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Inhabitat's Week in Green: origami Yoda, high-speed rail line and a self powered building
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. It's been a great week for two of our favorite things over at Inhabitat: LEGOs and Star Wars. First, a group of LEGO builders from LEGOLAND Windsor built the tallest LEGO tower ever, snatching the title back from South Korea and returning it to the UK. Then, using 152,455 LEGO bricks, Rolls-Royce built a half-size replica of the jet engine that powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. In one of the most ingenious LEGO constructions ever built, LEGO pro Rene Hoffmeister built a barrel organ that plays the Star Wars theme song. And in other Star Wars news, we reported on the renovation of Luke Skywalker's boyhood home in Tatooine (actually it's in Tunisia). And finally, we shared a photo of this 7-centimeter-tall origami Yoda -- the most adorable bit of Star Wars memorabilia ever made.
First solar-geo plant blooms in Nevada's high desert
Drive west on US Route 50 through a stretch of Nevada highway known as "The Loneliest Road in America" and you'll eventually find yourself in the rural county of Churchill. Once a solitary leg in the Pony Express route, irrigation transformed swaths of Churchill's high desert areas into thriving agricultural communities more than a century ago. Fast forward to today and Churchill finds itself playing host to yet another interesting dichotomy -- a first-of-its-kind power plant that generates electricity by harvesting renewable resources from both earth and sky. %Gallery-159924%
Reported new DARPA chief brings true geek, dash of green tech controversy
Running DARPA has always demanded a certain amount of tech-savviness -- it created what ultimately became the internet, after all -- but it may get an extra coat of green paint with a new leader. The agency has reportedly taken on Arati Prabhakar as its new director, and Wired notes that she has a lot more than just the agency itself under her belt. Along with going so far as to found DARPA's Microelectronics Technology Office, she ran the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and eventually signed on with Interval Research the venture capital firm that backed the solar power company Solyndra as well as numerous other green tech projects. That last decision has drawn a fair share of flak: Solyndra got about $500 million of public funding and still went under. With that in mind, an anonymous senior military staffer claims that Prabhakar wasn't involved in the questionable government loan and went through "extensive vetting," so it's doubtful that the funding will cast the same shadow over her DARPA technology investments as it did for the outgoing director, Regina Dugan. Even so, there will no doubt be a close watch over Prabhakar if the appointment is made public, both for those who want to keep her honest as well as for the potentially huge amount of insight into clean energy and general technology that she can wield. [Image credit: SRI]
Inhabitat's Week in Green: rise of solar power, cardboard forts and a Death Star ping pong ball
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. It was a big week for superlatives in clean tech and green architecture -- particularly in Europe. First, construction on The Shard, architect Renzo Piano's shimmering, 72-story skyscraper, wrapped up in London, making it the tallest building in Europe. A nighttime celebration, complete with a laser light show accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra was held. Just about a mile down the river, construction is moving forward on Blackfriars Station, the world's largest solar bridge. The historic bridge is being fitted with a solar array that will produce 900,000 kWh of clean electricity per year. And in Germany, solar producers have set a new world record, pumping an astounding 14.7 TWh of electricity into the grid during the first six months of 2012 -- 4.5 percent of the country's total power production during that period.
Solar Impulse completes transcontinental flight, runs out of complimentary peanuts
The Impulse solar-powered plane has successfully completed its first transcontinental journey. It took 19 hours to jet between Madrid and Morocco -- with the plane's 12,000 solar cells swallowing enough power to keep it going long into the night. Pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg can now look forward to planning their next voyage: a round the world cruise penciled in for 2014.
Solid state solar panels are more affordable, say researchers, don't leak
Researchers at Northwestern University have found one way to stop a leak: get rid of the liquid. A new variation on the Grätzel solar cell replaces a short-lived organic dye with a solid alternative. The molecular dye the solid substance replaces was corrosive, at risk of leaking and only lasted about 18-months -- by replacing it, researchers plan to pave the way for a more affordable (and less toxic) alternative. Northwestern's new design flaunts a 10.2-percent conversion efficiency, the highest ever recorded in a solid-state solar cell of its type -- but that's still only half of what traditional sun collectors can do. Researchers hope to improve conversion in the long run, but expect that the cost reduction alone will be enough to get the party going. It may not be the greenest solar technology we've ever seen, but who are we to judge?
