I would really like to hear from readers on this one.  The FT is hosting a Hewlett Packard-sponsored "Climate Change Challenge" (via Worldchanging).  I'm just not sure that any of these is actually a good idea.  Admittedly my Theatre and Drama degree doesn't exactly qualify me to analyze innovations, but I fail to see how a machine that turns things into charcoal or a chemical inserted into the food chain are good ideas.  Anyone care to give me their take on these?

From the FT, the competition finalists:

The Black Phantom is a machine that turns wood and organic material into charcoal. This can be used as a fertiliser or burnt in power stations and cooking stoves. Alternatively, this highly stable form of carbon can be stored underground in ‘carbon sinks’ (Carbonscape, New Zealand/UK)

Deflecktors are wheel covers that make lorries more fuel efficient by reducing drag. The inexpensive, lightweight fabric devices cover holes in the wheels, cutting fuel consumption by two per cent. The devices also offer money-making opportunities as advertising space (ADEF Ltd., USA)

Kyoto Box is a cheap, solar-powered cardboard cooker. The simple design can be made in existing cardboard factories, flat-packed and easily distributed. It could halve firewood use, saving trees and preventing carbon emissions (Kyoto Energy Ltd., Kenya)

Mootral is a feed supplement for livestock that reduces the methane they emit by 15 per cent. The garlic-based extract is a natural antibiotic that works by fighting bacteria in the stomachs of cows and sheep. Neem estimates the world’s herds and flocks are responsible for 20 per cent of global warming (Neem Biotech, UK)

Hollow ceiling tiles are used in an air cooling system that can work with or replace traditional air conditioning. Instead of pumping cool air into a room, the tiles are built into a false ceiling to draw warm air out. The process works by evaporating water stored in the tiles (Loughborough University, UK)