Energy
Humans Glow in Visible Light
22/07/09 13:50
The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day, scientists now reveal.
Past research has shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels to which our naked eyes are sensitive. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals.
(This visible light differs from the infrared radiation — an invisible form of light — that comes from body heat.)
Via: LiveScience
Transforming roofs from wasted space to energy source
16/06/09 14:54
A transparent thin film barrier used to protect flat panel TVs from moisture could become the basis for flexible solar panels that would be installed on roofs like shingles.
The flexible rooftop solar panels - called building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPVs - could replace today's boxy solar panels that are made with rigid glass or silicon and mounted on thick metal frames. The flexible solar shingles would be less expensive to install than current panels and made to last 25 years.
"There's a lot of wasted space on rooftops that could actually be used to generate power," said Mark Gross, a senior scientist at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "Flexible solar panels could easily become integrated into the architecture of commercial buildings and homes. Solar panels have had limited success because they've been difficult and expensive to install."
Via: http://www.pnl.gov
L'Oreal brews up slurry-powered hair dye. Cow power to provide energy for beauty giant's Belgium factory
29/04/09 19:44
As one of the world's leading manufacturers of sweet-smelling cosmetics, L'Oreal is hardly the first company you would associate with manure, but that could be about to change for one of the company's factories in Belgium.
Later this summer, the Libramont plant, which mainly produces haircare products, will complete work on an anaerobic digestion system that aims to capture methane from waste biomass and burn it to generate electricity and heat for the site.
Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Pierre Simoncelli, director for sustainable development at the company, said that the factory was situated in a cattle-farming area that would provide the slurry to power the new technology.
"We plan to start by using a mixture of organic waste and corn, but we should then be able to switch fairly quickly to just using organic waste," he explained, adding that the biomass power system should provide enough energy for 85 per cent of the factories' current requirements.
Full Article: http://www.businessgreen.com
India-Japan project develops paper-thin batteries
31/03/09 22:19
One-micron thick thin-film batteries using nanotechnology could power cell phones or laptops.
University researchers in Japan and India say they have developed a battery that uses nanotechnology to make it thinner than a piece of paper.
The one-micron thick, 5.2-volt batteries are expected to combine high energy density with thin film technology.
The resulting technology could be used to power cell phones, laptops, or other devices.
The work is the result of a joint research project of the Kalasalingam University in Krishnankovil, India; the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai; and IMRAM Tohoku University in Japan. India’s Department of Science and Technology assisted.
Kalasalingam University’s G. Hirankumar brought optimized cathode materials to Tohoku University’s laboratories for three months of joint development. Research is ongoing.
The thin-film battery market is expected to reach 10 billion units, or $11 billion, by 2012, according to a report by Wintergreen Research in 2006.
Companies seeking to develop thin-film batteries include Littleton, Colo.-based Infinite Power Solutions and Orlando, Fla.-based Planar Energy Devices (see Infinite Power raises $13M to ramp thin-film batteries and Planar Energy plans battery line for 2009).
http://www.cleantech.com
University researchers in Japan and India say they have developed a battery that uses nanotechnology to make it thinner than a piece of paper.
The one-micron thick, 5.2-volt batteries are expected to combine high energy density with thin film technology.
The resulting technology could be used to power cell phones, laptops, or other devices.
The work is the result of a joint research project of the Kalasalingam University in Krishnankovil, India; the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai; and IMRAM Tohoku University in Japan. India’s Department of Science and Technology assisted.
Kalasalingam University’s G. Hirankumar brought optimized cathode materials to Tohoku University’s laboratories for three months of joint development. Research is ongoing.
The thin-film battery market is expected to reach 10 billion units, or $11 billion, by 2012, according to a report by Wintergreen Research in 2006.
Companies seeking to develop thin-film batteries include Littleton, Colo.-based Infinite Power Solutions and Orlando, Fla.-based Planar Energy Devices (see Infinite Power raises $13M to ramp thin-film batteries and Planar Energy plans battery line for 2009).
http://www.cleantech.com
Earth Hour
24/03/09 13:10
Turn out. Take action.
