The Global Rooftop Energy Initiative

Researchers figure out how to outperform nature's photosynthesis

2011-12-20T10:49:00.000-08:00

"The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) last week published a paper titled "Solar hydrogen-producing bionanodevice outperforms natural photosynthesis." They modified the photosynthetic proteins found in cyanobacteria -- bacteria which gain their energy through photosynthesis.

Says io9: “They frankensteined together proteins from Synechococcus sp. with those from Clostridium acetobutylicum using molecular wire to create a 'hybrid biological/organic nanoconstruct' that was more efficient than either on their own.”

More @ PhysOrg

Engineers can build a low-carbon world if we let them

2011-09-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

The engineering solutions to combat climate change already exist. Politicians must be brave enough to use them before it's too late

One word sums up the attitude of engineers towards climate change: frustration. Political inertia following the high-profile failure of 2009's Copenhagen climate conference has coupled with a chorus of criticism from a vocal minority of climate-change sceptics. Add the current economic challenges and the picture looks bleak. Our planet is warming and we are doing woefully little to prevent it getting worse.

Engineers know there is so much more that we could do. While the world's politicians have been locked in predominantly fruitless talks, engineers have been developing the technologies we need to bring down emissions and help create a more stable future.

Wind, wave and solar power, zero-emissions transport, low-carbon buildings and energy-efficiency technologies have all been shown feasible. To be rolled out on a global scale, they are just waiting for the political will. Various models, such as the European Climate Foundation's Roadmap 2050, show that implementing these existing technologies would bring about an 85 per cent drop in carbon emissions by 2050. The idea that we need silver-bullet technologies to be developed before the green technology revolution can happen is a myth. The revolution is waiting to begin.

More @ New Scientist

Japanese breakthrough [Wind Lens] will make wind power cheaper than nuclear

2011-08-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

A surprising aerodynamic innovation in wind turbine design called the 'wind lens' could triple the output of a typical wind turbine, making it less costly than nuclear power.

Of course, the challenge is in storing the energy.

More @ Mother Nature Network

Cars could run on recycled newspaper, scientists say

2011-08-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

Tulane has applied for a patent for a method to produce the biofuel butanol from organic material, a process developed by associate professor David Mullin, right, postdoctoral fellow Harshad Velankar, center, and undergraduate student Hailee Rask. Credit: Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano

Here's one way that old-fashioned newsprint beats the Internet. Tulane University scientists have discovered a novel bacterial strain, dubbed "TU-103," that can use paper to produce butanol, a biofuel that can serve as a substitute for gasoline. They are currently experimenting with old editions of the Times Picayune, New Orleans' venerable daily newspaper, with great success.

More @ PhysOrg

Brazilian wind power cheaper than natural gas

2011-08-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

The Brazilian authorities have this week confirmed that wind power in the country currently costs less than natural gas, after a series of energy auctions saw wind farm operators undercut other forms of energy generation.

Seventy-eight wind power projects won contracts in last week's energy auctions held by Brazil's National Electric Power Agency, totalling 1,928MW and priced at approximately 99.5 reals (37.4 GB pounds) per MWh.

More @ BusinessGreen

13-Year-Old Makes A Solar Breakthrough With Fibonacci Sequence : TreeHugger

2011-08-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

image via American Museum of Natural History

(...) the Fibonacci sequence: Starting with the numbers 0 and 1, each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two - 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13.... These numbers, when put in ratios, happens to show up in the patterns of branches and leaves on trees. Aidan, having been mesmerized by tree-branch patterns during a winter hike in the Catskills, sought to investigate why. His hunch: "I knew that branches and leaves collected sunlight for photosynthesis, so my next experiments investigated if the Fibonacci pattern helped."

One thing led to another, and before you know it, this kid, three years from being eligible for a driver's license, had built a tree-like stand affixed with small solar panelsin the Fibonacci pattern. He compared its ability to collect sunlight to a flat-panel collector. And Nature won.

Summing up his research and imagining the possibilities, Aidan wrote: "The tree design takes up less room than flat-panel arrays and works in spots that don't have a full southern view. It collects more sunlight in winter. Shade and bad weather like snow don't hurt it because the panels are not flat. It even looks nicer because it looks like a tree. A design like this may work better in urban areas where space and direct sunlight can be hard to find."

More @ TreeHugger

Water purification unit generates its own energy

2011-07-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

"A new biological water purification facility developed by Siemens generates enough methane gas to power its own operations. It also produces much less sludge than conventional systems. The pilot facility for this process, which is located at a site run by Singapore’s Public Utilities Board, has been operating in an energy- neutral manner since June 2010. Now, the city state is building a much larger pilot facility – one that will process 300 times more effluent than its predecessor, or about as much sewage water as is produced by around 1,000 people. "

More @ PhysOrg.com

MIT researchers are printing solar cells on sheets of paper

2011-07-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Solar power is a great alternative energy source, but it’s unfortunately a rather expensive one. However, researchers at MIT are working on a new and less-expensive way to make solar cells which involves printing them directly on to fabric or paper."

More @ Geek.com

Bringing light to the poor, one liter at a time | Video | Reuters.com

2011-07-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

A bottled liter of water with a few teaspoons of bleach is proving to be a successful recipe for dwellers in the light-deprived slums of the Philippines. The simple technology is spreading sunlight in places where it has never been, and saving residents money at the same time.

More @ Reuters.com

New Google R&D Team Charged With Making Renewable Energy Work For The Market

2011-06-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

New Google R&D Team Charged With Making Renewable Energy Work For The Market | Fast Company

As new CEO, Larry Page is under pressure to deliver something big. Recently, Malcolm Gladwell argued (in his typically contrarian fashion) that the Internet "search solves problems that aren't really problems":

Can we make a better Google or Bing? Yeah; sure we can. But it solves a problem that isn't really a problem. You cannot point to any area of intellectual activity or innovation that is today being compromised or hamstrung by their lack of access to search technology. Can we honestly go to some scientist to say that the reason you haven't cured cancer is because you don't have access to some information about cancer research? No!

There isn't a problem that's any bigger or more real than generating renewable energy and bringing it to market. If Google can find big ways in just the next few years to solve only a part of that puzzle, turning Google's energy wing into a business remotely as robust as its search and software core, then Page will have delivered something big indeed.

More @ Fast Company

Solar power goes viral: Modified virus improves solar-cell efficiency by one-third

2011-04-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

Solar power goes viral: Modified virus improves solar-cell efficiency by one-third

In a solar cell, sunlight hits a light-harvesting material, causing it to release electrons that can be harnessed to produce an electric current. The new MIT research, published online this week in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, is based on findings that carbon nanotubes — microscopic, hollow cylinders of pure carbon — can enhance the efficiency of electron collection from a solar cell's surface.

Previous attempts to use the nanotubes, however, had been thwarted by two problems. First, the making of carbon nanotubes generally produces a mix of two types, some of which act as semiconductors (sometimes allowing an electric current to flow, sometimes not) or metals (which act like wires, allowing current to flow easily). The new research, for the first time, showed that the effects of these two types tend to be different, because the semiconducting nanotubes can enhance the performance of solar cells, but the metallic ones have the opposite effect. Second, nanotubes tend to clump together, which reduces their effectiveness.

And that’s where viruses come to the rescue. Graduate students Xiangnan Dang and Hyunjung Yi — working with Angela Belcher, the W. M. Keck Professor of Energy, and several other researchers — found that a genetically engineered version of a virus called M13, which normally infects bacteria, can be used to control the arrangement of the nanotubes on a surface, keeping the tubes separate so they can’t short out the circuits, and keeping the tubes apart so they don’t clump.

(...) In their tests, adding the virus-built structures enhanced the power conversion efficiency to 10.6 percent from 8 percent — almost a one-third improvement.

More @ PhysOrg.com

Leaked: 30,000 BP oil spill memos, emails and transcripts

2011-04-20T07:06:00.000-07:00

Leaked: 30,000 BP oil spill memos, emails and transcripts | Crikey

"In the middle of last year, Greenpeace started submitted a string of Freedom of Information requests to US government agencies in relation to last year’s disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

As a result the environmental group have obtained some 30,000 memos, emails and transcripts which document the worst oil spill in American history. Taking cues from WikiLeaks, Greenpeace has begun to leak its considerable cache online for all to see.

More @ Crikey

RC car runs on soda can rings

2011-04-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

RC car runs on soda can rings

dAlH2Orean H2 R/C Car powered by Aluminium from Aleix Llovet on Vimeo.

A pair of Spanish engineers have recently unveiled the dAlH2Orean (see what they did there?), a R/C car that runs on aluminum. Dropping a few soda can tabs into a tank of sodium hydroxide produces enough hydrogen to power the little speedster for 40 minutes – at almost 20mph.

More @ Engadget

Magnetic Effect of Light May Lead to Better Solar Power

2011-04-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

A dramatic and surprising magnetic effect of light discovered by University of Michigan researchers could lead to solar power without traditional semiconductor-based solar cells.

The researchers found a way to make an "optical battery," said Stephen Rand, a professor in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Physics and Applied Physics."This could lead to a new kind of solar cell without semiconductors and without absorption to produce charge separation," Rand said. "In solar cells, the light goes into a material, gets absorbed and creates heat. Here, we expect to have a very low heat load. Instead of the light being absorbed, energy is stored in the magnetic moment. Intense magnetization can be induced by intense light and then it is ultimately capable of providing a capacitive power source."
(...)
This new technique could make solar power cheaper, the researchers say. They predict that with improved materials they could achieve 10 percent efficiency in converting solar power to useable energy. That's equivalent to today's commercial-grade solar cells.

More @ Michigan Today

Home Solar Panel Kits Come To Costco

2011-04-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Home Solar Panel Kits Come To Costco | EarthTechling

Costco members will soon be able to add solar power systems alongside power tools and pancake mix on their shopping lists. Euegene, Oregon based Grape Solar has recently announced that several of its solar kits will soon be available through Costco’s website in the ”Hardware” section under the Generators & Backup Power subcategory. Costco members will have a choice of 880W, 2300W, 3680W or 5060W ready-to-install kits, with prices ranging from around $3,600 upwards to around $18,000.

