Earth2Tech has a list of 13 startups working on concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar technology. CPV systems, like the one from Australia-based Solar Systems (shown in the photo), work by using mirrors and lenses to focus the energy of the sun onto a photovoltaic cell.
The reason CPV systems are interesting is that the cost of the collector is generally lower than the same area of solar cells. The catch is that the solar cell needs to be cooled (solar cells operate best when cool). Also, a CPV system is less effective on overcast days because the light striking the concentrator is diffused by the clouds.
Stirling Engine Stirling Energy Systems is developing a similar system, but replacing the photovoltaic cell with a stirling engine. Their first project, in the Mojave Desert in southern California, is planned to generate 850MW of power, and the second (also in southern California) will reach 900MW.
MIT Professor of Energy Dr. Daniel Nocera has published a paper explaining a process that they’ve developed for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen efficiently using solar electricity, and then use that hydrogen and oxygen in a fuel cell to re-generate electricity.
Sounds a bit silly when put like that, but the part that I missed out is that there is a time delay between splitting the water and using it to generate electricity.
CleanTechnica reports that scientists have invented a new material capable of generating electricity from heat.
The material they invented is tellurium-doped lead telluride, and it is twice as efficient as the second most efficient material used in thermoelectric power. It also generates electricity directly, unlike other thermoelectric solutions which use a fluid to collect the heat.
In the first six months of 2008 the USA generated more electricity from wind power than any other country in the world. The previous number 1, Germany, still has more capacity (around 23,000 MW compared to 18,000 MW), but the winds were stronger here in the US it seems allowing the US to actually generate more power.
In terms of percentage of power generated by wind turbines though, the US is still a long way behind other countries at the top of the wind power table. Germany generates 7% of its electricity from wind power, Denmark 20%. The USA comes in with just over 1%.
According to the report, the US generates over a billion tons of cow manure annually, most of which is left in storage areas to decompose naturally. That decomposition process produces air pollution and greenhouse gases (we reported earlier that an Argentinian study had concluded as much as 30% of that country’s greenhouse gas emissions could be coming from their cattle).
Plasma gasification machines turn your trash into fuel (e.g. hydrogen, ethanol or methanol) and an inert glass product that can be used to build roads, or turned into other construction products.
Sound too good to be true? Well, it gets better. The amount of energy that can be generated from the fuel produced is actually greater than the amount of energy it takes for the machine to process the garbage. So, not only does this prevent waste from going into landfills, and provide fuel and raw materials for construction, if used to produce electricity, it generates more energy than the process uses.
A few articles from around the web about wind energy this week. Wind energy is a clean, renewable source of energy, but often unpopular because of the unsightliness of wind farms filled with towering windmill towers. For residential use, the smaller vertical turbines, like the Sea Hawk pictured, fit in better and make almost no noise in operation.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Energy
Over at the Energy Power Alternatives blog they have an article discussing the advantages and disadvantages of wind energy.
China is generating 6GW of electricity from wind today, and plans to increase that to 20GW by 2010, and 100GW by 2020.
The Right Wind Turbine for You
Over at WorldChanging, Sarah Kuck asks whether wind power is right for you, and provides some useful pointers for getting more information about residential wind power solutions.
Last week Al Gore laid down a challenge to the US: generate 100% of all the country’s electricity needs from renewable sources within a decade. At the same time, Bush and his oil friends were pushing to expand off shore drilling for oil and continue the addiction that has made them rich, and made the US into the huge source of pollution it is today. Everybody agrees that even were these new areas opened for drilling, they would not produce a single barrel of oil for at least a decade. And since they would cost a lot of money to develop (leases need to be acquired, exploration & surveying happens, drilling rigs need to be built), what makes this likely to reduce the cost of fossil fuels?
PolyFuel, a Mountain View, California company, announced this week that it has integrated its methanol fuel cell technology into a Lenovo Thinkpad T40 laptop computer. According to the company’s press release:
In PolyFuel’s prototype, the power supply features a detachable fuel cartridge – about the size of a deck of cards – that can be swapped out while the computer continues to run. Long-distance travelers, or others needing continuous, unconnected, easily portable power for their notebooks, would simply carry spare cartridges in their pocket or purse – a someday common practice that has already been approved for commercial aircraft by the various regulatory bodies around the world.
The folks over at Green Upgrader found this video, and another one, that both make fun of the idea that coal energy is clean energy. The US has huge reserves of coal and generates over half its electricity by burning it. According to the folks at Coal is Dirty, that alone produces 10% of the global CO2 emissions. And that’s before you even look at the other emissions from burning coal (everything from sulphur dioxide to health-damaging mercury).
So, if coal is dirty, then what are the alternatives?
Earth2Tech has a list of 13 startups working on concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar technology. CPV systems, like the one from Australia-based Solar Systems (shown in the photo), work by using mirrors and lenses to focus the energy of the sun onto a photovoltaic cell.
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A few articles from around the web about wind energy this week. Wind energy is a clean, renewable source of energy, but often unpopular because of the unsightliness of wind farms filled with towering windmill towers. For residential use, the smaller vertical turbines, like the Sea Hawk pictured, fit in better and make almost no noise in operation.
PolyFuel, a Mountain View, California company, announced this week that it has integrated its methanol fuel cell technology into a Lenovo Thinkpad T40 laptop computer. According to the company’s 
