Alternative energies
Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat, which are renewable. Renewable energy technologies include solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity, micro hydro, biomass and biofuels. It offers an alternative to the oil and the nuclear energies which will end up after having consumed all the planet’s supply.
Data sources: Alternative Energy, Alternative Fuels, Biopact, DIY, Energy Policy, Renewable Energy Headlines, Renewable Energy World
A team of researchers at UCLA has developed a new way to make super-fast graphene transistors that are comparable to transistors that use more expensive (and toxic) materials. If successful commercially, the new graphene based technology could play a key role in energy conservation and waste reduction related to the rising tide of electronic devices in the world.
Like it or not, electronics are here to stay and to grow into new markets as the developing world catches up with industrialized countries. By reducing their size, making them more energy efficient, and cutting or outright eliminating the use of hazardous substances in their manufacture, it is possible to engineer a more sustainable path to a global electronic future.
In a truly staggering breakthrough in LED intensity that will have wide ramifications on electricity use worldwide, the Finnish LED producer Obelux has developed by far the most powerful white flashing LED of all time.
In response to aviation industry requests, Obelux created a flashing High Intensity LED that delivers 200,000 candelas. Current technology delivers just 10 candelas. This marks an incredible 20,000-fold improvement on the old Xenon technology.
These will be installed on over 150 meter tall buildings and masts, replacing the flashing red aviation obstacle lights that are currently in place on masts and tall buildings to warn airplanes. Boosting brightness even further, they will be in groups of three, so that each can deliver 600,000 candelas.
Energy consumption? Just 350 watts! (more)
Zinc oxide-based solar cells have just received an innovation from an Indian scientist, Ram Mehra of Sharda University in Greater Noida, India. He claims boosting the capacity of zinc oxide fuel cells and making them capture more of the incident light by using a blended mixture of common dyes, regularly used in food and medical industries.
Put this one in the category of every cloud has a silver lining: E. coli, the bacteria notorious for contaminating food products from lettuce to ground beef, could also play a key role in developing the next generation of biofuels. A team of scientists from Rutgers University is working with computer modeling to tweak the pesky little bug into overproduce fatty acids, which can then be processed into biodiesel.
If the research is successful, chalk up another win for producing biofuels from sustainable, non-food sources that can be grown without competing for land with food crops. The growing list includes weedy plants, woody plants, algae and various microorganisms.
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Researchers at the University of California have developed a smart phone chip that could spur a new generation of more efficient mobile electronic devices. In turn, a more energy efficient device would enable the more widespread use of solar energy and other forms of renewable energy for battery recharging.
The new chip is based on the use of dark silicon. Dark silicon is shorthand for the growing portion of silicon on transistors that is underused because there is not enough power available to run them all of the transistors at once. The new chip, called GreenDroid, is designed to use about 11 times less energy than a typical processor.
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Community solar power has the promise of making solar more affordable, bringing sun-powered electricity to renters or people with shady roofs, and dispersing the economics benefits of renewable energy generation. But while a few pioneering projects have broken through the barriers to community solar power, the rules, incentives, and policies for solar PV restrict the potential of community solar. Next week, ILSR will release its report on community solar.
Ford wants to implement cooling/heating mechanisms for the batteries they will include in their future Focus Electric. The engineers at Ford designed a thermally conductive liquid that circulates throughout the battery.
The program, which includes these renewable fuel filling stations, is called the Low Carbon Fuel Infrastructure Investment Initiative, and is being supported by a $10.9 million grant from the California Energy Commission and the US Department of Energy.
According to the company, the station aims to make it easier for scientists to compare the performance of electrode components in fuel cells, which produce energy from fuels like alcohols, hydrogen and hydrocarbons.
Dangerous bacteria can often hide in the water you drink, but they're not harmful until they reach a certain number to become active inside your body. Regular water purifying technologies consume a lot of power, but a team of Stanford researchers have developed a new low-cost, high-speed filter that works differently than other purifiers.
DUBLIN - September 3, 2010 (Investorideas.com renewable energy/green newswire) - Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Renewable Energy - North America (NAFTA) Industry Guide" report to their offering.
September 3, 2010 - www.InvestorIdeas.com, a leader in sector research tools for investor's reports on agriculture stocks news and trading as the global food crisis grows.