The solar kits are “grid-tied” systems that include Grape Solar panels, inverters, and racking systems that are ready to install onto the roofs of homes and other structures. Grape Solar says the kits are designed to be expandable, so customers can start small and grow their system over time if they wish. In order to facilitate installation, Grape Solar says that they developed a network of over 5,000 installers who will be available to provide locally based customer support.

More @ EarthTechling

Pepsi bottles: no more plastic

2011-03-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Pepsi bottles: no more plastic - CSMonitor.com

This product image shows the new Pepsi bottle made entirely of plant material. The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans to also use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business. The new Pepsi bottles are scheduled to begin appearing in 2012.

More @ CSMonitor.com

Micro petrol engine

2011-02-28T10:46:00.000-08:00

New mini petrol engine

SCIENTISTS have built the smallest petrol engine ? tiny enough to power a WATCH.

The mini-motor, which runs for two years on a single squirt of lighter fuel, is set to revolutionize world technology.
It produces 700 times more energy than a conventional battery despite being less than a centimeter long ? not even half an inch. It could be used to operate laptops and mobile phones for months on end ? doing away with the need for recharging(...)

More @ The Sun

Aerial ropeways: automatic cargo transport for a bargain

2011-01-31T13:34:00.000-08:00

Aerial ropeways: automatic cargo transport for a bargain

These days, we use them almost exclusively to transport skiers and snowboarders up snow slopes, but before the 1940s, aerial ropeways were a common means of cargo transport, not only in mountainous regions but also on flat terrain, with large-scale systems already built during the Middle Ages.

Cargo tramways can be fully or partly powered by gravity, and some deliver excess power that can be utilized to generate electricity or to drive cranes or machinery in nearby factories. Some innovative systems have been constructed in recent years.

More @ Low-tech Magazine

A brave new world of fossil fuels on demand?

2011-01-18T07:15:00.000-08:00

A brave new world of fossil fuels on demand

In September, a privately held and highly secretive U.S. biotech company named Joule Unlimited received a patent for “a proprietary organism” – a genetically adapted E. coli bacterium – that feeds solely on carbon dioxide and excretes liquid hydrocarbons: diesel fuel, jet fuel and gasoline. This breakthrough technology, the company says, will deliver renewable supplies of liquid fossil fuel almost anywhere on Earth, in essentially unlimited quantity and at an energy-cost equivalent of $30 (U.S.) a barrel of crude oil. It will deliver, the company says, “fossil fuels on demand.”

More @ The Globe and Mail

Horizon MiniPak personal fuel cell charger hits shelves for $100 -- Engadget

2011-01-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

Horizon MiniPak personal fuel cell charger hits shelves for $100 -- Engadget

Designed for charging portable electronics on the go, the MiniPak has two refillable cartridges, each with the juice equivalent of around 1,000 AA batteries. The MiniPak -- which uses Hydrogen to produce electricity -- isn't the first portable fuel cell, but it's certainly the cheapest.

More @ Engadget [Video]

This Solar Charger Runs Devices Directly | EarthTechling

2010-12-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

This Solar Charger Runs Devices Directly

"According to Suntactics, its new PC5 unit is different from other portable solar chargers in that it doesn’t send power to an internal battery that then charges your device. Competing products, Suntastics says, “are literally charging a battery from a battery. The solar panels on them are too weak to charge the USB handheld device directly.” Not so with the PC5: “The PC5 solar charger has 5 watts of solar power potential as compared the ~2 watts in most of the other chargers. The PC5 will not only charge the USB handheld device, it will run it on dead batteries.”
Portable solar charger, SunTactics, PC5"

More @ Earthtechling

Deep Green Underwater Kite

2010-11-14T14:50:00.000-08:00

Deep Green Underwater Kite

Swedish company Minesto's underwater kite resembles a child's toy as it swoops and dives in ocean currents. But since seawater is 800 times as dense as air, the small turbine attached to the kite — which is tethered to the ocean floor — can generate 800 times more energy than if it were in the sky. Minesto calls the technology Deep Green and says it can generate 500 kilowatts of power even in calm waters; the design could increase the market for tidal power by 80%, the company says. The first scale model will be unveiled next year off the coast of Northern Ireland.

More @ The 50 Best Inventions of 2010 - TIME

Solar-powered fridge invented by British student in a potting shed helps poverty-stricken Africans

2010-10-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

Solar-powered fridge invented by British student in a potting shed helps poverty-stricken Africans

It's the kind of simple yet brilliant invention that would have the tycoons of Dragons' Den salivating with excitement.

Not only is the fridge solar powered, it can also be built from household materials - making it ideal for the Third World.

Emily Cummins, 21, came up with the idea while working on a school project in her grandfather's potting shed. The fridge is now improving the lives of thousands of poverty-stricken Africans.

More @ Mail Online

How GM "Lied" About The Electric Car?

2010-10-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

How GM "Lied" About The Electric Car?

The Chevy Volt has been hailed as General Motors' electric savior. Now, as GM officially rolls out the Volt this week for public consumption, we're told the much-touted fuel economy was misstated and GM "lied" about the car being all-electric.

In the past, and based on GM's claims, we've gone so far as to call the Volt GM's "Jesus Car." And why wouldn't we call it that? We were told the Volt would achieve 230 MPG fuel economy and would always use the electric drivetrain to motivate the wheels — only using the onboard gasoline engine as a "range extender" for charging the batteries. It now turns out that not only were those fuel economy claims misleading, but the gasoline engine is actually used to motivate the wheels — making the Volt potentially nothing more than a very advanced hybrid car and pushing some automotive journalists like Scott Oldham atEdmunds.com to claim "GM lied to the world" about it.

First of all, let's talk about fuel economy. In August of last year, we heard GM's then-CEO Fritz Henderson claimed with all the marketing might it could muster at a Detroit-area press event, that the Chevy Volt would get 230 MPG in city driving conditions. Now, as the Volt's being tested by the auto trade press, we're seeing some surprisingly low fuel economy figures amid the expected lavish praise buff books are heaping upon the Volt.

Let's see what they've found out. Popular Mechanics saw just 37.5 MPG in city driving (...)

More @ Jalopnik

Graphene Will Change the Way We Live

2010-10-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

Graphene Will Change the Way We Live

The theory behind the substance graphene was first explored by theoretical physicist Philip Wallace in 1947 as kind of a starting point when he was doing research trying to understand the electronic properties of more complex, 3D graphite. although the name graphene wasn't actually coined until 40 years later, where it was used to describe single sheets of graphite. In other words, it's the name given to a flat monolayer of carbon atoms that are tightly packed into a 2D honeycomb lattice; like a molecular chicken-wire that is one atom thick. It's essentially the basic building block for graphitic materials of all other dimensionalities; it's a stepping stone to building bigger things. Graphene in itself however wasn't discovered until 2004 in its full observable and testable form.

Since then, in the past 6 years, scientists have discovered that the substance retains some amazing properties. Some say that it will be heralded as one of the materials that will literally change our lives in the 21st century. Not only is graphene the thinnest possible material that is feasible, but it's also about 200 times stronger than steel and conducts electricity better than any material known to man—at room temperature. Researchers at Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering who proved that graphene is the strongest material ever measured said that "It would take an elephant, balanced on a pencil, to break through a sheet of graphene the thickness of Saran Wrap."

Potential applications for the material include the replacing of carbon fibers in composite materials to eventually aid in the production of lighter aircraft and satellites; replacing silicon in transistors; embedding the material in plastics to enable them to conduct electricity; graphene-based sensors could sniff out dangerous molecules; increasing the efficiency of electric batteries by use of graphene powder; optoelectronics; stiffer-stronger-lighter plastics; leak-tight, plastic containers that keep food fresh for weeks; transparent conductive coatings for solar cells and displays; stronger wind turbines; stronger medical implants; better sports equipment; supercapacitors; improved conductivity of materials; high-power high frequency electronic devices; artificial membranes for separating two liquid reservoirs; advancements in touchscreens; LCD's; OLED's; graphene nanoribbons could be a way to construct ballistic transistors; and nanogaps in graphene sheets may potentially provide a new technique for rapid DNA sequencing.

More @ Big Think

Soccer Ball Generates Electricity

2010-10-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

Soccer Ball Generates Electricity

The ball is the brainchild of four girls from Harvard, who wanted to improve the lives of people in parts of the world where electricity is scarce — including African countries where 95% of the population is living with no access to electricity. The World Bank estimates that breathing the fumes created from burning kerosene indoors (the energy source many use there) equals the harmful effects of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.

Enough energy can be generated to power a lamp for three hours after playing soccer with this ball for just 15 minutes.

More @ FitPerez.com

Jelly Fish Into Solar Cells?

2010-10-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

Jelly Fish Into Solar Cells

While there are a lot easier ways to make solar cells, there’s not as many as bizarre as this one: squishing up jelly fish. Out of Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, researchers have discovered a way to use a protein from a common jellyfish to create a solar cell.

The research looks at how green fluorescent protein in this jelly fish, Aequorea victoria, can coax electrons from sunlight. It turns out, the protein, can self-assemble and produce electrons when it’s placed between two layers of aluminum electrodes and exposed to ultraviolet light.

More @ Cleantech News

Soybeans Enzyme Turns Air Into Propane!

2010-08-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

Gasoline from Thin Air?

An enzyme found in the roots of soybeans could be the key to cars that run on air.

Vanadium nitrogenase, an enzyme that normally produces ammonia from nitrogen gas, can also convert carbon monoxide (CO), a common industrial byproduct, into propane, the blue-flamed gas found on stoves across America.

While scientists caution the research is still at an early stage, they say that this study could eventually lead to new, environmentally friendly ways to produce fuel -- and eventually gasoline -- from thin air.

