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Fuel cells get stronger, potentially cheaper with graphene, ITO
As the sustainable Juggernaut of fuel cell vehicles (FCV) powers ever forward, a group of scientists are cooking up ways to make the alternative energy source more durable and even cheaper. By combining graphene -- think pencil lead -- and indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticles, the team produced a catalytic material that is both stronger and more chemically active than the usual catalytic combo. Fuel cells typically use a chemical catalyst like platinum, sitting atop a base of black carbon or metal oxides, to break down oxygen and hydrogen gases, creating water in the process -- thing is, carbon is easily eroded by the resulting water, and metal oxides, while more stable, are less conductive. Using graphene -- which because of its porousness erodes less quickly -- in combination with the stable ITO and platinum nanoparticles, researchers have created what could be referred to as a super fuel cell -- a stronger, longer lasting, and potentially cheaper version of the alternative energy source. Unfortunately, without enough hydrogen filling stations, these super fuel cells won't come to anyone's rescue anytime soon.
Obama's 2012 budget includes push for 'mini-nuke' reactor development
The President revealed his 2012 budget proposal today, including $853 million for nuclear energy research -- which includes development of "mini-nukes," or small, modular reactors that can be shipped and deployed relatively quickly, and built relatively cheaply (up to $2 billion, as opposed to the $10 billion price tag of your traditional reactor). But don't get excited -- you won't likely be able to get your own backyard reactor just yet. For the time being, they're to be placed in existing large-scale labs like the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. It is hoped that the reactors will bring a 28 percent reduction of the Energy Department's carbon footprint by 2020.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: electric cars compared, molten salt solar, and a renewable Merry Christmas!
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. Electric vehicles took the country by storm this week as both the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt were officially released to eager customers - if you're still trying to decide between the two, check out our electric vehicle smackdown, which compares the two EVs based on their most important features. We also took a spin inside Honda's electric Fit, and we showcased a futuristic home decked out with enough solar panels to completely charge an EV. The Sonex airplane also signaled bright horizons for electric aviation as it completed its maiden flight. Meanwhile California lit up the newswires by giving the green light for the state's first molten salt solar energy project, and San Francisco announced a plan to generate 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. We also saw ten European countries forge a plan to build a massive renewable energy supergrid in the North Sea, and we showcased two hot examples of wearable teach that harness body heat - Fujitsu's solar-thermal power band and a band-aid styled mp3 player. Finally, this week Inhabitat geared up for the holidays by showcasing 6 brands of dazzling LED christmas lights that save you energy and money, we showcased some innovative Christmas trees made with unusual materials, and we highlighted out favorite green gadget gifts for the holidays this year. And when all those presents are unwrapped we know exactly what to do with the aftermath - researchers have developed a way to recycle 100% of the material in plastic wrapping paper and artist Jason Rogenes wowed us with his incredible futuristic spaceships made from the styrofoam used to package electronics.
The Pope desires a solar-powered Popemobile, might just get one
Remember how W said Americans were addicted to fossil fuels? Well, Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger (better known by his crew as '265-Cal') is addicted to renewable energy. First he had photovoltaic arrays installed on the roof of an auditorium in the Vatican. Then he had a solar cooling system built into the Vatican cafeteria. Now, the Pope wants his mobile bulletproof shell to be solar-powered. While we'd love to see some PV cells rocking out on the roof of the custom Benz, they probably wouldn't power a whole lot more than his DC Papal reading lights -- to that end, we're hoping he goes the practical route and installs a PV array on top of the Popegarage and simply juices the batteries between sessions of humbly waving to the teeming masses. Whatever he and his crack team of energy specialists figure out, we're sure you'll be able to read all about it in the next volume of The Energy of the Sun in the Vatican, a book that actually exists. [Photo remixed from Catholic Westminster's flickr]
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.
