NewNergy

NewNergy discusses the latest inventions, innovations and breakthroughs in the energy & environmental sciences.

Renewed Push for Ethanol, Without Corn

Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 8:01 AM

Renewed Push for Ethanol, Without Corn

Cellulosic ethanol is supposed to be the saviour for those who feel that feedstock such as corn are hopeless in the long run. But no company has yet been able to produce ethanol from cellulose in mass quantities that are priced competitively with corn-based ethanol, says this article.

According to a professional who was a senior member of the US Govt's energy efficiency & renewable energy program in the 90s, “Producing cellulosic ethanol is clearly more difficult than we thought in the 1990s.”

So why has no one figured out a way to make ethanol from materials like the sugar cane wastes? In fact, engineers at several companies have done that — but only at the lab level, continues this report.

Read the full report from here @ Petroleum World, 28 Apr 2007

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New Enzyme Discovery Could Make Ethanol Cheaper

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:51 AM

New Enzyme Discovery Could Make Ethanol Cheaper

A new plant enzyme has been discovered by Cornell University researchers, which could make the production of cellulosic ethanol less expensive.

A critical step in producing cellulosic ethanol involves breaking down a plant's cell wall material and fermenting the sugars that are released. This enzyme, according to scientists, could potentially allow plant materials to be broken down more efficiently.

The new class of plant enzymes has a structure similar to the microbial enzymes called "cellulases" which are used to digest the cellulose in grasses and similar plants.

While the scientists found the new enzyme in a tomato plant, they are confident that such proteins are present in other plant species that could be used for biofuel production.

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Dutch firm to roll out US$160 million wind energy project

Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:23 AM

Dutch firm to roll out US$160 million wind energy project

Namibia Tuesday licensed a privately owned firm to roll out a US$160 million wind electricity generation project, warning the country's energy supply situation had reached alarming levels.

The company, Aeolus Power Generation Namibia, is a 50-50 ownership between Aeolus Association, a Dutch firm, and Namibian firm United Africa Group.

Aeolus Power Generation said it will set up wind turbines in the country's coastal region and generate about 300 MW of electricity yearly starting October 2008.

Read the full news report from here @ Africa News

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Indian Govt banks on solar, wind energy to bridge power gap

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:18 AM

Indian Govt banks on solar, wind energy to bridge power gap

Times News Network, Apr 26, 2007

NEW DELHI: The Indian government will shortly evolve a feed-in tariff system for wind, solar and other non-conventional sources of energy. This was stated by V Subramanian, secretary at the ministry of new and renewable energy (MoNRE) on Wednesday. Under the feed-in tariff system, solar and wind energy generators will transmit their energy to government-owned grids and help them supply power to starved locations.

Read the full news report from here @ Economic Times

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Nordic states offer lessons in real energy independence

Posted on Sunday, April 22, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:54 AM

Nordic states offer lessons in real energy independence

By Neal St. Anthony, Star Tribune, April 16, 2007

Four U.S. ambassadors tout the high-output, cleaner-burning economies, and they say the ideas could work in Minnesota, too.

Minnesota and the United States can learn a lot from Sweden and the other Nordic nations about energy efficiency and alternative fuels and still grow the economy and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, the four U.S. ambassadors to those countries said in the Twin Cities on Monday.

Read the full news report from here @ Star Tribune

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Research Shows Segway(R) PT Tops the List of Most Energy-Efficient Transportation

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:50 AM

Research Shows Segway(R) PT Tops the List of Most Energy-Efficient Transportation

Press release

BEDFORD, N.H., April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The findings of an in-house analysis conducted by Segway Inc., show the environmental benefits of the Segway(R) Personal Transporter (PT) compared to traditional transportation options like cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs). The research evaluates a variety of vehicles relative to their impact on the environment, both in emissions created and energy consumed, proving that the Segway PT can substantially decrease greenhouse gas emissions and is the most energy-efficient alternative to short-distance, single-occupancy car journeys.

Read the full press release from PR Newswire

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China’s Automakers, With Beijing’s Prodding, Show Alternative-Fuel Cars

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:46 AM

China’s Automakers, With Beijing’s Prodding, Show Alternative-Fuel Cars

By Keith Bradsher, April 21, 2007

SHANGHAI, April 20 — Chinese automakers, under pressure from the government to produce more fuel-efficient cars, unveiled an unexpectedly broad array of prototypes for fuel-cell cars, gasoline-electric hybrid cars and electric battery cars at the Shanghai auto show recently.

