Green Options » Tina Casey http://greenoptions.com/author/seawolf/ Post archive of Tina Casey Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:57:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en http://greenoptions.com/author/seawolf/ http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/faf43d58ac0b589a0c3255e69970dc99?s=65&d=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D32 Green Options » Tina Casey Seven Robots with Green Jobs http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/25/seven-robots-with-green-jobs/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/25/seven-robots-with-green-jobs/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:57:41 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/25/seven-robots-with-green-jobs/ The new green economy is putting more robots to work in green jobs, especially in environmental research and related fields.  In a sustainability twofer, many of the new machines are powered by solar energy and other green alternatives.  Click through the show to see what’s up with some of our circuit-centric friends.

1.  Robolobster

Northeastern University is developing a lobster-style robot to explore river bottoms and littoral zones.

Northeastern University is developing a remote environmental data gathering robot that resembles an eight legged lobster.  The robot is designed to maneuver across rough surfaces while negotiating surging water and shifting currents, making it ideal for exploring rivers and littoral zones (ocean shore areas up to the high water mark).

Image: Courtesy of Jan Witting/Northeastern University.

2. Phoenix Mars

The solar powered Mars Phoenix had the mother of all green jobs, using a robotic arm to scoop up soils samples on Mars.The mother of all green jobs probably belongs to the Phoenix Mars, which launched last year and went to work on Mars for several months with a robotic arm to dig and scoop up soil samples for on-board analysis. It also doubled as a weather station and yes, it was solar powered.  The photo montage above provides a unique look at the Phoenix on the planet’s surface.

Image: Phoenix Mars Mission.

3.  Robot Composter for the Home

Robots like the NatureMill composter can help redcycle household scraps.

Back on earth, the workhorses of the robot world are the ones that collect and recycle waste, like the NatureMill food composting robot.  This one can mix, heat and aerate fresh scraps, automatically send them to a lower chamber to make room for more, and pop on a red light to signal that a fully composted load is ready - all without raising a stink.

Image: NatureMill.

4.  Robots and Green Maintenance Jobs

A RIWEA robot has a green job climbing wind turbines to inspect for damage.

One great advantage of robots is their ability to deploy in places that would put people at risk of life and limb.  Wind turbines fit that category.  The modest looking RIWEA robot operates on rope-climbing principles that enable it to scale gigantic turbine poles and inspect rotor blades for dings, cracks, and other defects.

Image: FraunhoferIFF.

5.  Robots in the Sky

Unmanned drones like NOAA\'s Altair can perform green jobs without the carbon footprint of manned aircraft.

Small drone aircraft can accomplish many environmental research tasks while cutting down on the carbon footprint needed to accommodate human bodies in flight.  An early demonstration of NOAA’s Altair drone involved research off the coast of Oregon and California.

Image: Altair unmanned aircraft in flight courtesy of NOAA.

6.  Robots in Agriculture

The Bristol Research Laboratory is developing a robot that can catch slugs and \

Researchers at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory are developing an agricultural robot that can detect slugs, pluck them up, and eat them - then “digest” the slugs for energy to keep themselves running.  The trick will be developing a microbial fuel cell to extract electrons from the source of nutrition.  The lab works in partnership with the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England.

Image: Bristol Robotics Laboratory.

7. Swarms of Robots

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1 million grant to UCSD reserchers, to develop small scale robots that will study tiny marine creatures.

Mini-robots are another big trend we’ll see more of.  UC San Diego researchers are developing swarms of robots no bigger than a soccer ball.  They can drift with ocean currents to gather information on the micro-mechanisms that support plankton and other tiny marine creatures.  They could also guard sensitive areas or provide on-the-spot information about oil spills, plane crashes and other marine emergencies.

Image: National Science Foundation.

]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/25/seven-robots-with-green-jobs/feed/ World’s First Osmotic Power Plant Opens http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/24/worlds-first-osmotic-power-plant-opens/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/24/worlds-first-osmotic-power-plant-opens/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:51:34 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/24/worlds-first-osmotic-power-plant-opens/ Statkraft has opened the world\'s frist osmotic power prototype plant in Norway

Mix salt water with fresh water and there you have it: instant carbon-neutral energy.  The process is called osmotic power, and a company called Statkraft has just opened the world’s first osmotic power plant in Norway.