World's largest offshore wind farm spins into action off the coast of Britain
They stretch up to two and a half times the height of Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Square, their number is close to a hundred, and their mission is to bring clean, renewable energy into British homes. Yes, we're talking about turbines. The latest wind farm to be erected near the Queen's most sovereign isles is said to be the largest in the world (for now) and promises to produce enough energy to keep 240,000 homes going -- the equivalent of half the county of Kent. It's part of the UK's grand plan to generate at least 20 percent of all its power needs through the taming of the winds and cost the Kingdom a cool £780 million ($1.2b) to build. That's admittedly a big bill to swallow, but there are worse things to blow your billions on... such as, say, the Millennium Dome.
Airborne electricity is ripe for the picking, claim researchers
Electricity might not grow on trees, but it is freely available in the air -- provided you know how to catch it. Such is the contention presented by Dr. Francesco Galembeck of Brazil's University of Campinas at the 240th annual American Chemical Society shindig. He and his crew have shown how tiny particles of silica and aluminum phosphate become electrically charged when water vapor is passed over them. This aims to prove two things: firstly, that airborne water droplets do carry an electric charge, and secondly, that metals can be used to collect that charge. Detractors have pointed out that Dr. Galembeck's team may be generating the droplets' electrical charge by the act of pumping the air over the metals -- which might imply you couldn't practice this technique with still, humid air -- while there's also the rather large caveat that the little electricity they were able to collect from vapor was a hundred million times less than what you could obtain from a solar cell of equivalent size. Still, it's another new door unto a potential alternative energy source and we don't ever like having to close those.
Ford to install solar cells at SUV factory, Mother Nature sees glimmer of hope
From the Baby Steps department: Ford will be working with Detroit Edison to install a 500-kilowatt photovoltaic array and 750kw battery storage system at its Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne. While this is a great thing, the sun will only be handling about 0.5 percent of the plant's yearly 140,000,000-kilowatt-hour consumption. More important than that 0.5 percent, however, is the fact that the PV system will serve as a kind of teaching facility on the subjects of load-shifting, voltage support, off-peak charging, and demand response for an industrial setting -- i.e., an automobile manufacturing plant. Kudos to Ford for the teachable moment, but we know it can do better: the outfit's Dagenham Diesel Center in the UK is powered completely by on-site wind turbines. And we think they will do better: it tells us it's still investigating the possibility of a wind energy component for this and other facilities. You're welcome, Ma Earth.
Solar Impulse returns from 24 hour test flight 26 hours later
Rest easy, fans of solar-powered aeronautics. Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse has safely returned after 26 hours in the air -- powered by nothing but the sun. The four-engine aircraft, which features 12,000 solar cells arranged on its wingspan, reached a height of almost 29,000 feet before touching down at Payerne Airport near Berne, Switzerland today. The next step? The team is going back to the woodshed, with the hope of developing a plane that will circumnavigate the globe by 2013.
Solar Impulse begins 24-hour test flight, lets you watch the whole thing live
Boy, these Franco-Swiss research teams sure do like to exhibit their work to the world. After the Large Hadron Collider crew did a live webcast of their record-breaking 7 TeV proton collisions, here's Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse gang showing off their latest feat via a live video stream. Taking off shortly before 7AM Central European Time today, the HB-SIA craft is currently cruising above the idyllic plains of Switzerland, with the plan being for it to start gently descending through the night and plopping itself back down on terra firma early in the morning. Hit the source link to track its laps in real time, replete with sporadic commentary from the monitoring crew. It's riveting stuff.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar houses, geothermal power, and the world's slowest Porsche
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat, recapping the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. This week Inhabitat showcased some of the world's most stunning sun-powered homes as the European Solar Decathlon kicked off Friday in Madrid, Spain. We can't wait to see the winner of this year's competition, which challenged 17 teams from around the world to build the most efficient solar-powered house. Will it be the University of Nottingham's hyper-efficient H.O.U.S.E, Florida's Re:Focus prefab, or one of the other amazing contenders? Speaking of solar power, the field of clean tech had a hot week as Sanyo unveiled the world's most efficient solar module. We also saw solar power energize Africa's largest slum as a photovoltaic television set allowed residents of Kibera, Nairobe to watch the World Cup. Several massive new geothermal projects rounded out our renewable energy news this week as the US Department of Energy unveiled plans to make Nevada the "Saudi Arabia of Geothermal Energy". In other news, two-wheeled transportation took the world by storm as Italy unveiled its first electric motorcycle and Switzerland showcased its Zerotracer Superbike, which is set to circle the globe in 80 days using only renewable energy. And if a peddle-powered ride is more your pace, then you won't want to miss the world's slowest Porsche. If all that exciting transportation news has you overheating, then relax and cool off -- here's a futuristic refrigerator that keeps things cool with bio gel and an underarm clothing patch that eliminates body odor through nanotechnology. And finally, if you're ready to relax and slip into some summer reading, we're giving away an iPad complete with a bamboo DODOcase -- hit the link to enter!
