Monthly Archives: July 2011
Could the current scandals surrounding Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation organisation be a sign that printed newspapers are in their death throes? Dubious behaviour in a corporation and its management is often a sign of a failing business desperate for revenue. Printed newspapers are a relic of the industrial age and News Corporation seems to be an organisation whose thinking has has not progressed beyond that age. Another sign of desperation and old-fashioned thinking is the Murdoch plan to charge for access to his news web sites. Other businesses are able to thrive on the Internet without doing this … Continue Reading
Delft University of Technology is currently testing an intelligent street lighting system which reduces electricity consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 80%, reduces light pollution and is cheaper to maintain than current systems. The system, which was designed by Chintan Shah for a competition to improve the University’s energy efficiency, consists of LED street lights, motion sensors and wireless communication. When there are no cars, cyclists or pedestrians in the vicinity, the lights are dimmed to about 20% of their normal power while passers-by move in a safe circle of light. An added bonus is the fact that the … Continue Reading
California Institute of Technology researchers believe that a new approach to wind farm design may provide significant efficiency gains. The Caltech team is focusing on the efficiency of the entire wind farm, rather than the efficiency of individual turbines. John Dabiri, Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, at Caltech observed that "because conventional, propeller-style wind turbines must be spaced far apart to avoid interfering with one another aerodynamically, much of the wind energy that enters a wind farm is never tapped. In effect, modern wind farms are the equivalent of ‘sloppy eaters.’ To compensate, they’re built taller and larger to … Continue Reading
MIT researchers have found a compound, made from abundant and inexpensive materials, which can store and release solar thermal energy in a chemical form without degrading. The material could be used to make rechargeable thermal batteries which could store the energy for long periods without loss. Thermo-chemical storage of solar energy uses a molecule whose structure changes when exposed to sunlight and remains stable in that form indefinitely. Then, when nudged by a stimulus, such as a catalyst, a small temperature change or a flash of light, it can quickly snap back to its original form, releasing its stored energy … Continue Reading
A Brooklyn company called SMIT(Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology) is taking orders for a product called Solar Ivy which is leaf-like solar panels that can be arranged artistically on a building’s facade. Solar Ivy can be customized in several ways: Each leaf can be coloured. The density of the leaves can be increased or reduced for energy gain, visibility requirements or architectural needs. The leaves can have more or less pitch or angle at different places to take into account architectural and aesthetic priorities Solar Ivy can be produced with one of several different types of photovoltaic material. The stainless steel … Continue Reading
The Post-Carbon Institute has published a report which claims to shatter the "myth" that natural gas can be a bridge fuel between oil and coal and a renewable energy future for the United States. Without gas from shale, the US Energy Information Administration estimates that gas production will fall by 20% by 2035. However, replacing coal would require a 64% increase in gas production and replacing oil another 100%. Extraction of shale gas requires high energy and water inputs – and the wells rapidly become depleted.. It involves controversial hydraulic fracturing and the need to dispose of toxic drilling fluids … 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
