NewNergy

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

Fish Oil Diet Could Reduce Greenhouse Gases From Cow Farts

Posted on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:21 PM

Irish scientists have discovered that adding just a small amount of fish oil to the diet of cattle can vastly reduce the amount of methane produced by, ahem…cow farts. Climate scientists have long known that, pound for pound, methane is 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping the suns rays, making it a highly potent greenhouse gas.Now the team, from University College Dublin (UCD), have figured out that including just 2 percent fish oil in the bovine diet can drastically reduce flatulence, largely due to the omega 3 fatty acids in the oil. In fact, in an experiment with three cows, methane output was cut by a remarkable 21 percent.

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Labels: climate-change, greenhouse-gases, methane

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Suntech's Pluto System Reaches 19% Efficiency

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 9:08 PM

Suntech Power Holdings, the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels, has announced further details of its Pluto technology that has seen substantial improvements in solar cell conversion efficiencies.Suntech's Pluto technology has seen conversion efficiencies of approximately 19% on monocrystalline solar panels and 17% on polycrystalline solar panels outside of the lab and in large scale production.

The patent-pending Pluto technology is based on PERL technology, developed locally at the University of NSW in Australia. Lower reflectivity has been achieved through unique texturing technology that allows increased sunlight to be absorbed even without direct solar radiation. Thinner metal lines on the top surface reduces shading loss. Suntech's Pluto technology can be applied to a variety of grades of silicon to suit differing applications and product types.

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US Scientists Say Burning Ice Could Provide Green Fossil Fuel

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:54 PM

US Scientists have revealed how natural gas locked up in frozen water crystals could provide massive amounts of energy, and claim that it could even be totally emissions-free. To the naked eye, clathrate hydrate (CH) looks like everyday ice but, as well as being partly made of water, the molecules are also organised into “cages”, which trap individual molecules of methane.Remarkably, a new method of extracting the methane and ’swapping’ it with carbon dioxide could turn the substance into a revolutionary carbon-neutral fossil fuel.

Labels: co2, energy, fossil-fuels, methane

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Solar Powered, Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Airship

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:44 PM

The Pentagon intends to spend $400 million to develop a giant blimp which will reach an altitude of 65,000 feet and remain airborne for 10 years. The dirigible will be filled with helium and powered by an innovative system that uses solar panels to recharge hydrogen fuel cells. Werner J.A. Dahm, chief scientist for the Air Force describing the proposed unmanned airship as a cross between a satellite and a spy plane. The aircraft will provide intricate radar surveillance of the vehicles, planes and even people below.The project is supposed to reflect a shift in Pentagon planning that is more about the intelligence and surveillance operations, and less about expensive high-tech weapons.

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Labels: fuel-cells, hydrogen, inventions, solar

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Manmade Biomass Coal Offers Storage And Fuel

Posted on Thursday, March 26, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:23 PM

A new machine dubbed the "Black Phantom" can turn biomass into manmade coal. Carbonscape, a New Zealand-based start-up, describes its invention as an industrial-sized microwave that can cook plant waste, wood waste, and "even sewage" into coal. Carbonscape also claims that the machine captures and stores more carbon than the amount of carbon generated by the electricity needed to power it for the process. The invention combines two popular environmental efforts: using biochar for carbon capture and storage (CCS), and developing alternative fuel sources from biomass.

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Labels: biomass, coal, electricity, inventions

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New Catalysts Lower Fuel Consumption & Reduce Carbon Emissions

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 9:13 PM

A new range of fuel catalysts has been launched in Australia which has the potential to reduce carbon emissions from all industries that use diesel, heavy fuel oil, coal and gas.The transport industry currently accounts for 13.7 per cent of Australia’s net total greenhouse gas emissions and emissions from electricity generation account for 34.4 per cent.

Launched by TK Fuels Ltd Australia, the catalysts, based on extensively researched fuel technology developed and currently in use throughout Europe, have been found to lower fuel consumption, improve engine performance and significantly reduce the pollution of unburnt fuel particles and other toxins from exhaust emissions.