For now the plant has a limited production capacity and will focus mainly on testing and developing the technology for commercial application.  When osmotic power does go commercial, it could make a significant contribution to a sustainable, carbon neutral energy future.  The company estimates that the global potential of osmotic power is equivalent to half of the European Union’s current energy production.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/24/worlds-first-osmotic-power-plant-opens/feed/ Scientists Developing Swarms of Miniature Drifting Robots to Patrol the Ocean http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/21/scientists-developing-swarms-of-miniature-drifting-robots-to-patrol-the-ocean/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/21/scientists-developing-swarms-of-miniature-drifting-robots-to-patrol-the-ocean/#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:14:06 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/21/scientists-developing-swarms-of-miniature-drifting-robots-to-patrol-the-ocean/ The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1 million grant to UCSD reserchers, to develop small scale robots that will study tiny marine creatures.The National Science Foundation has just awarded researchers at UC San Diego a $1million grant to develop small robotic devices that will drift with the ocean currents to study the mechanisms that support plankton and other tiny marine creatures.  Swarms of the autonomous underwater explorers (AUE’s) could provide a window into the underlying factors that drive broader ocean processes, by more precisely focusing on localized data on currents, temperature, salinity, pressure, and other properties.

The robots could also some day patrol and monitor protected marine areas, provide early warnings of potential hazards such as algae blooms and oil spills, and even scout out plane crashes and other ocean-going emergencies.  Depending on how the devices are powered, the robot swarms could also provide a more sustainable means of accomplishing oceanic research compared to the use of ships and other fossil fuel-powered equipment.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/21/scientists-developing-swarms-of-miniature-drifting-robots-to-patrol-the-ocean/feed/ Quick-Charge Batteries Get a Boost from Defective Carbon Nanotubes http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/quick-charge-batteries-get-a-boost-from-defective-carbon-nanotubes/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/quick-charge-batteries-get-a-boost-from-defective-carbon-nanotubes/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:08:32 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/quick-charge-batteries-get-a-boost-from-defective-carbon-nanotubes/ Researchers at UCSD discover that imperfect carbon nanotubes can boost battery performance.Researchers at the University of San Diego have discovered that carbon nanotubes don’t have to be perfect to do a better job.  The team of UCSD Professor Prabhakar Bandaru and grad student Mark Hoefer found that defective carbon nanotubes actually store energy more effectively than their unflawed counterparts.

The effect, which was originally studied at UCSD by grad student Jeff Nichols, rests in the creation of just the right amount of defects - enough to create additional charge sites on the nanotube, but not enough to break down its electrical conductivity.  Though it’s a long way from commercialization, the breakthrough brings us one step closer to the Holy Grail of the electric car, and to the entire battery operated sustainable infrastructure of the future: a genuine quick-charging, long lasting battery.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/20/quick-charge-batteries-get-a-boost-from-defective-carbon-nanotubes/feed/ Altus Air Force Base is Flying High on New Green Award http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/19/altus-air-force-base-is-flying-high-on-new-green-award/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/19/altus-air-force-base-is-flying-high-on-new-green-award/#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:47:24 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/19/altus-air-force-base-is-flying-high-on-new-green-award/ Altus Air Force Base wins top green rating for envirnmental compliance.Off they go into the wild green yonder: the 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma has just earned the top “Green” rating from the Air Force’s Environmental, Safety and Occupational Health compliance program.

The 97th spent months prepping for its evaluation and earned a “you knocked our socks off” comment from the ESOHCAMP program manager, but that’s not the only sustainability feather in Altus’s cap.  The base is also home to one of the Air Force’s premier green remediation sites.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/19/altus-air-force-base-is-flying-high-on-new-green-award/feed/ AgriPlas Puts Wheat Straw Plastic in Ford Flex http://gas2.org/2009/11/17/agriplas-puts-wheat-straw-plastic-in-ford-flex/ http://gas2.org/2009/11/17/agriplas-puts-wheat-straw-plastic-in-ford-flex/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:51:37 +0000 Tina Casey http://gas2.org/2009/11/17/agriplas-puts-wheat-straw-plastic-in-ford-flex/ A. Schulman\'s bio-based wheat straw filler is being used to manufacture storage boxes for the interior of the Ford Flex crossover vehicle.

