29-Apr-2010
Ellen Sedeno
Wake Forest University
Purple Pokeberries hold secret to affordable solar power worldwide
Pokeberries – the weeds that children smash to stain their cheeks purple-red and that Civil War soldiers used to write letters home – could be the key to spreading solar power across the globe, according to researchers at Wake Forest University's Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials.
Nanotech Center scientists have used the red dye made from pokeberries to coat their efficient and inexpensive fiber-based solar cells. The dye acts as an absorber, helping the cell's tiny fibers trap more sunlight to convert into power.
Pokeberries proliferate even during drought and in rocky, infertile soil. That means residents of rural Africa, for instance, could raise the plants for pennies. Then they could make the dye absorber for the extremely efficient fiber cells and provide energy where power lines don't run, said David Carroll, Ph.D., the center's director.
"They're weeds," Carroll said. "They grow on every continent but Antarctica."
Wake Forest University holds the first patent for fiber-based photovoltaic, or solar, cells, granted by the European Patent Office in November. A spinoff company called FiberCell Inc. has received the license to develop manufacturing methods for the new solar cell.
The fiber cells can produce as much as twice the power that current flat-cell technology can produce. That's because they are composed of millions of tiny, plastic "cans" that trap light until most of it is absorbed. Since the fibers create much more surface area, the fiber solar cells can collect light at any angle – from the time the sun rises until it sets. ...
Waste as safe fuel must become reality.
India sets out ambitious solar power plan to be paid for by rich nations
India plans to generate 20GW from sunlight by 2020, putting green energy targets of developed nations in the shade
* Maseeh Rahman in New Delhi
* Tuesday 4 August 2009
India has decided to push ahead with a vastly ambitious plan to tap the power of the sun to generate clean electricity, and after a meeting chaired by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, it wants rich nations to pay the bill.
Although India has virtually no solar power now, the plan envisages the country generating 20GW from sunlight by 2020. Global solar capacity is predicted to be 27GW by then, according to the International Energy Agency, meaning India expects to be producing 75% of this within just 10 years.
Four-hundred million Indians have no electricity and the solar power would help spark the country's development and end the power cuts that plague the nation. It would also, say some analysts, assuage international criticism that India is not doing enough to confront its carbon emissions. It is currently heavily reliant on highly polluting coal for power. ...
India plans to generate 20GW from sunlight by 2020, putting green energy targets of developed nations in the shade
* Maseeh Rahman in New Delhi
* Tuesday 4 August 2009
India has decided to push ahead with a vastly ambitious plan to tap the power of the sun to generate clean electricity, and after a meeting chaired by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, it wants rich nations to pay the bill.
Although India has virtually no solar power now, the plan envisages the country generating 20GW from sunlight by 2020. Global solar capacity is predicted to be 27GW by then, according to the International Energy Agency, meaning India expects to be producing 75% of this within just 10 years.
Four-hundred million Indians have no electricity and the solar power would help spark the country's development and end the power cuts that plague the nation. It would also, say some analysts, assuage international criticism that India is not doing enough to confront its carbon emissions. It is currently heavily reliant on highly polluting coal for power. ...
... For decades, Britain has generated its energy from big installations: whopping great fossil fuel power stations that belch out carbon dioxide to add to global warming; mammoth nuclear power stations with a shocking record of construction delays and cost overruns; oversized wind farms, sometimes plonked down in wholly inappropriate places.
But it's becoming clear that an excellent way to generate renewable energy is on a small – even household – scale, through rooftop solar panels. Despite the initial cost, the "fuel" is distributed free by nature, without the need for long pipes or power lines, and costs little or nothing to tap once the installation has been paid for. Families gain greater independence, and possibly some income from selling the surplus to the grid.
Last year, a report backed by Lord Mandelson's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (as was) concluded that, with proper encouragement, nine million British homes could be using such "microgeneration" by 2020, producing the same amount of electricity as five nuclear power stations. After just another decade, it went on, this could prevent the emission of as much carbon dioxide as taking all of the country's buses and lorries off the road.
Sounds great? Not to the official ear. Civil servants in successive energy departments have always hated the idea of microgeneration, and done all they could to stifle it.
And why? Because it means someone else – worse, millions of someone elses – make decisions instead of them. And, as every mandarin believes, the man from Whitehall knows best.
In fact, as Daily Telegraph readers know, the man – and (let's not be sexist) the woman – from Whitehall usually knows worst. After all, these people who trust you so little are the same bunch of dunderheads who pressed unrelentingly for the building of the mixed-oxide nuclear plant at Sellafield.
This white dinosaur, which has cost the taxpayer £1 billion, was supposed to produce 120 tons of nuclear fuel a year, but managed only a total of 6.3 tonnes between its opening in 2001 and April this year. (But never mind – there are proposals to build another one to make up for it.) ...