"This organism is a very common soil bacteria that is very well understood and has been studied for a long time," said Markus Ribbe, a scientist at the University of California, Irvine, and a co-author of the new paper that appears in the journal Science.

"But while we were studying it, we realized that the enzyme has some unusual behavior," he added.

(...)

Ribbe and his co-authors isolated one particular enzyme, vanadium nitrogenase, to convert nitrogen into ammonia. Then the California scientists removed the nitrogen and oxygen the enzyme is used to and filled the remaining space with CO.

Without oxygen and nitrogen, the enzyme began to to turn the CO into short chains of carbon two and three atoms long. A three-carbon chain is more commonly referred to as propane....

Discovery News

Should You Blame Your Bed and TV?

2010-07-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

Left-Sided Cancer--Should You Blame Your Bed and TV?

Curiously, the cancer rate is 10 percent higher in the left breast than in the right. This left-side bias holds true for both men and women and it also applies to the skin cancer melanoma. Researchers Orjan Hallberg of Hallberg Independent Research in Sweden and Ollie Johansson of The Karolinska Institute in Sweden, writing in the June issue of the journal Pathophysiology, suggest a surprising explanation that not only points to a common cause for both cancers, it may change your sleeping habits.

(...)

Electromagnetic waves resonate on a half-wavelength antenna to create a standing wave with a peak at the middle of the antenna and a node at each end, just as when a string stretched between two points is plucked at the center. In the U.S. bed frames and box springs are made of metal, and the length of a bed is half the wavelength of FM and TV transmissions that have been broadcasting since the late 1940s. In Japan most beds are not made of metal, and the TV broadcast system does not use the 87- to 108-megahertz frequency used in Western countries.

Thus, as we sleep on our coil-spring mattresses, we are in effect sleeping on an antenna that amplifies the intensity of the broadcast FM/TV radiation. Asleep on these antennas, our bodies are exposed to the amplified electromagnetic radiation for a third of our life spans. As we slumber on a metal coil-spring mattress, a wave of electromagnetic radiation envelops our bodies so that the maximum strength of the field develops 75 centimeters above the mattress in the middle of our bodies. When sleeping on the right side, the body's left side will thereby be exposed to field strength about twice as strong as what the right side absorbs.

Solar power finally becomes cheaper than nuclear

2010-07-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

Study: Solar power is cheaper than nuclear | The Energy Collective

The Holy Grail of the solar industry — reaching grid parity — may no longer be a distant dream. Solar may have already reached that point, at least when compared to nuclear power, according to a new study by two researchers at Duke University.

[...]

The result of these trends: “In the past year, the lines have crossed in North Carolina,” say study authors John Blackburn and Sam Cunningham. “Electricity from new solar installations is now cheaper than electricity from proposed new nuclear plants.”

If the data analysis is correct, the pricing would represent the “Historic Crossover” claimed in the study’s title...

More @ The Energy Collective

Coolest Tree House Ever -- Panchoran Retreat

2010-07-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

Panchoran Retreat | Ubud, Bali

German company sells 'liquid wood'

2010-07-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

German company sells 'liquid wood'

Several products made of Arboform have been revealed, including baby toys, furniture, castings for watches, designer loudspeakers (Arboform has wood-like acoustic qualities), golf tees that degrade on the course and even coffins.

"How about a renewable plastic that has wood-like qualities but can be cast by a machine? A group of scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology in Pfinztal near Karlsruhe invented just that in the late 1990s."

More @ Space Mart

Gulf oil disaster: Pensacola Beach - 22 photos

2010-06-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

Gulf oil disaster: Pensacola Beach - 22 photos

Kevin Reed, 36, of Pensacola breaks down and weeps upon seeing the oil-defiled shores of Pensacola Beach on June 23, 2010. Reed's father taught him to swim in these waters, and Reed just taught his five year old son to swim here. "This will never be the same," he says. "I'd like to take the CEO of BP and jam his face in that pile on the beach."

University of Minnesota researchers clear major hurdle in road to high-efficiency solar cells

2010-06-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

University of Minnesota researchers clear major hurdle in road to high-efficiency solar cells

U of M researchers have cleared a major hurdle in the drive to build solar cells with potential efficiencies up to twice as high as current levels.

A team of University of Minnesota-led researchers has cleared a major hurdle in the drive to build solar cells with potential efficiencies up to twice as high as current levels, which rarely exceed 30 percent.

By showing how energy that is now being lost from semiconductors in solar cells can be captured and transferred to electric circuits, the team has opened a new avenue for solar cell researchers seeking to build cheaper, more efficient solar energy devices. The work is published in this week’s Science.

A system built on the research could also slash the cost of manufacturing solar cells by removing the need to process them at very high temperatures.

More @ University of Minnesota

Surface area required to power the whole world by solar power

2010-06-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered what is the surface area required to power the whole world by solar power?

This may help put it in perspective for you...

click to zoom

Wind-Powered Car Travels Downwind Faster Than the Wind | Autopia | Wired.com

2010-06-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

Wind-Powered Car Travels Downwind Faster Than the Wind

Rick Cavallaro and his friends have built a wind-powered vehicle that travels downwind faster than the wind, solving a riddle that can start fights.

The unusual wind-powered car hit a top speed 2.86 times faster than the wind during one recent run, a feat that — depending upon your perspective — is either the result of hard work or the same voodoo responsible for Ryan Seacrest’s hair.

The counterintuitive idea that you can travel downwind faster than the wind is casus belli for aerodynamic arguments from internet forums to college classrooms. The concept known as DWFTTW can cause world-renowned physicists to throw their Nobel Prizes in fits of rage.

More @ Wired.com

Perpetual Power? NASA creates submersible that can run nearly forever

2010-05-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Perpetual Power? NASA creates submersible that can run nearly forever — Autoblog Green

Well, it's not exactly perpetual motion or energy, but it's getting closer than most such attempts. Plus, instead of being backed by some sort of random crackpot scientist, this particular project has the backing of NASA and the U.S. Navy. So, what is it? (Take a deep breath.) The Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangrian Observer Thermal Recharging (SOLO-TREC) autonomous underwater vehicle. Says Jack Jones, a JPL principal engineer and SOLO-TREC co-principal investigator:

SOLO-TREC draws upon the ocean's thermal energy as it alternately encounters warm surface water and colder conditions at depth. Key to its operation are the carefully selected waxy substances known as phase-change materials that are contained in 10 external tubes, which house enough material to allow net power generation. As the float surfaces and encounters warm temperatures, the material melts and expands; when it dives and enters cooler waters, the material solidifies and contracts. The expansion of the wax pressurizes oil stored inside the float. This oil periodically drives a hydraulic motor that generates electricity and recharges the vehicle's batteries. Energy from the rechargeable batteries powers the float's hydraulic system, which changes the float's volume (and hence buoyancy), allowing it to move vertically.

More @ Autoblog Green

Wind's latest problem: it . . . makes power too cheap

2010-05-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

Wind's latest problem: it . . . makes power too cheap

Bloomberg has a somewhat confusing article about the newest complaint about wind power, but the gist of it is that wind power is an issue for the industry because it brings their revenues down:

After years of getting government incentives to install windmills, operators in Europe may have become their own worst enemy, reducing the total price paid for electricity in Germany, Europe’s biggest power market, by as much as 5 billion euros some years, according to a study this week by Poeyry, a Helsinki-based industry consultant.

Implicit in the article, and the headline (which focuses on lower revenues for RWE) is the worry that wind power will bring down the stock market value of the big utilities - which is what the readers of Bloomberg et al. care about.

But despite the generally negative tone of the article, it's actually a useful one, because it brings out in the open a key bit of information: wind power actually brings electricity prices down!

More @ The Oil Drum

FTL Solar's Lightweight Solar Fabric

2010-05-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

FTL Solar's Lightweight Solar Fabric | Harry Tournemille

FTL Solar has combined lightweight, flexible tensile fabric with thin film solar panels to create a highly versatile solar fabric.

Originally designed for military usage (due to their portability), FTL Solar is now going commercial with them, touting them as effective ways to shelter and power car parks, battery charging stations, disaster relief shelters, communication command centers, medical units, temporary housing, research posts, and energy pods for small villages.

In the case of the PowerPark II, each structure can generate roughly 20 kilowatt-hours (KwH) per day. So, for large parking lot installations the numbers can add up quickly.

More @ Harry Tourneille

Climategate Claptrap

2010-04-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

Climategate Claptrap

At last! The controversy is over. It turns out the "scientific" claims promoted for decades by whiny self-righteous liberals were a lie, a fraud, a con--and we don't need to change after all. The left is humiliated; the conservatives are triumphant and exultant.

The year is 1954, and the "science" that has been exposed as a "sham" by conservatives is the link between smoking and lung cancer. Welcome to Tobaccogate, as Fox News would call it. The conservatives are championing professor Clarence Cook Little, who says he has discovered insurmountable flaws in the use of statistics and clinical data by "anti-tobacco" (and quasi-commie) scientists. The press reports the "controversy," usually without mentioning that Cook Little is being paid by the tobacco industry. A relieved nation lights up--and so, over the next few decades, millions of them die.

It is happening again. The tide of global warming denial is now rising as fast as global sea levels--and with as much credibility as Cook Little. Look at the deniers' greatest moment, Climategate, hailed by them as "the final nail in the coffin" of "the theory of global warming." A patient study by the British House of Commons has pored over every e-mail from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia and interviewed everyone involved. Its findings? The "evidence patently fails to support" the idea of a fraud; the scientists have "no case to answer"; and all their findings "have been repeated and the conclusions have been verified" by other scientists. That's British for "it was a crock."

