Concentrated solar power isn’t just for deserts, it could be for walls too
Usually when you read about concentrated solar power, it's referring to some large project destined for the Mojave Desert, but Syracuse's Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (SyracuseCoE) has set out to prove that this technology can be used in smaller, colder settings.
SyracuseCoE in Syracuse, NY is itself a LEED-platinum-certified, 55,000 square-foot building that serves as a testing ground for renewable energy and efficiency technologies. The south wall of the building is home to a concentrated solar facade that, at first glance, resembles the frosted cube walls found in doctors' office waiting rooms.
This 8-foot by 8-foot facade houses several clear pyramid lenses that track the sun and concentrate the rays onto high-efficiency PV cells. Extra energy not converted to electricity is used for heating water and radiant heat in the building. And because it's made up of clear panels, it also adds natural lighting indoors. You can watch a video of the system at work here.
Using a concentrated solar power system in an architectural application is a new concept, so the center will be monitoring and reporting on its performance.
The facade was designed by the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology and the company HeliOptix is licensed to market it.
via Jetson Green
Print This Post
Google Maps adds bicycle information
Beginning today, Google has begun providing bicycle directions for its Google Maps service with directions for cyclists in 150 cities in the United States. Google already incorporates public-transit and walking directions in addition to automobile driving directions, and the bicycling community has been calling for Google to add bike routes for some time.
The routing suggested for cyclists is designed to avoid freeways and high-traffic areas, and to select gentler terrain by routing around hills. To make it even more useful for riders on the go, Google expects to have a mobile version available in the near future, as well.
Print This Post
Report says LEDs in short supply
A new report from technology research corporation iSuppli warns that we're facing a global LED shortage in 2010. Hooray!
Why am I cheering? Because the reason for this shortage is a huge surge in demand for the energy-efficient lighting in the electronics industry. Yes, it's bad that the supply is low, but it's great news that the use of more efficient lighting is becoming more mainstream.
The report says that demand for LEDs is expected to rise by double-digit percentages for at least the next three years. In 2009, 63 billion units were consumed out of the 75 billion unit capacity worldwide. The worst-case scenario is a rise in prices for mid-range and high-end computers and HDTVs because of their larger displays.
The solution is simple enough though: increase production. The two largest suppliers have gotten the hint -- Aixtron and Veeco Instruments are doubling their production by the end of this year.
via PC Mag
Print This Post
Save your battery: Unplug your laptop
A recent article from Lawrence Berkely Laboratory suggests that readers should 'Pull the plug. Your battery will thank you.' Researcher Venkat Srinivasan writes about batteries and battery chemistry rather specifically, but without becoming overwhelmingly technical.
He explains how batteries begin to fail and suggests keeping your computer unplugged as a way of extending the life of your battery. I pulled the plug on mine as soon as I read the article, and I'm now writing this on battery power.
On the other hand, if you charge the battery and then pull the plug (so to speak), the battery discharges some, the voltage drops, and these reactions become less of a problem and your battery life goes up. So the best things you can do is to charge the laptop (or cell phone, camera, etc.) and once its charged, pull the plug. Your battery will thank you for it.
This also has relevance for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle owners, whose batteries have the same characteristics. A car sitting in a garage for hours, full charged, is going to be slowly deteriorating the battery. Manufacturers may already be incorporating measures into battery packs to address this problem, but this highlights just one of the many potential issues battery makers need to address in order to keep portable electrical devices functioning.
This week in batteries may not be on everyone's RSS feed right away. But engineers for computer companies, electric vehicle manufacturers, cell phone, and other portable device makers should be following him. While the articles run to the technical, the information is accessible for all kinds of battery geeks.
Print This Post
Texas wind is more than grid can handle
While the focus continues to be on expanding means and methods for generating electricity from renewable sources, the limits of the existing grid to handle that generated power and distribute it to where it is needed are beginning to show.
Last weekend in Texas, wind power reached a record high point of 6,242 MW represented 22% of demand. That's fantastic news, and we love to see that kind of records being broken.
However, utility officials were forced to curtail wind power generation "because the supply of electricity outstripped the capacity of lines to move the power to urban areas such as Dallas-Fort Worth."
Production needs to continue to increase. But this points out what may become a more frequent problem, and dealing with the grid cannot be forgotten either.
image: CC 2.0/ roxannejomitchell
Print This Post
Pickens revises his plan, gives up on wind?