Be part of this historic event.
March 28, 2009, 8:30 pm local time
World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions.
http://www.earthhourus.org
Be part of this historic event.
March 28, 2009, 8:30 pm local time
World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions.
http://www.earthhourus.org
Times Square New Year's Eve Ball
30/12/08 15:43
The new Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball is a 12 foot geodesic sphere, double the size of previous Balls, and weighs 11,875 pounds. Covered in 2,668 Waterford Crystals and powered by 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDS, the new Ball is capable of creating a palette of more than 16 million vibrant colors and billions of patterns producing a spectacular kaleidoscope effect atop One Times Square.
LEDs And Smart Lighting Could Save Trillions Of Dollars, Spark Global Innovation
21/12/08 09:01
A "revolution" in the way we illuminate our world is imminent, according to a paper published this week by two professors at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Innovations in photonics and solid state lighting will lead to trillions of dollars in cost savings, along with a massive reduction in the amount of energy required to light homes and businesses around the globe, the researchers forecast.
A new generation of lighting devices based on light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will supplant the common light bulb in coming years, the paper suggests. In addition to the environmental and cost benefits of LEDs, the technology is expected to enable a wide range of advances in areas as diverse as healthcare, transportation systems, digital displays, and computer networking.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
BASF and Osram set new standards for energy saving OLED lighting
01/12/08 20:55
BASF and Osram announced that:
A big step towards energy-saving OLED lighting with efficiency of more than 60 lm/W.
International standard for white color requirements met BASF and Osram Opto Semiconductors have developed a highly efficient white organic light-emitting diode (OLED): for the first time an OLED not only is able to achieve a light yield of over 60 lumens per watt (lm/W), but also, at the same time, meets the international Energy Star SSL Standard with regard to color requirements. Lighting efficiency on this scale had been achieved previously. Lighting efficiency describes the ratio of luminous flux given off by a lamp to the amount of power consumed; the greater the yield, the less energy is lost. However, up until now the color values of OLEDs have not been within the acceptable band for color coordinates around the Planck curve, as defined by the Energy Star SSL Standard.
The color values of the new OLED are within this band – its light retains the white color at different levels of intensity.
http://www.oled-display.net/
The Energy [R]evolution
27/10/08 13:38
Lighten Up
03/10/08 10:10
Lighten Up is an illuminating exploration of 64 switched-on domestic lighting solutions from the UK. The quest for sustainability is driving the evolution of new technologies, aesthetics, materials and interactions. Shedding light on the stories behind the products, Lighten Up offers insight and inspiration for the next generation of lighting.
Anchorage, Alaska, to Install 16,000 LED Streetlights. Will Save $360,000 per Year.
31/07/08 14:20
The latest town to get them is Anchorage, Alaska. The municipality, along with Cree, Inc, a maker of LED lights, are planning to change 16,000 municipal roadway lights with high-efficiency LED fixtures (about 1/4 of total streetlights).
Bigger Benefits Up North
Because Anchorage has 85 days a year with less than 8 hours of daylight, any benefit over the tradition lighting architecture are compounded. Read on for technical benefits of LED streetlights.
Benefits of LED streetlights
The LED fixtures are expected to use 50% less energy than current streetlights, which could save the city $360,000 per year at the current energy prices. The cost of the project is 2.2 million dollars. "The LED fixtures, based on performance-leading Cree XLamp(r) LEDs, typically last up to seven times longer than high-pressure sodium fixtures, allowing Anchorage to better utilize maintenance resources." And the quality of light should also be better, though people will need to get used to it at first.
http://www.treehugger.com
Energy Facts
15/07/08 12:43
TED is a simple, yet extremely accurate, home energy monitor that allows you to see electricity usage in real-time. You no longer have to wait for the 'electricity bill surprise'! TED will accurately tell you what your bill is going to be long before the electric bill arrives. Meanwhile, you will learn more about conserving energy, saving money, and helping save the environment.
