New bill proposes 10 million solar roofs across US
By MB-BigB | February 6, 2010
A new bill was introduced in the US Senate by Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that would provide for incentives and tax breaks designed to get 10 million solar roofs and 200,000 solar water heaters deployed over the next 10 years. The rebates would pay for up to half the cost of new solar systems, and would be in addition to a slew of already available tax credits, rebates, and other incentives that are already available at the federal, state, and local levels. Grist.com interviewed Senator Sanders about his bill, and he goes through the math to show what his bill would do:
“Remember that there are already a lot of tax credits, federal and in many states. The federal tax credit would be up to 30 percent off the cost of a project. That’s a lot. Let’s say hypothetically you wanted to spend $40,000 on solar. If you take 30 percent off that, you’re down to $28,000. If you get state help you’re down to $25,000. Then the federal government would pay half of that.”
Topics: Solar Power | No Comments »
Generate electricity from breathing? New energy harvesting rubber could make that happen
By MB-BigB | February 2, 2010
The researchers, led by Michael McAlpine, and assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton, see lots of potential uses for this material. Rubber sheets could be put into your shoes, which would generate enough power from walking (or nervous tapping of your foot) to charge your cell phone. Where does the breathing part fit in? The researchers envision that ”the new electricity-harvesting devices could be implanted in the body to perpetually power medical devices, and the body wouldn’t reject them.” For example, someone with a pacemaker could have this material implanted next to their lungs to allow the breathing motions to power the pacemaker. That would eliminate the need for surgery to replace batteries.
Topics: alternative energy | 1 Comment »
BioFuelBox churns out competitively priced biodiesel from waste grease
By MB-BigB | January 30, 2010
BioFuelBox, using techniques developed by and licensed from the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), have been producing high grade biodiesel fuel from contaminated waste grease – the stuff that comes from wastewater treatment plants or restaurants. The BioFuelBox biodiesel is competitively priced with regular diesel fuel, meets EPA standards, and can be used interchangeably with diesel – no need to modify or use a special engine.
Because the BioFuelBox product is made from the nasty stuff that would usually end up in landfills, their biofuel has the lowest carbon footprint of any transportation fuel. According to the journal Hydrocarbon Processing, the BioFuelBox biodiesel’s carbon footprint is 10 times lower than regular diesel fuel, and four to six times lower than biodiesel made from soybean or palm oil. And since they get the building blocks for their fuel (i.e. the feedstock) basically for free, the price for their biodiesel is competitive without the need for government subsidies.
BioFuelBox currently has one plant in American Falls, Idaho that has produced about 43,000 gallons of its biodiesel – its co-located with a wastewater plant which is where the feedstock comes from. The company future business plans consist of building small all-in-one modular biodiesel plants that can easily be trucked in via flatbed trucks and located at any facility that produces large amounts of waste grease. It’s a great deal because BioFuelBox will take the waste grease for free off of a company’s hands – usually a company has to pay a large amount of money in disposal fees to get rid of it.
via: Idaho National Laboratory
Topics: biofuel | 2 Comments »
GM to build hybrid motors in Baltimore and add 200 jobs
By MB-BigB | January 30, 2010
General Motors this week said that it would start to make its next generation electric motors at its transmission plant in Baltimore, MD. GM is investing $246 million into the plant to make the new motors, which will add about 200 jobs to the payroll, and make it the first US electric motor manufacturing plant operated by a major US manufacturer. GM plans to use the new motors in its next generation of hybrids, which are due in 2013.
Topics: hybrid and electric cars | 1 Comment »
100 amazing lectures on the future of energy
By MB-BigB | January 27, 2010
The folks at OnlineDegreePrograms.org sent me a note to tell me about an online resource they’ve set up to help people learn more about the future of energy. They’ve posted 100 different video lectures on various topics that cover all different types of alternative energy, energy policy, conservation and consumption, business issues, and lots more. Rather than try to explain it, here’s the intro from the site: “As the entire world tries to come up with a common plan to ease the transition into a future based on renewable, clean energy resources rather than oil or fossil fuels, every aspect of our society — from business to transportation to urban design to everyday life — struggles to develop its own solutions. Once you enter the workforce, you’ll be expected to make energy conservation and sustainability a part of your agenda, no matter what industry you’re a part of or what your college degree is. To learn more about the future of energy, check out these 100 amazing lectures.”