But it's becoming clear that an excellent way to generate renewable energy is on a small – even household – scale, through rooftop solar panels. Despite the initial cost, the "fuel" is distributed free by nature, without the need for long pipes or power lines, and costs little or nothing to tap once the installation has been paid for. Families gain greater independence, and possibly some income from selling the surplus to the grid.
Last year, a report backed by Lord Mandelson's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (as was) concluded that, with proper encouragement, nine million British homes could be using such "microgeneration" by 2020, producing the same amount of electricity as five nuclear power stations. After just another decade, it went on, this could prevent the emission of as much carbon dioxide as taking all of the country's buses and lorries off the road.
Sounds great? Not to the official ear. Civil servants in successive energy departments have always hated the idea of microgeneration, and done all they could to stifle it.
And why? Because it means someone else – worse, millions of someone elses – make decisions instead of them. And, as every mandarin believes, the man from Whitehall knows best.
In fact, as Daily Telegraph readers know, the man – and (let's not be sexist) the woman – from Whitehall usually knows worst. After all, these people who trust you so little are the same bunch of dunderheads who pressed unrelentingly for the building of the mixed-oxide nuclear plant at Sellafield.
This white dinosaur, which has cost the taxpayer £1 billion, was supposed to produce 120 tons of nuclear fuel a year, but managed only a total of 6.3 tonnes between its opening in 2001 and April this year. (But never mind – there are proposals to build another one to make up for it.) ...
Make Michigan nation's clean energy powerhouse
State should push for carbon cap legislation
BY WILLIAM G. MILLIKEN • June 14, 2009
It wasn't that long ago that the American Midwest was the economic powerhouse of the world and Michigan was the engine of it. For more than a century, we led the way in all the most important industries: steel, automobiles and every type of manufacturing imaginable. We have a proud and powerful history.
To write a new chapter in that history, we must reject fear and turn with hope toward a clean energy future.
Renewable energy has the potential to create even more jobs and more wealth than the Internet did. The Midwest, and Michigan in particular, could see huge benefits from clean energy industries. To accelerate these benefits, Congress must swiftly act to put a cap on carbon pollution.
A cap creates rewards for companies that invent new, better ways of doing business. It spurs investment in the most innovative businesses and builds support for renewable energy entrepreneurs. Michigan will see plenty of new opportunities to make money from clean energy -- from wave power in the Great Lakes to biofuels from our farms.
Perhaps more important for our state economy, our established manufacturing companies have a chance for big profits as well. For instance, it takes 250 tons of steel and 8,000 separate parts to make one wind turbine, and our state already has the infrastructure and the skilled workers to build what America needs.
That's why the United Steelworkers support a carbon cap; they know it's a chance to bring jobs back to the Midwest. The Big Three automakers have joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership to support a cap on carbon as well, and so have companies from John Deere to PepsiCo to Shell Oil. They all see the potential in a clean energy future. We need to seize this opportunity now. ...
State should push for carbon cap legislation
BY WILLIAM G. MILLIKEN • June 14, 2009
It wasn't that long ago that the American Midwest was the economic powerhouse of the world and Michigan was the engine of it. For more than a century, we led the way in all the most important industries: steel, automobiles and every type of manufacturing imaginable. We have a proud and powerful history.
To write a new chapter in that history, we must reject fear and turn with hope toward a clean energy future.
Renewable energy has the potential to create even more jobs and more wealth than the Internet did. The Midwest, and Michigan in particular, could see huge benefits from clean energy industries. To accelerate these benefits, Congress must swiftly act to put a cap on carbon pollution.
A cap creates rewards for companies that invent new, better ways of doing business. It spurs investment in the most innovative businesses and builds support for renewable energy entrepreneurs. Michigan will see plenty of new opportunities to make money from clean energy -- from wave power in the Great Lakes to biofuels from our farms.
Perhaps more important for our state economy, our established manufacturing companies have a chance for big profits as well. For instance, it takes 250 tons of steel and 8,000 separate parts to make one wind turbine, and our state already has the infrastructure and the skilled workers to build what America needs.
That's why the United Steelworkers support a carbon cap; they know it's a chance to bring jobs back to the Midwest. The Big Three automakers have joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership to support a cap on carbon as well, and so have companies from John Deere to PepsiCo to Shell Oil. They all see the potential in a clean energy future. We need to seize this opportunity now. ...
The Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux Indians from South Dakota are poised to sign a $400m (£286m) deal with a big Boston energy firm to build a massive wind farm across their 1m-acre reservation. It is hoped the deal will transform tribal economics nationwide and drag many Native Americans out of poverty. ...
