Archive for March, 2007
« Previous EntriesFirst EU commercial concentrating solar power tower opens in Spain
Saturday, March 31st, 2007Environment News Service reports that the first European commecial concentrating solar power plant began operation today near Seville, Spain.
The solar thermoelectric plant, which will output 11 megawatts, uses 624 large movable mirrors, or heliostats to concentrate the sun’s rays at the top of a 377 foot high tower. The tower contains a solar [...]
Science Daily: New ‘Biofuel Cell’ produces Electricity from Hydrogen in Plain Air
Tuesday, March 27th, 2007Science Daily has a report on a pioneering “biofuel cell” that produces electricty from regular air spiked with a small amount of hydrogen. This biofuel cell has the potential to turn into inexpensive and renewable atlernative to current platinum based fuel cells.
Dr. Fraser Armstrong, leading a team at Oxford University, built the biofuel [...]
USA Today: States work to reduce global warming
Sunday, March 25th, 2007USA Today details some of the actions that US States are doing on their own and collectively to reduce greenhouse gases and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
“But not all states are on board. No states in the South and only a handful in the Midwest have formed coalitions to reduce global warming even though those [...]
Want a plug-in hybrid? Build one yourself!
Saturday, March 24th, 2007You can get a three-wheel 225 mpg plug-in hybrid in June, but you’ll need to make it yourself. Riley Enterprises, a product design firm out of Glendale, Arizona says that it will introduce plans for its XR-3 plug-in hybrid, a all-wheel drive, three-wheel sports car. The company plans to eventually introduce a [...]
Ford showcases world’s first driveable fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle
Saturday, March 24th, 2007Ford Motor company showed off what they’re calling the world’s first driveable fuel cell electric plug-in car. The Ford Edge with their Hyseries Drive uses an onboard hydrogen fuel cell generator with lithium-ion batteries to achieve more than 41 mpg with zero emissions. The car also has the ability to recharge its batteries [...]
Solar Airconditioners
Tuesday, March 20th, 2007C|Net News is writing about SolCool One, a company that has developed an air conditioner that runs off the sun. The air conditioner can be run from solar panels, a wall socket, or even on batteries. But no matter what the source of power, the SolCool will lower electricity costs [...]
GM to Sell Cheapest Hybrid Yet
Tuesday, March 20th, 2007General Motors has announced plans to sell the lowest priced hybrid on the US market beginning this month. The Saturn Aura sedan has a starting price of $22.695, which is $100 less than the Toyota Prius. While the EPA mileage rating is less than the Prius, it is equal to the [...]
Applied Materials Planning Largest US Corporate Solar Power Installation
Sunday, March 18th, 2007Applied Materials, Inc, a maker of semiconductor manufacturing material and solar photovoltaic equipment, is planning to install the largest solar power installation on an existing corporate facility in the United States.
Once completed in 2008, the new solar power system is expected to generate over 1.9 megawatts, which is bigger than system being built for the [...]
My First Close Look at a Wind Farm
Friday, March 16th, 2007I’ve started this blog about a year ago and have been posting all these articles about wind farms, but it recently occurred to me that I had never actually seen one close up. That changed yesterday when I went down to the Jersey shore and as we were driving down the Atlantic City [...]
Efficient Methods Could Bail Out Biofuels – Study
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007Planet Ark talks about researchers who are developing more efficient ways to manufacture biofuels, which could generate enough fuel to supply the entire US transporation sector while also sharply reducing the amount of raw materials required to produce it.
The recent increases in the use of ethanol is causing turmoil among environmentalists because most of today’s [...]