I’ve listened to a few of these – it’s pretty interesting stuff. So if you want to check it out, here’s the link.
Topics: alternative energy | 1 Comment »
SunCatcher concentrating solar power plant goes live in Peoria, Arizona
By MB-BigB | January 23, 2010
Tessera Solar has just completed a new Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant in Peoria, Arizona, that uses 60 SunCatcher solar collectors to generate 1.5 megawatts of electricity. The SunCatcher collectors are made by Stirling Energy Systems and use a mirrored parabolic dish that tracks the sun. The sun’s rays are focused a hydrogen gas filled piston that drives a Stirling engine to generate electricity. Stirling Energy says that its system is more efficient and uses less water than other CSP systems. Each SunCatcher dish can generate 25 kilowatts.
As you can see from the picture – these things are pretty large. The guy standing in the middle of the field gives you a sense of scale. When I first saw this, I thought that this would be a good system for a house or a small business to generate its own electricity, but obviously these things are too big for that.
Tessera Solar has a number of other SunCatcher solar projects under development. For more details, check out the Tessera Solar web site.
via: C|Net Greeen Tech
Topics: Solar Power | No Comments »
Cyclone Power and Phoenix Power Group to develop generator that runs on waste oil
By MB-BigB | January 15, 2010
Cyclone Power Technology, a developer of a unique heat regenerative external combustion engine called the Waste Heat Engine (WHE) has signed a deal with the Phoenix Power Group to develop a version of its engine that will run on waste oil And Phoenix Power sure has a lot of waste oil – they’re a subsidiary of the Atlantic Systems Group, a company that designs and builds automotive oil change and service stations.
The deal calls for Cyclone Power to sign over waste oil related rights to its Mark V external combustion engine, so that Phoenix Power can use the engine in its new 5-Series power generators. Cyclone Power’s Mark V engine is a clean burning low heat steam engine that can run on a variety of fuels, including biomass. Phoenix Power’s generators will be the first power generators capable of utilizing waste products (i.e. used motor oil) to produce electricity for on site needs or for a feed to a power grid, and their generators are expected to produce 50 kW of electricity per hour using about 4 1/2 gallons of waste oil. Used oil is a major contaminate of waterways – recycling the used oil to produce electricity not only can save a company on power costs or provide a profit to the company by letting them sell their excess electricity back to the power company, it also stops the oil from potentially contaminating the water supply.
via: Cnet News
Topics: oil conservation | 1 Comment »
New Toyota hybrid, Honda CR-Z hybrid at Detroit Auto Show
By MB-BigB | January 11, 2010
If you want to keep up with the latest news out of the Detroit Auto Show, the New York Times provides a roundup of highlights and news from the Associated Press.
Topics: hybrid and electric cars | No Comments »
Lots of green at the upcoming 2010 Detroit Auto Show
By MB-BigB | January 9, 2010
The 2010 Detroit Auto Show officially starts this Monday, Jan 11th, but there’s lots of sneak previews available. GreenCarReports.com highlights and provides pictures of a number of the hybrid and electric cars that will be shown. So head on over if you’re interested.
GreenCarReports.com – 2010 Detroit Auto Show: Green Concept Cars
Topics: hybrid and electric cars | No Comments »
Hyundai’s new hybrid concept – Blue-Will
By MB-BigB | January 4, 2010
The Blue-Will has a couple of tricks up its sleeve. As you can probably tell from the picture, the body shape reduces aerodynamic drag, and it also has a full-length tray covering all the stuff underneath the car in order to further reduce drag. Some of the body panels are made from carbon fiber and other composite materials, to reduce weight. All the lighting is from LED’s to reduce power usage. Solar cells are embedded in the glass to power a fan to help cool the inside while parked in the sun (like the option available on the 2010 Prius). Here’s something new – in addition to the usual regenerative braking system used to recharge the battery, the Blue-Will will have a thermal generator attached to the exhaust manifold to convert all that heat energy into electricity.
Of course, since the Blue-Will is a concept car only, there’s no word as to whether it will ever see the light of day.
via: Car and Driver (more pictures there too!)
Topics: hybrid and electric cars | 1 Comment »