With its two-second reaction time, TED provides immediate feedback on energy usage. For you, that means no surprises. You can see what you're spending on electricity each second, as well as what you've spent so far today or so far this month.
http://www.theenergydetective.com/index.html
Iraq's electricity- starved capital goes solar
15/07/08 10:53
BAGHDAD -- In a city with constant electricity shortages but no lack of sunshine, the new buzz is solar energy.
Teams of engineers have appeared along major Baghdad roadways, bolting panels and bulbs to rows of towering steel poles to make solar-powered streetlights.
"We are lighting up the city with solar power," Sajad Hussein declared when queried by curious residents. "People say it is a gift from God."
Surging oil prices have fueled interest in solar power and other renewable energy sources in California and across the United States, where pressure also is building to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to fend off global warming.
http://articles.latimes.com
Human-Powered River Gymnasiums for New York
14/07/08 08:56
The motion starved environments we live in are the antithesis of our being. Perhaps the most primal of all human function is locomotion. We need to move more!
Our concept encapsulates a new typology for the contemporary urban gym. It is intended to challenge our innate proprioceptive and multi-planer locomotive abilities while synchronously altering the surroundings. The River Gym will fulfill one of the major contemporary fitness goals of “functional training”. This training protocol will exploit the inherent disequilibrium of floatation devices. Often the average urbanite exercising at the gym performs controlled repetitive single plane movements using industrial fitness equipment. All of this energy is summarily dissipated and ultimately exhausted for the sake of a single individual’s wellbeing. Other potentials exist to harness this vast human expenditure of caloric energy. Why not have the simple transfer of this workout vigor supply New York with needed supplemental transport and amenities? How can we extend and capitalize on this untapped group potential? Into what form will this new kind of gym evolve?
http://www.archinode.com/gym.html
Wasted Energy
01/06/08 11:26
By HANNAH FAIRFIELD- New York Times
It's gone before you even knew it was there: As energy is unlocked from fuels at power plants, two-thirds of the energy consumed to create electricity is lost.
The laws of thermodynamics dictate that conversion efficiency will never be 100 percent, because heat is lost at every step of the conversion process. But new technologies may be able to greatly increase conversion efficiency, moving from an overall rate of 36 percent to closer to 50 percent.
At present, coal — in all its carbon-belching inefficiency — is king because it's cheap. Still, the use of natural gas to create electricity has been rising rapidly, in part because of more-efficient gas turbines."High fossil fuel prices will drive technology and innovation, because they respond to price signals," said Frank A. Wolak, an economist at Stanford. "Technology can improve efficiency by working the margin, gaining 10 to 15 percent. That's money."
Adding a carbon tax or regulating carbon trading could also change price incentives, increasing demand for nuclear and renewable energy sources.
"Once the cost of burning fossil fuels doubles, the renewable energy options begin to look really good," said Jon G. McGowan, a mechanical engineer at the University of Massachusetts.
http://www.nytimes.com
the world’s first renewable gasoline, from sunlight and CO2
31/05/08 08:00
Sapphire Energy has built a revolutionary platform that uses photosynthetic microorganisms to produce a renewable, high-value replacement for fossil fuel petroleum. This domestic crude oil requires only sunlight, CO2 and non-potable water – and can be produced at massive scale on non-arable land.
Sapphire’s technology and team of renowned experts give the company the unique ability to scale biological systems and produce transportation fuels, including high-octane gasoline, to ASTM certification standards.
The company’s final products will have the same chemical composition as gasoline and will be completely compatible with the existing refining, distribution and fleet infrastructure.
Not ethanol, not biodiesel. Renewable gasoline.
http://www.sapphireenergy.com/product
LED street lights. Replacing gas lamps with LEDs
28/05/08 22:33
DUSSELDORF is not well-endowed with nostalgic charm, and soon may be shorter of it still. The 17,000 or so gas lamps that still bathe the streets of the old centre in their glow are on their way out. The German city's municipal power utility plans to replace about 10,000 of them with a technology that is cheaper to operate but so modern that only a handful of cities have begun to use it: light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
So far, only two dozen experimental LED street lamps have been put up in Dusseldorf. Although LEDs can initially be more expensive, they are a lot more reliable and they can last longer than conventional light bulbs.