Solar Impulse takes off for Morocco on first sun-powered transcontinental flight
The sun-powered Solar Impulse plane is gradually working up to a trip around the globe, with the most recent benchmark being its first international flight in 2011. Now Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg are taking the jumbo jet-size plane on its first transcontinental journey. The Solar Impulse set off for Morocco today, and its pilots will stop in Madrid along the way. The goal is to complete the 1,554-mile trip by next week, and the big challenge will be crossing cloudy regions like the Pyrenees mountains separating France and Spain. In a 2010 test flight, the Impulse's 12,000 solar cells soaked up enough rays to keep the plane going through the night, but in case something goes wrong this time, the pilots are prepared with parachutes. If all goes well on this trial run, Piccard and Borschberg will be just one step away from their goal of circumnavigating the world in 2014.
Study says wind turbines raise surrounding area temperature, but only at night
Who said the butterfly effect couldn't apply to renewable energy? Though wind farms are considered pretty green on the energy-generating spectrum, it looks like they, too, have an impact on the planet. According to a study published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, turbines can raise the local temperature -- albeit slightly. From 2003 to 2011, researchers monitored satellite data for west-central Texas, which is home to 2,350-plus turbines and four of the world's largest wind farms. In that decade, scientists observed a temperature increase of 0.72 degrees in wind farm regions compared to areas without turbines. That warming trend was especially marked at night, when the temperature difference between the ground and the air is highest. The temperature increase was also higher in winter; researchers say that these cooler, windier conditions cause turbines to generate more electricity and therefore create more heat. Since the study didn't find any change in daytime temperatures, it looks like we don't have to ring the global warming alarm just yet.
New phase-changing alloy turns waste heat into green energy, exhibits spontaneous magnetism (video)
Looks like harvesting waste heat is all the rage in 2011. Yet another team of researchers -- this time at the University of Minnesota -- has found a way to harness energy from our hot castoffs. The group has apparently created a brand spanking new alloy that spontaneously creates energy when its temperature is raised by a small amount. Future uses for the material, known as Ni45Co5Mn40Sn10, include charging a hybrid car's battery with the help of waste heat from its exhaust. So what's the trick? Well, this wonder material is a phase changer, meaning it can go from non-magnetic to magnetic in moments, when the temperature rises. When that happens, the alloy absorbs heat, and bam! You've got electricity. The team is also collaborating with chemical engineers to create a thin film version of the material that could be used to convert waste heat from computers. If phase changing gets you all hot and bothered, check out a video demonstration of the alloy's sudden magnetism after the break.
Strawberry Tree brings free, solar-powered charging to Belgrade's BlackBerrys, more (video)
Dead battery in Belgrade? Head to the city's Obrenovac district, where a group of students has developed the world's first public charging station powered entirely by solar energy. Known as the Strawberry Tree, the structure's 16 ports support a variety of handhelds, allowing pedestrians to juice up their cell phones in just ten to 15 minutes, at no charge. Its built-in batteries can also store up to a month's worth of back-up energy, enabling the station to hum along at night, or even during Serbia's less sunny seasons. In the first 40 days following its November launch, the Strawberry Tree logged some 10,000 charging sessions -- or about ten charges per hour. Creator Miloš Milisavljevic was just 17 years old when he came up with the idea, and now, at the ripe old age of 22, is looking to plant new stations across other Serbian cities, through his Strawberry Energy NGO. He says these installations won't generate much revenue from consumers, but that's not really the idea: "Energy from the sun is free, and it would be unethical to charge people to use the Strawberry Tree...We are trying to inspire young people to think about the source of the energy they use, and behave and act responsibly." You can check out the Strawberry Tree in the video below, or find out more about Milisavljevic's ideal-driven endeavors in the full PR.