Full article here

Labels: co2, engines, fuel

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First Economical Process for Making Algae Biodiesel

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:47 PM

Chemists reported development of what they termed the first economical, eco-friendly process to convert algae oil into biodiesel fuel — a discovery they predict could one day lead to U.S. independence from petroleum as a fuel.A key advantage of this new process, he says, is that it uses a proprietary solid catalyst developed at his company instead of liquid catalysts used by other scientists today. First, the solid catalyst can be used over and over. Second, it allows the continuously flowing production of biodiesel, compared to the method using a liquid catalyst.

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Power Your House With 5 Liters of Water Per Day

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:29 PM

At the Aspen Environment Forum today, MIT professor Dan Nocera gave a revolutionary picture of the new energy economy with an assertion that our homes will be our power plants and our fuel stations, powered by sunlight and water. And it’s not science fiction.

Nocera said that MIT will announce its patent next week of a cheap, efficient, manufacturable electrolyzer made from cobalt and potassium phosphate. This technology, powered by a 6 meter by 5 meter photovoltaic array on the roof, is capable of powering an entire house’s power needs plus a fuel cell good for 500 km of travel, with just 5 liters of water.

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Labels: energy, inventions, water

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3-D Surface to Boost Solar Cell Efficiency

Posted on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:40 PM

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new treatment for silicon photovoltaic solar cells that creates bumps and peaks on the surface that increase cell efficiency in two ways.The surface structures prevent water and dust from coming into contact with the cells. When water hits the surface, it beads together and runs off, collecting any dirt or dust along with it. This self-cleaning mechanism will help keep the solar cells working at maximum light absorption at all times.Additionally, the three-dimensional structures manage to capture more light and reflect less.

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New Eco-Friendly Alternative To Charcoal

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 10:09 PM

Thousands of grilling enthusiasts now have more free time following the invention of the FlameDisk, a revolutionary alternative to charcoal. This convenient grilling option, which employs solid ethanol as its fuel source, lights instantaneously with the touch of a match and is ready to cook on in less than one minute, eliminating the time needed to arrange and light coals. From ignition to cooking, the FlameDisk saves roughly a half hour of wait time while giving eco-conscious cooks a green grilling alternative.

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Labels: coal, energy, ethanol

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Navy Scientist Announces Possible Cold Fusion Reactions

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 1:08 AM

Researchers at a US Navy laboratory have unveiled what they say is "significant" evidence of cold fusion, a potential energy source that has many skeptics in the scientific community.The scientists on Monday described what they called the first clear visual evidence that low-energy nuclear reaction (LENR), or cold fusion devices can produce neutrons, subatomic particles that scientists say are indicative of nuclear reactions.Scientists have been working for years to produce cold fusion reactions, a potentially cheap, limitless and environmentally-clean source of energy.

Labels: energy, nuclear

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Researchers Transform CO2 Emissions Using Electro-Reduction Carbon

Posted on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:07 PM

Two UBC researchers are responsible for a creating a technology that could change the way the world uses carbon dioxide emissions.Chemical and biological engineering professor Dr Colin Oloman and PhD graduate Dr Hui Li have invented a new technology that converts carbon dioxide into useable compounds for commercial use through electro-reduction technology.

Electro-Reduction Carbon (ERC) is an electrochemical process that converts carbon dioxide emissions directly from blast furnaces into formic acid. The compound is a liquid fuel that is used for many industrial processes, including a chemical intermediate in the manufacturing of various chemicals such as caffeine and artificial sweeteners, and in the cleaning of steel during manufacture. Formic acid is also a non-toxic, biodegradeable, reusable compound which yields oxygen as a by-product, which can be used to improve combustion in blast furnaces.

