OK, I’m about to cry…

In 1931, not long before he died, the [Edison] told his friends Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone: “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”

AGGHHHHCHCC!!!

That, from the New York Times Magazine, is the conclusion of an excellent article on the Clean Green Thinking of America’s most famous inventor, Thomas Edison. You can read the whole article here, but the gist is that Edison worked on various green initiatives, including electric cars, wind turbines, and an off-the-grid home in New Jersey that the New York Times then called "utterly and for all time independent of the nearness or farness of the big electric companies."

From this, I learn two things. First, apparently "farness" used to be a word. Second, our reliance on cheap fossil fuels has created a kind of stagnation in the energy industry that is pretty depressing. It’s just as Edison feared, we’ve had to wait until oil and coal are running out to tackle the abundant renewable energy created by our natural environment. He wasn’t an environmentalist, so don’t let the New York Times fool you there, but he knew a good idea when he saw one. And now, finally, we’re moving forward once again.

One million text messages. That’s how residents of China’s port city of Xiamen spread word to protest — and eventually halt — construction of a chemical plant on Thursday. The $1.4 billion facility was meant to produce the petrochemical paraxylene, exposure to which can cause eye, nose or throat irritation, affect the central nervous system and may cause death. Though international standards dictate that such a plant should be 100 km from the nearest city, the short text messages that mobilized Xiamen’s smart mob warned the factory would have been only 16 km away.

While the central government is clearly showing more interest in protecting the environment, local governments, eager to cut corners in the name of economics, are helping block the path to sustainable development. But the Xiamen protests, thousands of people strong, are the latest sign of people power in China, where tens of thousands of protests over tainted land and water are recorded every year, threatening the government’s dream of a "harmonious society" while pointing the way forward for environmental action in a place that seriously needs some.

That local officials in Xiamen reportedly began blocking text messages too in an attempt to stem the protests, and that the protests continued apace, is an indication that, try as it might, China’s authoritarian controls simply can’t keep up with the power of cell phones blogs, bulletin boards, and the smartmobs they might create. (Local governments are getting into the SMS act themselves, using text messages to warn citizens of floods and even stop protests.)

Clearly, stopping protests just isn’t possible the way it used to be. Between increasing countryside unrest (there may be nothing scarier to the government) and deadly pollution (China’s rural cancer rate rose by 23 percent in the past two years, and more than 70 percent of the country’s waterways and 90 percent of its underground water are contaminated ) something’s gotta give.

Since the plant’s not been completely scrapped, residents are still protesting, according to Reuters. And the more word spreads, the more likely it is that protests will continue elsewhere too. An large expansion of a chemical plant in the southeastern city of Quanzhou that produces paraxylene and other chemicals was announced in March, funded by China’s No. 2 oil company, Sinopec, Saudi Aramco, and ExxonMobil Corp. Paraxylene is a key material in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) saturated polyester polymers — the stuff of which the world’s plastic bottles are made.

Via SFGate and Asia Sentinel

Much like the roofs of houses and warehouses, a car roof is just empty space, so why not hook up some solar cells to the latest hybrids? Solar Electrical Vehicles is looking to do just that with a solar roof module for hybrid cars. The cost is about $2000-$4000 for a supplemental battery and solar module rated at 200-300 watts. For the Prius this adds up to 20 miles per day of electric mode driving with higher-capacity batteries adding another 10 miles.

Modules in production work with the Toyota Prius, Highlander and RAV4 EV, Ford Escape Hybrid and Dodge Sprinter Hybrid. In the future they hope to integrate them with Teslas and upgrade to a 320-watt module, up from 212-watts currently.

While not adding a whole lot of economic benefit to hybrid cars, it’s an easy solution for people looking to squeeze more juice out of them. Unlike solar additions in homes, hybrid cars have the technology already built in to benefit from a solar add-on making them a simple installation.

Via: Treehugger

Acumentrics Corporation, a leading developer of solid-oxide fuel cells and uninterruptible power supplies, has won a 2007 New England Innovation Award from SBANE, the Smaller Business Alliance of New England for their novel solid oxide fuel cell.

Acumentrics manufactures 5000-watt solid oxide fuel cell systems (SOFC) for power applications. They are also developing combined-heat-and-power units (which are like boilers that produce electricity) for the home market. In 2000 they acquired a novel fuel cell technology. Since then, they have increased the output of a single fuel cell tube from 1 watt to 60 watts. Today they have over 30 units working in the field, including ones that power visitorÂ’s centers at Exit Glacier National Park in Alaska, and Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio.