More @ The Nation

What it Means to be Green at a Mario Batali Restaurant

2010-04-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Meltz: What it Means to be Green at a Mario Batali Restaurant

The restaurant industry accounts for 10% of the U.S. economy. Americans spend approximately forty-eight percent of their food budget on food consumed away from home ($1,078 per person annually), dining at over 945,000 restaurants.¹ The average restaurant produces 50,000 pounds of garbage per year, typically close to 95% of which could be recycled or composted.² The Restaurant industry consumes 1/3 of all energy used by the retail sector (in the US, and the average food service facility uses 300,000 gallons of water per year.

In our restaurants, from the more casual Otto Pizzeria to fine dining at Del Posto, we have addressed some of these issues: we have banned bottled water, we have a full scale recycling andcomposting program at each of them and all of our chefs have personal relationships with the local farmers. Our steakhouse, Carnevino, in Las Vegas, NV, the city of excess, is located in the largest LEED-certified silver building in the world. In that restaurant we have introduced water saving measures, recycled paper and toilet paper, energy conservation initiatives, recycling and composting -- you name it. And our restaurants are buried deep within a hotel. Where there is a will, we know there is a way:

More @ HuffingtonPost [photos]

IBM's New Solar Desalination Tech Could Create Rivers in the Desert

2010-04-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

IBM's New Solar Desalination Tech Could Create Rivers in the Desert

Living in the desert comes with major advantages and disadvantages — excess solar power and not enoughwater, to be more specific. Now IBM and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technologyare teaming up to solve the water problem with solar-powered desalination technology. Eventually, the two organizations hope to construct a desalination plant in Al Khafji, Saudi Arabia that can harness sunlight to generate 7.9 million gallons of water daily — enough for 100,000 people.

More @ Inhabitat

Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change?

2010-03-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

James Lovelock: Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change

Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives over the coming decades. This is the stark conclusion of James Lovelock, the globally respected environmental thinker and independent scientist who developed the Gaia theory.
It follows a tumultuous few months in which public opinion on efforts to tackle climate change has been undermined by events such as the climate scientists' emails leaked from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit.
"I don't think we're yet evolved to the point where we're clever enough to handle a complex a situation as climate change," said Lovelock in his first in-depth interview since the theft of the UEA emails last November. "The inertia of humans is so huge that you can't really do anything meaningful."
One of the main obstructions to meaningful action is "modern democracy", he added. "Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while."

More @ The Guardian

Melting steel with sunlight [video]

2010-03-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

Melting steel with sunlight [video] ""

Toshiba and Bill Gates-backed TerraPower discussing small-scale nuclear reactors

2010-03-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

Toshiba and Bill Gates-backed TerraPower discussing small-scale nuclear reactors -- Engadget

It would seem that Toshiba hasn't given up on its dream of producing a nuclear reactor for the home, and its latest potential partner counts quite the big name among its backers. Run by a former Microsoft exec and partially funded by Bill Gates himself, TerraPower is said to have opened preliminary discussions with Toshiba regarding a possible joint venture between the two companies. The aim is, predictably, to make safer, smaller, more socially acceptable, and just plain better reactors. TerraPower boasts its tech can run without refueling for up to 60 years on depleted uranium and Bill Gates has gotten enthusiastic enough about the whole thing to give a 30-minute talk on the matter.

More @ Engadget

MIT researchers discover new energy source

2010-03-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

MIT researchers discover new energy source - CNN.com

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered an energy source that you can see only through a microscope.

The researchers devised a process for generating electricity using nanotechnology. They plan to refine the process in hopes of creating a new environmentally friendly battery, among other products.

It works like this: Researchers used tiny wires, known as carbon nanotubes, to create a powerful wave of energy. After coating these tiny wires with a layer of fuel, Strano said his team generated a so-called thermopower wave and stumbled across a reaction that may eventually be used to power electronics, computers and cell phones.

"This could lead to batteries that are up to 10 times smaller and still have the same power output. In the portable energy and energy conservation arena, we're trying to find power sources that have a smaller profile but hold more energy,"

And that's not all. Most batteries on the market now are made from highly toxic heavy metals, which are very bad for the environment -- metals like lead, nickel and cadmium.

Batteries made from this new thermopower technology would be completely nontoxic, Strano said.

"The materials we use to make these thermopower waves are organic. They're not grown naturally, but they're made of carbon. In other words, you could essentially incinerate them, or they would degrade over time, there's no heavy metal residue," Strano said.

(...)

"Most people don't realize a battery sitting unused in your laptop is leaking its power away," Strano said. "If you take all the laptop batteries that are produced in one year, in the off state, they're leaking an amount of power during that year that we could store in a small nuclear reactor ... and that's power that's essentially lost and dissipated just from laptop batteries."

more @ CNN.com

MIT analysis suggests generating electricity from large-scale wind farms could influence climate

2010-03-12T12:40:00.000-08:00

MIT analysis suggests generating electricity from large-scale wind farms could influence climate

But a new MIT analysis may serve to temper enthusiasm about wind power, at least at very large scales. Ron Prinn, TEPCO Professor of Atmospheric Science, and principal research scientist Chien Wang of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, used a climate model to analyze the effects of millions of wind turbines that would need to be installed across vast stretches of land and ocean to generate wind power on a global scale. Such a massive deployment could indeed impact the climate, they found, though not necessarily with the desired outcome.

In a paper published online Feb. 22 in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Wang and Prinn suggest that using wind turbines to meet 10 percent of global energy demand in 2100 could cause temperatures to rise by one degree Celsius in the regions on land where the wind farms are installed, including a smaller increase in areas beyond those regions. Their analysis indicates the opposite result for wind turbines installed in water: a drop in temperatures by one degree Celsius over those regions. The researchers also suggest that the intermittency of wind power could require significant and costly backup options, such as natural gas-fired power plants.

New Charging Method Could Slash Battery Recharge Times

2010-03-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

New Charging Method Could Slash Battery Recharge Times

One of the biggest problems with batteries is the time it takes to recharge them. Run out of juice and it'll be several hours before you're mobile again, a particular showstopper for electric vehicles.

Today, Ibrahim Abou Hamad at Mississippi State University and few buddies reveal an entirely new technique for charging lithium ion batteries that could lead to exponential improvements in charging time.

The business end of a lithium battery, the anode, consists of a graphite electrode, in other words a stack of graphene sheets, bathed in an electrolyte of ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate molecules through which lithium and hexafluorophosphate ions diffuse. During charging, an electric field pushes the lithium ions towards and into the graphene sheets, where they have to cross a potential barrier to become embedded and stored, a process called intercalation.

The Mississippi team have studied the movement of these ions and molecules by creating a computer model of the forces acting on them. Their model consists of 160 carbon atoms arranged in 4 graphene sheets, 69 propylene carbonate and 87 ethylene carbonate molecules forming a liquid electrolyte and finally, two hexafluorophosphate ions and10 lithium ions. They then apply an electric field across this system and watch what happens.

It turns out that while the electric field pushes the lithium ions towards the graphene, the rate limiting step is the process of intercalation--the rate at which the lithium ions can cross the potential barrier into the graphene .

What Hamad and co have found is a relatively simple way to overcome this barrier. The trick is to superimpose an oscillating electric field onto the charging field. This has the effect of helping the lithium ions to hop over the barrier.

But get this: the team says there is an exponential relationship between the intercalation time and the oscillating field amplitude. So a small increase in amplitude of the field leads to a massive speed up of the process of intercalation.

"These simulations suggest a new charging method that has the potential to deliver much shorter charging times, as well as the possibility of providing higher power densities," they say.

(...)

Battery performance is a complicated balance between huge numbers of competing factors. If this oscillating field does improve charging time in real batteries, manufacturers will then have to check its effect on other performance metrics such as the number of these charging cycles a battery can withstand and how long it holds its charge, to name just two.

More @ Technology Review

Artificial photosynthesis could power your house, even if it's not green (video)

2010-03-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

Artificial photosynthesis could power your house, even if it's not green (video) -- Engadget

"It's a sad state of affairs: your lawn is better at converting the sun into energy than that $23k solar array your neighbors just threw on their roof. Sun Catalytix wants to show that grass what's what with a new process for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen -- artificial photosynthesis. In a presentation at the ARPA-E conference (the Advanced Research Projects Agency -- basically DARPA minus the military bent) Sun Catalytix founder Dan Nocera indicates that the process his company is developing could, with a photovoltaic array, four hours of sunlight, and a bottle of water, generate 30 kilowatt-hours of electricity. That's enough to power an average home for a day -- though hardcore gamers will probably need a bit more. The hope is that this will ultimately lead to cheap power for self-sufficient homes in the not-too distant future, but we're still left wondering when that future's going to come."

More -- Engadget

The Bloom Box: a power plant for the home

2010-02-23T07:12:00.000-08:00

The Bloom Box: a power plant for the home

Those two blocks can power the average high-consumption American home -- one block can power the average European home. At least that's the claim being made by K.R. Sridhar, founder of Bloom Energy, on 60 Minutes last night. The original technology comes from an oxygen generator meant for a scrapped NASA Mars program that's been converted, with the help of an estimated $400 million in private funding, into a fuel cell. Bloom's design feeds oxygen into one side of a cell while fuel (natural gas, bio gas from landfill waste, solar, etc) is supplied to the other side to provide the chemical reaction required for power. The cells themselves are inexpensive ceramic disks painted with a secret green "ink" on one side and a black "ink" on the other. The disks are separated by a cheap metal alloy, instead of more precious metals like platinum, and stacked into a cube of varying capabilities -- a stack of 64 can power a small business like Starbucks.

Night Biking Gadget: Mobile Laser Lane for Safer Cycling | Designs & Ideas on Dornob

2010-02-19T06:51:00.000-08:00

Night Biking Gadget: Mobile Laser Lane for Safer Cycling - Designs

Just about everyone agrees that bicycling is an environmentally friendly way to get to and from work, yet not many of us actually commute this way. A large part of the reason for this lack of bike commuters is the safety issue. Any cyclist who’s ever had a close call with a car knows that riding on a street with no bike lane can be a bit scary. But installing bike lanes is prohibitively expensive, and many cities simply can’t afford the cost of adding these life-saving safety features to their streets.

