Tag Archives: energy
Brazillian designer, João Lammoglia has come up with a couple of renewable energy sources that we hadn’t thought of: The Aire converts the energy of the user’s breathing into electrical energy. Inside the device, small wind turbines produce the electricity which is transferred through a cable to charge a electronic device. The Doormate converts the energy supplied by the user wiping their feet to power an electric doorbell. To enhance the efficiency of the system, the wooden door is used as a sound amplifier.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Bremen have developed a paint which they say improves the efficiency of ships, aircraft and wind turbines by reducing their flow resistance. They have achieved this by modelling the paint’s structure on the scales of fast-swimnming sharks which evolved in a manner that significantly diminishes drag. Carribean Reef Sharl (Image by Albert Kok via Wikimedia)
University of Warwick researchers have made a breakthrough in adsorption systems design that dramatically shrinks heat pumps making them small and light enough for use in both domestic heating and automotive air conditioning. Researchers have long been aware of a very efficient way to drive heat pumps and air conditioners using adsorption technology. This uses heat from a gas flame or engine waste heat to power a closed system containing only active carbon and a refrigerant. When the carbon is at room temperature it adsorbs the refrigerant and when it is heated the refrigerant is driven out. The process can … Continue Reading
Engineers at Princeton University, led by Professor Michael McAlpine, have developed a power-generating rubber film which could harness natural body movements such as breathing and walking, to power pacemakers, mobile phones and other electronic devices. For example, shoes made of the material could harvest the pounding of walking and running to power mobile electrical devices. The material is composed of ceramic nanoribbons embedded into silicone rubber sheets. The nanoribbons are made of lead zirconate titanate, a ceramic material that generates an electrical voltage when pressure is applied to it The silicone sheets, with embedded nanoribbons, generate electricity when flexed and … Continue Reading
The World Future Energy Summit on renewable energy, carbon capture and smart energy technologies is currently underway in Abu Dhabi. It has attracted 600 exhibitors and 9,000 delegates on its first day. Time magazine has summed up the feeling among conference-goers as "the politicians might have failed to act on climate change, but everybody else is going to push on regardless". The magazine points out that total investment in clean energy dropped from $155 billion in 2008 to $130 billion last year but spending has already bounced back and may reach as much as $200 billion by the end of … Continue Reading
Researchers Peter H. Gleick and Heather Cooley at the Pacific Institute in California have published research which shows that bottled water requires as much as 2,000 times more energy to produce than tap water. Gleick and Cooley calculated the energy requirements for various stages in bottled water production, including manufacturing the plastic bottles, processing the water and the bottles, and transporting and cooling the final product. Combining the energy for these stages, the analysis finds that producing bottled water requires between 5.6 and 10.2 megajoules of energy per litre of water – up to 2,000 times the energy cost of … Continue Reading
Michael Palin, a student designer at the University of Western Sydney, has been shortlisted for an Australian Design Award for a neat and attractive way of adding double glazing in a rental property. The "inflatable window" is actually a clear polycarbonate sheet which has the same look and feel as glass. The clear sheet is fitted to a frame that that. uses an inflatable rubber tube to seal it into the window reveal. The rubber tubing provides a 100% air tight seal without damaging the building in any way. The frame hides the inside of the existing window and the … Continue Reading
The UK government is about to give away three thousand free "intelligent" refrigerators. The fridges, which will adapt their power use to the ebb and flow of demands on the national electricity grid, are to be given away in a trial by the UK government next year. A report from the Department of Energy and Climate Change says that widespread use of this dynamic demand technology in Britain could save about 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and a further £222 million ($au500 million) in energy savings. Dynamic demand technology can also be used for other devices such … Continue Reading
According to an analysis done by energy experts at Google, the United States could wean itself from coal and oil for electricity generation and nearly halve its petrol consumption by 2030. The analysis was first published in October but has since been revised in the light of comments and changes such as the decrease in the price of oil. The new analysis is at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/clean-energy-2030.html. Overall, the analysis found that by 2030, the United States could reduce fossil fuel-based electricity generation by 88%, reduce vehicle petroleum consumption by 44% and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 49% at a total cost … Continue Reading
Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, has outlined a new energy plan for the U.S. that the company claims could reduce fossil fuel-based energy generation by 88 percent 2030 at a net saving of a trillion dollars.. The plan calls for the replacement of all coal- and oil-fired electricity generation with natural gas and renewable electricity. This could be done with 380 gigawatts of wind power, 250 gigawatts of solar power and 80 gigawatts of geothermal power. At the same time, efficiency measures are capable of reducing energy requirements by 33%. By 2030, 90% percent of all new car sales would need … 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