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Labels: co2, fuel

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InventHelp Client Invents Solar-Powered Light For Bus Stop Shelter

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 2:23 AM

InventHelp , America's leading inventor service company, announces that one of its clients, an inventor from Federal Way, Wash., has designed a solar-powered light for installation at a bus stop shelter. This invention is patented.The invention would consist of a solar-powered lighting fixture that would be installed at the top of a bus shelter. Measuring approximately 6 inches high, it is made from aluminum, and could be powered by solar energy or batteries.

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Viper (TM): New Thin Film Affordable Solar Cell

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 1:44 AM

A new piece of thin film manufacturing equipment with the unlikely name of Viper (TM) could help bring solar energy to the masses. Viper (TM) was developed by Sencera, a North Carolina company that got its start supplying thin film hardware for manufacturing transistors and integrated circuits.Thin film has been replacing conventional silicon wafers as a low-cost way to manufacture solar cells. Thin film solar cells don’t need a silicon wafer, so they involve less cost for materials.

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Camelina and Mustard are Two Potential Biodiesel Sources

Posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:13 PM

Every now and then we hear about biodiesels, biouels,and more about these stuff. Recently it has been found that mustard and camelina have been found to be a major source of oil used for biodiesel production. University in chile has found that camelina and mustard are able to produce 25 and 40 percent oil and they have a very good potential for being used in biodiesels. Furthermore camelina is able to be grown in harsh conditions and requires very little hybridization. This provides a breakthrough in the field of biodiesels and biofuel production. More and more work is being carried on in this field at the moment.

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Labels: biodiesel, biofuels

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NASA Develops Technology To Turn Ocean Tides Into Energy

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:45 PM

NASA scientists say they've found a way to turn the power of the ocean's tides into clean, renewable electric energy.NASA is working to use changes in ocean temperature to create a high-pressure fluid that can be used to generate power. The new technology is an offshoot of work NASA has been doing to power underwater robotic vehicles, according to the space agency.

This type of hydraulic energy transfer system is potentially applicable to many types of hydrokinetic energy from rivers, ocean waves, tides and currents.Scientists can use computer models of winds, river flows, ocean currents and tides to calculate an area's potential for energy production.

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Labels: energy, inventions, ocean

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"Wind Turbine in A Box" Turns Heads in Vegas

Posted on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:01 PM

The WindTronics 760 produces power at the turbine blade ends instead of at the hub of the unit where traditional turbines power a gear box.A new residential "wind turbine in a box" was introduced at a Las Vegas Ace Hardware show last week to rave reviews, according to the head of the Muskegon-based EarthTronics.The technology was developed through Grand Valley State University's Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center and is being commercialized by EarthTronics.

The WindTronics 760 produces about 15 percent of a typical residential home's electrical needs and when combined with a "home energy package," including compact fluorescent bulbs, will reduce electric utility bills by 30 percent, the company claims.

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New Green Energy Machine Turns Trash Into Treasure

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 2:59 AM

It’s mobile, it’s virtually emissions free, it reduces garbage volume by 95% and it turns waste into energy – it’s the Green Energy Machine (GEM).Produced by Massachusetts-based IST Energy, the GEM originated from a U.S. military request for proposals to deal with its waste. Once deposited in the GEM, the waste is shredded, the water removed, the remaining material formed into pellets, and the pellets gasified to produce a flammable synthetic gas that can be used to generate electricity or heat. One unit processes up to three tons of waste daily, providing the energy to power and heat a 200,000 square foot building housing more than 500 people. IST says the system can reduce annual waste disposal and energy costs by about $250,000.

Labels: electricity, energy, waste

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Lithium Breakthrough Could Charge Batteries in 10 Seconds

Posted on Sunday, March 15, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:30 PM

A new version of lithium battery technology can either provide a higher storage density than current batteries, or can charge and discharge as fast as a supercapacitor, emptying its entire charge in under 10 seconds.The new battery technology, which is based on the power-centric LiFePO4 chemistry, makes for rapid charge and discharge times, but does not improve energy storage density.