Europe gets first fast-charging EV station, hungers for more
Epyon, a small Dutch startup, is showing the big boys how it's done with its recently unveiled fast-charging station for electric vehicles. Billed as Europe's first commercially available charger of its kind, this unit will recharge anything up to a nine-seater taxi van within 30 minutes, thanks to its 50 kilowatts of power capacity. It's now installed alongside more conventional petrol and diesel refilling points in a fueling station over in Leeuwarden. That's the capital city of Friesland, a Dutch province that has set itself the ambitious goal of having 100,000 EVs on its roads by 2015. That aim is shared by the wider European Union as well, which yesterday agreed on defining a common electric recharging standard, whose universality might attract skeptical consumers and more cautious investors into the field. They've set themselves a deadline of "mid-2011," though the broad outlines and new incentives for buying greener cars are likely to appear by the end of this year.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: surfing renewable energy, hexagonal LEDs, and ultra-efficient aerodynamics
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat, recapping the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. This week Inhabitat reported live from the scene of New York Design Week, where we sifted through thousands of new home furnishings and interiors products to bring you the state-of-the-art in green design. Fresh from the floor of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair is this stunning hexagonal crystal LED light, which is composed of glowing geometric blocks that snap together to form a myriad of shapes. We were also impressed by this beautifully finished wood calculator that multiplies its green factor with sustainably-sourced materials. The past week was also surging with developments from the field of renewable energy - first we were excited to see the unveiling of the Oyster 2, an offshore wave-harvesting energy plant that improves upon its predecessor with a simpler design, fewer moving parts, and a 250% increase in energy generation. Google, HP, and Microsoft are also getting into the green energy game with plans to tap an unexpected energy source to run their data centers - cow dung! Google also led the charge towards cleaner energy this week by funding a new type of jet engine-inspired geothermal drill that uses superheated streams of water to bore through previously impenetrable surfaces. Speaking of jets, MIT has just unveiled several ultra-efficient airplane designs that are capable of cutting fuel use by a whopping 70%. The auto industry also received a jolt of energy as Toyota announced a partnership with Tesla that will boost California's flagging economy and likely lead to more affordable iconic electric vehicles. The field of wearable technology saw several innovative advancements this week as well - safe cyclists rejoice, because a group of Indian students have designed a $22 Solar and Wind Powered Bike Helmet. Meanwhile, a group of Colorado State University seniors have designed a medical incubator backpack unit that they believe can reduce baby deaths in medical emergencies. Finally, we shined light on several brilliant advancements from the field of solar technology, starting with China's plans to build the "biggest solar energy production base" in the world. We also looked at the HYDRA, a solar-powered hydrogen fuel cell system that can reportedly generate 20,000 gallons of pure water a day, and green energy got literal with the unveiling of the first leaf-shaped crystalline silicon solar panels.
Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse completes first full test flight, nears another frontier (video)
We've tracked this solar-powered tub from its announcement last year, through its first runway tests, past the little hop that counted as its first flight, and now we've arrived at the HB-SIA's first legitimate test flight. The Solar Impulse, brainchild of one Bertrand Piccard, took the upward plunge into the skies yesterday, successfully rising to 5,500 feet and a speed of 30 knots before gliding down gently and calling the whole thing an unqualified success. You can find video of the event after the break. A nighttime test flight is planned for later this year, after which a bulkier production model will be cobbled together with the intent of reaching the final goal of circumnavigating the globe by 2012.