Ecotricity looks to break 100 mph barrier with Ion Horse electric bike, at Isle of Man TT (video)
More than two years after breaking the world land speed record with its wind-powered Greenbird, Ecotricity has its eyes set on the record books once again. This time around, the UK-based green energy company is bringing its Ion Horse superbike to the Isle of Man TT raceway, in the hopes that it will become the first electric bike to average 100 mph over the course of the one-lap race. Developed by a team from Kingston University London and constructed in seven months, the Ion Horse is powered by a set of lithium polymer cobalt batteries, allowing it to blast from zero to 60 in three seconds, before topping out at 140 mph. Its engine also boasts up to 100kW of power, which should help the Horse make its way around the Isle of Man's sinuous, 37-mile circuit. The bike cost some £150,000 (about $245,000) to produce, but if Ecotricity breaks the aforementioned barrier during this week's TT Zero race, the team will receive an extra £10,000 (roughly $16,370) from the Isle of Man Government, in addition to all kinds of street cred. The race was originally scheduled for yesterday, but has since been postponed due to rain. In the meantime, though, you can head past the break for a video of the Ion Horse during a recent practice run, followed by the full PR.
Google's search for future profit targets the Sun, not just the cloud
These humble-looking contraptions were revealed in a Google patent application for a "heliostat control system" that automatically adjusts solar thermal mirrors to their optimal energy-harvesting angle. A camera and computer are housed in the central tower that receives heat from the mirrors, and together they detect when a heliostat is misaligned and then correct it using actuators. Sound like a strange distraction for an Internet company? Google thinks not. It's already invested $168 million in the world's largest solar tower in the Mojave Desert as part of its effort to both reduce its own massive electricity bill and diversify its business. It's also currently hiring three new technical staff to make this happen. Interested?
Biodiesel can be harvested from leftover food, kids no longer have to clear their plates
The best dishes always contain 30 per cent fat minimum. This doesn't merely ensure a level of hearty satisfaction (Windows 7 Whopper anybody?), it also means the leftovers contain plenty of the greasy good stuff, which can be cleverly harvested and metamorphosed into biodiesel. The technology behind this process has been around for a while, but now British firm Greenergy claims it is ramping up commercial production. The firm's CEO reckons each of his new £50million ($80million) biodiesel plants will digest a sufficient volume of waste pies, fries and taramasalata to "fill out a cruise ship every year". Mmmm, pie.
Green Energy will replace fossil fuels by 2050 if you really really want to
The year 2050 is what the year 2000 was to futuristic thinkers like Walt Disney and Arthur C. Clarke. It's the new year that everything will change: robots will outperform us on the field of play, computers will outwit us in matters of reason, and nerds will never be lonely again. It's also the year that 100 percent green energy will be possible according to a bunch of neo-maxi zoomdweebies from Stanford and the University of California-Davis. That's right, in 40 years we could be saying goodbye to fossil fuels in favor of renewables like solar and wind power. The biggest challenge to achieving the goal, say researchers, isn't related to the underlying technologies or the economics required to fuel the change, rather, it's whether we earthlings have the collective will and political gumption to make it happen. Interesting... we'll look into that claim just as soon as we're done with our Nero fiddling and telling all our friends about this amaaazing story we just read in the National Enquirer.
Philadelphia Eagles going self-sufficient on stadium energy from 2011, 30 percent of it renewable
Let's skip right past the cringe-worthy "Declaration of Energy Independence" slogan and look at what the Eagles are actually doing with their pro sports venue. The franchise that dresses in midnight green is aiming to smarten up its eco-green credentials with a new partnership with SolarBlue that will provide all of the Eagles' stadium energy needs for the next 20 years, after which point the team will be free to resell any surplus electricity back to the grid. 15 percent of the total output with be generated with spiral wind turbines erected around the top rim of Lincoln Financial Field, another 15 will come from 2,500 solar panels to be installed near the stadium, and the rest will be obtained from a biodiesel / natural gas plant. So it's not all renewable, but a nice step in the right direction, nonetheless.