Read Full Article: The Economist
Solar LCD Powered iPods, iPhones and Laptops?
26/05/08 21:08
A recently published patent application discovered by MacRumors reveals that Apple is investigating the use of solar power in versions of their mobile devices -- both handheld devices and portable computers. Integrating solar power into a mobile device holds the enormous potential of extending battery life significantly. However, successfully integrating solar panels into these small devices is not without its challenges.
The major issues described are the limited area available to solar panels, durability, and the "wasting" of space on a portable device. It is due to these problems that solar power has not found its way into mobile devices, not just from Apple, but from all manufacturers.
Read full article: http://www.macrumors.com
SeaGen completed: world's first megawatt-scale tidal turbine installed
20/05/08 19:10
Marine Current Turbines Ltd, the global leader in tidal stream technology, has successfully completed the installation of its 1.2MW SeaGen tidal energy system in Strangford Narrows in Northern Ireland.There will now be a 12-week period of commissioning and testing before it starts regularly feeding power into the Northern Ireland grid.
After being carefully positioned by the heavy-lift crane-barge "Rambiz" in the early hours of 3 April there has been a six-week operation to secure the 1000 tonne structure to the seabed and link up SeaGen's grid connection to the electricity sub-station on the southern shore of Strangford Lough.
Read Full Article: http://www.marineturbines.com
Time lapse of one of the PYCO 1 Megawatt Wind Turbines
20/05/08 16:45
Time lapse of one of the PYCO 1 Megawatt Wind Turbines. The construction of this turbine took place from March 31st 2008 to April 4th 2008 in Lubbock Texas.
U.S. wind industry on pace for record 2008
08/05/08 18:17
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. wind power industry remains on track to continue its record run in 2008 after the sector installed 1,400 megawatts of new generating capacity in the three months ended March 21, according to figures released Wednesday.
If the pace continues, a total of 5,600 megawatts of generating power will be installed in 2008, eclipsing the record of 5,300 megawatts, according to figures from the American Wind Energy Association.
The new wind power plans installed in the first quarter of this year produce enough electricity to serve the equivalent of 400,000 homes.
AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher said he expects a big swell of projects to go on line by the fourth quarter as utilities and others hedge against the possibility that the production tax credit expires by the end of the year with no renewal from a divided Congress.
The AWEA maintains that 76,000 jobs and more than $11.5 billion in investment could be at risk if the measure doesn't pass.
Full Article: http://www.marketwatch.com/
Amazon Watch Animation: Chevron’s inHumane Energy
29/04/08 07:28
Because we all must to know where the oil came from every time we filled up our car tank with fossil fuel.
LED lightbulbs: Are you ready to make the switch?
25/04/08 23:24
High price and a strange color. No, we're not talking about a hairdo. Those are the two factors that have kept light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, from becoming a mainstream light source.
But that might change soon, said Zach Gibler, chief business development officer of Lighting Science Group, which plans to announce distribution deals with major retailers for its LED bulbs that screw into a regular socket.
Lighting Science Group's new LED lightbulbs.
(Credit: Lighting Science Group)
LED bulbs for household use have already been around for some time, but their success has been limited. The main obstacles have been that they cost more than incandescent lightbulbs and emit a sometimes unnerving color of light.
Lighting Science Group this week plans to introduce a portfolio of LED replacement white lightbulbs that it hopes will attract more consumer interest. The product line uses the same sockets as Edison bulbs.According to Gibler, the bulbs perform well on a warmth and color rendering index--blue looks blue, yellow looks yellow, etc.--they have a long life cycle, and consume 80 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs.
Read Full Article: crave.net
But that might change soon, said Zach Gibler, chief business development officer of Lighting Science Group, which plans to announce distribution deals with major retailers for its LED bulbs that screw into a regular socket.
Lighting Science Group's new LED lightbulbs.
(Credit: Lighting Science Group)
LED bulbs for household use have already been around for some time, but their success has been limited. The main obstacles have been that they cost more than incandescent lightbulbs and emit a sometimes unnerving color of light.
