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Innovative Green Vehicles

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:06:02 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: Tech details through link

15 Innovative Green Vehicles and Vehicle Designs

1. Sail Bike

2. Wood Stove Yugo

3. CLEVER

4. Coffee Ground Truck

(images via: Ecoble)
While many of us will readily attest to running of coffee, this truck may be the first vehicle to join the caffeine club - used grounds are placed into the tank, where a process called gasification converts them into a usable fuel. Perhaps the brightest bit of news to glean from this 1975 GMC is that gasification doesn’t only apply to coffee; any biomass will do, including compost or peat moss.

5. Humancar

(images via: Ecoble)
It is called the humancar, but this is really a modern interpretation of the Flintstone family cruiser. Yes, America, it has a battery assist in case you find yourself huffing and puffing in the flow of traffic, but with four stations for passengers to pump away, the production model can reach speeds of up to 80 miles an hour.

7. Cree SAM

8. JCB Deiselmax

9. Lightning

10. Audi R8 Tdi

11. SunVee

12. Zap Alias

13. Toyota RLV

Clean energy 2030

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:12:11 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: This is doable not only in US. It needs vision, leadership and active participation.

Clip Source: googleblog.blogspot.com

Right now the U.S. has a very real opportunity to transform our economy from one running on fossil fuels to one largely based on clean energy.

The energy team at Google has been crunching the numbers to see how we could greatly reduce fossil fuel use by 2030.

Our analysis, led by Jeffery Greenblatt, suggests a potential path to weaning the U.S. off of coal and oil for electricity generation by 2030 (with some remaining use of natural gas as well as nuclear), and cutting oil use for cars by 40%.

Our goal in presenting this first iteration of the Clean Energy 2030 proposal is to stimulate debate and we invite you to take a look and comment -- or offer an alternative approach if you disagree.

Over 22 years this plan could generate billions of dollars in savings and help create millions of green jobs.

(1) Reduce demand by doing more with less

(2) Develop renewable energy that is cheaper than coal (RE<C)

(3) Electrify transportation and re-invent our electric grid

Tags: energy, clean energy, google

Free-piston engine could be twice as fuel efficient as combustion engines

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:41:43 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: In conventional internal combustion engines, multiple pistons are connected via rods to a crankshaft that, via the transmission, drives the wheels. Free-piston engines do away with the crankshaft: the pistons aren't connected to anything. Instead, two opposing pistons just shuttle back and forth inside a chamber. To generate electricity, the pistons could be equipped with rows of magnets that shuttle past metal coils to create an electrical current.

Clip Source: nextbigfuture.com

Sandia National Laboratory led by Sandia researcher Peter Van Blarigan that has been testing physical components of free-piston engines which could be 50% efficient. This is about twice as good as current gas combustion engines and about as efficient as fuel cells. Fuel cells are too expensive. He is assembling a complete free-piston engine prototype, a project that he expects to complete within a year.

Piston power: In an unconventional engine design, a rod with a piston at either end shuttles between two combustion chambers. Magnets at the center of the rod move past metal coils (orange) to create an electrical current. Credit: Peter Van Blarigan, Sandia National Laboratory

Tags: technology, energy, fuel

Sahara Forest Project Will Generate Fresh Water, Solar Power & Crops in African Desert

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:17:21 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: This sounds like a really good idea. I am sure it will cost a fraction of the defense budget of certain countries.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Last week, a trio of visionaries launched the Sahara Forest Project to combine two innovative technologies, concentrated solar power (CSP) and seawater greenhouses, to produce renewable energy, water and food in the Sahara -the hottest place on earth.

The Sahara Forest Project aims to provide a new source of fresh water, food and renewable energy in hot, arid regions, as well as providing conditions that enable re-vegetating areas of desert. The Sahara is used here as a metaphor for any desert that formerly supported vegetation and could do so again, given sufficient water.

Seawater Greenhouses have been built in some of the hottest regions on earth, Abu Dhabi and Oman for example, where they create freshwater from seawater, while providing cooler and more humid growing conditions

Concentrated solar power is increasingly seen as one of the most promising forms of renewable energy, producing electricity from sunlight at a fraction of the cost of photovoltaics.

Tags: renewable energy, fresh water, sahara

The key to oil independence is a new electrical grid

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:17:49 GMT

clipped by: egoldstein
clipper's remarks: It seems that with alternative sources of energy, such as wind and solar, the United States has the potential means to substantially reduce our dependence on oil - especially once plug-in cars are on the market.

But until we substantially upgrade our nation's electrical grid with modern technology that will enable the energy created by these sources to be transmitted intelligently around the county, their impact will be limited.

It's going to take a greater commitment from Congress to jump start this. Making it happen will provide a huge boost to our economy, environment and political leverage with the Middle East, Russia, Venezuela and more.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not.

The grid today, according to experts, is a system conceived 100 years ago to let utilities prop each other up, reducing blackouts and sharing power in small regions. It resembles a network of streets, avenues and country roads.

