Technology

Software for Starving Students

- Adam Clare

Software for Starving Students is a collection of open source software one can download for free. It includes an office suite, firefox, and its own user-friendly interface.
Good software
From the site:

We created the SSS CD because we love open source software and want to help make it more accessible to students all around the world. Although all students need good software to be successful, many have a hard time getting it on student budgets. We empathize with them because we’ve felt that pinch ourselves. This software enables students to achieve more for less, and that inspires us. People all over the world are using free software to make their lives better.

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.

Powerful, Portable, Methanol Machines

- Adam Clare

Fuel cells are often said to be the next leap in power supplies for cars, busses, and other generally large consumers of power, but that is not where most consumers will first use a fuel cell. Methanol-based fuel cells are being used in MP3 players and other handheld electronics already. Using hydrogen, in a very controlled state, the batteries can last over 60 hours.

The catch is that these new batteries are expensive, but with more advanced consumer electronics coming out that require more juice, it seems that the time is rife for these longer-lasting and reusable batteries.

Sea the Power

- Adam Clare

The planet’s seas come in different shapes and sizes, and notably, they have different levels of temperatures in each one. Now a company, Sea Solar Power Inc., is researching a way to use the power of the sun heating the ocean to power our civilization. They plan to put specialized ships around the equator that can generate energy from using what is basically a heat transfer.

The temperature difference form the surface of the sea to low depths is enough to power vapour turbines.

Renewable Energy in 2005 and 2006

- Adam Clare

Sterling D. Allan from Pure Energy Systems has written a year-end review of renewable energy and he includes a projection of what to expect from 2006. It is a really neat read that includes stuff covered here and stuff that I planed to write about here but failed to do.

“Imagine a non-polluting power plant, the size of a local gas station, that would quietly and safely power 4,000 homes, for a few tenths of a penny per kilowatt-hour, compared to 3-6 cents/kw-h of coal or natural-gas-powered plants.”

Really crazy-advanced renewable technologies are on the horizon!

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