One of their key innovations was making ceramic fuel cell technology shatter resistant. It is shatter resistant because of its shape — it is a tube, not a thin sheet as most others have used –with a special composition of layers that prevents them from flaking off. Solid oxide fuel cells must handle temperature swings from 20 to 800ºC. Many other solid oxide fuel cells crack when they are cycled on and off, because of thermal shock.

But what really makes Acumentrics different is that they aren’t waiting around for the mythical hydrogen economy. The fuel cells run on natural gas, propane, ethanol, diesel, biogas, and biodiesel. While using non-hydrogen fuel means that the cell will produce CO2, Acumentrics fuel cells consume half as much fuel as a comparable small-engine generator, per kW. So they produce the same amount of electricity, while consuming half as much fuel, and producing half as much CO2.

Via: Treehugger

We’ve already heard that the 2008 Toyota Prius might be capable of over 80 miles per gallon, but it looks like Toyota isn’t stopping there. Lithium Technology Corporation has just created a prototype plug-in Prius that demonstrably gets 125+ miles per gallon. The car uses a new kind of large-scale lithium ion battery that uses lithium iron phosphate as the cathode (wikipedia).

These batteries are well suited for cars. First, they don’t explode when punctured and second, they have a very high discharge current. The Prius’ battery stores 7 kWh of electricity in 63 Li-ion cells, and the vehicle relies exclusively on the batteries for the first 60 miles of travel. The prototype is, of course, a plug-in, so the mileage-boosting energy comes from the electric grid. And, no, grid energy isn’t emissions free, but it’s a heck of a lot more efficient than internal combustion.

This is a surprising leap from Lithium Technology Corporation. I’ve been expecting more news about Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries for a while, but to hear that they’ve boosted the mileage of a prototype vehicle so substantially is very exciting. Maybe Toyota will actually have something ready in 2010 to rival GMs ultra-efficient plug-in hybrid Volt.

Full press release after the jump.

Via TreeHugger and Business Week

Here we have a…uh…vehicle…that is is looking to change the way people think about transportation. I’m not sure I have much faith in its ability to do that, but it’s certainly worth talking about. Myers Motors, the folks who make this three-wheeler call it the MM NMG (No More Gas) but as I’ve researched this story, in my head, I’ve been calling it the EVX WTF. EV for Electric Vehicle, X cause it sounds cool, and I think you know what WTF stands for.

The MM NMG (EVX WTF really is a better name) is officially classified as a motorcycle, but it’s got all the comforts of a car. The top speed is 70 mph and it’s 100% electrically powered. Plus, the entire car is "built for safety" a feature that you won’t see on many motorcycles. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that it can only carry one person and it will only carry that one person 100 miles on a full charge. Then, once you’ve run out of juice, you’ll need six to eight hours to recharge the batteries before you can head out again. You might think that a little car like this, without many components or even much battery life might be somewhat easy on the wallet. It’s not. A new NMG will set you back about $25,000. Admittedly, this is much cheaper than most other EVs on the market. But with only one seat, and a seriously crazy design, we’re not sure who’d go for it

So far, its unique design has only brought it one success…a role in Austin Powers’ Goldmember. Their website ensures prospective buyers that they’ll get more attention in an NMG than in a $100,000 sports car (a Tesla Roadster maybe), and they’re probably right. But it’s going to be a very different kind of attention. If Myers Motors wants to get people to buy into the idea of a small, ultra-efficient, commuter vehicle, I think they’re going to have to do something a little more traditional… and a hell of a lot cheaper.

 

Using photovoltaics to provide electricity for lighting is a popular solution for saving impoverished populations from dealing with the dangers and expense of oil lamps, candles and other short-term light sources. However, few companies have been looking to market to US consumers at the same time they provide to those in need, but the BoGo Light hopes to change that. The BoGo Light is a rugged outdoor light using a solar panel, 6 LEDs and NiCad or NiMH AA batteries in an ABS plastic shell.

While physically ordinary, what makes the lights unique is that BoGo stands for Buy One Give One meaning that for each light purchased, another one is donated to a charity of the buyer’s choosing. Already, the lights have been distributed worldwide including "500 lights in nine United Nations High Commission for Refugee Camps worldwide – Chad, Dufar, Kenya, Pakistan, Uganda, Colombia, Algeria, Zambia and Ethiopia."

The lights are stated to work for about 20 years with batteries lasting about 750-1000 cycles. At $25 plus shipping, the light is very reasonably priced, especially considering that actually costs them 2 lights plus shipping to an international destination. You can find them at BoGoLight.com.

Inhabitat

Silicon is pretty expensive these days, and traditional solar panels need a lot of it to convert light to energy. But two of the great opportunities for expansion in solar is using less silicon, by concentrating light on smaller panels, and increasing efficiency by tilting panels to follow the sun. These roof-mounted units created by Soliant Energy (Soliant Green Energy?) do both of those things, with no external power equipment necessary.