Enphase Enlighten system controls home heating, cooling, solar production in the same web app
Enphase Energy has some pretty interesting tech for you to consider if you're thinking about going the Larry Hagman-esque solar power route (as opposed to the Barbara Eden veil-and-pantaloons route). The Microinverter System, for instance, converts DC power to AC household current at the solar panel, instead of sending the power accumulated at all the panels to one central inverter. And the microinverters aren't merely, well, "inverting." Nope, they also send stats to a gateway that, working with the Environ Smart Thermostat, allows you to keep tabs on your heating and cooling system as well as track solar panel performance all in the same web app. Pretty sweet, right? Or did we lose you at "Barbara Eden"? Hit the source link for more info.
J.R. Ewing's back to promote solar power, no one under 30 knows why this is so funny
Remember Dallas? It was on after The Dukes of Hazzard? Anyways, series star J.R. Ewing (the hard drinking, hard fighting Texas oilman played by Larry Hagman) is seeing his role reprised as a spokesman for SolarWorld, a German-based manufacturer of Photovoltaic arrays that has manufacturing facilities in California and Oregon. Hagman, it seems, has long been a proponent of green energy. Not only has he installed a 94-kilowatt, $750,000 array on his estate in Ojai, California, but he also serves on the board of the Solar Electric Light Fund, a nonprofit that brings solar systems and Internet access to poor people in remote corners of the globe. "With all that oil gushing away in the gulf," Hagman told The New York Times, "I figured it was time to call for a new direction in where we're getting our energy. Since Sarah Palin is saying, 'Drill, baby, drill,' I'm saying, 'Shine, baby, shine.'" We couldn't agree more. Now, how about reviving Major Nelson to promote space exploration?
Poseidon floating power plant features wind turbines, location for Waterworld II
We've seen plenty of attempts to harness the movement of the sea for power, including underwater turbines and Searaser pumps, but those technologies are sadly unreliable. Denmark's Floating Power Plant has thought of that, however -- ingeniously outfitting its 350-ton Poseidon platform with wind turbines as well as the underwater variety, so it can harvest energy even when the sea is calm. As stability is a major concern, the company took design cues from oil rigs, so this bad boy should hopefully stay right-side-up even in the most perfect of storms. According to Inhabitat, the company is pegging energy costs between 10 and 15 Euro cents per kilowatt hour -- competitive for the continent. This thing is currently stationed off the coast of Lolland in Denmark, although with any luck they'll be all over the world soon enough, at which point we will use them as bases from which to launch our futuristic, dystopian undersea armies.
Stanford researchers harvest electricity from algae, unkempt pools become gold mines
While we've seen plenty of stabs at viable green energy, from underwater turbines to the Bloom Box, we're always up for another. Running along the same lines as Uppsala University's algae-based batteries, researchers at Stanford are generating electrical current by tapping into the electron activity of individual algae cells. The team designed a gold electrode that can be pushed through a cell membrane, which then seals around it. The cell, still alive, does what it does best (photosynthesis), at which point scientists harvest chemical energy in the form of electrons. According to Stanford University News, this results in "electricity production that doesn't release carbon into the atmosphere. The only byproducts of photosynthesis are protons and oxygen." Of course, the team has a long way to go before this is economically feasible, but who knows? Maybe there's an algae-powered OPhone in your future...
BMW commits to Megacity EV by 2013, will start by testing ActiveE all-electric 1 series next year
BMW's first all-electric regular series production vehicle, the Megacity EV, has now been set in stone and inserted into the company's roadmap for a commercial launch in 2012 or 2013. The Bavarian automaker has gone official with word that it plans to use its Leipzig assembly plant to produce the car and further notes that it'll feature a similar setup to the ActiveE concept (pictured above), which is set for field testing in 2011. Essentially a 1 series that feeds off the electric grid rather than the nearest diesel pump, the ActiveE runs off an array of lithium-ion batteries á la the well liked but recently troubled Tesla Roadster, and will serve as a test mule for refining the underlying technology. Generating up to 170bhp might not sound all that impressive, but it should be more than sufficient for the urban commuters these vehicles will be aimed at. Now we just need Mercedes and Audi to match that release schedule and the electric car should finally have its day in the mainstream sun.
