Published on November 10th, 2009
Researcher Susan Sun of Kansas State University has an answer for all those hungry cows out there: let them eat barrels. Sun’s work on sustainable biomass adhesives has already lead to an edible barrel for cattle feed made with straw and soy adhesive. More products are on the horizon, including a new formula that improves the flowability and strength of raw bioplastic, making it easier to pour and mold.
The edible barrels replace oil drums, which cost approximately $6 per barrel to clean for re-use as feed containers in addition to the cost of the barrel. Sun’s elegant waste reduction solution relieves farmers of this expense while practically eliminating the risk of oil-contaminated feed from poorly cleaned barrels. It also eliminates waste or water pollution associated with the cleaning process, and it eliminates the cost (and carbon footprint) of returning used barrels for re-use.
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Published on October 30th, 2009
Nano carbon Graphene is already being produced in decidedly non-nano quantities by Ohio-based Angstron. Yet the atom-thick nano-material was discovered so recently that researchers are still in the process of discovering what to use it for.
Graphene is an extremely low density material, almost an atomic-scale chicken wire made of carbon atoms and their bonds. It has been the focus of much research because of its exceptional electrical, mechanical and optical properties. It holds great promise in renewable energies.
Among the so far underutilized advantages Graphene offers are that it is fifty times stronger than steel, and it has five times the conductivity of copper, with only one quarter of the density.
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Published on October 30th, 2009
A-Power Energy Generation Systems won one aspect of the clean energy race and made history, as it will become the first Chinese manufacturer to export wind turbines to the United States. A-Power Energy Generation Systems and a consortium of Chinese and American companies — U.S. Renewable Energy Group, Cielo Wind Power, and the Shenyang Power Group — are planning to build a 600-megawatt wind farm in West Texas.
The project, which could power as many as 180,000 homes, will require 240 2.5-megawatt turbines and the farm will occupy 36,000 acres of land in West Texas. Nearly shovel ready, the construction effort is projected to create about 30 permanent jobs and 300 temporary ones. Ground-breaking on the wind farm is slated for March of 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 1st, 2009
As the US finally moves into manufacturing our own clean energy, a new kind of engineering is starting to move to the forefront. Manufacturing processes engineering. Under the direction of associate professor Vinay Dayal; Iowa State U students are trying to find the way to make wind turbines roll off US assembly lines more efficiently. If we can work out cheap production processes here, we can build parts here.
The university is using a $6.3 million fund from the US Department of Energy, TPI, and and the Iowa Power Fund and has the assistance of scientists from Sandia National Labs and TPI, which operates a local turbine blade factory. Initially they are trying to see how they can boost the speed of the manufacturing process by increasing automation and by automating quality control.
They could improve the productivity of turbine blade factories by as much as 35%.
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Tags:
aerospace engineering,
American clean energy,
clean energy jobs,
Clean Energy Jobs & American Power Act,
industrial manufacturing systems engineers,
Iowa State University,
Iowa wind power leader,
puts a price on pollution,
Sandia National Labs,
turbine blade factory,
US Department of Energy funding,
Wind Energy Manufacturing Laboratory
Published on September 21st, 2009
Iowa leads the US in the percentage of wind power on the grid. The local utility companies pay area farmers royalties of $3,000–5,000 per year so huge wind turbines can share their vast farmland acreage and feed the power to the grid. The arrangement has been so successful that 15% of Iowa’s power now comes from wind.
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Published on September 16th, 2009
The trickle of green jobs into the Rust Belt has been rapidly swelling into torrent, and with headquarters in Michigan it was only a matter of time before Dow Corning joined the “green rush” to a more sustainable economy. The manufacturing giant has just announced that it will begin construction on a new facility to manufacture monosilane gas, which among other things is used to make thin film solar cells. The plant will be constructed in Michigan’s Thomas Township.
At a cost of $100 million, the new monosilane gas facility represents a full-throttle comment to solar power by Dow Corning. The company’s headquarters in Midland, Michigan is also set to open a solar panel installation and solar education center.
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Published on September 14th, 2009
On Tuesday, the announcement that U.S.-based First Solar and the Chinese government will partner to build a 2GW photovoltaic (PV) power plant Ordos New Energy Demonstration Zone in China, sent shockwaves of excitement through the solar and clean energy communities.
The memorandum of understanding, which both companies signed on Tuesday, sets the stage for the construction of the world’s largest PV power plant to be completed by 2019.
According to the New York Times the plant is part of a planned 11,950-megawatt renewable-energy park slated for this region of Mongolia, that “would generate enough electricity to power about three million Chinese homes.” Read the rest of this entry »
Published on August 27th, 2009
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Alternative Fuels,
Business,
Clean Energy,
Consumer Technology,
Energy Efficiency,
General Technology,
Green Jobs,
Manufacturing,
Products,
Solar Energy,
Transportation Tech,
Wind Energy
The economy is down, but here is another sign that green technology may be the way out of our economic dilemma. US clean energy patents hit a record high last quarter.
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Tags:
California,
CEPGI,
clean energy,
Clean Energy Patent Growth Index,
clean technology,
Energy,
fuel cells,
ge,
germany,
GM,
green energy,
Green technology,
honda,
Japan,
Korea,
Michigan,
new york,
Nissan,
panasonic,
patents,
solar,
Toyota,
Transportation Tech,
Wind
Published on August 21st, 2009
A Chinese company set a new world record in solar power efficiency this week. According to the company, Suntech Power Holdings, they achieved a 15.6% conversion efficiency on “a commercial grade multi-crystalline silicon PV module.” This breaks a 15-year-old world record set by Sandia National Labs in the US.
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Published on August 19th, 2009
On the endless laundry list of markets that have struggled to muddle through the financial mess known as the global economic crisis, the wind sector seems to be showing signs of a rebound, albeit a small one. A recent article featured in the Financial Times highlighted the “period of calm” that wind producers and investors, alike, are more than relieved to see return in the market.
Prior to the global economic vortex that has sent the sensitive wind market spinning (as well as other renewables markets), wind had been showing strong growth in the first half of 2008. The market for turbine installation was worth $47.5 billion and global wind power capacity was 121 GW – more than twice the 48GW capacity in 2004.
Unfortunately, investors and analysts do not even need the figures from late 2008 and the first half of 2009 to know that the pleasant breeze of financial success had turned into a market maelstrom. In the aftermath, there is reason to hope that recent signs of improvement may lead to more growth. Read the rest of this entry »