Green energy overtakes fossil fuel investment, says UN
Clean technologies attract $140bn compared with $110bn for gas, coal and electrical power
Terry Macalister
Wednesday 3 June 2009
Green energy overtook fossil fuels in attracting investment for power generation for the first time last year, according to figures released today by the United Nations.
Wind, solar and other clean technologies attracted $140bn (£85bn) compared with $110bn for gas and coal for electrical power generation, with more than a third of the green cash destined for Britain and the rest of Europe.
The biggest growth for renewable investment came from China, India and other developing countries, which are fast catching up on the West in switching out of fossil fuels to improve energy security and tackle climate change.
"There have been many milestones reached in recent years, but this report suggests renewable energy has now reached a tipping point where it is as important – if not more important – in the global energy mix than fossil fuels," said Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN's Environment Programme. ...
Clean technologies attract $140bn compared with $110bn for gas, coal and electrical power
Terry Macalister
Wednesday 3 June 2009
Green energy overtook fossil fuels in attracting investment for power generation for the first time last year, according to figures released today by the United Nations.
Wind, solar and other clean technologies attracted $140bn (£85bn) compared with $110bn for gas and coal for electrical power generation, with more than a third of the green cash destined for Britain and the rest of Europe.
The biggest growth for renewable investment came from China, India and other developing countries, which are fast catching up on the West in switching out of fossil fuels to improve energy security and tackle climate change.
"There have been many milestones reached in recent years, but this report suggests renewable energy has now reached a tipping point where it is as important – if not more important – in the global energy mix than fossil fuels," said Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN's Environment Programme. ...
The fuckwit politicians want nuke plants instead of solar power. Why? Their buddies own nuke-building companies, not solar ones.
The amount of pigheaded ignorance and greed on this planet is staggering. We really need to stop teaching children to grow up to be greedy idiots.
The amount of pigheaded ignorance and greed on this planet is staggering. We really need to stop teaching children to grow up to be greedy idiots.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
College offers alternative energy education
Tanveer Ali
The Detroit News
DEARBORN -- With the earth facing the threat of climate change and Michigan sorely in need of jobs, the time to remake Michigan into a state that runs on alternative energy is now, presenters said Friday at Henry Ford Community College's Alternative Energy Summit. "Michigan can greatly benefit from policies to improve our energy initiatives and promote alternative energy," said one of the keynote speakers, Monica Patel, a researcher from the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center, to a crowd of more than 500. The speeches kicked off a day of exhibits. A DTE executive talked about the impact alternative energy could have on the state's economy. Ford Motor Company discussed hybrid technology, while General Motors brought cars for ride-alongs. Attendees learned how to implement geothermal energy in their homes....
Well done! Now quit selling student info to credit card companies, you idiots.
College offers alternative energy education
Tanveer Ali
The Detroit News
DEARBORN -- With the earth facing the threat of climate change and Michigan sorely in need of jobs, the time to remake Michigan into a state that runs on alternative energy is now, presenters said Friday at Henry Ford Community College's Alternative Energy Summit. "Michigan can greatly benefit from policies to improve our energy initiatives and promote alternative energy," said one of the keynote speakers, Monica Patel, a researcher from the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center, to a crowd of more than 500. The speeches kicked off a day of exhibits. A DTE executive talked about the impact alternative energy could have on the state's economy. Ford Motor Company discussed hybrid technology, while General Motors brought cars for ride-alongs. Attendees learned how to implement geothermal energy in their homes....
Well done! Now quit selling student info to credit card companies, you idiots.
More hybrids, electrics set for Detroit auto show
BY MARK PHELAN • FREE PRESS AUTO CRITIC
January 8, 2009
What may be the most significant batch of new hybrid-electric vehicles the auto industry has ever seen will debut at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit's Cobo Center next week.
The 2009 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids bowed at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, but they only just began to get the attention they deserve, thanks to amazing fuel economy numbers Ford just released.
In addition to the 41-m.p.g. Fusion and Milan midsize sedans, the world's best known and most-loved hybrid, the Toyota Prius, arrives with an all-new model that promises significant improvement from the '09 model's EPA 48 m.p.g. city/45 m.p.g. highway fuel economy ratings. ...
BY MARK PHELAN • FREE PRESS AUTO CRITIC
January 8, 2009
What may be the most significant batch of new hybrid-electric vehicles the auto industry has ever seen will debut at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit's Cobo Center next week.
The 2009 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids bowed at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, but they only just began to get the attention they deserve, thanks to amazing fuel economy numbers Ford just released.
In addition to the 41-m.p.g. Fusion and Milan midsize sedans, the world's best known and most-loved hybrid, the Toyota Prius, arrives with an all-new model that promises significant improvement from the '09 model's EPA 48 m.p.g. city/45 m.p.g. highway fuel economy ratings. ...