered) would run purely on E85 ethanol fuel, but here it is. Leaving aside the long-term concerns about biofuels, that's a move in a sustainable direction that is still unusual for a supercar. The Swedish Koenigsegg CCXR costs a staggering $2.3 million to own, but a quick look under the hood explains why. The 4.7 litre V8 engine cranks out a buttock-prodding 1018 horsepower that means this carbon fibre beauty can rattle through the gears from 0 - 62 in 2.9 seconds with a top speed of 250 mph. There is a pimped version of the Veyron doing the rounds that pumps out 1200bhp, but at these levels, why quibble over 100 horses here or there?

Energy monitors are not new, and it's surely only a matter of time before they become mandatory in UK homes as we all track our carbon hoofprint. Somehow, however, I doubt they'll be as elegant and thoughtful as designer Delroy Dennisur's concept. Not only does the smooth white panel calculate your energy and financial expenditure - showing you the amount of energy used and your current bill - it also offers a visual reminder to cut down on energy consumption with a leaf pattern which grows, yellows and rots as you spend more. A visual conscience prick to conserve energy is handy - although if you grow too in love with the pattern you might use more just to see it.

Sony has announced a new fuel-cell battery that runs on glucose. It works by breaking down carbohydrates with enzymes, in much the same way as us humans do. It doesn't seem to be ready for release yet, but the video after the jump shows that it's already capable of powering an MP3 player. Sony are claiming 50mW per cell, so it's still not very powerful. Even the MP3 player requires a few devices daisy-chained together, so it will be some time before this is portable enough to be practical.

While the simple van may not be the most glamorous of vehicles, it's hard to argue against a practical electric version that could do the same tasks, but without burning fossil fuels. That's exactly what the MODEC does, an electric van with a 100 mile range that can shift up to 2 tons of goods from supermarket to customer's doors. Tesco, a UK supermarket company recently arranged a contract to upgrade its home delivery fleet to the MODEC , which has a top speed of 50 MPH with its 102 horse power electric motor. It's sure got style.

Some scientists at a company called LS9 claim to have figured out a way to grow petroleum from bacteria. The exciting prospect could shoot us to energy independence in a matter of years, as LS9 says their tech will be ready for the prime time in just a few years. How does it work? The company is employing tools from the field of synthetic biology to modify the genetic pathways that bacteria, plants and animals use to make fatty acids, one of the main ways that organisms store energy. Fatty acids are chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms strung together in a particular arrangement, with a carboxylic acid group made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen attached at one end. Take away the acid, and you're left with a hydrocarbon that can be made into fuel. What does that all mean? I don't know, I'm no doctor. I just know that if we could grow our own gas it would solve a lot of problems.