Archive for August, 2009
Shape changing wind turbine blades can boost efficiency and longevity
Monday, August 24th, 2009 prototype morphing helicopter rotor blade
Researchers at both San Diego State University and the University of Bristol in England have been researching the feasibility of using shape changing, or morphing blades on wind turbines. By changing shape depending on the wind conditions, they’re finding that they can make wind turbines more efficient plus longer lasting. [...]
Ford looking for more efficient plug-in hybrid charging process
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009Ford Motors just announced that they are developing a new control system for use in its upcoming (2012) plug-in hybrid electric cars. The new system will allow the car to communicate with the electric grid and let the owner of the car set and adjust the timing of its charging schedule. For example, [...]
Blacklight Power moving ahead – gets its research validated
Friday, August 14th, 2009Blacklight Power, who I highlighted a couple of weeks ago, announced this week that they’ve gotten third party verification of their technique for generating energy from water. Researchers at Rowan University developed and ran a series of tests to “…establish whether or not BlackLight had discovered a new low-energy form of hydrogen dubbed a [...]
Lots of small scale solar projects in the news this week
Saturday, August 8th, 2009For some reason, I’m seeing a bunch of articles about various small scale solar projects in the news this week. Maybe its because there’s a lack of large scale projects hitting the news, I don’t know. But lots of smaller ones add up.
Here’s some links to a few of them:
Nissan adding all electric Leaf to its lineup in 2010
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009Nissan Leaf
Nissan Leaf dashboard
Nissan Motor Co showed off its new electric, zero emissions car, the Nissan Leaf this week, with the announcement that they will begin selling the Leaf hatchback a little over a year from now in the US, Japan and Europe. Two more models of the Leaf are expected soon after. [...]
BlackLight Power claims energy from water, and signs sixth utility deal to provide power
Saturday, August 1st, 2009This is interesting – BlackLight Power is a company that is claiming to be able to lower the energy level of hydrogen atoms below ground state, which they say will enable them to produce power for about 1 cent per kilowatt hour, using mostly water. The fact that many scientists say that this is [...]