“We need an interstate transmission superhighway system,” said Suedeen G. Kelly, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

“The windiest sites have not been built, because there is no way to move that electricity from there to the load centers,” he said.

Tags: alternative energy, grid, electricity, wind, solar

Hydrogen harvested using nature's recipe

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:59:05 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Dani Cooper

Researchers have split water into hydrogen and oxygen by replicating how plants use photosynthesis to make carbohydrates.

The team of Australian and US researchers says their findings, published in the latest Angewandte Chemie International Edition could lead to a cheap and easy way of making hydrogen, which many experts believe is the green fuel of the future.

Professor Leone Spiccia, of Monash University's School of Chemistry says the team has mimicked the process of photosynthesis, whereby plants convert light and atmospheric carbon dioxide into energy.

The new system involves an electrode coated with a proton conductor that is then impregnated with a form of manganese.

Manganese clusters are essential to a plant's ability to use water, carbon dioxide and sunlight to make carbohydrates

However instead of creating carbohydrates, the team have used nature's recipe to split water into its two elements, oxygen and hydrogen.

with the help of sunlight and 1.2 volts of electricity.

Electric bike recharging its battery via the braking system

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:33:31 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend
clipper's remarks: Panasonic says in internal experiments, the regenerative braking system extended the assisted travel range from 90km to 125km when riding in normal mode. Using the bike’s automatic mode, the maximum distance owners will be able to cover is 182km.

Clip Source: www.crunchgear.com

Last week Panasonic presented [JP] a new electric bicycle to be released on the Japanese market on August 20. The so-called Vivi RX 10-S will cost $1,400. Panasonic hasn’t said yet whether they will bring the bicycle to overseas markets as well.

The bike’s main feature is a braking system that can recharge a 10Ah Li-ion secondary battery, which weighs 2.5kg, has a rated voltage of 26 V and is located next to the rear wheel. Every time the owner brakes, a mini motor mounted on the front wheel generates power. According to Panasonic, charging the battery via this method alone proves to be almost impossible however. The recharging system fails when riding faster than 24km/h.

The so-called Vivi RX 10-S comes with an aluminum-made frame and weighs 25.7kg. The company says it aims at selling a total of 3,000 bicycles in the first year.

Tags: bicycle, electric, bettery, green, energy

Kites could provide electricity for 100,000 homes

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:53:25 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Several other scientists are investigating the use of kites to harness energy from the wind - which some researchers estimate provides more than 100 times the amount required to power the entire planet. In 2007, Google´s philanthropic arm invested about $10 million in a US kite company called Makani. An Italian company called Kitegen has a multi-kite scheme that could generate a gigawatt of power, as much as a standard coal plant.

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

High-flying kites tethered to generators could supply as much as 100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 100,000 homes, according to researchers from the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands.

The scientists have recently demonstrated that flying a single 10-square-meter kite could produce 10 kilowatts of power, which could supply electricity for about 10 homes.

In their next experiment, the researchers plan to test a 50-kilowatt version, called Laddermill. Eventually, their goal is to build a multi-kite system that could generate a full 100 megawatts.

Electricity produced by kites in the wind could be inexpensive, too. The researchers predict prices to be comparable with generating electricity using coal power, and half that of using wind turbines.

kites generate power by pulling on their strings that are attached to generators on the ground. After reaching their maximum height, the kites are reeled back down to repeat the process.

Tags: energy, clean energy, wind, kites

'Major discovery' from MIT primed to unleash solar revolution

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:34:51 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Sunlight has the greatest potential of any power source to solve the world's energy problems, said Nocera. In one hour, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year.

"This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future prosperity of humankind,"

Clip Source: web.mit.edu

Scientists mimic essence of plants' energy storage system

In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.

Daniel Nocera describes new process for storing solar energy
View video post on MIT TechTV

Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years,"

Tags: energy, solar power, storing

New Tech. - Turning Heat Waste Into Electricity

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:12:59 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: New technology for capitalists. AGW alarmists surely oppose this as well.

Clip Source: cleantechnica.com

Great news on the power efficiency front: Scientists have invented a new material that can efficiently convert heat waste in cars, power generators, and heat pumps into electricity. The new material is thermoelectric, and can turn heat into energy without any pollution.

The invention, thallium-doped lead telluride, is twice as efficient as the second most efficient material used in thermoelectric power. The lead telluride creates electric power like a conventional heat engine coupled to an electric generator, but uses electrons as the working fluid instead of water or gas. Additionally, it creates electricity directly.

Research project leader Joseph Heremans of Ohio State University is optimistic about the future of thermoelectric nanotechnology—he hopes to boost the efficiency rating of the new material by a factor of two.

Tags: technology, energy, innovation

Will Space-Based Solar-Powered Lasers Solve Our Energy Future?

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:04:32 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

The latest and greatest way to generate energy is to launch plates made of chromium and neodymium into orbit, which then convert 42% of solar light into lasers, which then shoots down onto a facility that converts it into clean, usable power. Of course, something this high tech and futuristic sounding would be brought to us by the Japanese.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Osaka University are working together to develop the device, which converts sunlight into laser-light with four times the efficiency of any previous attempt. According to a report out of Tokyo, the team is working on Space-based solar power systems, which can collect sunlight in space and then convert it into laser light, which is then transmitted to Earth and used for electricity.

they hope to have a system ready for satellite mounting by 2030.