The variety and sophistication of the cars showed a striking improvement not just since the last Shanghai auto show two years ago

Read the full report from here @ NY Times

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EcoSmart Fire eco-friendly heating systems available

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:35 AM

EcoSmart Fire eco-friendly heating systems available

EcoSmart Fire The EcoSmart Fire is a re-invention of the old spirit stove. Using renewable energy and utilising new design and technology, the EcoSmart Fire is environmentally friendly, aesthetically pleasing, highly efficient and cost effective. EcoSmart Fire also fits into a vast array of architectural environments.

Read the full report from here @ Info Link, Australia

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Ethanol: Behind the Buzz

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:04 AM

Ethanol: Behind the Buzz

By Keith Lieberthal - TheStreet.com, 19 Apr 2007

From the White House to Wall Street, ethanol has moved to the heart of national debate about energy...Its champions promise that it will win energy independence for the U.S.; aid its farmers; weaken hostile oil-subsidized regimes in Tehran, Caracas and Moscow; and better the environment. But the skeptics see little more than a massive agricultural subsidy dressed in patriotic and green rhetoric.

What's the real story? Read from this detailed report from The Street

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Ethanol vehicles pose a significant risk to human health

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 6:55 AM

Ethanol vehicles pose a significant risk to human health

Medical Research News, 20-Apr-2007

Ethanol is widely touted as an eco-friendly, clean-burning fuel. But if every vehicle in the United States ran on fuel made primarily from ethanol instead of pure gasoline, the number of respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations would likely increase, according to a new study by Stanford University atmospheric scientist Mark Z. Jacobson. His findings are published in the April 18 online edition of the journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T).

Read the full article from here @ Medical Research News

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Latin America Divided Over Ethanol

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 6:51 AM

Latin America Divided Over Ethanol

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez calls the boom in ethanol the equivalent of starving the poor "to feed automobiles." It's not just Mr. Chávez who is questioning whether the benefits outweigh the unintended consequences. Now poultry industry executives, who have seen the price of feedstock go up; Mexican consumers, facing a 60 percent jump in the cost of tortillas; and even environmentalists, who look at the amount of fertilizer that will be needed to grow extra crops, are wondering aloud about the effects of ethanol...

Read the full article from here @ CBS News, 20 Apr 2007 post

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Palm oil boon may well be biodiesel bane

Posted on Saturday, April 21, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:44 AM

Palm oil boon may well be biodiesel bane

By Zaidi Isham Ismail

April 19 2007, Business Times, Malaysia

Malaysia's crude palm oil (CPO) prices have soared to record levels, but, ironically, may also hurt another equally lucrative and rejuvenated sector - palm oil-based biodiesel.

This is because CPO, the main raw material needed to make biodiesel, is set to become more expensive than the selling price of biodiesel, says this report.

Read the full news report here @ Business Times, Malaysia

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Sanimax biodiesel is more pure, as clear as water

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:39 AM

Sanimax biodiesel is as clear as water

Nathan Leaf, APR 20, 2007

Unlike traditional biodiesel, which has a yellow hue, the biodiesel fuel produced at the Sinmax's new biodiesel DeForest plant, which began production this month, is cleaner, Russ Read, the manager said. And that cleaner fuel is expected to attract more customers.

There's a lot of impurities in biodiesel produced by traditional processes. Sanimax claims that by their double refining process, they improve the quality by taking more impurities out, and guarantee that there is no methanol in it...

Read the full report from here @ Wisconsin State Journal

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The first 100 per cent biodiesel tractors arrive in the UK

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:36 AM

The first 100 per cent biodiesel tractors arrive in the UK

News - FG | 20 April, 2007, By David Burrows

THE first fleet of tractors in the UK to run on 100 per cent biodiesel have arrived at Cornwall’s Eden Project. The four New Holland machines will emit 70 per cent less carbon dioxide than the ones they replace, and will also cut carbon monoxide emissions by half.

The hope is the 20 litres of fuel each tractor requires daily will be supplied by local oilseed rape growers.

