Archive for March, 2010
Nissan Leaf pricing announced – about $27,000 in US (after tax credits)
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010Nissan has just come out with pricing details for its Leaf plug-in electric car. The all electric Leaf will carry, when it comes out in December of this year, a base price (MSRP) of $32,780 (which doesn’t include $820 for shipping). Add to that the approximately $2,200 cost of a home charging [...]
US Air Force success – first flight using 50/50 mix of biofuel and jet fuel
Sunday, March 28th, 2010 Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II using a mix of biofuel and jet fuel
On Thursday, the US Air Force took a big step towards hitting their goal of a 50% switchover to alternative fuels by conducting their first test flight of an A-10C Thunderbolt using a 50/50 blend of Hydrotreated Renewable Jet (HRJ) biofuel and JP-8 [...]
Robots from NREL build better solar cells
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 NREL robot to make and test solar cells
The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) has come up with a robot that makes thin-film solar cells faster and with more precision than ever before. According to the NREL press release, the robot can build a semi-conductor on a six inch square piece of plastic, glass or flexible [...]
GE targeting First Solar in battle for film thin sales
Sunday, March 21st, 2010General Electric announced this week that they’re going to be focusing on thin film solar cells for their future solar power product lines. In doing so, GE will be taking on industry leader First Solar, which is the leading producer of low cost cadmium telluride (cad tel) thin film solar cells. First Solar also has [...]
Transonic Combustion developing ultra-efficient gasoline engine
Thursday, March 18th, 2010Transonic Combustion test vehicle and fuel injector
Hybrids aren’t the only way to increase fuel economy and reduce emissions. A startup company based in Camarillo, CA – Transonic Combustion, has developed a new type of fuel injection system that they say can improve a gasoline engine’s efficiency by more than 50%. A recent test vehicle [...]
Google continuing alternative energy push by developing prototype mirror for solar thermal power
Sunday, March 14th, 2010Google.org, the company’s philanthropic group, has been investing in alternative power research for awhile now. Recently, Google came out with a pretty significant announcement – they’ve developed a prototype mirror that could cut the cost of solar thermal power in half. In any solar thermal plant, the mirrors are the most expensive part, [...]
CNET drives a Chevy Volt
Saturday, March 13th, 2010GM showed off some of its upcoming plug-in electric hybrid Chevy Volts this week, at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, by letting a bunch of media types and assorted scene maker drive them around a closed course. CNET reporter Caroline McCarthy was one of those lucky 75, and she provides [...]
Treehugger test drives the Volkswagen 2011 Touareg hybrid
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Treehugger.com reports that the new VW 2011 Touareg hybrid, the first hybrid to come from Volkswagen, will get between 20 mpg in the city, and 27 mpg on the highway. And despite Treehugger’s normal adversion to big gas guzzling SUV’s, they liked the driving experience. After all, if people are still going [...]
Pure Wafer makes its solar cells from scraps
Saturday, March 6th, 2010A UK based silicon wafer recycling company named Pure Wafer has announced that it will start manufacturing high efficiency solar cells from the scrap material it processes. Pure Wafer’s core business is to help semiconductor manufacturers “gain further efficiencies through the increased re-use of silicon test wafers within their production processes.” Now [...]
Wired: 10 Companies Reinventing our Energy Infrastructure
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010Wired Science has an article today on 10 companies that are “reinventing our energy infrastructure.” The 10 companies they talk about recently presented at a Department of Energy ARPA-E symposium and covered everything from “the actual wires that power is transmitted on to the waste heat produced in industrial processes.” Hit the [...]