Lighting Science Group this week plans to introduce a portfolio of LED replacement white lightbulbs that it hopes will attract more consumer interest. The product line uses the same sockets as Edison bulbs.According to Gibler, the bulbs perform well on a warmth and color rendering index--blue looks blue, yellow looks yellow, etc.--they have a long life cycle, and consume 80 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs.
Read Full Article: crave.net
The Diesel Tree: Grow Your Own Oil. Qld farmers invest in diesel-producing trees
19/04/08 08:23
Farmers in North Queensland are doing their bit to be environmentally friendly by investing in a tree that produces diesel.
Over 20,000 trees have been sold to farmers in the tropics by the man who introduced the diesel tree from Brazil.
The tree produces an oil that can be extracted, filtered and used to power vehicles and farm machinery.
It is estimated a one-hectare crop could produce enough fuel for an average-sized family farm.
Mike Jubow, a former cane farmer and now a nursery wholesaler, says diesel-producing trees are a long-term investment.
"If I'm lucky enough to live that long enough - I'm 64 now - it is going to take about 15 to 20 years before they are big enough to harvest the oil so that I can use them in a vehicle," he said.
Full Articl: abc.net
Turbine technology is turning the tides into power of the future
07/04/08 21:55
The world’s first deep-water device to generate electricity from the tides on a commercial scale is due to start operating within weeks.
A seagoing crane barge has lowered the 1,000-tonne double turbine into place and an operation to fix it to the seabed with 12 metre (40 ft) pins begins today.
The SeaGen Tidal System at Strangford Lough in Co Down, Northern Ireland, is designed to produce enough electricity to supply 1,000 homes.
The system, made by Marine Current Turbines (MCT) and assembled at the Harland and Wolff dockyard in Belfast, boasts two 16m blades which will be turned by the water streaming in and out of Strangford Lough at up to 8 knots.
Via Timesonline
SEED Film Screenings Today in DUMBO with TreeHuggerTV Premiere: Ben Harper & Graham Hill in Conversation
05/04/08 08:14
How did New Yorkers become so disconnected from the bodies of water that surround them and how can they reclaim the relationship? Such is the question taken up by City of Water, a 30-minute documentary film about the significance, history, and future of the New York City metropolitan area waterfront. The film screens today as part of DUMBO's neighborhood sustainability initiative, SEED (Smart Environmental Efforts in DUMBO). Also on the docket are Renewal, a 90-minute documentary that attempts to capture the breadth and vitality of America's religious-environmental movement.
Via TreeHugger
Earth hour
29/03/08 08:48
On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.
Google Goes Black For Earth Hour
29/03/08 08:35
Google raised energy awareness to the googleth degree today by changing their home page from white to black in support of the earth hour campaign.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/earthhour/
The lightbulb of the future?
21/03/08 20:38
Silicon Valley's Luxim has developed a lightbulb the size of a Tic Tac that gives off as much light as a streetlight. News.com's Michael Kanellos talks to the company about its technology and its plans to expand into various markets.
Full Article zdnet.com
GE Demonstrates World's First ''Roll-to-Roll'' Manufactured Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs)
16/03/08 22:15
NISKAYUNA, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Global Research, the centralized research organization of General Electric (NYSE: GE), and GE Consumer & Industrial, today announced the successful demonstration of the world’s first roll-to-roll manufactured organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting devices. This demonstration is a key step toward making OLEDs and other high performance organic electronics products at dramatically lower costs than what is possible today.
OLEDs are thin, organic materials sandwiched between two electrodes, which illuminate when an electrical charge is applied. They represent the next evolution in lighting products. Their widespread design capabilities will provide an entirely different way for people to light their homes or businesses. Moreover, OLEDs have the potential to deliver dramatically improved levels of efficiency and environmental performance, while achieving the same quality of illumination found in traditional products in the marketplace today with less electrical power.
