Private yachts are somewhat synonymous to luxury, but does that ever mean that they cannot get ecofriendly? No is the answer from Island Pilot LLC, who have unveiled the first ever hybrid luxury yacht dubbed the Island Pilot DSe Hybrid 12m, powered by diesel fuel, solar energy, and electric power.

The vessel is 12 meters long (39.5 feet) and can cruise at 13 knots on diesel fuel and 7 knots when in zero-emissions mode. A zero-emissions level is achieved with a 6 kW solar array and a 20 kWh battery bank.

The yacht is the first-ever production motor yacht with zero emissions in America, according to Reuben Trane, president of Island Pilot, LLC.

The entrants for the 2008 Design Los Angeles Challenge have been officially released, with the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Center of North America unveiling the Formula Zero.

Built around the theme of motor sports racing in the year 2025, the Formula Zero concept aims to combine “the thrill of Formula One, the track dynamics of the bobsled or luge, and the grace and efficiency of yacht racing.”

Reminiscent of the Mercedes Benz racing heritage of the 1930′s, the Mercedes Formula Zero Racer concept is loaded with technology designed to extract the maximum thrust from the electric hub motors, aero-efficient solar skin and high-tech rigid sail.

If you’re an environment friendly sailor and have a passion for speedboats check out Czeers MK1, a luxury designed 10-meter that was launched at the Millionaire Fair in 2007.

The Delft Technical University Solarboat Team built the original platform as an entry in the 2006 Nuon Frisian Solar challenge, which it easily won – and in the process, attracted serious investment power from Rabobank to get a full scale test boat built.

Made 100-percent of carbon fiber with orange leather trim, photovoltaic cells on almost all horizontal surfaces and an LCD touch-screen control system, the world’s first solar speedboat goes up to 30 knots on water.

Voting period for Peugeot design contest 2008 is on the go !

For the fifth time Peugeot is holding their futuristic design competition. Last year the Flux, designed by 20-year old Romanian Mihai Panaitescu, won the competition and was built as a concept car and eventually shown at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.

This year the competition was themed as “Imagine a Peugeot for the Megalopolis of Tomorrow”. The participants should take into consideration Peugeot’s stylistic codes and their projects must contain the following four aspects: environmental awareness, social harmony, interactive mobility and economic efficiency.

Entries were submitted in July and a jury has selected their 30 favorite designs so that the a popularity vote (15 August through 15 September 2008) can be held on the internet.

A top ten will be revealed on 16 September 2008. At the Paris Motor Show on 2 October 2008 Peugeot will announce the winner of the competition so that the concept can go into development for a 2009 Shanghai Motor Show in China global debut.

And now the most interesting part… The finalists with their concept car designs are presented below. Just vote for the concept car you most like on the official Peugeot site. In a week we will get to know the best 10 finalists.

* * *
Title: SVP
Author: Mickael Soubabère
Location: France

* * *
Title: Module
Author: Cristian Fabio Di Filippo
Location: Argentina

* * *
Title: Peugeot 888
Author: Oskar Johansen
Location: Norway

* * *
Title: Streamlife
Author: Liang Tian
Location: China

* * *
Title: Opus
Author: Soheil Ghotbi Ravandi
Location: Iran

* * *
Title: Rugir (Roar)
Author: Onur Guvenc
Location: Germany

* * *
Title: OPENA
Author: Jaroslaw Koziel
Location: Poland

* * *
Title: Peugeot Stylight
Author: Ognyan Bozhilov
Location: Bulgaria

* * *
Title: Peugeot Pure
Author: Pierlot Damien
Location: Belgium

* * *
Title: Peugeot Rayo
Author: Ivan Kraljević
Location: Croatia

* * *
Title: MoVille
Author: Woo-Ram Lee
Location: France

* * *
Title: Ego
Author: Emre Yazici
Location: Turkey

* * *
Title: Globe
Author: Varun Gopinath
Location: India

* * *
Title: Seed by Peugeot
Author: Yann Terrer
Location: France

* * *
Title: OXO
Author: Lou Ke
Location: China

* * *
Title: P.R.O.
Author: Ke Guo
Location: China

* * *
Title: Peugeot Alegro
Author: Alexandre Raad
Location: Brazil

* * *
Title: xtreet
Author: Esteban Peisci
Location: Argentina

* * *
Title: Peugeot 50x
Author: Gustavo Hernandez
Location: Colombia

* * *
Title: Peugeot Blade
Author: Ying Hui Choo
Location: Singapore

* * *
Title: Peugeot Magnet
Author: Tolga Metin
Location: United States

* * *
Title: Facile
Author: Thierry Dumaine
Location: France

* * *
Title: [E cube]
Author: Seung Hoon Yoo
Location: Republic of Korea

* * *
Title: RD
Author: Carlos Arturo Torres Tovar
Location: Colombia

* * *
Title: Echo
Author: Sun Rujun
Location: China

* * *
Title: GALapagos
Author: Igor Yastrebov
Location: Russian Federation

* * *
Title: Peugeot Verde
Author: Michael Witus Schierup
Location: Denmark

* * *
Title: Peugeot 1009 Concept
Author: Edwin van der Mark
Location: Netherlands

* * *

Title: Vision
Author: Shinji Nukumi
Location: Japan

London’s Southbank will feature a new landmark building following the approval of a planning application to redevelop York House.

The new design was initiated after a four-year planning period for the original, smaller design which, by the time planning was granted, had become obsolete.

And Sheppard Robson have eventually designed a bold but beautiful glazed-design which reflects the sun beams in rainbow colors which will create a crystal effect.

Russia’s state-controlled energy giant, Gazprom, has unveiled a new design for a major new office building it has been planning for several years in St. Petersburg. The new design proposes to use plants to control the building’s temperature.

It’s been described as the first building to be given a “green fur coat” a glass tower with double walls, in between which hundreds of trees and plants will provide heat in the winter and cooler temperatures in the summer. With temperatures in St. Petersburg rising to 30 degrees Celsius in the summer and plummeting to minus 30 in the winter, the design will be able to regulate the temperature without the need for expensive air conditioning or heating systems.

But according to a recent poll, more than 40 percent of residents thinks that would ruin the skyline of St. Petersburg, designated by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site. Built by Tsar Peter the Great at the start of the 18th century, its Venetian-style buildings and winding canals attract thousands of visitors every year.

But the architects say the project will revitalize a city that has been in decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Construction is planned to start later this year with completion scheduled for 2012.