European cars often get a fuel economy of about 42 mpg, with some newer models even getting 60 mpg or more. The technology adopted for electric cars, on the other hand, uses mainly lithium ion batteries, made of metals extracted from mountains by using complex chemical processes that not only generate CO2, but also pollute the environment and help to deforestation.
A new and effective way of harnessing solar power comes from the researchers at MIT. Once again trying to mimic the way green plants work, the scientists now have a different approach, pointing to the fact that, otherwise invisible, the effects of sunlight over solar cells are often damaging.
09/03/2010 - Cisco recently
announced its intent to acquire privately held
Norway has continued to live up to its clean energy reputation by publishing its first annual report on the Clean Energy for Development Initiative. This details nearly $130m worth of funds spent by the Norwegian Government on clean energy projects across the developing world in 2008-9, double the amount budgeted by USAID for a variety of issues including clean energy aid.
Key to the initiative's approach has been the electrification of small villages in remote areas and over 44% of the money has been spent on building transmission and distribution infrastructure. The largest type of generation deployed has been hydroelectric, with 15% of expenditure going on these projects, some of which have been large scale but many of which have been small and localised.
Other forms of generation considered include wind, geothermal and biomass, each depending upon the particular needs of the country and neighbourhood within which the initiative is operating. Rather pointedly, the report states that it spent 0% of its money on power generation from non-renewable sources.
Of 39 deals the Cleantech Group spotted in the past seven days, PE firm Spring Capital Asia closes a $250M fund expected to invest in cleantech, among other sectors.
Plus the weeks largest round of at least $50M goes to stealthy nuclear fusion technology firm Tri Alpha Energy.
From an article by Jaime Hunt in The Northwestern, Oshkosh:
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is installing its first solar energy systems to provide the campus with electricity and hot water. This is the first wave of solar power installations that will soon be commonplace on the campus.
A photovoltaic array has been installed on a popular walkway adjacent to the campus tennis courts. The 2.9-kilowatt system slowly adjusts position to track the sun as it moves from east to west and as it rises and falls in the sky. The system was installed by Appleton Solar and funded as a State of Wisconsin Energy Conservation Project with support from Focus on Energy and Wisconsin Public Service.
Water will be heated by 120 solar panels being installed on the rooftops of four buildings to serve a wide range of needs. Blackhawk Commons will generate hot water for food service and dishwashers. Hot water for showers will be provided in Taylor Hall. Albee Hall solar collectors will heat an indoor swimming pool. The campus Heating Plant will pre-heat water used to generate steam and heat campus buildings. These solar systems will replace natural gas or coal-based heat.
The Solar Thermal Energy Systems are being installed and maintained by H&H Energy Services of Madison. Funding is through a State Solar Energy Agreement that allows the systems to be owned privately by Regenesis Power of California, who will then sell the heat to UW Oshkosh at a set cost. Focus on Energy is also providing financial incentives.
New construction and refurbishment projects at UW Oshkosh are planning to add more solar power in the future.
University buildings have long lives, so it makes sense to build them with solar power upgrades in mind and to install the systems that are affordable today, said Michael Lizotte, UW Oshkosh director of sustainability.
Seattle music fans are in for a treat at the 2010 Bumbershoot festival -- though, they'll have to work for it with a little bit of sweat as they seesaw and pedal for snow cones this weekend.
In the first emissions trading to be introduced outside of Europe, the New Zealand government has just launched a cap and trade system to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 10 and 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, UPI is reporting.
New Zealand imports most of its oil, but nearly half of the emissions are agricultural, due to the volume of exports from the isolated nation, and they have increased by 25 percent over the last 20 years.
Its nearest neighbor is Australia, but much of its trading is much further away, with the EU. New Zealand has long been a land of sheep farmers, and with an economy of only 4 some million people, has a very high carbon footprint in shipping its products to customers far overseas. When you factor in the carbon footprint of ocean transport, not just exporting, but also, importing, New Zealand is actually not as green as its reputation.
And now, with oil giants like Petrobras nosing around the island nation for an off-shore killing, the announcement is timely.
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LCDs have been here for quite a while, using the same technology implemented for the first time in the 1970s. It's high time someone invented a different method of displaying colors in a controlled manner, for the sake of price and energy consumption.
SkyFuel, a U.S.-based company, has just published a press release, stating that the The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has certified their SkyTrough solar concentrator technology to have the highest efficiency in its class.
Cleantech venture deals pick up in Europe & Israel this week as investors return from a summer break.