Read the full report from here @ Farmers Guardian

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Yanmar Kota Kinabalu R&D Centre Set To Boost Biodiesel Sector

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:33 AM

Yanmar Kota Kinabalu R&D Centre Set To Boost Biodiesel Sector

April 20, 2007, Bernama, Malaysia

KOTA KINABALU, April 20 (Bernama) -- The establishment of Yanmar Kota Kinabalu R&D Centre Sdn Bhd here by Yanmar Co Ltd, a Japanese manufacturer of diesel engines and its allied machinery, is expected to further boost Sabah's biodiesel industry.

Sabah, the biggest palm oil producing state in Malaysia, was currently at the forefront of developing biodiesel from palm oil.

Read the full report from here @ Bernama, Malaysia

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Pacific Natural Energy Launches Mobile Biodiesel Processor

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:31 AM

Pacific Natural Energy Launches Mobile Biodiesel Processor

Apr 20, 2007

Los Angeles, CA -- Eric McLeod, founder and CEO of Pacific Natural Energy (PNE), today announced the launch of his new alternative energy company just in time for Earth Day.

PNE will be a producer of high-grade biodiesel fuel (manufactured from common vegetable oil or animal fats) and also provide the opportunity for other innovators to produce their own biodiesel fuel on-site.

Read the full report from here @ Grain Net

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Fueling the Debate: Ethanol vs. Biodiesel

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:29 AM

Fueling the Debate: Ethanol vs. Biodiesel

By Jack Uldrich, April 20, 2007, Motley Fool

This past week offered a perfect synopsis of the continuing debate over whether ethanol or biodiesel is the preferred biofuel of the future. Determining which fuel is better, though, is about as helpful as determining whether running or swimming is the healthier exercise option -- since both, of course, are beneficial. So how do they differ, and what really are the benefits of each?

This article from Motley Fool discusses the topic

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Conoco, Tyson Alliance on biodiesel from Animal Fat

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:24 AM

Conoco, Tyson Alliance on biodiesel from Animal Fat

Conoco-Phillips and Tyson Foods have announced plans to team up to make biodiesel fuel out of animal fat, according to a report @ The Wall Street Journal

Tyson produces over 300 million gallons of beef, pork and chicken fat each year. The company plans to ship about 60 percent of its fat to a Conoco-Phillips plant for processing. The remaining 40 percent will be used in cosmetics, soap and pet food, as it is now.

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Chemists at UCLA Design Crystals for Applications in Clean Energy

Posted on Friday, April 20, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:47 PM

Chemists at UCLA Design the Least Dense Crystals Known to Man for Applications in Clean Energy

13 Apr 2007

Chemists at UCLA have designed new organic structures for the storage of voluminous amounts of gases for use in alternative energy technologies.

The research, to be published on April 13 in the journal Science, demonstrates how the design principles of reticular chemistry have been used to create three-dimensional covalent organic frameworks, which have high thermal stability, high surface areas and extremely low densities.

The covalent organic frameworks, or COFs (pronounced "coffs"), one of these new classes of materials, are the first crystalline porous organic networks...Some of the biggest energy & environment challenges have been finding ways to store hydrogen for use as a fuel, to use methane as an alternative fuel, and to capture and store carbon dioxide from power plant smokestacks. The research team believes COFs are uniquely suited for all these applications because of their functional flexibility and their extremely light weight and high porosity.

Read the full report from here @ Technology News Daily

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Clean energy has venture capitalists' attention and money

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:43 PM

Clean energy has venture capitalists' attention and money

April 19, 2007, By Alejandro Bodipo-Memba

Investment in alternative energy and so-called clean technology has reached record levels in the first quarter of this year, according to a local research firm.

Cleantech Venture Network of Ann Arbor said North American and European venture capital investments in the clean technology category totaled $903 million, which is 16.5% more than the $775 million that was invested during the last three months of 2006, and 42% higher than the first quarter of 2006.

Read the full report @ Freep.com

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Alternative cars on the rise

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:40 PM

Alternative cars on the rise

Apr. 20, 2007, by Mike Keller, Sun Herald

Whatever the reason, Mississippians are turning more and more to alternatively fueled vehicles as part of the solution.

Mississippi now has 82,000 alternatively fueled automobiles zipping around its streets and highways, a recent automotive market report by R.L. Polk & Co. showed.

Read the full article from here @ Sun Herald

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Getting Gold Out of Green - Corporates and Environment

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:36 PM

Getting Gold Out of Green - Corporates and Environment

April 19, 2007

Mainstream corporate giants in markets spanning consumer products, banking, airlines and chemicals have sweeping programs to shrink their companies' impact on the environment -- and cash in on consumers' desire to go green.