It certainly is the dawning of a new era in automotive technology when the tiger in your tank becomes a moldy relic of bygone ad campaigns while the humble leftovers from harvested wheat get awards for new sustainable thinking. A. Schulman, Inc.’s AgriPlas wheat straw fiber has just been named a Blue Ribbon Finalist in Environmental Innovation by the Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers, for its application in the Ford Flex crossover vehicle.

AgriPlas’s contribution to the Flex is an injection-molded storage bin and inner lid made of polypropylene and a bio-filler made of wheat straw. Though the application is modest in scope, a spokesperson for Ford’s Plastics Research division sees it as a litmus test of things to come, in terms of increasing fuel efficiency by decreasing vehicle weight.

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]]> http://gas2.org/2009/11/17/agriplas-puts-wheat-straw-plastic-in-ford-flex/feed/ U.S. Army’s New Research Center Puts Fossil Fuels on Notice http://gas2.org/2009/11/16/us-armys-new-research-center-puts-fossil-fuels-on-notice/ http://gas2.org/2009/11/16/us-armys-new-research-center-puts-fossil-fuels-on-notice/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:54:36 +0000 Tina Casey http://gas2.org/2009/11/16/us-armys-new-research-center-puts-fossil-fuels-on-notice/ The U.S. Army\'s new GSPEL laboratory complex in Warren, Michigan will push the market for more sustainable vehicle technologies.

If we need just one more reason to be convinced that the era of fossil fuels is quickly winding down, 30,000 square feet of evidence is going up right now in the suburban Detroit town of Warren, Michigan. That’s where the U.S. Army is building its new Ground System Power and Energy Laboratory (GSPEL), and it’s no accident that the site is deep in the heart of the U.S. auto industry.

The high tech GSPEL complex features eight separate laboratories, all dedicated to the development of more sustainable military vehicles and related systems: increasing energy efficiency, using more renewable resources, focusing on ready access to energy and power, and reducing environmental impacts. It’s all part of the military’s overall drive to shed fossil fuels—both foreign domestic—and focus on energy security for the 21st century.

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]]> http://gas2.org/2009/11/16/us-armys-new-research-center-puts-fossil-fuels-on-notice/feed/ “Exotic Behavior” Shines a Light on Piezoelectricity http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/14/exotic-behavior-shines-a-light-on-piezoelectricity/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/14/exotic-behavior-shines-a-light-on-piezoelectricity/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:40:04 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/14/exotic-behavior-shines-a-light-on-piezoelectricity/ Lead-free piezoelectric materials could be used in highways to generate carbon-free electricity.A team of researchers from UC Berkeley and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab have discovered a new lead-free material that produces an electrical current when exposed to stress.  The phenomenon, called piezoelectricity, sounds exotic but it could some day become as common as backyard grills.

Piezoelectricity is a sustainable way to generate energy.  It works by applying pressure or stress to certain crystalline materials, including certain ceramics and even bone, so it’s a green alternative to burning fossil fuels.  Up to now, though, the most popular piezoelectric materials contain lead, a notorious neurotoxin.  The discovery of a lead-free material could open the door to a piezoelectric energy future in which people generate significant amounts of electricity just by moving through the civic infrastructure, from highways to flooring and revolving doors.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/14/exotic-behavior-shines-a-light-on-piezoelectricity/feed/ U.S. Military Veterans Call for Sustainable Fuels http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/11/us-military-veterans-call-for-sustainable-fuels/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/11/us-military-veterans-call-for-sustainable-fuels/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:30:53 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/11/us-military-veterans-call-for-sustainable-fuels/ Veterans groups call out for more sustainable fuels, echoing the U.S. military\'s push to reduce its use of fossil fuels.On this Veterans Day, set aside to honor the sacrifices and contributions of U.S. military veterans, another contribution can be added to the rolls: veterans are playing a strong part in America’s transition away from fossil fuels into a more sustainable, healthful environment and a more secure energy future.

