Energy Efficiency

Hybrid Capacitors Provide Long-lasting Energy to LED Lights

13 years ago Guest Contributor 2 Comments

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) provide long-life lighting technology that powers flashlights, street signs and medical devices. LEDs have bright output with low input power, making them much more energy efficient than their incandescent predecessors. Hybrid capacitors, a combination of an ultracapacitor and a lithium-ion battery, are an ideal choice for LEDs because the low energy and power of LEDs allows hybrid capacitors to be a longer term energy source than alternative energy storage solutions on the market. Other benefits of LEDs to lighting include little to no required maintenance.

“Be an Energy Star” Video Challenge (+10 More Cleantech Stories of the Week)

13 years ago Zachary Shahan 0 Comments

Energy Star has a “Be an Energy Star” video challenge going on right now (on YouTube & Facebook), geared at highlighting the many great things people around the country are doing to save energy. Interestingly, I didn’t run across news of this via any of my normal cleantech avenues, but found it on sister site sustainablog. Jeff over on sustainablog chose the video below as his favorite so far (though, there are still a number of videos to come, as the contest runs until September 16). I have to admit it’s pretty cool and cute.

Experimental Smart House Completed In Tokyo University

13 years ago charis 4 Comments

The Institute of Industrial Science of Tokyo University, widely regarded as the top university in Japan, has erected a “smart house” on their Komaba Campus, in cooperation with LIXIL Housing Corporation’s Eyeful Home Company. The current structure, the COMMA house (COMfort MAnagement), is the start of a series of prototypes and tests geared toward creating more-or-less self-sufficient home. The project is expected to have plans for a standard smart house by 2020.

Living off the Grid: Not Just for the Amish Anymore

13 years ago silviomarcacci 18 Comments

Whether you’re reading this on your computer or mobile device, you needed electricity from the grid to power at least one device in the process. Those electrons come from far-flung power plants, across miles of transmission lines, and out of a plug in your wall. This process may seem like just another part of life, but it’s not the only option.

energyNOW! correspondent Patty Kim met some of the estimated 180,000 families across North America using clean energy technology to become self-sufficient and enjoy all the comforts of modern life, off the grid.

Guarding the Grid

13 years ago silviomarcacci 0 Comments

In 2003, an overheated power line near Cleveland, Ohio sagged into a tree and shorted out. It started a cascade of power line failures across the Midwest, Northeast and parts of Canada, and causing the worst blackout in U.S. history. Since then, utilities and grid operators have used new technology and procedures to prevent another major blackout – but can they compete with an aging grid and estimated $1 trillion in required new investment?

energyNOW! anchor Thalia Assuras looked at cutting-edge technology that can prevent blackouts before they occur, talked to federal officials about government efforts to create a safer and smarter grid, and went inside the high-tech nerve center of the country’s largest grid operator to see how we’re guarding the grid.

Hydrogen for 200 Million Vehicles: Air Products/Orange County Open Wastewater-Hydrogen Fuel Plant

13 years ago proteus 7 Comments

A new Air Products hydrogen fueling plant at the Orange County Sanitation District wastewater facility in Fountain Valley, California is producing clean, renewable electricity and hydrogen fuel and heat for use on-site and in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The wastewater-biogas-power-and-fuel plant could open up significant opportunities to use similar designs and technology to manage water and process agricultural, food and brewery waste streams.