Learn more about the inventors featured on Invention Nation.
With a FuelMeister, you don't have to be a plumber or mechanic to make your own biodiesel. This is not a hobby kit but a complete system engineered with quality materials. You get all the specialized equipment and supplies you need to start making biodiesel that same day. All you need to add is vegetable oil, methanol, electricity and tap water. It comes with a digital scale to accurately measure your own lye. The whole setup fits comfortably in the corner of your garage. It's a "closed" system, too, so you won't generate fumes or have to pour or stir any liquids. It will turn even heavily used cooking oil into clean-burning, biodegradable, smooth-running biodiesel. Whatever you own that runs on diesel fuel you can power with the biodiesel you produce with your own FuelMeister biodiesel production system.
Ian Bruce started Venture Vehicles more than five years ago and as he puts it, "[It] was my answer to the Bush government." Venture Vehicles is an innovative, environmentally-friendly personal transportation company based in Los Angeles, Calif. Together with a complement of world-class design, engineering, manufacturing and marketing partners, Venture Vehicles is developing the first in a line of groundbreaking, ultrahigh mileage, expressive transportation vehicles. The company's first vehicle is a revolutionary, two-passenger, three-wheeled, tilting (articulating) vehicle, powered by a highly fuel-efficient hybrid propulsion system that will deliver over 100 mpg, at over 100 mph, and blistering 0 to 60 acceleration. Yet, it is designed and engineered to be affordably priced.
Craig Calfee got the idea for his bamboo bikes several years ago while on a trip to Africa. He noticed that there was a plethora of bamboo combined with a lack of transportation for the poor, so bamboo bicycles seemed a perfect fit. Craig realized that he could potentially teach people how to build the frame and assemble the parts with zero electricity. Craig returned to California and began the testing phase of converting raw bamboo into bicycles. He started small, building bikes for family and friends, many who thought his idea was crazy. When people heard Craig speak of his bamboo brainchild, they often said, "Bamboo? You mean that stuff we use to hold up our tomato plants? The same material that gets all cracked and faded from the sun?" Craig had a difficult time in the beginning phases of construction convincing people that a bamboo bike was in fact sturdy and viable.
The HumanCar represents original identity and innovation. It's aerospace green technology and street theater all at once. The HumanCar makes its drivers and passengers more fit, safe and less in debt. It's also as fun as powder skiing. It is not a pedal car. It's 100 percent automotive the chassis is designed for plus-100 mph and will carry 1,000 pounds. The transmission will accept a variety of motor options right now. The TWASTA patent (Team Work and Strength Training Apparatus) defines a mobile or stationary full body workout device, for multiple participants.
Larry Winiarski's solar concentrator uses reflective plastic membranes that are controlled with water. By raising and lowering the water level, he can keep the sun focused on a line. His invention uses regular plastic packaging (e.g., potato chip bags), Mylar, which is strong and can last several years. The plastic is easily available and cheap -- $1 per square meter. He uses strips of it to form mirrors. Springs are used to hold the plastic tight, plastic tubes to keep the plastic in place. It doesnÕt use any fancy motors; the mirrors float on Styrofoam that floats in water, and all the mirrors can be ganged together in such a way that they float. When intense sunlight hits the pumps, Winiarski can measure the temperature difference as he fills up a garbage can full of water. From that he can calculate the heat capacity of water.
Jerry Ostermeier has developed and manufactures his own micro-hydro system, which generates power into a battery. These units are placed in nearby streams and take several weeks to install. Hydroelectric has been around 150 years; however, his system is more evolved, a new adaptation of an old technology. Water intake starts from a stream at higher elevation, and is piped downhill to a generator that runs into the battery system, which is connected to the house to power lights, fridge, outlets, etc. The water then re-enters the stream. He has a demo unit and pump at his center, which doubles as his machine shop. All his machines are manufactured in his shop.
BioMix is a soilless plant propagation medium that is neutral to slightly buoyant. It allows for fast root growth by providing plants with continual watering through wicking action (up to 7 vertical inches) while maintaining up to 50 percent air space so that roots may breathe. BioMix contains organic bedding mix that is incorporated into hydrophilic foam. It is nontoxic to fish, has a slightly acid pH, and is biodegradable. It is the only planting mix recommended for use in BioHavens.