Technology

Renewable Energy Gaining Capital

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

The renewable energy sector is attracting a lot of investment recently, which is great to hear. This is good news because the forces of capitalism are working in favour of our environment. Here’s some great examples of all this renewed interest in renewable energy.

Great new technological development in solar power:

“CA-based Nanosolar had raised $100 million to finance a new solar-cell factory based on an inexpensive process, similar to that used to print newspapers, and that it will make enough cells to produce 430 megawatts of power annually, is just one sign that new types of solar power are emerging as a viable alternative energy source.”

Wind power is generating interest:

“The report says wind power is the world’s fastest-growing energy source with an average annual growth rate of 29 percent over the last ten years. In contrast, over the same time period, coal use has grown by 2.5 percent per year, nuclear power by 1.8 percent, natural gas by 2.5 percent, and oil by 1.7 percent. ”

There is more evidence that switching from non-renwable energy to renewable energy will help create jobs:

Tackling the green challenge can create Welsh jobs

2006 is looking to be a great year for improved energy technologies.

Nativetext Translates RSS Feeds

- Adam Clare

Nativetext is a great idea for spreading information across languages. THey have a novel “hight-tech” solution to all this needed translating. “Using a new kind of distributed supercomputing, foreign language translation is performed by a network of humans around the world, not machines.”

It’s not fully operational yet, but I can’t until it is.

The Poop-Powered Generator of the Future?

- Benny Powers 1 Comment

Scientist at Ghent University in Belgium and University of Queensland in Australia are working on a prototype device that generates electricity from the solid waste that we humans produce every day.

The process works by harnessing the energy that waste-eating bacteria make and turning it into electricity.

Not surprisingly, the researchers are hoping to use the technology to power water treatment plants, but they say a domestic power plant is also possible in the future

Algae Isn’t All Smoke and Mirrors

- Cam Proctor 3 Comments

I’m sure everyone is aware of the amazing properties of algae. Prepare to gain newfound respect for our small flora, they could be the next biodiesel crops. Fed a generous helping of CO2-laden emissions, lets say ……. courtesy of a power plant’s exhaust stack, the algae cleans the exhaust and grows at phenominal rates. After the CO2 is soaked up like a sponge, the algae is harvested daily. From that harvest, a combustible vegetable oil is squeezed out i.e. biodiesel for automobiles. Additionally the exhaust contains 40 percent less CO2 (a larger cut than the Kyoto treaty mandates) and another bonus, 86 percent less nitrous oxides. What a little workhorse.

Creater, Berzin of MIT calculates the biodiesel crop potential at 15,000 gallons per acre. To put that in perspective soybeans (currently the major source of biodiesel fuels) produce just 60 gallons per acre. Berzin isnt alone in the algae-to-oil race. Competiator (yes people compete over this stuff) Greenshift Corporation, a Mount Arlington, N.J., technology incubator company, licensed CO2-gobbling algae technology that uses a screen-like algal filter. It was developed by David Bayless, a researcher at Ohio University. One can only hope more competing algae will result in good things.

Emergency Lighting

- Adam Clare

The next time that the lights go out they may just glow. A company has created lights that are able to glow blue-green once the power is cut. Originally designed for the U.S. navy, the lights can be repurposed for any building.

This means that during a fire or some other mishap people will still be able to find their way out of buildings. If the light tubes break they will still glow – so they can be carried around – and what’s more is that the glowing is bright enough most people’s eyes need not adjust.

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