The new work involves well-understood technology, relying on lithium ions as charge carriers within the battery. But the lithium resides in a material that was designed specifically to allow it to move through the battery quickly, which means charges can be shifted in and out of storage much more rapidly than in traditional formulations of lithium batteries. The net result is a battery that, given the proper electrodes, can perform a complete discharge in under 10 seconds—the sort of performance previously confined to the realm of supercapacitors.

Full article here

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Infinite Power Announces Thin-film Micro-energy Storage Technology

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 9:03 PM

Infinite Power Solutions (IPS) has announced a breakthrough by achieving in excess of 3.0 mAh of discharge capacity (exceeding 12 mWh/~43 Joules of energy) within a single cell of its thin-film micro-energy storage technology. Based on initial tests, this equates to 60 times more capacity than other solid-state, rechargeable thin-film batteries (TFBs) available today. This energy density improvement was achieved in a thin and compact footprint, roughly the size of a U.S. postage stamp (25.4mm X 25.4mm X 0.17mm).

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Nanotechnology for More Efficient Thin Film Solar Cells

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:46 PM

A new European Union funded research project called “ROD-SOL” ('All-inorganic nano-rod based thin-film solar cells on glass') aims to improve the efficiency of thin-film solar cells using nanotechnology. The three year project has a budget of EUR 4 million and may yield a breakthrough for solar power.The ROD-SOL project aims to up the efficiency of these thin film solar cells by developing and optimising the synthesis of silicon nanorods on cheaper substrates such as glass or metal foils. The silicon nanorods are effectively tiny silicon columns whose diameter is measured in nanometres. Researchers propose that the tiny structures are perfect for trapping light energy in a way that it can be transformed into electricity.

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New Plug and Play Solar Panels

Posted on Friday, March 13, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 2:21 AM

Want solar power on the cheap? Veranda Solar may be able to help. The company’s innovative panel design requires only a screwdriver and a standard home outlet. At $600, the panel is much more affordable than many of its competitors.Veranda says that its product can be affixed to windows, gutters, and balconies in “plug and play style”– so the panels snap together and can be plugged in directly to an outlet. If you decide that a single panel isn’t enough to fulfill your power needs, springing for additional snap-on panels at $450 a pop isn’t too much of a stretch.

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Quantum Dots Could Boost Solar Cell Efficiency ?

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 2:12 AM

A recent discovery shatters the notion that one photon can only excite one electron. Researchers from the joint SLAC-Stanford Pulse Institute for Ultrafast Energy Science are on the move to boost solar cell efficiencies by confirming that a single photon can indeed excite more than one electrons in a quantum dot.

The recent PULSE experiments use ‘quantum dots’, tiny spheres composed of a few thousand atoms, to boost electron interactions by concentrating the electrons into a extremely small area. Researchers found that with quantum dots, 1 photon can excite up to 3 electrons depending on the sunlight’s color. These results mean that solar cell processes could be as much as one third more efficient if constructed with quantum dots. Although there are some difficult scientific and engineering feats to be conquered in the production of a solar cell with quantum dots, such a technology could one day revolutionize solar power.

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Quantum Dots Could Boost Solar Cell Efficiency ?

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 2:12 AM

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Underground Rocks may Turn Carbondioxide into Harmless Chemical

Posted on Monday, March 9, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:34 PM

Geologists have mapped large rock formations in the US that can absorb carbon dioxide and potentially be harnessed to vastly accelerate the process.The report, by scientists at Columbia University's Earth Institute and the US Geological Survey, shows 15,000 square km of ultramafic rocks at or near the surface. Originating deep in the earth, these rocks contain minerals that react naturally with carbon dioxide to form solid minerals. Earth Institute scientists are experimenting with ways to speed this natural process, called mineral carbonation.If the technology takes off, geologic formations around the world could provide a vast sink for heat-trapping carbon dioxide released by humans.

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Diesel Motorcycle : Alternative Fuel Options Open to Motorcyclists?