Tags: solar power, green, space, laser

Ocean Power Catches a Wave

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:36:55 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: spectrum.ieee.org

Europe and New Zealand to install commercial generators; U.S. lags

Sea Monster: A Portuguese utility plans to install wave-power generators like these.

The first commercial ocean energy project is scheduled to launch this summer off the coast of Portugal. Three snakelike wave-power generators built by Edinburgh's Pelamis Wave Power will deliver 2.25 megawatts through an undersea cable to the Portuguese coastal town of Aguçadoura. Within a year, another 28 generators should come online there, boosting the capacity to 22.5 MW. That may be a trickle of power, but the project represents a new push into wave and tidal power as governments eye the oceans as a way to meet their renewable energy targets.

Engineers have come up with a variety of schemes to harness the power of waves, the flow of currents, and the motion of the tides. The Pelamis generators, part of a class of wave-energy converters called linear absorbers, each comprise three long canisters that look like giant oxygen tanks

Tags: ocean power, wave

Whales & Dolphins Inspire a Novel Design for Wind Turbines

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:24:24 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: "Engineers have previously tried to ensure steady flow patterns on rigid and simple lifting surfaces, such as wings. The lesson from biomimicry is that unsteady flow and complex shapes can increase lift, reduce drag and delay 'stall', a dramatic and abrupt loss of lift, beyond what existing engineered systems can accomplish," Fish said. "There are even possibilities that this technology could be applied to aeronautical designs such as helicopter blades in the future."

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Dolphins and whales have evolved over millions of years to maximize efficiency of movement through water. The human species has been trying to perfect streamlined designs for barely a century. Biologists and engineers, applying biomimicry, studied the flippers, fins and tails of whales and dolphins, and have discovered some features of their structure that contradict long-held engineering theories.

The shape of whale flippers with one bumpy edge has inspired the creation of a completely novel design for wind turbine blades. This design has been shown to be more efficient and also quieter, but defies traditional engineering theories.

Dr Frank Fish of West Chester University says that the shape of whale flippers has inspired the creation of a completely novel design for wind turbine blades.

Tags: wind, green, dolphin

Alternative Energy News

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:09:40 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator
clipper's remarks: This site is an open source for news and information about renewable energy technologies. Browse the articles and press releases, the latest news, discussion forums, and mix-up of other media from sources like Flickr and YouTube. Our goal is to raise awareness about clean energy sources using any means necessary. Got an idea? Contact us.

Clip Source: www.alternative-energy-news.info

Alternative Energy News

Clip Source: www.alternative-energy-news.info

Latest News

How a Man-Made Tornado Could Power the Future

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:27:30 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Coiled up in a tornado is as much energy as an entire power plant. So a Canadian engineer has a plan to spin up his own twister and extract energy from its tethered tail.

It all depends on heating the air near the surface so that it is much warmer than the air above.

"You can generate energy whenever you have a temperature gradient," said Louis Michaud. "The source of the energy here is the natural movement of warm and cold air currents."

These so-called convective air currents are only useful if they can be channeled in some way. That is why Michaud proposes using a tornado as a kind of drinking straw between the warm ground below and the cold sky above. Wind turbines placed at the bottom could generate electricity from the sucked-up air.

Whirlwind tour

Tornadoes and hurricanes form when sun-heated air near the surface rises and displaces cooler air above. As outside air rushes in to replace the rising air, the whole mass begins to rotate.

Tags: energy, man made, tornado

Clipmarks | abailart's enrgy harvesting collection

Innovative Green Vehicles

15 Innovative Green Vehicles and Vehicle Designs

Clean energy 2030

Free-piston engine could be twice as fuel efficient as combustion engines

Sahara Forest Project Will Generate Fresh Water, Solar Power & Crops in African Desert

The key to oil independence is a new electrical grid

Hydrogen harvested using nature's recipe

Electric bike recharging its battery via the braking system

Kites could provide electricity for 100,000 homes

'Major discovery' from MIT primed to unleash solar revolution

Scientists mimic essence of plants' energy storage system

New Tech. - Turning Heat Waste Into Electricity

Will Space-Based Solar-Powered Lasers Solve Our Energy Future?

Ocean Power Catches a Wave

Europe and New Zealand to install commercial generators; U.S. lags

Whales & Dolphins Inspire a Novel Design for Wind Turbines

Alternative Energy News

Alternative Energy News

Latest News

Categories

Green Collar Jobs

Harnessing the Power of Highways

Turning Airborne Carbon Into Fuel

Space-based Solar Power

Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

The Toyota Bus-Train

Affordable DIY Solar Heating System

Wind Turbine Concept Inspired by Jet Engines

The Triac: An Affordable Electric Car

Are Rising Oil Prices a Blessing in Disguise?

How a Man-Made Tornado Could Power the Future