In case you thought that after all the setbacks, T. Boone Pickens was giving up, he's reminding us that he's still around and he still has a plan (albeit a different one) to free America of its dependence on oil.
In a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle, Pickens outlined revisions to his original plan that was big on wind power and natural gas-powered cars. To sum it up in five words: less wind, more natural gas.
Here are his main points:
- Natural gas prices have fallen 70 percent in the last year making it more attractive than wind financially.
- He's still committed to wind energy, but thinks even if we add wind power, we'll need natural gas to act as a back up until there's better power storage.
- Discovery of more natural gas shales has lead him to believe that now is the time to amp up its use in generating electricity and converting 18-wheelers to run on it. Doing so would decrease oil demand by 2.5 million barrels a day.
- He believes Congress will pass an energy plan by Memorial Day, hopefully including the Natural Gas Act that would support converting trucks and fleet vehicles to the fuel.
I agree that power storage is a huge hurdle wind and other renewables have to overcome if we want to start replacing fossil fuels with clean energy, and until we get there, having natural gas fill in those gaps isn't a bad idea, but I am disappointed that he's lost the huge enthusiasm he once had for wind energy.
It was nice having an ex-oil tycoon dreaming big about wind.
Print This Post
Better math saves lots of energy
Energy savings of 99% over previous methods probably sound like snake oil. But some math geeks have been able to find a way so that computers can use only 1% of the energy (and the time) necessary for some tasks.
IBM has announced a new data-processing algorithm that enables large sets of data to be processed in a fraction of the time and with only a fraction of the electricity, as was previously needed. Supercomputer testing of the algorithm showed that the process speeds the calculations and reduces the power consumption by two orders of magnitude.
"The new method was tested on the fourth largest supercomputer in the world and what would normally have taken a day, was crunched in 20 minutes. In terms of energy savings, the analysis required 700 kilowatt-hours total, compared with 52800 kilowatt-hours total."
Not only does this mean that far less electricity is needed for data-intensive operations, but also more work will be able to be scheduled onto the same number of machines. And while the demonstration was carried out on a powerful supercomputer, the intent of the research was to make intensive data-processing activities more readily available and accessible to scientists who do not have supercomputers.
via: Slashdot
image: IBM press release
Print This Post
Five green steps for moving to a new home
(Photo: Getty Images)
I recently moved out of my apartment, and as I packed my 10-years' worth of belongings under the strain of a deadline to leave my old place, I discovered how easy it is for even the most eco-minded person to be extremely un-green and create a lot of waste during this one very big event.
So I decided to make a plan for how to do it right:
1. Throwing out
The key in the moving process is time. Plan for time ahead of your move to assess which belongings are going with you and what it's time to part with. Clean out closets, cabinets, and under the beds so you can review and responsibly deal with your stuff.
Set a personal goal to not put anything in the trash. I always see piles of belongings next to the trash dumpsters of apartment buildings from people who moved hastily and just put their unwanteds by the curb thinking the local homeless dumpster-divers or junk collectors will take it. While this may be true for some items, in the meantime, it's a major eyesore for the neighborhood and a lot of it just ends up in landfills.
Yes, one man's trash is truly another's treasure, and there are plenty of resources for you to post all those impulse purchases, ill-thought gifts, mismatching sets of housewares, and outgrown clothes. While you may think of it as junk now, you may be surprised what people are willing to take off your hands by posting it to Craigslist, Freecycle, or eBay.
You could even make a little money from it. Or just have a good ol' fashion garage sale and whatever doesn't sell, donate to charity.
Don't know what to do with your stuff? Get tips from the Green Cheapskate's post: "When you can't decide if it's clutter or treasure."
2. Repurposing unwanted items
Take a good look at the items you no longer want - there may be a plethora of scraps that can be repurposed into something else. Now is the time to embrace your inner Martha Stewart and get crafty.
An old coat or pillowcase could be cut up and made into a tote bag, those CDs of bands from the ‘80s could be a groovy set of coasters, some earrings and pendants you no longer wear might make dazzling Christmas tree ornaments or wine glass charms. Sites such as Instructables and HowStuffWorks provide lots of ideas and how-to's for making new items from old ones.
Search for more craft websites.
Make a pile of potential craft projects and put them in a box to tackle after your move. If you don't get around to it in six months, try posting the supplies section of Etsy - other crafty people may be thrilled to use what you've got.