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 9:18 PM

Despite the latest advancements in automotive hybrid and flex-fuel technologies, motorcycles and scooters remain one of the most efficient ways for energy-conscious commuters to get around town. Unfortunately, there haven’t been any real “alt fuel” options open to motorcyclists. Enter Europe’s EVA, manufacturers of the Track T800CDI diesel motorcycle - a bike so full of exotic features and new technology. EVA’s Track T800 is an “adventure-touring” class motorcycle powered by a remarkably compact 800cc, turbocharged diesel engine, the Track T800 will be among the world’s first commercially available diesel motorcycles. The 800cc engine delivers a respectable 50 hp and a WHOPPING 95 lb-ft (130 Nm) of torque available from 1800-4000 rpm.

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A New Metallization Paste For Flexible Thin-film Photovoltaic Solar Cells

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:37 PM

Although silicon photovoltaic solar cells account for over 95% of the solar cells produced today, copper-indium-gallium di-selenide (CIGS), amorphous silicon, and cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film cells hold much promise for rapid growth.These thin-film photovoltics can be deposited, not only on glass, plastic, or metal substrates, but also on flexible substrates. This offers the advantage of roll-to-roll processing, thus significantly reducing manufacturing costs.

Now, a flexible high-performance silver metallization paste has been developed for use in flexible thin-film photovoltaic solar cells. The binder of the paste is a soft epoxy-based resin system. Compared with a more conventional thermoplastic paste system, this exhibits superior adhesion and is flexible. The new material, designated LTTF-6363, also displays excellent print characteristics and non-slump performance – extremely important for maximizing the effective open areas on solar cells.

full article here

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Zero Point Energy : A New Source of Cheap, Fuel-Free Electric Power?

Posted on Sunday, March 8, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:04 PM

Dr. Robert Forward, a physicist at Hughes Aircraft discussed, in a pioneering paper appearing in Physical Review B in 1984, how Zero Point Energy (ZPE) might become a source of electricity.

Several U.S. Patents have issued claiming ZPE might be converted and used as a source of energy. The most recent: QUANTUM VACUUM ENERGY EXTRACTION was issued to Bernard Haisch and Garret Moddel, May 27, 2008.

Everything from cell phones to homes and power plants can be powered by this safe, inexhaustible, fuel-free energy resource. Electric vehicles powered by ZPE will need no batteries or recharge. When parked, they will wirelessly be able to transmit up to 150 kW to the local utility. The sale of electricity may pay for the vehicles over a reasonable period of time. Cars so equipped will also be emergency power plants for homes and businesses. Mass production of such vehicles can happen within 5 years.

full article here

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New Carbon Capture Technology

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 9:30 PM

According to ION Engineering, until now the state-of-the-art in current emissions control technology was the inefficient, aqueous (water-based) amine technology, but a breakthrough has seen the company become the first to successfully integrate ionic liquid solutions into carbon capture and emissions control technology by replacing the water based solution with ionic liquids - molten salts that do not evaporate. The company says that while recent developments in carbon capture technology have brought costs of carbon capture down to $50 to $100 a ton, its ionic liquid technology could cut the costs of capturing carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants to as low as $20 a ton. This reduction is cost is mainly due to the fact that around 80% of the total cost of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) comes from the capture of CO2 – the very area that the company’s system focuses on.

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A New Breakthrough in Biogas Treatment

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:40 PM

Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. has just won a $70,000 grant to study the use of a low cost process to remove toxins from the methane generated by anaerobic digesters. The process is based on a new family of polymeric membranes with unique permeability/selectivity characteristics. Phase I will consist of improving the membrane’s performance and capability for reproduction. If that’s successful, Phase II will test a demo model in the lab and in the field.

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Integrated Biorefinery Using Pennycress

Posted on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:10 PM

Innovation Fuels, the renewable energy company that manufactures, markets, and distributes second-generation biodiesel to customers around the world, has launched an initiative to create the country’s first integrated biorefinery in New Jersey with the introduction of a new cash crop that will increase revenues for local farmers, without displacing any food crops.

