Any idea that simplifies life as much as possible is one that will soon find itself on the fast track to actualisation, and today everyone is excited about the “driverless car”. This idea has overtaken the Hybrid Car as the car of the future and there is a rush to successfully produce autonomous cars with predictions of market availability being as early as 2020.

To highlight our need to move away from fossil fuels, pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg last year set off on a round-the-world trip in a plane powered completely by solar energy, Solar Impulse 2. Their 35,000km journey has been smashing world records as well as perceptions about the possibilities of clean, renewable technologies.

Some of us are used to the convenient lifestyle our modern and connected lives afford us. But not everyone has the privilege to access to free internet in cafes or shopping centres. Last winter, a smart bins company in NYC created a project and turned trash cans into (today's version of) gold – free WiFi Hotspots for households in downtown Manhattan.

Climate fighters won a battle yesterday, when the U.S. and China announced a “Climate Change and Clean Energy cooperation”, meaning the two biggest emitters in the world joined hands to cut greenhouse gas emissions.