Solar-Powered Speedboat

The Dutch have created the Czeers MK1 – the first solar-powered speed boat – which will help bridge a friendship between the love of speed and the love of the environment.

We’ve seen solar-powered boats around here before, but nothing as zippy as this. Reaching speeds of 30 knots and producing far less noise and pollution than its peers, this boat is 33 feet long and is covered in 150 square feet photovoltaic cells.

It’s pricy (a measly $1.1 million), but if you are torn between wanting the wind through your hair and your eco-conscience, then this boat could be worth the extra dough. It is definitely a luxury boat, as the creators added top-of-the-line features like leather interior and touch-screen-based control systems. Okay, so these elements take quite a bit away from the eco-friendliness of it, but still, progress is progress. At least the solar-step has been made to get those conspicuous consumers on board. Now they can start working on better choices for construction materials.

CzeersSolarboats via Eco Geek.

Whales Inspire New Efficient Blade Technology

He discovered that these bumps, called tubercles, are this creature's secret weapon, allowing a whale the size of a school bus to make tight turns and capture prey with astonishing agility.

To understand this phenomenon, imagine airplane wings. Pilots increase the angle of the airfoil to provide more lift. But when the angle gets too steep, the air current drags on the wing, suddenly reducing the lift and causing the aircraft to stall.

Fish found that humpback fins act a little differently. He and his colleagues tested a scale model of the whale flipper in a wind tunnel. To their surprise, the experiments revealed that significant drag occurs at a much steeper angle on the humpback fin than it does on a sleek flipper. Each tubercle redirects and channels air over the flipper, creating a sort of whirling vortex that actually improves lift, Fish says.

"These bumps were thought of as anatomical anomalies, but they do modify the flow and they do it in ways that are beneficial to the whale," says Fish.

The technology can be used in a huge range of machines such as turbines, compressors, pumps, and fans that use blades or rotors – most anything that cuts through air, water, steam or oil, says Fish.

"There was a 20 percent drop in energy use, a significant drop in noise decibels, and overall distribution of air was more even," says Envira-North CEO Monica Bowden. The increased efficiency also means the new fans will have five blades instead of 10, making them cheaper to manufacture.

More from MetaSurfing.

Solana: The world largest solar plant

This project is the result of the contract which Abengoa Solar has signed with Arizona Public Service (APS), the largest electric company in Arizona, to build and operate what will be the largest solar power plant in the world.

For the Solar Business Unit, this contract represents the construction of the first concentrating solar power plant for producing electric power in the United States.

The plant will be installed about 100 kilometers southwest of Phoenix, near Gila Bend. Solana, with 280 MWe of power output capacity, is based on parabolic trough technology and thermal storage using molten salts. When operation starts up, the plant will have the capacity to supply power to 70,000 homes and will eliminate around 400,000 tons of CO2.

Details from Abengoa Solar.

Lineup for X-Prize Cars

Sexy fuel-efficient cars.

PM's expert car editors have watched this $10 million competition from the beginning, test driving some of the most fuel-efficient cars in the world, following the first teams to sign up—even sponsoring one. Now, as gas prices soar and the AXP entry pool officially opens, we take a detailed look at the most promising startups. These are the innovators we believe at this point have a very real shot at winning the X Prize—and developing a mass-market 100-mpg vehicle. (We'll examine some of the race's unsung heroes soon.) Adhering to the X Prize Foundation's rules, we analyzed all 64 entrants thus far based on six factors—technological feasibility, fuel economy, design, performance, price and production reality. The result is the most comprehensive, up-to-date scouting report on the field for the ultimate car of tomorrow.

Read more from Popular Mechanics.

Startup Makes Cheap Solar Film Cells ... With an Inkjet Printer

This year could bring the Silicon Valley-funded renaissance in solar power we've all been waiting for. First, San Jose-based Nanosolar began delivering its affordable thin-film solar coating, followed by a construction boom in American solar thermal power plants—essentially the reflective equivalent of geothermal power. Now, for the first time, the solar cell revolution is arriving by droplet.

Konarka Technologies, the Massachusetts-based company we first recognized with a 2005 Breakthrough Award for its affordable Power Plastic solar film, said this week that it has successfully manufactured those thin solar cells using an inkjet printer. In addition to decreasing production costs because it relies on existing inkjet technology, the printable Power Plastic cells can be applied to a range of small-scale, highly variable power opportunities, from indoor sensors to small RFID installations.

Read on Popular Mechanics.