Hybrid Living

Micro-wind has always been a bit of a dream of mine. Yes…I want it. I want there to be wind turbines on every roof I can see out of my little second-story window. And while that might be a bit of a pipe dream (my town happens to be classified by 3Tier’s wind mapping system as a 1, the least windy of all classes) it might be possible for much of America. 

The Swift turbine is a new ultra-light, ultra-quiet wind turbine that has begun showing up on rooftops, mostly of commercial installations. And in places with wind classes 4 – 6, it’s very nearly as cheap as getting your electricity from the grid.

Swift Turbine’s patented design has several advantages over traditional turbines. First, the dual tail on either side of the turbine keeps it facing into the wind, but also greatly reduces noise and vibration. While many wind turbines can roar in high winds, the Swift Turbine is whisper quiet, making it ideal for in-city use. 

Already the turbines are being installed on businesses and rooftops in windy areas of America. But they do have a great deal of competition from other small-wind manufacturers out there.

It will be interesting to see if small-wind is going to be a significant power source for Americans and, if so, which manufacturers will go big in the next ten years.

After eight years of near-zero growth in atmospheric methane concentrations, levels have again started to rise.

“This is not good news for future global warming,” says CSIRO’s Dr Paul Fraser, who co-authored a paper to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

Teach them and they will learn. Show them and they will understand.
That is the way things are going for most institutions. And in schools, they are already using solar power to be able to show to the students just how friendly this kind of technology is.
One of the newest schools to use solar power is [...]

Formula One racing is a fierce niche in the world of cars, but Mercedes-Benz wants to make that niche both fierce and emission-free. As part of the LA Auto Show’s automobile Design Challenge, Mercedes has unveiled the Formula Zero Racer, their vision of the race car of 2025.

The Formula Zero concept combines luxury, high speed and zero emissions for the ultimate future race car. The cutting edge vehicle features electric motors, regenerative braking, batteries charged by solar panels on the body and a wind turbine at the nose, and a high-tech sail.

Mercedes imagines that future racing won’t be based on first place finishes. Teams will all be given the same amount of stored energy and will have to manage that energy with their speed. Winners will be judged on both elapsed time and energy efficiency.

Sounds like a great fantasy. I don’t know if hardcore fans will get behind any racing that doesn’t focus completely on speed, but I suppose there is an interest in overall driving performance in racing today. Maybe in 2025, a car’s energy efficiency will be just as captivating.

via Inhabitat

Formula One racing is a fierce niche in the world of cars, but Mercedes-Benz wants to make that niche both fierce and emission-free. As part of the LA Auto Show’s automobile Design Challenge, Mercedes has unveiled the Formula Zero Racer, their vision of the race car of 2025.

The Formula Zero concept combines luxury, high speed and zero emissions for the ultimate future race car. The cutting edge vehicle features electric motors, regenerative braking, batteries charged by solar panels on the body and a wind turbine at the nose, and a high-tech sail.

Mercedes imagines that future racing won’t be based on first place finishes. Teams will all be given the same amount of stored energy and will have to manage that energy with their speed. Winners will be judged on both elapsed time and energy efficiency.

Sounds like a great fantasy. I don’t know if hardcore fans will get behind any racing that doesn’t focus completely on speed, but I suppose there is an interest in overall driving performance in racing today. Maybe in 2025, a car’s energy efficiency will be just as captivating.

via Inhabitat

No they are not hiring teachers to help teach children about solar power. Instead, their way of educating these students is through a curriculum that they had created themselves. They are calling it “Learning About Solar Power” and it seems like a real good guide to help teachers teach children about solar power and everything [...]

For obvious reasons, most Westerners don’t view the Middle East as a very green place. Why would oil-producing companies have any interest in de-valuing their most precious resource, right? Turns out, though, that a small yet significant move towards alternative energy is beginning in the region. While it might not become a world industry leader any time soon, the Middle East is playing its part.

Of the region’s renewable resources, solar is clearly its most abundant. As stated in a Forbes article from this past August, “Saudi Arabia [is] the Saudi Arabia of solar”. And it’s not just Saudi Arabia – a company called Solar Technologies FZE is building a thin-film solar factory in Dubai. According to the company’s website, “Solar Technologies FZE seeks to pave way for a true Green Society”. Visionary words indeed. And Masdar, a cleantech initiative which has plans for a UAE eco-city, is building a $250 million thin-film solar factory of its own.

It seems, though, that some have their eye on wind as well. An Egyptian company, El-Sewedy Cables, has recently started a wind power subsidiary while investing heavily into a Spanish wind turbine manufacturing company. A government official from Pakistan also mentioned that his nation planned on producing a gigawatt of wind power in the coming years.

Some point to recent talks about a possible Iran-Russia-Qatar natural gas cartel as one motive for investments such as these. That may be part of the reason. But if I was an oil exporting country, I would be worried about the future. Oil fields won’t last forever, and neither will oil wealth. But if Middle East governments pour that wealth into something renewable, they could stretch it out over many years to come.

Via Greentech Media
Image Via Creative Commons

Intel Capital is the investment arm of the Intel we all know, and it seems that green technology is on its agenda (EcoGeek logo fiasco aside). The company has recently invested $20 million into Trony Solar Hodlings Co., a company that makes thin film solar and specializes in building-integrated installations. Another investment went to NP Holdings, Ltd., who makes electric storage systems.

It is no surprise why China is becoming a burgeoning home for cleantech ventures. It has the industrial capacity and – more importantly, right now – capital. As we’ve mentioned with the wind power industry, capital and credit are two things that the US could use more of these days, and that the Chinese government has to offer. And so while investors and VCs flock to the other side of the Pacific, all the US cleantech startups can do is sigh.

Via The Wall Street Journal, Earth2Tech
Image Via Intel Capital

Airplanes are some of the most gas-guzzling players in our transportation industry, which makes them a good place to start implementing renewable biofuels. Boeing has recently announced plans to do just that, phasing in 30% biofuel blends within the next 3 to 5 years, depending on when the fuels obtains enough industry commercialization.

What is unclear about this plan, however, is exactly where that fuel will come from. It seems that the major development here is that Boeing (as well as competitor Airbus) has sampled the products coming out of biofuel startups and declared it fit for use on an airplane. It is one thing to develop such a fuel in a lab, but quite another to scale it up enough to make a serious impact on the airline industry.

In particular, biofuel experts are shying away from first generation biofuel crops such as soy beans, which are generally thought to use up agricultural resources otherwise intended for food. And while algae fuels hold more promise, none of the young algae startups are ready to pump out that much fuel in such a short time frame. Although Virgin Airlines recently ran a test flight on algae biofuel, many dismissed this as a publicity stunt, rather than an indication of current availability.

Via Cleantechnia, Guardian UK