Innovation Fuels’ pennycress (a mustard family plant closely related to canola) grows wild and prolifically throughout the United States, and can yield up to 100 gallons/acre of high quality feedstock oil for the production of biodiesel. The crop is typically planted in the fall and harvested in the spring, so producers can cultivate and harvest pennycress without interfering with normal production of corn or soybeans, while increasing revenue from the same acreage.

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Solar-Powered Race Car That Runs All Day

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 9:48 PM

A group of researchers at MIT have developed an out-of-the-ordinary new race car, one that isnt dependent on gasoline. Thats right, the team has built a car that runs on solar power. The car, dubbed Eleanor , can reportedly maintain a cruising speed of 55 miles-per-hour and run all day -- if the sun is shining, according to MIT. To get that kind of power from sunlight, researchers have designed the car with six square meters of monocrystalline silicon solar cells and an improved electronic systems. And if the car is running on a rainy day or at night, its batteries can store enough energy for the car to make the trip from Boston to New York City without any sunlight, MIT researchers added.

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Titanium Nanostructure For Efficient Solar Energy Capture

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:57 PM

Overcoming a critical conductivity challenge to clean energy technologies, Boston College researchers have developed a titanium nanostructure that provides an expanded surface area and demonstrates significantly greater efficiency in the transport of electrons.Wang said the efficiency gains within the novel material can serve so-called water-splitting, where semiconductor catalysts have been shown to separate and store hydrogen and oxygen gases.

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LPG Optimum Burning System: An Indian Invention for Home Energy Efficiency

Posted on Monday, March 2, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:05 PM

A device called electronic ‘LPG optimum burning system' invented by Tarak Nath Choudhury, a civil engineer with Eastern Railway, promises to help you save Rs 110 per cylinder. If a LPG cylinder lasts 30 days now, Choudhury's device will make it last another 14 days and reduce harmful emission. He has already won the Earth Care Award 2008 for his invention

The existing cooking gas burner (IS 4246) has 64 % thermal efficiency. So everytime you cook, you waste 36% energy. One can achieve up to 92% thermal efficiency using this machine. The normal consumption of LPG through big burners is 189 gm per hour. This device can bring down the consumption to 131 gm per hour without changing the quantum of thermal energy or heat. So it increases thermal efficiency.

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Coolerado Claims Solar Powered Air Conditioner for Power Conservation

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 7:53 PM

Coolerado, a Colorado-based company, is pushing its namesake air conditioning unit, a novel device that cools air by using water instead of chemical refrigerants and a compressor. Its developers believe it’s the greatest thing for warm climates since the automatic ice maker.

The company’s claims are impressive on multiple fronts. Most important is the power consumption of the unit on display in the video: 600 watts, or “one third the amount of power of a standard hair dryer” and a tenth of what a similarly sized traditional A/C unit would use. Spokesman Rick Gillan says the unit is large enough to cool 3,000 square feet occupied by about 20 people — the size of a small business — and can be powered completely by a small array of four photovoltaic panels.

Also appealing is the idea that the air conditioner itself can help boost the output of the solar panels powering it: In the heat of summer, when solar panels operate at lower efficiency, ducts from the A/C route exhaust air their way. The exhaust air is warmer than that being delivered to the rooms below, but cooler than the untreated outside air, so it helps the solar cells operate closer to their maximum efficiency.

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Big Breakthrough in Solar Costs?

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 7:39 PM

First Solar, the Tempe-based producer of photovoltaic solar panels, said this week it has scored a major breakthrough by reducing the cost of manufacturing its modules to less than $1 per watt.

First Solar uses thin-film technology to convert sunlight into electric current without the need for silicon, a more expensive material used in most photovoltaic cells. Also the company said it is benefitting from mass production techniques as demand soars for its modules.The company has reduced its production costs by two-thirds in four years - from more than $3 a watt in 2004, the company said.