The innovation here is called the ‘heliotube.’ It’s a tube of glass that concentrates the sun’s rays onto a very thin strip of silicon solar panels at the base of the tube. The tube is then connected to a frame in blocks, and the frame uses the power coming off the panel to tilt the tubes to track the sun. These panels use 88% less photovoltaic material, but are almost as efficient per square foot as traditional solar panels.

While it would be more efficient if the panels could tile vertically as well as horizontally (and thus track the exact path of the sun) the simple design and ease of installation will bring the intial costs of these panels way down. Right now, this initial cost is basically the barrier that keeps solar power from juicing high-sunlight areas of the world.

Unfortunately this design has a few flaws. Currently, the troughs placement causes them to occasionally shade each other, preventing them from capturing the maximum amount of sunlight. However, the next revision hopes to correct the former problem by breaking up the rows into sections so that they can follow the sun in every direction.

They estimate an eventual improvement of energy production by 300% from their current design. The panels are scheduled to ship this year, with the new model having an estimated 2010 completion date.

Via TechnologyReview

Day one of the Windpower 2007 conference has come to an end, and having just
rubbed elbows with something like 6,000 attendees, 400-plus exhibitors and
national legislators and policymakers from around the country, I thought I’d
try to make sense of it all. The confab
was put on by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), and heavily
attended by many of folk who belong to it: wind energy producers,
manufacturers who produce things like wind turbines, poles, and transmission
lines and wind outreach and education organizations. The conference features
tons of panels, discussions and presentations, but much of the talk at this
year’s Windpower focused on just a few issues: 

• A lot of people -­ and not just wind industry representatives, either ­-
  believe that wind energy is and will remain an increasingly crucial part of
  our national renewable energy portfolio. No one had anything particularly
  negative to say about nuclear or other non-c02-emitting power generation
  technologies, but all agreed that of those other options, none were as ready
  as wind power was to step up to the plate and work. (It takes
  years and years to bring a nuclear power plant online, for instance, and not
  nearly as long to build and permit wind turbines). The wind industry feels
  that its golden moment is now.
• The AWEA has set a really tough goal for itself and for the wind industry:
  to produce 20% of the U.S.’ power by the year 2020. As good as that sounds,
  no one really knows how it’s going to be accomplished. Panelist Bob
  Lukefahr, of BP¹s alternative fuels division, stressed the challenges: It
  will require "technology we haven’t invented yet," he said, and entails "political and economic complexity this business has never faced before."
  For starters, they’re going to have to figure out how to deliver
  all that energy; even if we had the turbines to do it right now, it would
  cost at least $60 billion to build the transmission lines to get that power
  onto the country’s grid, according to AWEA President Randall Swisher.
• The future of the wind industry depends on the White House, and if the
  next few presidents we have aren’t wind-friendly, wind will stay small for
  the long haul.

The good news is, there are plenty of states out there interested in having
the wind industry set up shop in their regions. At Monday’s confab alone,
the mayor of Los Angeles and the governors of Montana and Iowa made nice to
the assembled windustryites, and at least one congressman (D.C.’s own Jerry
McNerney) and a senator (Tom Daschle) lent their support to the cause as a
whole. In short, the industry is booming, consumer interest in renewable
energy has never been higher, and the future ­ depending in part on what
happens in the 2008 election ­ looks bright.

Photosynth is an amazing photo and text software environment that will change the way you look at photos forever.

Blaise Aguera y Arcas presents a demo of Photosynth at the TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conference. He shows how his new software links photos together spatially and hints at the value Photosynth adds to your photo collection. The demo  shows Photosynth creating amazing multidimensional spaces with zoom and navigation features just by scanning photos from Flickr. It creates a spatial map and places all photos of an object (such as Notre Dame, Paris) into a collage that is easy and intuitive to navigate.

While the spatial 3-D image collage is amazing, the information created when everyoneÂ’s photo tags are linked is even more amazing. Photosynth creates a dense information swarm around the objects it links together.

Photosynth is the brainchild of Blaise Aguera y Arcas, he also created Seadragon (acquired by Microsoft in 2006), the visualization technology that gives Photosynth its amazingly smooth digital rendering and zoom capabilities.

Seadragon and Photosynth create an interface that will make working with text and images on a screen preferable to working with paper. With the exception of reading at the beach, I canÂ’t see any advantage for paper. 

Did you see the Skoda car with the wooden wheels? It wooden go! Jokes aside, obviously this is not a case of “necessity is the mother of invention”. Looks more like someone had way too much time in their (skilful) hands. -More pictures after the jump

Via: Hemmings, Source: belsoseg