Monthly Archives: January 2009
British researchers, writing in the Current Biology journal, say that growing crop varieties that reflect more sunlight into space could cool much of Europe, North America and parts of North Asia by up to one degree Celsius during the summer growing season. "We found that different varieties of most food crops do differ in how much solar energy is reflected back to space," said Andy who led the study. "The more energy you reflect back to space the cooler the air temperatures will be." Previous research has shown that wheat, maize, barley and sorghum reflect solar energy differently, depending on … Continue Reading
Tesla Motors has signed a deal to provide Daimler with the battery technology that will power 1,000 electric Smart city cars which could be on the road by the end of the year. Tesla has been working with the German automaker for more than a year to develop a battery pack and charger for the Smart EV. Tesla founder, Elon Musk, said that "If the 1,000-vehicle fleet is successful and the economics make sense and the product is compelling, that will expand to tens of thousands of vehicles per year. Daimler is really looking at this as a very serious … Continue Reading
John Sweeney, a Harvard, Massachusetts electrical engineer used his Toyota Prius to power part of his house during a three-day blackout last month. Mr Sweeney used an inverter to convert direct current from the car battery to 120-volt alternating current for the refrigerator, freezer, the fan for a wood stove, television and some lights. He ran the car for a few minutes every half an hour and “burned about five gallons (19 litres) of gas”. While knowing that you can use a car as an emergency generator might enhance its appeal enormously, especially when the reliability of the electricity grid … Continue Reading
For some time, it has been argued that fertilizing parts of the ocean with iron filings would increase the rate of photosynthesis in phytoplankton, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean. This would sequester carbon dioxide for long enough to slow global warming. However scientists have been concerned that the effect on ocean ecosystems of doing this was unknown. Now,the British Royal Navy, operating off the coast of Antarctica, has found that melting icebergs release sufficiently large quantities of iron particles that there is no basis for concerns about large scale testing of iron fertilization. As a … Continue Reading
Google has filed a patent for a wave-powered data centre. The data centre would also use sea water for cooling. There are currently an estimated 44 million servers in use worldwide. These use about 0.5% of the world’s electricity – about the same amount as Argentina or the Netherlands. Google’s patent envisages using existing technology, such as the Pelamis wave energy converter, to generate electricity for large server arrays located at sea where the most wave energy is available. The Pelamis device consists of a series of semi-submerged cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints. Waves cause these sections to move … Continue Reading
A Massachusetts company, Vegawatt, has developed a generator which produces electricity from waste oil from restaurants’ deep fryers. Vegawatt’s founder and inventor, James Peret, estimates that restaurants purchasing the $22,000 machine will save about $1,000 per month in electricity costs, for a payback time of two years. Vegawatt is derived from the home-brew fuel movement started by Dr Thomas Reed, who popularized a method of converting waste cooking oil into biodiesel more than 20 years ago. James Peret realized he could use the same technology to power an on-site generator and defray a restaurant’s electricity costs. Vegawatt is more efficient … Continue Reading
Alternative energy vehicle announcement at the 2009 Detroit Motor Show have been dominated by Asian manufacturers. Toyota unveilled its third-generation Prius which will be on sale in America in a few months. The new Prius is more powerful and slightly roomier than the old model but lighter and more fuel-efficient. Toyota has also announced a budget-priced electric car, the FT-EV which is due to go into production in 2012. The FT-EV is slightly larger than a Smart car and will have a range of about 80 kilometres. It is expected to be priced at around $20,000 in Australia. The Toyota … Continue Reading
Researchers at Synthetic Genomics claim that they have genetically altered bacteria to rapidly build lipids from just carbon dioxide and water. Lipids come in a range of forms and serve many functions in cells such as storing energy and forming membranes. The Synthetic Genomics bacteria secrete the lipids which can be used directly in oil refineries. Other researchers working on using bacteria to make fuels feed the bacteria with sugars to produce diesel rather than manufacturing the fuel directly from carbon dioxide and water. Synthetic Genomics was founded by Craig Venter in 2005. The company is seeking the capital to … Continue Reading
Two Chinese companies have announced plans to build a solar photovoltaic power plant in northwestern China that will eventually supply 1,000 megawatts of electric power. China Technology Development Group Corp and Qinghai New Energy Group will begin building the first stage - a 30 megawatt solar power station – in China’s Qaidam Basin this year with an initial investment of $150 million. No timeframe for completion of the full project has yet been announced. The largest solar photovoltaic plants currently operating are the 60 megawatt Parque Fotovoltaico Olmedilla de Alarcon and the 30 megawatt Parque Solar Merida/Don Alvaro, both completed … Continue Reading
A Texas company, EEStor Inc, has patented what it describes as an "energy-dense electric storage unit" (EESU) which it claims can provide ten times the energy of lead-acid batteries at one-tenth the weight and half the price and could power a car for 400 kilometers after a five-minute charge. Unlike lithium-ion cells, the technology is said not to degrade with cycling and thus has a functionally unlimited lifetime. Although only "prototype components" yet exist, the company has signed contracts with the Canadian ZENN Motor Co and with Lockheed Martin. ZENN CEO, Ian Clifford, says that "ZENN remain confident in the … Continue Reading
Videos
Renewables News- New Aussie Technology to Clean Polluted WaterScientists from Deakin University, together with French colleagues, say that they have manufactured a lightweight and reusable material that can absorb up to 33 times its weight in a wide range of spilt oils, chemical solvents and dyes, while repelling … Continue Reading → […]
- Aussie Researchers Make Efficient Solar Cells from Low-grade SiliconResearchers at the University of New South Wales have found a way to make very high efficiency solar cells out of cheap, low-grade silicon. It has been known for several decades that hydrogen atoms can be introduced into the atomic … Continue Reading → […]
- First Aussie “Hot Rocks” Power Plant Begins ProducingThe first power plant in Australia to produce electricity using an enhanced geothermal ("hot rocks") system has begun producing electricity in the far north-east of South Australia. The one-megawatt Habanero pilot plant near outback Innamincka is operated by Geodynamics. Geodynamics … Continue Reading → […]
- New Aussie Technology to Clean Polluted Water
