Published on June 14th, 2009
Could the next war be powered by potatoes? The U.S. military is exploring bio-batteries and fuel cells as part of its overall commitment to transformational energy, particularly portable power. To help kick-start the effort, the Department of Defense is soliciting bids for cutting edge bio-battery and fuel cell development through its Small Business Innovation Research grant program. That could mean just about anything for a fuel source, from sugar to potatoes, vodka or beer. Stay tuned for more: the deadline for submitting SBIR proposals is June 17.
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Published on May 13th, 2009
The Mohave Sun Power company is planning a project in Mohave County that could begin construction in the fourth quarter of 2010.
It will use 4,000 acres of land and employ concentrating solar power. Molten salt will be the storage medium.
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Published on May 4th, 2009
Last week, in an experiment some cast aside as a PR stunt, several drivers drove a Ford Focus Hybrid car 1,445 miles, approximately double how far Ford estimated it could go, on a single tank of gas using Eco-Driving techniques. The drivers were well versed in Eco-driving methodology, making the results of the test far less likely to occur in the general public. They averaged just above 20 miles per hour over their 4 day test, which is 3 days, 23 hours, and 58 minutes longer than the average American’s patience driving without speeding.
Eco-driving technology might help keep people from losing patience–and interest. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on May 3rd, 2009
Shimon Peres, the President of Israel helped launch a new solar farm at Kibbutz Yavne this week. The farm uses concentrating solar power to generate electricity and hot water. President Peres said at the launching ceremony, “It is a natural way to fight terror because the oil-producing countries of Iran and Venezuela destroy our lives by terror.” He also called solar power democratic because sunlight is available to everyone.
No government aid was required for the project. It was funded entirely by Israeli venture capitalists. The cost of the electricity generated is approximately 8 cents per kilowatt hour. This price is slightly less than the cost for electricity provided by the main power supplier in Israel, the Israeli Electric Corporation.
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Published on March 2nd, 2009
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is getting a little greener.
The Waterbury, Vt., coffee maker is adding 530 solar panels to the roof of its distribution center. When complete it will be the largest solar installation in Vermont, the company said.
The 100 kilowatt system will only provide a small percentage of the power the coffee company needs, but the real value of the system is demonstrating that solar can work for business in the Northeast, the company said.
“Renewable energy must be a part of our overall energy strategy,” Paul Comey, Vice President of Environmental Affairs for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., said in a statement. “We
want to show our state and federal governments that solar energy works, and that we need
a policy that provides a broad-reaching structure for renewable energy.”
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Published on March 1st, 2009
Here comes more dour empirical data.
Ongoing deforestation in countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia has been further linked to the rising demand for biofuels, according to speakers at a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS):
“If reduced U.S. soybean production results in a parallel increase in Brazilian soybean production, a potential net release of 1,800 to 9,100 Tg (trillion grams) of CO2-equivalents of greenhouse gas emissions due to land-use change is possible,” [Michael Coe of Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts] wrote in a summary of his talk. That is equivalent to more than 9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide.
Let’s just hope someone has that cellulosic biofuel breakthrough we’re all hoping for.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Published on October 14th, 2008
Last month, Apple took a big step towards becoming environmentally-friendly by eliminating Brominated Flame Retardant (BFR) and polyvinylchloride (PVR) from its iPods. Now the company is taking another huge step with its notebook computers.
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Published on October 8th, 2008
Finally, scientists have come up with a way to combine my two favorite things: music and sugar. Japanese researchers report in the latest issue of Energy and Environmental Science that they have created a biofuel cell that uses enzymes to break down sugars. Four of the cells combined produce 100 milliwatts of power— enough to run an MP3 player with speakers or a remote-controlled car.
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Published on September 11th, 2008
San Antonio, Texas is making use of its 140,000 tons of sewage generated each year to capture methane gas. The city’s utility board of trustees approved a contract this week to sell 900,000 cubic feet of natural gas derived from the sewage each day to Ameresco, a Massachusetts energy services company.
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Published on September 11th, 2008
New Scientist reports a controversial study that melting ice caps could actually weaken the greenhouse effect. Stanford University scientists studied satellite data from 1998 to 2007 to evaluate changes in sea surface temperatures and quantities of sea ice and phytoplankton (increased phytoplankton activity removes atmospheric carbon). What they found is startling— phytoplankton grew more in areas where ice was disappearing.
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