Building Cheap And Stable House Out Of Recycled Bottles

2010-01-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

Building Cheap And Stable House Out Of Recycled Bottles

This is probably one of the best ideas for getting cheap home. Those bottles are pretty cheap even if you buy them new and they filled them with sand and tiny stones. The walls are thick enough to give them full thermal isolation and stability for the building.

Renewable energy: The seat of power | The Economist

2010-01-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

Renewable energy: The seat of power

WHERE there’s muck, there’s brass—or so the old saying has it. The cynical may suggest this refers to the question of who gets what, but thoughtful readers may be forgiven for wondering, while they are recovering from the excesses of Christmas in the smallest room in the house, what exactly happens when they flush the toilet.

The answer is encouraging. Less and less waste, these days, is actually allowed to go to waste. Instead, it is used to generate biogas, a methane-rich mixture that can be employed for heating and for the generation of electricity. Moreover, in an age concerned with the efficient use of energy, technological improvements are squeezing human fecal matter to release every last drop of the stuff. Making biogas means doing artificially to faeces what would happen to them naturally if they were simply dumped into the environment or allowed to degrade in the open air at a traditional sewage farm—namely, arranging for them to be chewed up by bacteria. Capturing the resulting methane has a double benefit. As well as yielding energy, it also prevents what is a potent greenhouse gas from being released into the atmosphere.

The consequence of techniques such as these is that an ever-larger proportion of sewage is being used as a raw material for energy generation. Germans already process about 60% of their faeces this way, and the Czechs, Britons and Dutch are close behind (see chart). GENeco reckons the figure in Britain by the end of 2010 will have leapt to 75%—enough, when converted into electricity, to power 350,000 homes. And the latest thinking is to improve yields still further by cutting out the middle man. Faeces are food that has been processed by the human digestive system to extract as much useful energy as possible. An awful lot of waste food, though, never enters anyone’s mouth in the first place, and this is an even more promising source of biogas.

Bacteria engineered to turn carbon dioxide into liquid fuel

2009-12-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

Bacteria engineered to turn carbon dioxide into liquid fuel

Genetically engineered strains of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus in a Petri dish. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of California - Los Angeles)

Global climate change has prompted efforts to drastically reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels.

In a new approach, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have genetically modified a cyanobacterium to consume carbon dioxide and produce the liquid fuel isobutanol, which holds great potential as a gasoline alternative. The reaction is powered directly by energy from sunlight, through photosynthesis.

The research appears in the Dec. 9 print edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology and is available online.

From ScienceDaily

Plastic Solar Breakthrough: 7.9 % Efficiency -- Record Broken by Solarmer

2009-12-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

Plastic Solar Breakthrough: 7.9% Efficiency -- Record Broken by Solarmer

Photo: Solarmer

Plastic Organic Photovoltaic Technology is Maturing
The Californian startup Solarmer has been making good progress with its plastic organic PV in the past few years. It hit 6% efficiency in 2007, 7.6% a few months ago, and they've now broken their own record with 7.9%

Solarmer's roadmap aims for a 10% conversion efficiency for its OPV cells by the end of 2010. The company is currently doing some pilot manufacturing with roll-to-roll technology, and plans to bring some products to market next year.

Here's more details on Solarmer's technology:

First, low-cost plastic is used as the active materials to convert solar energy into electricity. Thanks to the extraordinary light absorption capability of the plastics, the active plastics layer is extremely thin - only a few tenth of micrometer thick, i.e. less than 1/1000 of silicon cell. This material cost is significantly lower.
Second, very low cost printing techniques can and will be used to manufacture plastic solar cells (just thinking of the newspaper). The combination gives much lower cost of equivalent energy (only ~10 - 20% that of silicon technology). In addition, the fabrication process is both low temperature and environmentally friendly, significantly reduces the amount of energy consumption in the manufacturing process.

Traffic Light Augmented by Progress Bars

2009-12-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

Traffic Light Augmented by Progress Bars

The Ecological and Economical Traffic Light Concept [relogik.com] by Damjan Stankovic is a Red Dot Design 2009 Award winner and consists of a simple yet, potentially highly practical visualization concept for everyday traffic lights that could reduce pollution and promote safer driving. There might already be quite some traffic light time counters around today, but few focus on informing the car drivers in a physically integrative and visually glanceable way like this proposed design concept.

Eko Light is specifically designed so it can be easily installed onto existing traffic light systems without much effort. It claims to bring forward following benefits:
- Less pollution, as drivers can turn their engines off and cut carbon emissions while waiting for the green light,
- Less fuel consumption, as turning off vehicle engines lowers fuel consumption in the long run,
- Less stress, since drivers know exactly how long to wait, and
- Safer driving, as all traffic participants are fully aware of how much time they have left before the light changes, reducing the chance for potential traffic accidents.

Nissan's Leaf - All-Electric Zero Emmission 5 Passenger Car

2009-11-25T12:59:00.000-08:00

Nissan's Leaf - All-Electric Zero Emmission 5 Passenger Car

This new video reveals a few addition details about the Leaf. According to the company, the Leaf will feature LED powered headlights and taillights. This design and use of LED technology will reduce the load on the battery system as LEDs operate with about 1/10 the electricity of conventional bulbs.

Additional design elements focus on aerodynamics of the vehicle. According to Nissan, aerodynamics were a main focus throughout the design process. For instance, the flat floor was designed to reduce wind resistance and the unique headlights were designed to reduce wind noise and resistance by splitting and redirecting airflow away from the outside mirrors.

Wave energy generator pumps power to Scotland | Green Tech - CNET News

2009-11-25T10:31:00.000-08:00

Wave energy generator pumps power to Scotland

Wave energy got a boost with the connection of the Oyster hydro-electric device to the electricity grid in Scotland last Friday.

Aquamarine Power activated the connection of the Oyster in the waters off Orkney, marking one of the few ocean power devices to be producing electricity.

The device is a hydraulic pump operated by a "hinged flap," where a large metal piece moves back and forth from the motion of the waves. The movement moves a hydraulic piston that pumps water underground to a hydro-electric turbine that drives a generator to make electricity.

The peak power output of the Oyster 1 is about two megawatts, depending on the location.

How 16 ships create as much pollution as all the cars in the world | Mail Online

2009-11-23T14:39:00.000-08:00

How 16 ships create as much pollution as all the cars in the world

"Last week it was revealed that 54 oil tankers are anchored off the coast of Britain, refusing to unload their fuel until prices have risen.

But that is not the only scandal in the shipping world. Today award-winning science writer Fred Pearce – environmental consultant to New Scientist and author of Confessions Of An Eco Sinner – reveals that the super-ships that keep the West in everything from Christmas gifts to computers pump out killer chemicals linked to thousands of deaths because of the filthy fuel they use.

Both international shipping and aviation are exempt from the Kyoto Protocol rules on cutting carbon emissions. But green pressure is having its effect on airlines. Ahead of next month’s Copenhagen climate talks, airlines have promised to cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2050.

Bioengineers succeed in producing plastic without the use of fossil fuels

2009-11-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

Bioengineers succeed in producing plastic without the use of fossil fuels

"A team of pioneering South Korean scientists have succeeded in producing the polymers used for everyday plastics through bioengineering, rather than through the use of fossil fuel based chemicals. This groundbreaking research, which may now allow for the production of environmentally conscious plastics, is published in two papers in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering to mark the journal's 50th anniversary."

US Smart grid gets multibillion-dollar injection

2009-10-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

US Smart grid gets multibillion-dollar injection

The U.S. electricity grid will get a 21st century upgrade, including installation of millions of smart meters, through a government-led program.

The Obama administration is scheduled to announce Tuesday where it is spending $3.4 billion of stimulus money on 100 smart-grid projects in 49 states. As part of the funding, utilities are contributing $4.7 billion to the projects, pushing the total spending to $8.1 billion.

"These grants are an important down payment on building a smarter grid and will certainly jump-start both industry and state regulators to deploy smart-grid technologies," Katherine Hamilton, president of industry advocacy group GridWise Alliance, said in a statement.

The largest grants are $200 million while the smallest are less than $10 million. Altogether, there are 25 large-scale projects and 75 smaller ones, officials said. There were 400 applications for funding.

New Material Could Dramatically Boost Data Storage, Save Energy

2009-10-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

New Material Could Dramatically Boost Data Storage, Save Energy

Led by Dr. Jagdish "Jay" Narayan (...) at NC State, the engineers made their breakthrough using the process of selective doping, in which an impurity is added to a material that changes its properties. The process also shows promise for boosting vehicles' fuel economy and reducing heat produced by semiconductors, a potentially important development for more efficient energy production.

Working at the nanometer level -- a pinhead has a diameter of 1 million nanometers -- the engineers added metal nickel to magnesium oxide, a ceramic. The resulting material contained clusters of nickel atoms no bigger than 10 square nanometers, a 90 percent size reduction compared to today's techniques and an advancement that could boost computer storage capacity.

"Instead of making a chip that stores 20 gigabytes, you have one that can handle one terabyte, or 50 times more data," Narayan says.

The engineers' discovery also advances knowledge in the emerging field of "spintronics," which is dedicated to harnessing energy produced by the spinning of electrons. Most energy used today is harnessed through the movement of current and is limited by the amount of heat that it produces, but the energy created by the spinning of electrons produces no heat. The NC State engineers were able to manipulate the nanomaterial so the electrons' spin within the material could be controlled, which could prove valuable to harnessing the electrons' energy. The finding could be important for engineers working to produce more efficient semiconductors.

More

U3-X Honda’s Mobility Device | Robot Living

2009-10-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

U3-X Honda’s Mobility Device

Honda shows how to look even more like a Dork than the Segway?

