Chalk olive stones up to the list of waste products that can be used as fuel. Researchers from the Universities of Jaén and Granada in Spain have discovered that olive stones—byproducts of processing olive oil and table olives—can be turned into bioethanol.
Earlier today, Island Pilot LLC unveiled the first ever hybrid yacht. The 40 ft Island Pilot DSe Hybrid 12m combines solar, electric, and diesel power.
Good news for governments looking to measure greenhouse gas emissions: a new sensor being developed by the VTT Technical Research Institute will be tiny (less than an inch), cost-effective, and twice as sensitive as current sensors.
Let’s face it: some of us just don’t have a green thumb. But the Plantsense EasyBloom Plant Sensor, released yesterday, makes gardening an equal-opportunity activity. The device is based on NASA technology used during the Mars Phoenix Mission, and can collect data on sunlight, soil moisture, and temperature. The information … [continued]
I’m a huge proponent of using recycled wastewater, so I’m happy to hear that Biokube is bringing its lawn-watering septic system to California. And since the average American home uses a mind-boggling 15,000 gallons of water a year on lawns, the system is sorely needed.
Biofuel-powered plane rides may be in our future much sooner than anticipated if Boeing gets its way. The company expects to see approval for commercial use of biofuels in the next 3 to 5 years.
Noise is one of the major barriers for homeowners considering rooftop turbines. But SWIFT’s rooftop turbine, released today in the US and Canada, claims to be “silent enough to perch on a home, yet robust enough to secure a skyscraper.” The uniquely designed turbine has five blades measuring seven feet … [continued]
The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation has announced today that it plans to build Africa’s largest wind farm. The farm, which is being built in Ashegoba, will have a relatively impressive output of 120MW— enough power to supply 15 percent of Ethiopia’s energy needs.
By turning a long line of mirrors, the first solar thermal plant in nearly two decades was launched last week in Bakersfield, California. Unlike solar photovoltaic systems that convert sunlight into electricity, this plant will focus sunlight on tubes that contains water. The light heats the water, creating steam, thus … [continued]
Professor Hansjürg Leibundgut, a professor at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, has just been given permission to begin construction of a model apartment block that will make use of new CO2-free technologies. According to Leibundgut, the apartments contain heating, cooling, and solar energy systems that have never … [continued]