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“Omnivore”: A Car That Can Run on Almost Any Fuel

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 7:27 PM

Lotus reveals flex-fuel engine concept to maximise fuel efficiency when running on renewable fuels or gasoline.Lotus Engineering, the world-renowned automotive consultancy division of Lotus Cars Limited, unveils its latest research into engine efficiency at the 79th International Geneva Motor Show. The Omnivore engine concept has the potential to significantly increase fuel efficiency for sustainable alcohol based fuels, which increases the prospect of a greater amount of vehicle miles travelled using renewable fuels.

The Omnivore concept features an innovative variable compression ratio system and uses a two-stroke operating cycle with direct fuel injection. It is ideally suited to flex-fuel operation with a higher degree of optimisation than is possible with existing four stroke engines.

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Fusion Reactor- Fuel Source From Nuclear Power?

Posted on Sunday, March 1, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:28 PM

Western countries are currently involved in an experiment called the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor or ITER.&summed up, the purpose of Project ITER is a future in which if the previously stated power sources are not available or not enough, a common American household can fulfill their annual power needs with a pitcher of salt water and a two pounds of rocks. How is this done? Nuclear fusion. Not the white light black rain kind, but rather the kind that takes place inside a tokamak reactor.

A tokamak is a Russian invention, a kind of fusion reactor using a toroidal magnetic field to confine and accelerate a plasma. The power is generated via the same means as that of the sun. Deuterium and tritium, two radioactive isotopes of hydrogen are fused into helium. Deuterium is abundant in our oceans but tritium is extremely rare on Earth, but can be synthesized from lithium which is readily found in many of Earth's minerals. The result is a fuel source that with research, can be extracted with minimum impact on the environment and while it is not renewable, is abundant enough for at least several hundred million years of power.

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Ingeo(TM)- Bioplastic Reducing CO2 Emissions & Energy Consumption

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:13 PM

NatureWorks LLC has achieved a manufacturing breakthrough with its Ingeo(TM) plastics made from plants, not oil. A new, proprietary manufacturing process commissioned late last year lowers CO2 emissions by 60 percent and reduces by 30 percent the energy required to produce Ingeo(TM) plastics compared to previous Ingeo(TM) production.

The emissions and energy reductions are even greater when Ingeo(TM) bioresin is compared to petroleum-based plastics. For example, the process of manufacturing PET (polyethylene terephthalate), the polymer most commonly used to make water and soda bottles and the mainstay of the synthetic fibers industry, emits 3.4 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram of resin produced. By contrast, the new Ingeo(TM) manufacturing process emits 77 percent less, with 0.75 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram of resin. The new Ingeo(TM) production technology also consumes 56 percent less energy than the equivalent weight of PET.

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Labels: biopolymers, co2, conservation, energy

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100,000 sq mile Sunshade to Stop Global Warming?

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:09 PM

A giant 'sunshade' consisting of trillions of mirrors fired into space to reflect the sun's rays could be the answer to global warming. That's according to astronomer Dr Roger Angel from the University of Arizona, who claims the method is "guaranteed to work".A cannon with a barrel measuring a massive 0.6 miles across would be needed to shoot the mirrors one million miles above Earth – not to mention some £244trillion to fund the project.And, being 100 times more powerful than conventional weapons, the gun would require an exclusion zone of "several miles", reports the Telegraph.

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Labels: climate-change, greenhouse-gases

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Wireless Power To Power Electronic Devices

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 7:56 PM

Wireless power is emerging as a popular concept since the profusion of personal and portable electronic devices has created a need for a convenient means to power these gadgets, eliminating the inconvenience and mess of several chargers and wires.New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Wireless Power Supplies and Contactless Energy Transfer, finds that induction based wireless power could represent the next wave in powering portable electronics. It could also enable new applications in other sectors such as healthcare for powering implants to increase patient convenience and quality of life.

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Labels: electricity, inventions

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