Everyone loves the idea of solar energy. The three big challenges are that solar cells are expensive to produce, they’re not very efficient, and you need some means to store the energy collected. I’d heard of solar shingles before, which are basically roofing shingles with solar cells in them, but now word is coming out of solar cells printed on paper. As usual, the technology is still years away from a marketable product, but it’s an interesting development. → Read More
Fuel cells are on their way into the mainstream, even though the commercially available models are still pretty pricey. But there are companies like Kyoto-based Aquafairy [JP], for example, preparing affordable fuel cells, too. Their four new fuel cells are intended to make gadget fans in particular happy: the micro FC Stick (0.8W), the FC-Stick (2W), the FC-Cube (3W) and the FC-Cube Dual (6W). → Read More
After eight years of operating in quasi-stealth, Bloom Energy came out with a bang today at an event in Silicon Valley attended by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Colin Powell, Larry Page, John Doerr, and executives from eBay, Walmart, Coca-Cola, and FedEx. All of the big-name companies, including Google, are beta customers of Bloom’s distributed energy fuel cell technology (which was the subject of a 60 Minutes profile on Sunday and various other stories since then).
Doerr, the Kleiner Perkins VC who backed both Bloom and Google, said today: “This Is Like The Google IPO.” Except without the IPO part. Doerr was referring to the fact that, like Google, Bloom has kept its business close to its vest until it actually could show some progress in terms of customers and products. Five Bloom energy boxes about the size of a parking space each now provide 15 percent of the power at eBay’s campus. Walmart is testing the boxes in two locations where it is carrying 60 to 80 percent of the energy load of an entire store. Google co-founder Larry Page calls the technology a “very big deal” and looks forward to the day that it can expand the number of Bloom boxes Google uses to the point where it can power one of its data centers. → Read More
Sometimes I’m assigned stories and I’m like, “Really? If you insist, boss.” This is one of those stories. It’s a collection of sidewalks, or derivatives, that “work while you wait.” Yup. → Read More
I’m a simple man. I understand certain things. How ambient Wi-Fi signals could be converted into enough energy to charge a BlackBerry is something I do NOT understand. However, RCA not only showed off the technology at CES but the device will apparently be available by the summer and it’ll only cost $40. → Read More
I think we can all agree that protecting our own personal privacy is a generally good idea. There are an enormous number of ways that our privacy can be encroached in a given day. Some of them are “for our own good”, or “just the cost of doing business” in the modern age. Some of the ways our privacy may be violated are extremely esoteric and not very likely (hard drive activity LEDs, for example! PDF: Information Leakage from Optical Emanations). Generally speaking, what I do in my own home is largely my own business, and not the business of anyone else. But the technology behind so-called “smart grids” for delivering electricity to appliances in a way that maximizes efficiency may leak a lot of personal information about you and your domestic habits. → Read More
Oh man, I thought those compact florescent lightbulbs (CFLs) were expensive at around five bucks a pop. Say hello to the $40 LED light bulb — and that’s an introductory price. It’ll apparently cost $50 later. → Read More
Microsoft’s new tool – Hohm – is supposed to help you save energy and money. While I signed up for the beta unfortunately I can’t try this odd named thing since I live in Europe. This is why I need your feedback on how Hohm works, so be kind and leave comments with your opinions. Or don’t. → Read More
Yes, your refrigerator, washer, and dryer may be Energy Star certified, but any good you’re doing is offset by your DVD player, TV and computer. That’s the simplified version of a new International Energy Agency report that says white goods—refrigerator, washing machines, etc.—are a lot more energy efficient than they used to be, but that consumer electronics—computers, TVs, etc—haven’t made the same progress. And we’re all doomed for it. → Read More
Everyone loves solar power, right? It’s basically an infinitely renewable resource — at least for as long as any of us care — and it’s free. FREE! Why, I remember making and using solar powered hot dog cookers back in Boy Scouts; and people a lot smarter than me have been planning things far more sophisticated than a hot dog cooker. Take Solaren, for example. They’re hoping to work with Pacific Gas & Electric to create space-based solar energy collectors. → Read More
Oops. Apparently all the computers in the US that are rarely, if ever, shut down at night account for almost $3 billion in wasted energy costs and “may emit up to 20 million tons of carbon dioxide.” → Read More
Asura just opened the first-of-its-kind thermal energy plant in California, which should generate enough electricity to power some 3,500 homes. The best part is that this plant, which is named Kimberlina, is merely a proof of concept of sorts— the real plant, to be constructed by 2010, will generate enough electricity to power, like, 120,000 homes. The idea is dead simple: you’ve got really long mirrors (1,000 feet, to be exact) which reflect the sun’s rays. These rays are reflected onto a series of tubes that are filled with water. The water heats up and turns into steam, which in turn spins power-generating turbines. Makes you wanna become an engineer, doesn’t it? Detractors will likely say, “That’s easy for California to do since it’s bathed in sunlight every day.” Granted, but should the technology prove efficient, what’s to stop the state from becoming an energy breadbasket of sorts to other states? Potatoes come from Idaho and Maine, electricity comes from California. Everyone wins. via Inhabitat → Read More
Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. For $22.99 you can charge four USB-powered devices plus another regular DC-powered device in your car. It’s only $22.99 – roughly the cost of one or two device-specific DC adapters. Since just about everything charges via USB nowadays, this is a pretty obvious choice for any gadget fiend who spends a lot of time on the road. Car Charger with 4 USB Ports and 1 Cigarette Socket [usbfever.com via Ubergizmo] → Read More
Some feel-good news for your enjoyment, this time about how wind power can save the planet, or something. It seems that for the low, low price of less than two cents per day, the U.S. would be able to generate something like 300 gigawatts of electricity using windmills. That translates to an 11 percent reduction in natural gas consumption, saving 4 trillion gallons of water every year, and a 25 percent reduction of carbon dioxide omissions by 2030. The rest is some anti-Bush talk about how the administration has ruined America and has slowed our adoption of such alternative fuel sources. Relax, he’ll be gone soon. And then all our problems will be solved, right, just like when the Dems re-took Congress two years ago? Politics is broken here. → Read More
Straight out of the University of Texas at Austin comes the world’s most powerful laser. I just assumed that most lasers were very powerful, but apparently the great state of Texas has the best one until someone else can come along and build an even more powerful laser or mounts this same laser to a shark’s head. → Read More
People who wear lab coats somewhere in Illinois (Argonne, to be exact) have reportedly developed a lithium-ion battery that’s capable of storing 30 percent more energy while at the same time being safer than current lithium-ion batteries. What’s more, the technology has been licensed to Japanese laptop battery manufacturer Toda Kogyo, so we might actually see these batteries in notebook iterations relatively soon. → Read More
[photopress:2070049523_385bca185b_o.jpg,full,center] In the 1960s most of America assumed that by 2008 we’d be driving nuclear-powered cars around. Even in Back to the Future the Delorian was powered by Mr. Fusion. But alas, anyone can tell you that we’re still chained to oil-powered internal combustion engines, just as we have been for 100 years. But a new material scienticians have developed might pave the way for nuclear-powered cars in the near future. The material takes nuclear decay and can convert it to electricity far more efficiently than ever before. Spacecraft have been using this type of “nuclear battery” for decades to propel them through space, but it’s never been effective enough for terrestrial use. More tests are needed, but the nano-tech based polymers could be adapted to be more energy efficient, enough so that they could drive a standard-sized American car. And it would do so cleanly. The scienticians say we’re still at least a decade out from utilizing the technology, but it’s entirely possible we can hang up the pumps by then. → Read More