Many see doing so as a virtual necessity as regulators consider limits on greenhouse gas emissions and consumers demand environmentally friendly products, says this article.

Read the full report from here @ Hispanic Business

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The War on Oil - Ending America's Fossil Oil Dependence

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:31 PM

The war on oil

By Jeff Cox, CNNMoney.com contributing writer
April 19 2007

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) --

America's new war. This war on oil will employ techniques such as enzymatic hydrolysis and dry milling, instead of guns and battle-tanks. The combatants' weapons of choice will be switchgrass, wheat straw, corn and other material from the biomass.

The objective is clear: Get the world's biggest oil consumers weaned from their generations-old addiction to oil and establish the United States as a self-sufficient producer of energy from alternative sources.

But this war won't be without its perils, says the article.

This detailed report from CNN Money provides details on how the battle is planned to be fought.

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UAE looks to tap the sun for solar energy

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:25 PM

UAE looks to tap the sun for solar energy

Apr 2007

Masdar has announced plans to build a $ 350 million 100-MW solar plant

Abu Dhabi - The UAE is still sitting on huge reserves of oil and natural gas, but now it plans to harness yet another of its abundant natural resources – the year-round sunshine.

In the vast desert surrounding the capital Abu Dhabi, the authorities are planning to spread arrays of solar panels to transform the blazing sun into energy.
The plan may be expensive, but the handsome surpluses currently earned from oil revenues can cover the cost.

Read the full report from here @ The Emirates Evening Post

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Let's get real about alternative energy

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:19 PM

Let's get real about alternative energy

Henry E. Payne, Apr 2007

Wind power is intermittent. Wind and sun only run 8 to 9 hours a day.

Solar energy, with possibilities of up to 30 percent capacity factor, produced only 541,000 megawatt-hours of electricity in 2005. The subsidies for solar power are many times that for wind power simply...The capital cost of equivalent coal or nuclear generating plants is far less than the "alternative power" schemes.

These two (solar & wind) energy sources provided less than .4 percent of all the electricity generated in the U.S. for 2005.

Read more on Henry Payne's take on alternative energy from this interesting article @ Charleston Daily Mail

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Environmentalists call for more wind power in Ohio

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:15 PM

Environmentalists call for more wind power in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio - New technology is allowing energy producers to capture speedier wind that environmental activists say has the potential to provide 20 percent of the state's electricity within 10 years.

What's new is a taller windmill that can catch gusts that are faster than those closer to the ground.

Rread the full report from here @ Coshocton Tribune

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£4.2 Million Research Programme into Hydrogen as an Alternative Energy Source

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:12 PM

£4.2 Million Research Programme into Hydrogen as an Alternative Energy Source
20 April 2007

Provider: Fuel Cell Today

It has been announced that Imperial College, London has received £4.2 million in grant money to look at using solar energy to produce cost effective hydrogen.

The programme will develop biological and chemical solar driven processes to develop renewable and cost effective methods of producing hydrogen to operate fuel cells.

The College’s Energy Futures Lab receives the funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Read the full report from here @ Fuel Cell Today

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Pacific Natural Energy Launches Innovative Alternative Energy Solution: A Mobile Biodiesel Processor

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:09 PM

Pacific Natural Energy Launches Innovative Alternative Energy Solution: A Mobile Biodiesel Processor Makes Renewable Resources Anyone's Business

Press release, Apr 2007

Pacific Natural Energy, a Los Angeles-based startup, unveils an innovative and cost-effective way to turn urban waste oil into Biodiesel. The company will supply both mobile processing reactors and fully processed biodiesel fuel. This will introduce a new option for individuals, businesses, entrepreneurs and local communities to become fuel manufacturers and produce ASTM grade biodiesel at approximately $1.50 per gallon, opening a new market of legal biodiesel production in the 50,000 to 250,000 gallon per year range. The announcement comes just in time to coincide with Earth Day 2007.

Read the full press release from here @ PR Web

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  In the beginning, there were algae,
but there was no oil Then, from algae came oil.
Now, the algae are still there, but oil is fast depleting
In future, there will be no oil, but there will still be algae  
So, doesn't it make sense to explore if we can again get oil from algae?
This is what we try to do at Oilgae.com - explore the potential of getting oil from algae