More

World-first Sustainable Racing Car Runs On Chocolate, To Take On Formula 3

2009-10-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

World-first Sustainable Racing Car Runs On Chocolate, To Take On Formula 3

World-first sustainable Formula 3 racing car. (Credit: Image courtesy of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)

The car is made from woven flax, recycled carbon fibre, recycled resin and carrot pulp for the steering wheel. It runs on biofuel made from chocolate and animal fats and is lubricated with plant oils. But it's not just an environmentally friendly car, it is also fast. The car has a top speed of 135 mph, can achieve 0-60 in 2.5 seconds and is turbo charged to give it more torque.

Having got the seal of approval from drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Adam Carroll as well as F1 team boss Ross Brawn, the car will make its first competitive debut in the Formula 3 Championship final at Brands Hatch on 17th October. The team hope to prove that high performance, competitive cars can be built from sustainable materials.

Time-lapse proof of extreme ice loss [Video]

2009-09-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Time-lapse proof of extreme ice loss | Video on TED.com

Photographer James Balog shares new image sequences from the Extreme Ice Survey, a network of time-lapse cameras recording glaciers receding at an alarming rate, some of the most vivid evidence yet of climate change.

First Details of Microsoft's Secret Tablet - Microsoft courier tablet [video]

2009-09-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

First Details of Microsoft's Secret Tablet - Microsoft courier tablet - Gizmodo

It feels like the whole world is holding its breath for the Apple tablet. But maybe we've all been dreaming about the wrong device. This is Courier, Microsoft's astonishing take on the tablet.

Courier is a real device, and we've heard that it's in the "late prototype" stage of development. It's not a tablet, it's a booklet. The dual 7-inch (or so) screens are multitouch, and designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. They're connected by a hinge that holds a single iPhone-esque home button. Statuses, like wireless signal and battery life, are displayed along the rim of one of the screens. On the back cover is a camera, and it might charge through an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre.

[More/ Video]

Miraculous aerocraft may fly 5 continuous years

2009-09-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

Miraculous aerocraft may fly 5 continuous years

The aerocraft, with its 150-meter-long Z-type wing, can adjust its posture to absorb as much solar energy as possible. When flying in darkness, it will adjust the wing into a more aerodynamic position driving the plane with energy stored in the solar panels.

With the designed flight altitude of about 60,000 to 90,000 feet, the aerocraft can play a special role in military reconnaissance, communication and environmental monitoring while dealing with upper-atmosphere observation without pollution.

The unpiloted aerocarft was developed in the “vulture” plan by Aurora Flight Sciences, an American company. The plan was supported by BAE Systems, CS Draper Laboratory and the Sierra Nevada Corporation.

Currently, they have exhibited the first scale sized sample; and they would like to make a half sized sample before finishing the whole plane in 5 years.

Teenager invents solar panel that could be solution to developing world's energy needs..made from human hair

2009-09-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

Teenager invents solar panel that could be solution to developing world's energy needs..made from human hair

A new type of solar panel using human hair could provide the world with cheap, green electricity, believes its teenage inventor.
Milan Karki, 18, who comes from a village in rural Nepal, believes he has found the solution to the developing world's energy needs.
The young inventor says hair is easy to use as a conductor in solar panels and could revolutionise renewable energy.

FUEL Filmmakers Unveil World's First Algae-Fueled, 150 MPG Car (VIDEO)

2009-09-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

FUEL Filmmakers Unveil World's First Algae-Fueled, 150 MPG Car (VIDEO): "FUEL Filmmakers Unveil World's First Algae-Fueled, 150 MPG Car (VIDEO)"

Solar Roadways Awarded DOT Contract to Pave Roads with Solar Cells

2009-09-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

September 7th, 2009 by Lisa Zyga In addition to generating power, the Solar Road Panels contain embedded LED lights that "paint" the road lines from beneath. Image credit: Solar Roadways

Solar Roadways Awarded DOT Contract to Pave Roads with Solar Cells: "Solar Roadways Awarded DOT Contract to Pave Roads with Solar Cells"

In a first step toward turning highways into energy-generating solar panels, the Sagle, Idaho-based startup Solar Roadways has recently received a $100,000 grant from the US Department of Transportation (DOT). The company will use the money to build a prototype of its Solar Road Panel, made from solar cells and glass, that is meant to replace petroleum-based asphalt on roads and in parking lots.

The 12- x 12-foot panels, which each cost $6,900, are designed to be embedded into roads. When shined upon, each panel generates an estimated 7.6 kilowatt hours of power each day. If this electricity could be pumped into the grid, the company predicts that a four-lane, one-mile stretch of road with panels could generate enough power for 500 homes. Although it would be expensive, covering the entire US interstate highway system with the panels could theoretically fulfill the country's total energy needs. The company estimates that this would take 5 billion panels, but could "produce three times more power than we've ever used as a nation - almost enough to power the entire world."

Algae-coated buildings touted as climate fix | Green Tech - CNET News

2009-08-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

Algae-coated buildings touted as climate fix | Green Tech - CNET News

Engineers envision that long plastic tubes, called photobioreactors, be integrated into building designs or retrofitted onto existing skyscrapers.

Algae would grow from pumped-in carbon dioxide and sunlight and be harvested for use either as a liquid fuel to run in a combined heat-and-power unit or turned into biochar, or charcoal used as a soil conditioner that also sequesters carbon from the air.

London, if it gets an algae-growing makeover.

(Credit: Institution of Mechanical Engineers)

‘Air shower’ set to cut water use by 30 per cent (Media Release)

2009-08-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

The Aerated Showerhead can reduce water use by 30 per cent.

‘Air shower’ set to cut water use by 30 per cent

As Australians become increasingly alert to the importance of using water wisely in the home, CSIRO researchers have found a way to use a third less water when you shower – by adding air.
9 November 2006
The scientists have developed a simple ‘air shower’ device which, when fitted into existing showerheads, fills the water droplets with a tiny bubble of air. The result is the shower feels just as wet and just as strong as before, but now uses much less water.

The researchers, from CSIRO Manufacturing Materials Technology in Melbourne, say the device increases the volume of the shower stream while reducing the amount of water used by about 30 per cent.

Given the average Australian household uses about 200,000 litres of water a year, and showers account for nearly a third of this, the ‘air shower’ could help the average household save about 15,000-20,000 litres a year. If you extend this across the population, that is an annual saving of more than 45,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

House Passes 'Cash for Clunkers' Bill

2009-06-11T07:45:00.001-07:00

The House passed a plan to boost auto sales by providing vouchers of up to $4,500 for consumers who turn in their gas-guzzling cars and trucks for more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Under the House bill, car owners could get a voucher worth $3,500 if they traded in a vehicle getting 18 miles per gallon or less for one getting at least 22 miles per gallon. The value of the voucher would grow to $4,500 if the mileage of the new car is 10 mpg higher than the old vehicle. The miles per gallon figures are listed on the window sticker.

Owners of sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks or minivans that get 18 mpg or less could receive a voucher for $3,500 if their new truck or SUV is at least 2 mpg higher than their old vehicle. The voucher would increase to $4,500 if the mileage of the new truck or SUV is at least 5 mpg higher than the older vehicle. Consumers could also receive vouchers for leased vehicles.

Volkswagen 1-Liter 235 MPG Extreme Fuel Efficiency Car

2009-05-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

Volkswagen's CEO, Martin Winterkorn recently confirmed the company is working on a car that will get 235 mpg (1 liter per 100 kilometers) fuel economy. In 2002, VW showed its 1-Liter concept car that achieved 264 mpg (0.89L/100km). The project was cancelled in 2005 but VW has now revived it. How real is this? VW now says a limited production car could be offered by 2010.

The VW 1-Liter, developed in a wind tunnel, has a very narrow and very flat body configuration that necessitated tandem seating for the two occupants. Measuring in at 4.1 feet wide, 11.4 feet long, and just over 3 feet tall, the car features an amazing drag coefficient of just 0.159...even more wind-cheating than the slippery GM EV1 electric car's 0.19 Cd. With its 235 mpg fuel economy, it can travel 400 miles on its 1.7 gallon fuel tank...all the while achieving a 75 mph top speed.

From Greencar.

New Honda Insight: 63.4mpg!

2009-01-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

Honda may not have been first to market with a modern hybrid electric vehicle, but the original Insight did beat the Toyota Prius to the US by a few months. As so many other companies have discovered over the years, being first doesn't necessarily guarantee success. You also need the right product for the market at the time. The original Insight had a lot of interesting technology, but it also suffered from some of the same limitations that doomed the EV1.

Still, the original Insight soldiered on from 1999 to 2006 with the Civic hybrid, using the same technology, joining it in 2002. As 2009 kicks off, Honda is launching a new hybrid-only model that revives the Insight name on an altogether more practical machine. This time Honda is aiming for real mass market appeal with a price the company hopes will make the new Insight "The Hybrid for Everyone." Honda invited us out to Arizona before Christmas to sample the new Insight and we can now tell you all about it. Read on to find out if Honda's Insight is on target.

Read and see more photos at autoblog.

Garage Invention Turns Restaurants Into Power Plants

2009-01-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

A new garage-engineered generator burns the waste oil from restaurants' deep fryers to generate electricity and hot water. Put 80 gallons of grease into the Vegawatt each week, and its creators promise it will generate about 5 kilowatts of power.
That's about 10 percent of the total energy needs of Finz, a seafood restaurant in Dedham, Massachusetts, where the first Vegawatt is being tested. At New England electricity rates, the system offsets about $2.50 worth of electricity with each gallon of waste oil poured into it.
Vegawatt's founder and inventor, James Peret, estimates that restaurants purchasing the $22,000 machine will save about $1,000 per month in electricity costs, for a payback time of two years.

From Wired. Would you like power with those fries?

Car Talk advocates $.50 gas tax

2008-12-24T07:31:00.000-08:00

Car Talk is a NPR show where two brothers who are mechanics take caller's questions. This past show Ray renewed his call for a national gas tax, including a new idea for who can reinvent themselves as train manufacturers.

Here is an excerpt from the show and website:

"I think it's an idea whose time has come," he said. "I know most politicians have been too wussy to do it, but I think the logic of raising the gasoline tax right now is unassailable.