Read full article BUSINESS WIRE
Make solar lamps not war, says Nobel scientist
11/03/08 19:33
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - One billion people can get electricity for the first time for little more than the reported cost of one month's war in Iraq said Rajendra Pachauri, the head of a Nobel peace prize-winning U.N. panel of climate scientists.
Pachauri is supporting a campaign "lighting a billion lives," led by India's Energy and Resources Institute, to furnish people without access to the grid with electric lanterns powered by solar photovoltaic panels.
"Millions and millions of people do not see light after the sun goes down," he told a carbon market conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday.
Read full article Reuters
USBCELL Rechargeable batteries
06/03/08 08:34
This NiMH AA cell can be used like a normal battery and can be recharged simply by plugging into a USB port.
usbcell.com
usbcell.com
Crystal coat warms up LED light
04/03/08 19:02
Topping LEDs with a coating of carefully tuned nanocrystals makes their light warmer and less clinical, a new study shows. The researchers argue this is a must for energy-efficient LED lights to make headway in the commercial market.
Illuminating buildings accounts for about a quarter of the electricity used in the US, according to the Department of Energy. Because most of that electricity comes from coal-fired power plants, lights account for a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
LEDs have the potential to be far more efficient than other lights, but face two major hurdles. Firstly, they trail behind fluorescent lights for efficiency and, secondly, the colour of typical commercial LEDs isn't pure white.
Most emit a "cool" light with a bluish tinge, sometimes called "lunar white", that most people find unattractive in the home. Now researchers have used nanocrystals to create LEDs that give off a warm white light.
Read Full Article: NewScientist.com news service
Mason Inman
Day to 'save energy and climate'
27/02/08 11:05
Energy Saving Day, a 24-hour initiative aiming to reduce the UK's electricity use, begins on Wednesday evening.
A coalition of environmental groups, religious leaders and energy companies is asking people to curb climate change by turning off devices not in use.
The National Grid will monitor how much difference it makes to consumption, while power companies will identify customers wanting home insulation.
The BBC News website will be displaying results in close to real time.
Energy Saving Day, or E-Day, will be launched on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral in central London at 1800GMT.
Read Full Article BBC
World's Largest Solar Plant in AZ Hinges on US Congress
26/02/08 18:36
America's prospects for a solar powered future just got much brighter.
The Spanish engineering firm Abengoa has announced that it's sealed a deal with the Arizona Public Service (APS) Company to build the largest concentrating solar plant in the whole world about 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, Arizona. It will be one of the first cases where a utility relies on solar power for its day-to-day operations.
And at a build cost of $1 billion, it will generate 280 MW of electricity and be capable of powering around 80,000 homes -- in just three years.
Read Full Article: solveclimate.com
Nanowires allow 'power dressing'
13/02/08 15:34
"Power dressing" may soon have a very different and literal meaning.
Scientists in the US have developed novel brush-like fibres that generate electrical energy from movement.
Weaving them into a material could allow designers to create "smart" clothes which harness body movement to power portable electronic gadgets.
Writing in the journal Nature, the team say that the materials could also be used in tents or other structures to harness wind energy.
"Our goal is to make self-powered nanotechnology," Professor Zhong Lin Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology and one of the authors of the paper told BBC News.
Read Full Article via BBC
Bloomberg slams U.S. energy law over corn ethanol
11/02/08 23:02
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A new U.S. energy law will cause an increase in global food prices and lead to starvation deaths worldwide because it continues to promote corn ethanol, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday.
"People literally will starve to death in parts of the world, it always happens when food prices go up," Bloomberg told reporters after addressing a U.N. General Assembly debate on climate change.
"I think if America got rid of the importation duty on sugar-based ethanol, that's what would happen and I think the world would benefit from that," Branson told reporters.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro blasted the Bush administration's biofuels policy as "genocidal" in a series of articles last year, saying they threatened to worsen global hunger by pushing up prices for food crops used to make ethanol.
Read Full article via Reuters
"People literally will starve to death in parts of the world, it always happens when food prices go up," Bloomberg told reporters after addressing a U.N. General Assembly debate on climate change.
