Monthly Archives: June 2009
Two reports from world bodies have been published week saying that the world has ample capaicty to feed its projected increased population. The first report, from the OECD and the UN Food & Agriculture Organization, projects ten years from the food price increases of 2008. It concludes that "Some 1.6 billion hectares could be added to the current 1.4 billion hectares of crop land [in the world], and over half of the additionally available land is found in Africa and Latin America." The second report, from the UN Food & Agriculture Organization and the World Bank, concludes that 400 million … Continue Reading
Treehugger has published a post which points out that, when all of the factors such as transport and production of the container, are taken into account, it takes 200 litres of water to produce a take-away latté. So, how much water do some of the other "necessities" of modern life consume? A pair of jeans – 6,800 litres A cotton t-shirt – 1,500 litres A hamburger – 4,900 litres A serving of french fries – 22 litres A glass of cola – 38 litres An egg – 454 litres A loaf of bread – 570 litres An apple – 60 … Continue Reading
The Scottish parliament has committed to a binding goal to cut greenhouse gases by 42 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. In April, Britain formally adopted a legally-binding target of reducing greenhouse gases by 34 percent. Scotland, whicch has some local autonomy has gone further – surpassing the German target of 40 percent, which was previously the world’s most ambitious. One of the key elements in Scotland’s plan is the use of offshore wind. The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change has released a report showing that offshore wind has the potential to meet more than a quarter of … Continue Reading
A Hamburg-based company, Thermodyna, has developed an air-conditioning system that uses only the sun’s heat to produce hot or cool air as required. The core of the system is a Schukey motor. For cooling, a solar panel uses the sun’s heat to produce steam which is converted into mechanical energy. This drives a pump which sucks damp, warm air out of the room, compresses it and then allows it to expand. According to Thermodyna, the process can cool the air to around 20 degrees Celsius. "There are no electronics and hardly any components," says Thermodyna boss Volker Bergholte. The company … Continue Reading
When the third-generation Toyota Prius was released in Japan a month ago, Toyota’s sales target for the month was 10,000 vehicles. Actual orders reached 180,000! The Prius was the top-selling vehicle in Japan in May – the first time that it has achieved the top spot. Honda’s hybrid Insight, released in February, was the third best selling vehicle. The new Prius is selling for just over two million yen (about $au26,000) in Japan; the Insight is 1.89 million yen ($au24,500). Toyota is also selling the previous model Prius for the same price as the Honda Insight. Sales of the old … Continue Reading
Chinese vehicle manufacturer, New Power, claims to have developed a full-sized electric four-seater with a range of 400 kilometress which will go into production in China next year. The company plans to bring it to the UK “within the next couple of years”. Known as the Zhong Tai, the vehicle has lithium-ion batteries that can be recharged in 6-8 hours from a conventional socket, or in two hours from a high-power recharging point. With a top speed of 120 kilometres per hour and an estimated price tag of between £16,300 and £20,500 ($au33,000 and $au40,000) in Britain. The car is … Continue Reading
Siemens and StatoilHydro have installed what they say is the world’s first large-scale floating turbine. The installation off the coast of Norway will undergo testing for two years. To date, wind turbinrs could only be installed in relatively shallow offshore locations – up to about 50 metres deep. The floating wind turbines, which have a ballast that is tied to the sea floor with cables, can be installed in waters up to about 670 metres deep. The turbine off Norway will be about 12 kilometres offshore where the water is 220 metres deep. It is a utility-scale turbine able to … Continue Reading
Inventor and entrepreneur, John La Grou, hasdeveloped a "smart" electrical power outlet, called a Safeplug, containing a microprocessor. The main reason for the invention was to prevent electrical fires by giving the wall socket sufficient intelligence to detect that an appliance was drawing too much power and shut it off. However, the Safeplug also has the potential to save massive amounts of energy by switching off appliances and even allowing whole areas, such as hotel rooms, to be switched off remotely when not in use. John La Grou describes his invention on this TED Talk video:
Chemical engineer, Dr Andrew Harris amd his research team at Sydney University’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions have been awarded a research grant from the European Energy Company, E.ON, to investigate materials like silicon carbide and alumina for building synthetic sponges, which would be grafted with calcium oxide to absorb carbon dioxide. Dr Harris is using a group of marine creatures known as echinoderms, which includes starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, as his source of inspiration. He says that these creatures have an "awesome" calcium carbonate skeleton, ideal for absorbing C02. He hopes to mimic the structure of their skeletons … Continue Reading
Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario have developed a prototype of a lithium-sulphur rechargeable battery that can store three times the power of a conventional lithium-ion battery in the same volume while being significantly lighter and potentially cheaper to manufacture. As with lithium-ion technology, lithium-sulphur batteries store the electrical charge in one electrode during the charging phase and release it to the other during the discharge phase. To achieve high performance, sulphur needs to remain in very close contact with a conductor, such as carbon. The research team used mesoporous carbon, a material that has a highly uniform … Continue Reading
Videos
Renewables News- Vic Council Approves Wind Farm with Community SharesBuloke Shire has approved a planning permit for a five-turbine wind farm spanning 5.t hectares at Coonooer Bridge, west of Bendigo..It is the first wind farm planning permit approved since 2011 when the Victorian Government introduced tough planning laws that … Continue Reading → […]
- NZ Electricity Co Offers Solar PV with BatteryVector Limited, the largest electricity and gas distribution company in New Zealand, is offerring a "home solar power solution", incorporating intelligent battery storage into a traditional solar PV system. In the introductory phase of the programme, a limited number of … Continue Reading → […]
- Sydney City Revises Trigen Power PlanThe City of Sydney has decided not to pursue its plan for a trigeneation power precinct at Green Square at this time but has re-affirmed its commitment to cutting carbon emissions using trigeneration, among other technologies, The decision to halt … Continue Reading → […]
- Vic Council Approves Wind Farm with Community Shares