"Gas is less than two bucks a gallon. There's never been a better time to do this. If we added a 50-cent national, gasoline tax right now, and gas cost $2.50 a gallon, would that be the end of the world? Hardly.

"This new tax would generate between 50 and 100 billion dollars every year for the treasury. That money could be used to help rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges, and develop new technologies for more fuel-efficient cars... further decreasing demand for oil. This is a way for us to get on the wagon, and stop sending money to countries that don't like us. We could become energy independent.

"The other thing that the gas tax revenue could fund is high-speed-train infrastructure between major cities. And who would build all of the new high-tech, high-speed trains we'd need? GM and Ford! We'd help them start a mass-transit division, convert some of those factories from building inefficient gas hogs to building high-speed trains."

What do you think? Is Ray on to a genius idea that will point our country towards a sustainable transportation future? Or does he have his headlight firmly implanted in his tailpipe? Is it even a political possibility?

Says our humble co-host, "I'm sick of people whining about a lousy 50-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline! I think its time has come, and I call on all non-wussy politicians to stand with me, because our country needs us."

Listen to Segment 9 here.

Via Hub and Spokes.

Tesla Electric Car Smokes Lotus Elise (Top Gear)

2008-12-16T15:08:00.000-08:00

"Not bad for a motor that is the size of a watermelon and only has one moving part!"

Fiat shows solar-panel wrapped 'Panda of the future'

2008-12-09T14:49:00.000-08:00

'Leccy Tech Fiat's latest take on the electric car, the Phylla, has been revealed at the Turin Environment Park.

Weighing just 750kg – of which 150kg is the battery pack – the 2+2 Phylla has a quoted range of 145km from a lithium-ion battery pack, or 220km from a lithium polymer unit. Performance? 0-30mph takes six seconds and the top speed is just over 80mph.

Recharge time from a domestic wall socket is said to take between three and four hours, while nearly every available inch of body work is covered in solar panels which are said to generate up to 340W. The electric motor provides drive to all four wheels and has an average power output of 27kW and a peak output of 54kW.

No announcements were made regarding the potential manufacture of the Phylla, so its real importance is an indicator of what Fiat think a 'leccy Panda may look like a few years down the road.

More about the Panda from regharware (pics)

Fish-inspired power generator can work in slow-moving currents

2008-12-04T19:35:00.000-08:00

Think like a fish not like a bird, say researchers trying to harvest energy from water currents. Their new fish-inspired power generator can work in slow-moving currents where traditional turbines are less effective.

Tidal streams and moving rivers in the United States could generate 140 billion kilowatt-hours per year, or about 3.5 percent of the nation's electricity demand, according to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

Most of the attempts to tap this potential have employed underwater windmills. These so-called tidal turbines use the force of lift to turn their blades.

"We live in air so we are used to lifting surfaces that support birds, sail boats and airplanes," said Michael Bernitsas of the University of Michigan.

In water, however, Nature has devised a different strategy. Most natural swimmers — from tiny sperm to giant whales — create vortices (or little whirlpools) that they push off of to propel themselves forward.

Bernitsas realized that these same vortices could be used to drive a generator. He and his colleagues have created a machine called VIVACE (Vortex Induced Vibrations for Aquatic Clean Energy), whose cylinders oscillate up and down in moving waters.

Read more about the generator at Live Science

UPS to Test Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicles

2008-10-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

In partnership with the US Environmental Protection Agency, UPS will begin testing a small fleet of hydraulic hybrid delivery trucks in the United States. The new vehicles can achieve 50-70% better fuel economy, a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and pay for their extra expense in less than 3 years.

In a series hydraulic hybrid, the conventional drivetrain is replaced with a hydraulic system that stores energy by compressing gas in a chamber using hydraulic fluid. It works in much the same way that a hybrid electric car does — a small, efficient motor generates power which gets stored for later use — only, the way energy is stored in a hydraulic hybrid is in a pressurized chamber rather than in a battery.

More about UPS's Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicles

Waterless Composting Toilets

2008-10-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

There are no bathroom odors. Our toilet systems feature an easy to clean, sanitary bowl design and trap that easily opens and closes for use. Click here to see the Bowl Trap in action! Waterless systems even have a removable bowl for easier cleaning.

See Envirolet.

10 Year Old Eco-Village Found in Wales

2008-09-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

For five happy years they enjoyed simple lives in their straw and mud huts.

Generating their own power and growing their own food, they strived for self-sufficiency and thrived in homes that looked more suited to the hobbits from The Lord of the Rings.

Then a survey plane chanced upon the 'lost tribe'... and they were plunged into a decade-long battle with officialdom.

Yesterday that fight, backed by more modern support for green issues, ended in victory.

The eco-community in the Preseli mountains of west Wales was set up in 1993 and lived contentedly away from the rat race round a 180-acre farm bought by Julian and Emma Orbach.

In 1998, it was spotted when sunlight was seen glinting off a solar panel on the main building, which was built from straw bales, timber and recycled glass.

When the pilot reported back, officials were unable to find any records, let alone planning permission, for the mystery hillside village surrounded by trees and bushes.

Read on from the Daily Mail.

10 Electric Cars You Can Buy Today

2008-09-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

Ecomodder has an article about 10 cars, from the $6,795 Gem to the $435,000 Venturi that are available to buy today. Read from Ecomodder.

Offshore Drilling is a Non-Issue

2008-09-16T11:08:00.001-07:00

A picture is worth 1,000 words... From architecture2030

Ten Ways to Save Green by Going Green

2008-09-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

But that doesn’t mean I can’t save money on gas, water, and other living expenses by taking simple—often free—steps to reduce consumption of natural resources. Even if you’re not trying to save the planet, by consuming and wasting less, you’ll save money. And that’s something we all like to conserve.

1. Become Anti-Bottle
A bottle of water usually runs between one to two dollars, which means buying a few bottles every week could add up to over one hundred dollars a year. While that doesn’t seem like a lot, consider what else it costs: 1.5 million barrels of oil go into making those bottles, and 22 million head to landfills every year.

2. Displace Instead of Replace
Instead of a fancy, new low-flush toilet to replace old large tank toilets, there is a simple, cheap (even free) method: displacement. By placing a brick, a plastic bag filled with water (sometimes called toilet tummies) inside the tank it will reduce the amount of water per flush.

3. Go Low-Flow
Low-flow showerheads will reduce water consumption, and, because they save hot water, energy consumption as well. If you have older pipes and your shower takes a while to heat up, simply put a bucket in the stall to capture the cold stuff and use this to water plants, mop, or wash dishes.

Adding aerators and low-flow faucet adapters (usually less than $5 at hardware stores) on all sinks will save water—and ultimately, money.

4. Move It, Don’t Lose It
Can’t afford a Prius? Not a problem. There are cheap, even free, ways to keep money in your pocket while still getting around town: bike, walk, run, carpool, or use public transit. Since gas prices aren’t likely to drop much from where they are now, getting in the habit of going car-free is not only a cheap way of transport, it’s a long-term habit that will save you money and reduce your carbon output.

If you do have to drive, there are ways to make your dollar go further. Drive laid back—don’t accelerate too fast from green lights and gradually slow down to red lights. And don’t let the tires slow you down. According to the Consumer Reports Web site, properly inflated tires can save up to one mile per gallon.

5. Weather Strip It

6. Wash Smart

For dishwashers, make sure to fill the dishwasher to the brim before washing, and opt out of the “heat dry” cycle...

For the clothes washer, use cold water, and during the summer months, line-dry.

7. Make Your Own
Rather than buying often-overpriced green cleaning products, you can make your own with everyday household items like baking soda and vinegar.

Along the line of simplifying to save, one way to cut back on how much we spend on disposables like paper towels, napkins, aluminum foil, and plastic bags is to use tea towels, cloth napkins, and Tupperware instead

8. Ward off the Vampires
You know those appliances that, although turned off, still have a standby screen that’s lit up or flashing? These are known as “vampire” or phantom electricity loads, and have been estimated to be responsible for 10 to 40 percent of the energy used in homes.

9. Cook Green

10. Buy Less

Divine Caroline, see details there.

A Message from Al Gore: Call Your Representative

2008-09-09T13:20:00.000-07:00

I need your help. Will you make a call?

Congress will consider energy legislation this week. Of course, the oil industry is pushing its "drill, drill" slogan with all its might -- and some are hoping to use this for political advantage.

Meanwhile, tax credits for investments in solar and wind power have not been extended, and the growing renewables business that just made America the largest producer of wind power in the world, is on the verge of shutting down huge planned projects all over the country.

Billions in private investment, thousands of megawatts of new, clean energy, and more than 100,000 new jobs expected for 2009 will be lost.

We face a stark choice: subsidize old, dirty energy or invest in new, clean energy. This should be easy, but the influence of the oil lobby is deep -- they've already spent more than $100 million in lobbying and advertising this year. Please call your members of Congress now and tell them to pass legislation that will Repower America.

Click here to find out how to call.

Washington is being diverted by all the political noise around "drill, drill" away from what really will make a difference -- building a new, clean energy future. Projects in the pipeline that will power millions of homes will be canceled, setting us back for years, if Congress doesn't do the right thing now. Congress needs to hear from all of us.

Thank you so much,

Al Gore

www.wecansolveit.org

Ford Tests Improve Gas Mileage 24% with EcoDriving

2008-08-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

Recently, Ford and a group called Pro Formance decided to take on ecodriving in the form of a 4-day long seminar with 48 different drivers taking part. Using the ecodriving tips taught by Pro Formance, the participants increased their fuel economy between 6-50%, with and average increase of 24%.

Ford Tips are:
1. Slow down and watch speed – Drive 55 miles per hour instead of 65 to save fuel.

2. Accelerate and brake smoothly

3. No idling

4. Check your tires

5. Be kind to your vehicle

6. Travel light

7. Minimize use of heater and air conditioning

8. Close windows at high speeds

9. Choose the right oil

10. Consolidate trips

Via ecomodder.

