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Kinetic
on May 10, 2010
© Taras Mykytyuk
Inc.com recently took a look at four kinetic energy startups.
Kinetic energy is generated through motion. Nokia recently patented a process for recharging a cell phone's battery with kinetic energy generated from a moderately paced walk. Kinetic energy looks set to provide a new alternative energy niche market. Inc.com sees something of a rush at the moment to get in on the kinetic energy action.
One of the new startups, High Tide, produces a device that fits on the back of your bicycle. Riding the pick for half an hour can charge your cell phone battery. Bionic Power has a device you can wear on one knee and it will charge your cell phone's battery as you walk. Lightening Packs offers a backpack constructed to save kinetic energy on a hike. It can charge your cell phone in about half an hour. Tremont Electric has a small device you can put into your backpack or purse and use to generate energy to recharge your cell phone's battery.
Can kinetic energy be used for anything else? The most obvious additional use is prosthetic limbs - many of which require electricity today.
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Best of
on May 7, 2010
10 Books on Energy &; Environment IfEnergy
Independent from any publisher or author, SEAL introduces its overview of 10 books that all have merit to broaden and deepen the energy debate: 3 books on the role of carbon energy (1-3), 3 books on nuclear (4-6), 3 books on other aspects (7-9) and concluding with last year's book on the ethical dimension of Kyoto. - In 'Sustainable Fossil Fuels' Mark Jaccard doubts our prospects for moving away quickly from [...] Read More
Russian Energy Firms Consolidates the Energy Market IfEnergy
Two energy giants in the former Soviet Union have joined forces to gain massive control over the Russian energy market. According to this article the heads of state-controlled Gazprom and Rosneft have signed an agreement on strategic cooperation which will control the energy market of Russia. That includes oil, gas, and even energy bids and contracts. Critics and industry experts see the cooperation between the two giants as a super energy [...] Read More
Highest Sunlight-to-Energy Photovoltaic Device Unveiled IfEnergy
According to an article from Information Week, Boeing-Spectrolab has successfully developed a high-efficiency solar cell with a conversion ratio of 40.7% (sunlight to energy), the highest level ever achieved by any photovoltaic device. Currently, photovoltaic devices achieve anywhere from 12 to 18 percent sunlight-to-energy conversion efficiency and this breakthrough by the US Department of Energy sponsored activity has been verified by the United States National Energy Laboratory. With the continued rise [...] Read More
Controversial books Let'sGoLiterature
Banned books invoke strange emotions in people. As humans we often want to experience anything specifically denied to us, so many people automatically want to read any banned book. Others heed the warning and try to stay out of the same room with a banned book. Books get banned for many reasons. Some schools ban books with language or racial slurs or for non-PG 13 content. A number [...] Read More
WAshington University Invests $55M on International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) The Biotech Weblog
The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) has been spearheaded by the Washington University in St. Louis to encourage and coordinate university-wide and external collaborative research in the areas of renewable energy and sustainability including biofuels, CO2 mitigation and coal-related issues. A key goal of I-CARES is to foster institutional, regional and international research on the development and production of biofuels from plant and microbial systems and the [...] Read More
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Wind
on April 28, 2010
© laura padgett
Several sources (CNN, Renewable Energy World, Venture Beat) are following events surrounding the approval of America's first offshore wind farm - in Massachusetts' Nantucket Sound.
US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved the project on Wednesday - after nine years of planning that has bitterly divided Cape Cod residents. The wind farm will have 130 turbines and (when fully operational) will supply all of the power needs of Cape Cod.
The wind farm has faced steep opposition. American Indian tribes in the region say the project will desecrate sacred grounds and interfere with sunrise rituals. The Kennedy family and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney have opposed the project. ON the other hand, every environmental group of consequence in the US has voiced support for the project.
Opponents of the project say they will now take up their fight in court.
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H2
on April 26, 2010
© Courtesy of MIT
A researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has engineered a virus that splits hydrogen from oxygen to allow the hydrogen to be captured for use as fuel.
Angela Belcher, the MIT researcher, was Scientific American's 2006 researcher of the year, and Scientific American is reporting the story.
The virus Belcher engineered uses a process similar to photosynthesis in plants to separate the hydrogen in water from the oxygen. Of course, that's still only half the battle. The process would become much more useful if a way could be found to make the hydrogen atoms recombine into H2 molecules.
Hydrogen cars still face a number of obstacles on the way to a marketable, practical automobile. But this breakthrough may help overcome one of those obstacles by eventually providing an easy way to create hydrogen fuel from water.
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H2
on April 23, 2010
©
vitroid
The Associated Press reported recently on new developments in the effort to make burning hydrogen in a car's internal combustion engine practical and affordable.
Development of a marketable hydrogen car has been faced with incredible obstacles. While hydrogen is environmentally friendly, it is also both explosive and highly flammable as a gas. That brings profound safety concerns to the design table when engineers look at developing a practical hydrogen-powered automobile. The lack of any refueling infrastructure has also been a problem. And the weight of a hydrogen fuel cell has also be a hindrance - until now.
An Israeli company based in Geneva, Switzerland, C.En Ltd., has developed a system of light glass filaments that bond with hydrogen. The system makes a car's fuel cell comparable in weight to a normal gas tank.
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