"I think if America got rid of the importation duty on sugar-based ethanol, that's what would happen and I think the world would benefit from that," Branson told reporters.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro blasted the Bush administration's biofuels policy as "genocidal" in a series of articles last year, saying they threatened to worsen global hunger by pushing up prices for food crops used to make ethanol.
Read Full article via Reuters
Knee dynamo taps 'people power'
08/02/08 06:42
US and Canadian scientists have built a novel device that effortlessly harvests energy from human movements.
The adapted knee brace, outlined in the journal Science, can generate enough energy to power a mobile phone for 30 minutes from one minute of walking.
read full article via BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7226968.stm
Generate Energy with Fluxxlab’s ‘Revolution’ Revolving Door
07/02/08 07:28
The designers at New York City based Fluxxlab studio have come up with an ingenious sustainable energy harvesting idea that makes you wonder why no one else has thought of it before. Their Revolution Doormanages to capture otherwise wasted human energy from the revolving doors we all see at various large buildings. If you think about it, this concept is quite similar to a turbine spinning somewhere deep inside a hydroelectric dam or within wind turbine to generate renewable electricity.
read full http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/02/07/generate-energy-with-fluxxlabs-revolution-revolving-door/
Our thoughts Next challenge: capture wasted human energy from the walk. Could someone make the sidewalks such as pressure sensitive floor to generate power?
Intel Becomes Largest Purchaser of Green Power in the U.S.
06/02/08 07:28
Intel Corporation said today it will purchase more than 1.3 billion kilowatt hours a year of renewable energy certificates as part of a multi-faceted approach to reduce its impact on the environment, making Intel the single-largest corporate purchaser of green power in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The company said it hoped the record-setting purchase would help stimulate the market for green power, which should lead to additional generating capacity and ultimately, lower costs.
The purchase placed Intel at the top of EPA's latest Green Power Partners Top 25 list, and also at the No. 1 spot on EPA's Fortune 500 Green Power Partners list. The EPA's Green Power Partnership program encourages and recognizes voluntary green power purchases as a way to reduce the impact of conventional electricity use.
Read full article http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20080128corp.htm
The purchase placed Intel at the top of EPA's latest Green Power Partners Top 25 list, and also at the No. 1 spot on EPA's Fortune 500 Green Power Partners list. The EPA's Green Power Partnership program encourages and recognizes voluntary green power purchases as a way to reduce the impact of conventional electricity use.
Read full article http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20080128corp.htm
World’s Largest Wind Turbine (7+ Megawatts)
04/02/08 09:25
The world’s largest wind turbine is now the Enercon E-126. This turbine has a rotor blade width of 126 meters (413 feet). The E-126 is a more sophisticated version of the E-112, formerly the world’s largest wind turbine and rated at 6 megawatts. This new turbine is officially rated at 6 megawatts too, but will mostly likely produce 7+ megawatts (or 20 million kilowatt hours per year). That’s enough to power about 5,000 households of four in Europe. A quick US calculation would be 938 kwh per home per month, 12 months, that’s 11,256 kwh per year per house. That’s 1776 American homes on one wind turbine.
The turbine being installed in Emden, Germany by Enercon. They will be testing several types of storage systems in combination with the multi-megawatt wind turbines.
Read full article metaefficient.com
The End Of The Light Bulb
03/02/08 21:46
There's a revolution going on in lighting. And some say it's about time.
Two hundred years ago, British scientists forced electrons through a strip of platinum and laid the groundwork for what would become the first incandescent light. In 1870s and '80s, Thomas Edison and several competitors put the bulb on a path to commercialization and changed the world...
...a more likely application is one being tried by Wal-Mart—lighting refrigerated food cases. Thieken says that LEDs work well in that application since they remain efficient in cold environments, can be dimmed easily when lighting is not needed, and require little maintenance.
Although LED household fixtures exist, Thieken predicts that new lighting applications are likely to be very different from the typical light bulb and will provide an opening for LEDs to rewrite the rules of how lighting is used.
Today, for most people who have electric lights in their homes, illumination still comes from electricity run through a wire filament, enclosed and protected in a glass bulb.
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