PlanetSolar boat aims for Earth circumnavigation with Sun's help, enters testing stage (video)
You'll be forgiven for letting the PlanetSolar boat slip your mind in the year that's passed since we last heard of it, but the engineers behind the project haven't been slacking and today we're hearing that the multihull vessel has been put into the water to begin its seafaring tests. With nearly 5,400 square feet of photovoltaic cells adorning its roof, this is by far the biggest and most ambitious solar-powered boat yet, so it's no surprise that it won't be casting off on its globe circumnavigation attempt until at least April 2011. For now, you can enjoy photos of the vast ray-muncher at the PlanetSolar link below or skip past the break for the latest video from the team. [Thanks, Pavel]
Toshiba and Bill Gates-backed TerraPower discussing small-scale nuclear reactors
It would seem that Toshiba hasn't given up on its dream of producing a nuclear reactor for the home, and its latest potential partner counts quite the big name among its backers. Run by a former Microsoft exec and partially funded by Bill Gates himself, TerraPower is said to have opened preliminary discussions with Toshiba regarding a possible joint venture between the two companies. The aim is, predictably, to make safer, smaller, more socially acceptable, and just plain better reactors. TerraPower boasts its tech can run without refueling for up to 60 years on depleted uranium and Bill Gates has gotten enthusiastic enough about the whole thing to give a 30-minute talk on the matter. Click past the break for the video.
Ontario and Samsung seal $6.7 billion renewable energy deal
Need to know how much it would cost you and your town to generate 2,500 megawatts of pure green energy? Your wind and solar farm infrastructure costs will come to 7 billion CAD (just under 6.7 billion in US currency), which includes a 437 million CAD "sweetener" to get Samsung on board. Plenty of curmudgeons have emerged from the woodwork to trash the deal as costing above market prices, but this appears to be the largest venture of its kind, so we're not entirely sure "market prices" exist yet. For its part, Samsung will create 16,000 jobs in the area, 4,000 of them permanent, as it builds toward the stated goal of providing enough energy to fully power 4 percent of Ontario's population. [Thanks, Dan]
Google launches Google Energy, hoping to bring more green energy to its datacenters
Of all the truly monumental advancements to human civilization that Google has provided for this great world, like enabling cached offline access to Gmail in Android devices, the company has done some nasty stuff too. Its worst offense (that we know about) is surely the massive drain on the nation's energy resources its data centers pull, but it's working to put things right, most recently with last month's formation of Google Energy, a spin-off that, Google hopes, will allow the company to more actively participate in national energy markets, purchasing more from renewables and thus funding greater innovation in that space. Sounds nice, but we think it's just a cover; the Googs will surely be releasing a contract-free personal power generator called the Deckard One in roughly 18 months, undermining the entrenched utility companies and freeing us all from costly early disconnection fees. Whether or not those generators will support multitouch, however, remains to be seen. [Thanks, Amanda; image courtesy of How To Draw]
Times Square New Year's Eve ball drop brought to you by... some furiously pedaling tourists
Hey, if you're in New York City and bored on New Year's Eve, well, maybe you feel like working? Duracell's set up its Smart Power Lab in the heart of Manhattan, along with several Power Rovers, which are stationery bikes that generate renewable energy when pedaled. You see where this is going, right? That energy is being stored up and harnessed by Duracell to power the ball we watch drop every year, which boasts about 9,500 LEDs. Fun times, if you're not averse to the freezing cold, the screaming crowds, the garbage, and the awful music. Or you could always do what we do, and stay home in your jammies watching Twin Peaks -- but it's really up to you. Either way, we're glad to see the ball is no longer powered by Dick Clark's rage. There's one more shot after the break.
Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse takes flight
They said it couldn't be done. They laughed and questioned what would happen when the sun sets, but the man whose passport reads Piccard, Bertrand, and whose bold will and bald helm match a similarly named Capitaine, has now overseen the first solar-powered flight on the Solar Impulse HB-SIA. Okay, so it was 1,150 feet flown at a meter above ground level, but that's just classic Swiss caution for you, no reason not to celebrate the fact that there's now a flying tub powered purely by solar energy and promising a future of aircraft operating indefinitely -- so long as the sun doesn't forget to rise every morning. This comes mere days after the first runway tests were carried out, leading us to believe that this is one mission with a glorious chance of success.