3. Recycling
Before you do a big clean-out, get up to speed on what can be recycled through your city's curbside program. Stacks of magazines and newspapers, piled-up junk mail (be sure to shred anything that could be used for identity theft), phone books, and metal clothes hangers are likely contenders.
Some items are actually hazardous and may require special handling (and can be illegal to toss in the trash). These include TVs, computer monitors, and batteries to name a few. But they can be recycled at surprisingly convenient drop-off points at major retail locations like Staples, Office Depot, and Goodwill.
To find out who takes what, go to Earth 911.com and type in the type of items you have and your ZIP code for a list of places near you that will recycle at no charge. Be sure to plot your course so you can load up the car and hit all the places you need in one trip to save even more carbons.
Find your city's curbside recycling information.
4. Packing
Once you get down to just the items you want to take with you, the trick will be how to pack it in a green way. A quick search on Craigslist, Freecycle, or your local classified should turn up plenty of free or super cheap boxes you can take off the hands of people who just moved.
Movegreen offers a cardboard box swap program for residents of California. When you're done, be sure to pay it forward and post the boxes for someone else to reuse rather than trashing them. Reusing is even better than recycling in this case. The clever folks at Rent a Green Box and The Green Box Guys have upped the ante on this idea and created more durable reusable plastic bins made from recycled materials. Then when you're done, they take the bins away for you.
For packing materials, save bubble wrap and packaging from items you've purchased online, and reuse the stuff. Or repurpose that stack of newspapers sitting by the couch, even use your own clothes or linens to wrap breakables - then you're moving two items at once!
Find more green packing supply services.
5. Get moving
Transportation of people and property is one of biggest environmental hazards we face today. When we move, if it's within the same city, it usually requires lots of trips back and forth to haul our goods.
Consider renting a large moving van after you have everything completely packed and ready. Then load it up. If you've estimated how much stuff you have correctly, this should only take one trip and you're done.
Or get some help by looking into professional movers that have eco-friendly practices. For example Movegreen, mentioned above, will transport your belongings using B20 biodiesel vehicles. They also plant trees and purchase carbon offsets to counter any unavoidable, un-eco actions.
Search for green movers in your area.
When it's all over, you can settle into your new place with no waste and the peace of mind that you relocated on the planet without being harmful to it.
Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.
Print This Post
Self-contained solar power system is only 9mm
Researchers at the University of Michigan have unveiled their latest breakthrough: A tiny solar power system that contains a processor, battery, and solar cells all in 9 cubic millimeters!
The miniature system measures 2.5 by 3.5 by 1 millimeters -- 1,000 times smaller than any comparable commercial system. It's extremely energy efficient and the scientists say that it could almost operate perpetually if the battery didn't have to be replaced after many years.
The system uses an ARM processor -- a popular, widely-used processor which will make commercial adoption of this technology much easier.
The system could be remodeled to generate power from movement or heat instead of light, making it fit for a variety of uses. Like the small, flexible kinetic-energy harvester we profiled a last month, the scientists also see this device serving as a power source for medical implants like pacemakers. Other possibilities include powering environmental sensors that track air and water quality and motion sensors for buildings, homes and bridges.
The good news is that the researchers are already working on commercially developing the system. With a host of possible applications, who knows where this itty bitty power generator might end up.
via University of Michigan Print This Post
Recycling robot sorts six types of plastic
EcoGeeks love robots. And recycling. So, what could be better than a robot that helps us recycle?
Osaka University and Mitsubishi Electric Engineering Co. have designed a robot with laser-sensing technology that can distinguish six different types of plastic from all other garbage. The 5' 6" x 6' 9" machine identifies the plastic materials by analyzing the reflectivity of five different wavelengths of lasers on the garbage. Once it identifies the material, it sorts the garbage into different piles.
The purpose of the robot is to streamline the recycling process and increase the amount of plastic that gets recycled. Often confusion about what types of plastic are recyclable versus non-recyclable results in lower recycling rates in Japan, where people have to sort all of their plastics. With this robot taking care of that sorting, people could more confidently recycle.
Only one prototype robot currently exists and is undergoing testing in Japan. Smaller versions of the robot are expected to go into production soon and will sell for around $55,000. With that steep price tag, the robot would probably be better suited for commercial and industrial purposes. I can't see many people paying that much to have one at home.
via Telegraph
Print This Post