IKEA to Carry Solar Panels and More

2008-08-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

Eponymous big-box colossus IKEA has shown some great green developments lately, from flat-pack bike trailers to eco-friendly lines of housewares. Now the patent purveyor of all things flat-pack has announced plans to invest $77 million into its GreenTech energy fund with the goal of eventually producing solar panels, efficiency meters, and energy efficient lighting. Granted its massive distribution network, IKEA’s uptake of green tech could pose a monumental shift in the accessibility and affordability of these technologies.

Google Invests $10M+ in Geothermal Energy

2008-08-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

Geothermal energy has finally hit the big time. Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, announced today that it is investing $10.25 million in an energy technology called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). The funding will also go towards geothermal resource mapping, information tools, and a geothermal energy policy agenda.

And it looks like Google made a wise investment choice. According to an MIT report on EGS, only 2% of the heat beneath the continental US between 3 and 10 kilometers (depths we can reach with current technology) is more than 2,500 the annual energy use of the United States.

Via CleanTechnica.

The US -- a World Leader in Wind Power Generation... Kinda

2008-08-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the capacity the US has for generating wind power is expected to increase 45% in 2008. America’s currently installed capacity stands at 19,549MW, up a total of 2,726MW from the end of 2007. Thanks to this number, AWEA is announcing that America is now the US world leader in wind electricity generation.

However this is an announcement based on stats that AWEA is hoping the rest of the world won’t look at too hard.

According to AWEA’s second quarter 2008 market report, they bill the US as the new world leader in the generation of wind power electricity. Looking at Germany’s capacity, for example, sees them with a total of 23,000MW, but never using that full capacity. Apparently the winds in America are stronger, and thus max out the US capacity.

But one important little factoid has been left out of this announcement, allowing the AWEA to make a perfectly legitimate statement, but based in marketing reality.

The US may have a capacity of 19,549MW, expected to grow another 4774MW by the end of this year, but it also has a population of 304.8 million people living on a total area of 9.8 million square kilometers of land. Germany, on the other hand, has only a population of 82 million and a total area of 357,000 square kilometers.

Via CleanTecnica

Tesla Founder Martin Eberhard's first impressions in the Roadster

2008-08-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of speculation about how ousted former Tesla Motors CEO Martin Eberhard would feel about the car that became the Roadster in his absence. Well, the speculation is over - his beautiful, custom-painted Roadster saw over 1000 miles of driving in the past few weeks and he wrote a very long blog post about his adventures. The highs (and lows) are as follows:

PROS:

1. The Roadster can take trips "that would have been completely out of the question for any prior production EV." He means in both distance and terrain - the Roadster handles hills and turns as well as any traditional fuel car on the road as well.
2. He comfortably took the car 125 miles on one charge and would feel comfortable going another 30 - this is with no pampering at all.
3. We need "a new list of expressions" to describe what "full throttle" feels like in the Roadster. He was extremely complimentary of the performance, " I have never driven anything like the Roadster that makes such awesome power so accessible."
4. Once the soft top is in place (he thinks it will take only 1 minute once he's used to it), it feels snug and tight.
5. The Roadster qualifies for "Clean Air Stickers" to enable free bridge crossings (at least in the Bay Area.) Not exactly the biggest concern for someone in a $100k car, but still...

CONS (he didn't pull any punches):

1. "The potholes in SF demonstrated a bit of harshness in the rear suspension – the right sort of pothole causes a very loud clunk that shakes the frame of the car." That said, he also commented that he would definitely not want to make the ride any softer.
2. Visibility is a bit of a challenge - the rear view mirror takes up so much of the windshield that it creates a legitimate blind spot.
3. It's lacking minor ammenities...for example, there is no place to stash change for parking. Small example, but he meant it as representative of minor design failures.
4. Apparently, the "JVC radio-CD player-nav system-vegematic thingy" SUCKS, "The thing runs some Microsoft operating system (really!), and it behaves just like you might expect. Or more like a Mac-righteous Apple fan might expect it to behave." Changing stations is hard, the driving directions are bad, etc.

Jack Nicholson's 1978 Hydrogen Powered Car

2008-07-30T11:38:00.001-07:00

"The Great Global Warming Swindle" is a Swindle

2008-07-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

The film's key contention was that the increase in atmospheric temperatures observed since the 1970s was not primarily caused by emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.

First aired by Channel 4 in March 2007, the documentary has since reportedly been sold to 21 countries and distributed on DVD.

Dr Wunsch, from the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, said he believed he was being asked to take part in a programme that would "discuss in a balanced way the complicated elements of understanding of climate change", but "what we now have is an out-and-out propaganda piece, in which there is not even a gesture toward balance".

The Broadcasting Code requires Channel 4 to show "due impartiality" on "matters of major political and industrial controversy and major matters relating to current public policy".

The last segment of the programme, dealing with the politics of climate change, broke this obligation, Ofcom judged, and did not reflect a range of views, as required under the code.

Read from the BBC.

Dyeing to Boost Solar Efficiency by 50%

2008-07-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

MIT has perfected a dye technology that could change the solar world as we know it.

The most efficient form of solar technology today is (arguably) extreme concentrated photovoltaics, essentially solar panels placed under a magnifying glass. But the problem with these systems is heat.

Concentrated sunlight can melt silicon solar panels unless you include specialized cooling systems. Cooling technology costs money, and the panels require expensive tracking mechanisms to follow the sun through the day. MIT’s new solar system bypasses the heat and tracking problems all together.

Thin coatings of organic dyes absorb sunlight and redirect favored wavelengths into a pane of glass. The light is aimed and concentrated towards the edge of the pane where small solar panels are located. The concentrated light allows the panels to produce the maximum possible amount of energy all day, every day without cooling systems or complex tracking mechanisms.

“In addition, the focused light increases the electrical power obtained from each solar cell “by a factor of over 40.”" According to Marc A Baldo, an associate professor at MIT who helped lead the project. For more technical details, you may need an AAAS membership to read the Science article.
Three Reasons Why This Could Rock the Solar World:

1) It’s Easy: The technology is neither complex or difficult to manufacture.
2) Upgrade Existing Solar
3) It’s Coming Soon: MIT claims this technology could be ready for commercial production within three years.

Read details from Clean Technica

200mph electric car able to zip along a monorail

2008-07-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

This working prototype was built for a mere $2500, and spends most of its life as an ultralight 3-wheeled electric runabout. But if its inventors Jay Andress and Andy Webster can raise $10 million, they’re going to create a one-mile test monorail that hooks up to those wheels on the car’s roof.

While riding the electric rails, the car can accelerate to 200mph, and charge its batteries as it goes. All the while, the driver can relax and leave the driving to the computers and rails. Then, once the monorail section of the trip gets the car close to its destination, it can drive the rest of the way under its own freshly charged electric power.

The biggest catch is building the $500 billion worth of rails to accommodate a country full of such vehicles riding along the corridors of Interstate highways. But its developers say the system could pay for itself in energy savings in a year.
MonoMobile, via Autobloggreen

Via Audos.

Japanese sailor first to cross Pacific in wave-powered boat

2008-07-08T07:54:00.001-07:00

Japanese sailor and environmentalist Kenichi Horie has completed a 110-day solo voyage across the Pacific Ocean in a boat propelled by wave power to claim another world first.
Weak waves and opposing ocean currents delayed his arrival, which was originally set for late May.

"When waves were weak, the boat slowed down. That's the problem to be solved," the adventurer told reporters Saturday from aboard his catamaran Suntory Mermaid II off the Kii Peninsula in western Japan.

The 9.5 metre (31-foot) boat is equipped with two special fins at the front which can move like a dolphin's tail each time the vessel rises or falls with the rhythm of the waves.

Horie, who will turn 70 in September, reached his destination in the channel between the main Japanese islands of Honshu and Shikoku just before midnight (1500 GMT Friday) after covering some 7,000 kilometres (3,780 nautical miles) from Hawaii without a port call.

Via Physorg.com

National speed limit pushed as gas saver

2008-07-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

An influential Republican senator suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and possibly ease fuel prices.

Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.

Congress in 1974 set a national 55 mph speed limit because of energy shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo. The speed limit was repealed in 1995 when crude oil dipped to $17 a barrel and gasoline cost $1.10 a gallon.

As motorists headed on trips for this Fourth of July weekend, gasoline averaged $4.10 a gallon nationwide, with oil hovering around $145 a barrel.

Warner cited studies that showed the 55 mph speed limit saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day, or 2 percent of the country's highway fuel consumption, while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year.

"Given the significant increase in the number of vehicles on America's highway system from 1974 to 2008, one could assume that the amount of fuel that could be conserved today is far greater," Warner wrote Bodman.

Warner asked the department to determine at what speeds vehicles would be most fuel efficient, how much fuel savings would be achieved, and whether it would be reasonable to assume there would be a reduction in prices at the pump if the speed limit were lowered.

From CNN.

Toyota to add solar panels to Prius hybrid

2008-07-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

Toyota Motor Corp plans to install solar panels on its next-generation Prius hybrid cars, becoming the first major automaker to use solar power for a vehicle, the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday.

The paper said Toyota would equip solar panels on the roof of the high-end version of the Prius when it redesigns the gasoline-electric hybrid car early next year, and the power generated by the system would be used for the air conditioning.

Toyota plans to use solar panels made by Kyocera Corp (6971.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the Nikkei said.

Via Reuters

How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic

2008-06-19T14:49:00.001-07:00

Below is a complete listing of the articles in "How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic," a series by Coby Beck containing responses to the most common skeptical arguments on global warming. There are four separate taxonomies; arguments are divided by:

* Stages of Denial,
* Scientific Topics,
* Types of Argument, and
* Levels of Sophistication.

Individual articles will appear under multiple headings and may even appear in multiple subcategories in the same heading.

Very interesting resource, check it out at Gritsmill.