This is a year for solar-powered nautical and aviation records being broken and new ones being set. PlanetSolar, the world’s largest solar-powered boat, has established a new speed record for a solar-powered transatlantic crossing, beating her own record that was set in 2010. Another solar-powered record was set this month by Solar Impulse, the solar … [continued]
The US Navy plans to launch an entire biofuel-enabled Great Green Fleet in 2016, complete with fighter jets, helicopters, destroyers, and other ships, despite attempts by certain members of Congress to block it from buying biofuels. The notorious budget sequester hasn’t proven to be much of an obstacle to the … [continued]
A sailboat named Groovy has been equipped with a solar power system that powers the boat’s refrigerator, freezer, laptops, a 22″ TV, a stereo, and more. And this isn’t the couple’s first solar-powered mobile home. “My husband and I have been traveling full-time by sailboat and RV for the past 6 … [continued]
For years now, the US Navy has been raising alarms over the impact of continued petroleum dependency on national security, and now it looks like the oil-soaked chickens have come home to roost. According to an article last week by the Office of Naval Research, the Navy’s new laser weapons … [continued]
Last year certain members of Congress waged an all-out war against the Navy’s ambitious biofuel initiatives, supposedly because they were too expensive. Fast-forward another year and the Navy biofuel program is still going full steam ahead, even though those same members are still trying to stomp it down. In the … [continued]
The Dept. of Energy’s “Transportation Energy Futures” study provides a template for Pres. Obama’s vision of reducing US transportation sector petroleum use and greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. Realizing gains in vehicle energy efficiency and fostering shifts in demand for different modes of transport, growing use of biomass biofuels, and transitioning to hydrogen and electric vehicles are the three main facets of the TEF strategy.
President Obama dropped a clean tech bombshell yesterday when he renewed his call for Congress to create a new $2 billion Energy Security Trust to fund cutting edge clean energy research projects, but that wasn’t even the half of it. Yesterday the President also announced that he would deploy a … [continued]
I made a big mistake yesterday when I posted about my first update of the Cleantech, Climate, & Other Green News Google Doc. Well, actually, I made a big mistake before that. I didn’t initially make the doc available to the public! Luckily, a bunch of people requested access to the doc, … [continued]
OceanCo is building a 106-meter (348-foot) yacht with solar power capabilities for launching in 2015. The design is from Nuvolari Lenard. A steel hull will be used along with a beam of at least 15 meters. The length of the vessel, when completed, will be greater than the playing area … [continued]
The days of stinky, oil-burning, black smoke–producing ferry boats will be the days of yore if Norway has anything to say about it. The world’s first electric ferry will hit the open seas (well, not exactly) in 2015. The 360-passenger, 120-car electric ferry will be operated by shipping company Norled … [continued]
