CleanTechnica

NASA is putting its two cents into the global warming conversation with a new website that details the climate change phenomenon from soup to nuts, including videos, articles and a huge archive of images.

Those of you who still believe that NASA faked the moon landing with outtakes from director Stanley Kubrik’s classic sci fi romp 2001: A Space Odyssey will probably want to take a pass on this and go straight to the Shutter Island website for the inside scoop on conspiracy theories, but if you are interested in what’s actually going on out there the link to NASA’s Global Climate Change website is http://climate.nasa.gov/warmingworld.

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Mix steel, oil, and chemical companies together with the Sarah Scaife Foundation, and you have a chunk of the financial backing behind the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which has just filed a petition challenging the U.S. EPA’ recent determination on greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

In challenging the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gasses, the Southeastern Legal Foundation joins the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a number of companies including  Massey Energy (which includes mountaintop removal in its coal mining operations).  Though these actions are taken against a government agency, they are also yet another indication that an epic battle of titanic proportions is brewing in the private sector, pitching old school fossil fuel industries against climate-conscious companies including Nike, Starbucks, Apple, and Exelon (the nation’s largest utility) – each of which has protested the Chamber’s position on global warming.

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Boston Dynamics has just won a $32 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop LS3, a walking robot.  Also known as  the Legged Squad Support System, the purpose of the LS3 is to serve as a robotic mule to aid in combat operations by carrying supplies over rough terrain.

LS3 is still in the early concept stage, and so far it resembles its Boston Dynamics robot cousins, Big Dog and Little Dog, which in turn recall those legged Empire tanks from Star Wars, so it’s no stretch to imagine outfitting a robot mule with weapons some day (after all, we already use airborne drones), but in addition to its combat mission the LS3 may also have an important role to play in disaster response and a more sustainable future.

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Exotic new thin film and spray-on solar products have been getting a lot of attention lately, but within “older” solar technology there is still room for innovation.  SBM Solar has come up with a lightweight, non-reflective solar panel based on monocrystalline silicon solar cells that could help expand the opportunities for solar installations, especially in marine and military solar applications where portability and lack of glare are significant advantages.

Lightweight solar panels can save energy in production, transportation and installion compared to heavier glass panels, but one concern has been durability.  SBM believes it has settled that question by achieving Underwriters Laboratories certification for performance (apparently the only monocrystalline solar panels to achieve that rating so far) along with a thumbs up from the International Electrotechnical Commission.

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Certain politicians may be having a hard time wrapping their heads around the reality of climate change, but that hasn’t stopped the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The USACE is rolling right along with sustainability programs that range from an award-winning oyster habitat restoration project to the installation of 1,200 solar powered street lights in Fallujah and a solar parking lot in New Jersey.

The Commanding General of the USACE, Lt. Gen. Robert Van Atwerp, pulled it all together just a couple of weeks ago with a blog post about the USACE and climate change, and he didn’t mince words on the USACE’s attitude about the whole issue: “It’s a very real concern that could have very real consequences all over the world, and we’re on it.”  That can-do spirit has lead to some interesting new partnerships for the USACE with civilian organizations like The Conservation Fund.  Maybe it’s time for the climate change deniers to come out of their shells and join the party — you know, support the U.S. Army, right?  Hello?

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If you’ve ever spun a yo-yo, you’ll have no trouble getting the hang of Easy Energy’s new YoGen handheld charger.  According to its North American manufacturer Fame LLC, the tiny powerhouse was a big hit at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show last week in Vegas.

YoGen was designed to power portable electronics by pulling on a rip-cord, an activity familiar to yo-yo fans worldwide.  The device, which has innards that look like clockworks, basically consists of an alternator that transfers enough sustainable kinetic energy to charge cell phones, iPods, Gameboys, cameras, and the like.  It might seem like all fun and games, but a gadget like this might play a big role in future U.S. military logistics.

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Catch an aerial view of Pearl Harbor and it’s easy to see the potential for rooftop solar energy.   Parts of the U.S. Navy base in Hawaii are open space but much of it is a dense conglomeration of buildings and facilities, and every roof could be a potential sustainable energy generator.

The Navy is turning the potential into reality by contracting with a local company, Niking Corporation, to install solar panels on five rooftops at the base.  In terms of the available roof space that may seem like more of a demonstration project than a full scale installation, but it’s still significant.  The Navy expects the five roofs to bring in enough solar energy to power 440 homes, and for a state that’s not rich in fossil fuels, that’s a clear demonstration of the potential for growth in sustainable solar energy.

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Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have come up with a new photovoltaic cell no bigger than a flake of glitter, but it packs a big punch.  The new cell uses 100 times less silicon to generate the same amount of electricity as conventional solar cells.  While still in the development stage, the new solar particles could lend themselves relatively easily to commercialization because they are made of crystalline silicon and use the same micro-manufacturing processes typical of modern electronics.

The new cells can be made from available silicon wafers of any size, without some of the quality control problems involved in conventional solar cell manufacturing. The Sandia researchers also expect them to be less expensive, more durable and more efficient that conventional solar collectors, and they could open up an exciting new range of applications.

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A new anti-corrosion coating that uses infrared light to bond new nanomaterials to steel could yield a more sustainable, less toxic substitute for the massive quantities of hazardous chemicals that are currently needed to hold our aging infrastructure together.

The technology is being developed by MesoCoat, the Edison Materials Technology Center, and Polythermics, LLC, under a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology.  Aside from the green benefit of cutting down on hazardous chemicals, the new approach promises lower costs and higher performance, winning sustainable points for extending the lifecycle of steel infrastructure elements and perhaps consumer products as well.

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Moving on from the problems encountered in the Northern California wave energy tests off Mendocino and Humboldt Counties; PG&E has just filed a new preliminary permit application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for another three-year study of a potential wave power site.

Vandenberg Air Force Base on the Santa Barbara County coast is the new host. Like every Federal Agency, the Air Force is now under Executive Order to cut transport carbon emissions 30% and to power buildings with renewable energy, possibly making this location more amenable to tests of a renewable energy source that has the potential to do that.

The WaveConnect permits applied for are just the first step; allowing PG&E to put in the needed infrastructure to conduct tests. A grid extension to the ocean that brings an undersea cable 5 to 10 miles offshore to several WaveConnect “sockets” to plug the tested wave energy devices into, so that PG&E can monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the various wave energy devices they want to test.
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