3 Green Technologies Expected in 2014

1. Motorola Ara
Enter, the modular smartphone. “We want to do for hardware what the Android platform has done for software: Create a vibrant third-party developer ecosystem, lower the barriers to entry, increase the pace of innovation, and substantially compress development timelines,” says Motorola in its blog. The company aims to make it unnecessary for users to buy an entire phone every couple of years; users can replace parts as and when required, and, in the process, cut down the amount of e-waste they generate.

2. myPower   
Have you ever wondered what could be done with all the energy you expend on your daily run? Well, you could charge your phone, for one. myPower, developed by researchers at Northwestern University, lets you charge your mobile phone as you take your morning run. The device captures a runner’s kinetic energy and can turn a 45-minute run into enough electricity to keep a smartphone running for eight hours.

It may be priced at $60 and is about the size and shape of a dry erase board. It hugs your hip with a fixed belt clip and captures free energy as you do laps around the track. myPower would also help offset the carbon footprint of your phone.

3. Kitchen Hub  
Designed by a mechanical engineering student at Italy’s IED, this helps monitor food consumption and cut waste. It has four parts: The Nutritional Plate shows customised serving sizes for the user; the Food Stock tool shows the amount of food in your house; the Smart Shopping tool allows you to shop for groceries online, keeping in mind what you already have in stock; the Recipes tool displays recipes that use ingredients you already have, prioritising ingredients close to their expiry date.