Published on December 30th, 2009
Highways, train stations, and even dance floors: the world is full of vibrating surfaces that could yield a rich trove of clean, sustainable energy. It’s called piezoelectric energy, formed by the conversion of mechanical strain into electrical current. Now a team of researchers in Europe has developed a micro-scaled piezoelectric device that could harvest energy from machinery as well as from infrastructure and buildings.
The tiny devices are ideal for use in powering remote sensing equipment, for example to monitor bridges or machines for early signs of deterioration. In that case they could play a key role in more energy efficient maintenance for wind turbines and other renewable energy infrastructure, while lowering human risk.
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Published on December 23rd, 2009
The Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (RUSNANO) is moving forward with an energy saving process for applying ceramic nanocoatings on metal surfaces. A more efficient process could pick up the pace for replacing toxic chemicals, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and other hazardous materials with safer, more sustainable anti-corrosion nanomaterials.
Ceramic coatings are nothing new, but the conventional technology for applying them is energy intensive. RUSNANO hopes to improve on that with a more energy efficient design that also results in better performance and a longer lifespan.
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Published on December 19th, 2009
Chemists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have found that nano-sized water droplets can act as molecular chaperons that guide graphene into precise nano-shapes including capsules, knots, rings and even sandwiches. Graphene is a futuristic nanomaterial that forms sheets the thickness of one atom.
The finding is based on computer simulations, which show that water molecules can act on graphene without forming a chemical bond. If it proves commercially practical, it could advance the use of graphene in a wide range of more energy efficient and sustainable applications, from super-batteries and photovoltaics to desalination membranes.
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Published on December 17th, 2009
Just as data farms need to have that warmth removed, day in/day out, greenhouses, by contrast, need a supply of consistent warmth, summer and winter.
Put the two together and you have a marriage made in heaven. For example; between the Ella Morris and Muessel-Ellison Botanical Conservatories and Potawatomi Greenhouse and Indiana’s University of Notre Dame.
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Published on December 14th, 2009
After a good 20,000 years out of caves, we are heading back to them – and just like your worst fears, it’s the damn global warmers and Al Gore-ists leading the way, because it saves so much energy.
It turns out that limestone caverns might be the cheapest and best option for carbon neutral data-center cooling, because by nature limestone can absorb 1.5 BTUs per square foot for free. And data centers need lots of energy for cooling.
So this time we’re taking computers back in there with us. Or rather we’re leaving them down there. At least the data centers, that is. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on December 14th, 2009
A team of Harvard scientists has discovered that gold nanoparticles could be used to produce fabrics and fragrances. The process is cheaper and more energy efficient, and it emits fewer pollutants than conventional production methods. The breakthrough is more proof that sustainable manufacturing methods can achieve bottom line benefits along with improvements in public health and environmental safety.
Headed by Professor Cynthia Friend, the team found that gold nanoparticles can oxidize alcohols and aldehydes (formaldehyde is a familiar example of an aldehyde) at room temperature. The process uses less energy than the high heat required by conventional methods. If the process can be scaled up for commercial use, it could significantly reduce the carbon footprint involved in manufacturing synthetic fabrics, fragrances, essential oils, and perhaps other products as well.
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Published on December 13th, 2009
Way back when we were developing the first towns and villages, we built them by the water. We built them by rivers so we could use the rivers for transport and fresh water, and by lakes for the fresh water and by the sea because we love the ocean.
Now it turns out that it is a very fortunate accident of history that we found that water made for such easy hauling. Early roads got muddy and it was easier to move stuff along waterways. As a result many big cities like New York City and Hong Kong and Toronto are now ideally situated to use that cold water nearby for carbon-neutral district air conditioning.
These cities now are virtually artificial cliffs, right at waters edge, right where they need to be to take advantage of a very simple concept. Cold water from the depths can be piped very efficiently up through these “cliffs” at water’s edge to cool the towers of downtown office buildings.
Canadian Company Enwave leverages this difference between the cold ocean depths and warm surface temperatures – using lake water to cool downtown Toronto office buildings. Read the rest of this entry »
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Published on December 2nd, 2009
Florida State University has just announced that it is chipping in $1 million toward the cost of a $3 million magnet to be constructed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. The new high tech magnet is expected to generate a field about 45% more powerful than the strongest superconducting magnet currently available, or roughly 3,000 times stronger than an ordinary refrigerator magnet.
Behind that strength is a sustainable purpose: the new magnet will be made of a high-temperature superconductor that is more energy efficient and far less expensive to operate than its conventional counterparts. If it proves successful – and researchers at the lab have every expectation that it will be – it could mark the beginning of a new generation of super powerful magnets that help lower both the cost and the carbon footprint of scientific research.
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Published on November 27th, 2009
Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is getting $34.7 million to find ways to make cars lighter by improving carbon fiber manufacturing and processing. Though used in race cars and high-performance “supercars,” current carbon fiber composites cost too much for mass market vehicles.
Lightweight, strong carbon fiber will raise fuel efficiency, whether that fuel of the future is the natural biogas that you’ll surely one day tap from the compost in your backyard; or biodiesel (made from drought-resistant weeds of course), or the electrons off your shiny new solar roof.
The new Carbon Fiber Technology Center will try new feedstocks and new ways to create them, with the idea of reducing the cost of carbon fiber to under $5 a pound. Currently it is between $10 and $20 per pound.
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Published on November 25th, 2009
Taiwan’s Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world from 2004-2007. Now, it is looking to become the world’s tallest GREEN building.
The building’s owner, Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFC), is putting in $1.9 million to give this 101-story building a green makeover.
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