Veterans groups including Operation Free, VoteVets, and an ad hoc group of retired senior military officials are calling for more sustainable fuels and a lower carbon footprint, a position that reflects the Pentagon’s growing urgency to free its high mobility, high tech 21st century warriors from the burden of using fossil fuels that harken back to the days of kerosene lamps and horse drawn buggies.  It also reflects an under-the-radar green metamorphosis in the philosophy of U.S. national defense itself.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/11/us-military-veterans-call-for-sustainable-fuels/feed/ Baby Power! U.K. Companies Convert Diapers to Energy http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/11/baby-power-uk-companies-convert-diapers-to-energy/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/11/baby-power-uk-companies-convert-diapers-to-energy/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:50:11 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/11/baby-power-uk-companies-convert-diapers-to-energy/ Versus Energy and Knowaste are building a recycling plant in Birmingham, England that will generate energy from used diapers.In a move that fairly reeks with symbolism, The U.K. companies Versus Energy and Knowaste have teamed up to build the first diaper recycling plant in England, and it will be located in a region that was once the heart of the Industrial Revolution.  The new recycling plant will power itself with sustainable energy generated from the organic materials recovered from disposable diapers.

Organic waste accounts for only 2% of the materials in “pre-owned” disposable diapers.  What happens to the other 98%?  It will be dried, sterilized, and separated into reusable paper pulp and plastic.  The end use of those materials has not yet been announced but based on Knowaste’s past experience, roof tiles, shoe insoles, wallpaper, plastic “wood,” and industrial thickeners are likely candidates.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/11/baby-power-uk-companies-convert-diapers-to-energy/feed/ New Bio-Based Glue Lets Cows Have their Cake and Eat it, Too http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/10/new-bio-based-glue-lets-cows-have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/10/new-bio-based-glue-lets-cows-have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:04:11 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/10/new-bio-based-glue-lets-cows-have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too/ A researcher from Kansas State University has developed a bio-based glue used to make edible barrels for cattle feed.Researcher Susan Sun of Kansas State University has an answer for all those hungry cows out there:  let them eat barrels.  Sun’s work on sustainable biomass adhesives has already lead to an edible barrel for cattle feed made with straw and soy adhesive.  More products are on the horizon, including a new formula that improves the flowability and strength of raw bioplastic, making it easier to pour and mold.

The edible barrels replace oil drums, which cost approximately $6 per barrel to clean for re-use as feed containers in addition to the cost of the barrel.  Sun’s elegant waste reduction solution relieves farmers of this expense while practically eliminating the risk of oil-contaminated feed from poorly cleaned barrels.  It also eliminates waste or water pollution associated with the cleaning process, and it eliminates the cost (and carbon footprint) of returning used barrels for re-use.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/10/new-bio-based-glue-lets-cows-have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too/feed/ Electric Mole Takes a Bite Out of Energy Costs, with Help from Solar Power http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/07/electric-mole-takes-a-bite-out-of-energy-costs-with-help-from-solar-power/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/07/electric-mole-takes-a-bite-out-of-energy-costs-with-help-from-solar-power/#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:28:51 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/07/electric-mole-takes-a-bite-out-of-energy-costs-with-help-from-solar-power/ Parkson Corporation will combine a stainless steel Electric Mole with a solar drying chamber to cut energy costs at wastewater treatment plant.Veteran solar installer Parkson Corporation is lending its expertise to a new wastewater treatment plant upgrade for the town of Berlin near the Maryland coast.  When it’s finished, the new plant will almost eliminate the use of fossil fuels for drying and converting biosolids, also known as sludge, into a lightweight Class A soil amendment or sustainable fuel.  The process is pushed along by a stainless steel “Electric Mole” that automaticaly mixes, aerates, and granulates the sludge as it dries.

The $16 million upgrade project is funded by ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).  Parkson’s Thermo-System Active Solar Sludge Drying Chambers will enable the sludge conversion process to operate under more than 90% solar power rather than using gas or oil.  For disposing sludge in landfills, that translates into a significant savings in preparation and transportation costs.  Even better, it makes sludge products more cost-competitive with conventional soil amendments and fossil fuels, effectively taking the “waste” out of wastewater.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/07/electric-mole-takes-a-bite-out-of-energy-costs-with-help-from-solar-power/feed/ U.S. Water Use Declines Despite 30% Population Increase http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/06/us-water-use-declines-despite-30-population-increase/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/06/us-water-use-declines-despite-30-population-increase/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:57:28 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/06/us-water-use-declines-despite-30-population-increase/ Water consumption in the U.S. has declined over the past 25 years, despite a 30% increase in population.The U.S. Department of the Interior reports that overall water consumption in the United States has declined in the past 25 years, even though the population has increased 30% and use by individual American households has increased.  The statistics were compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey.

What’s the secret?  The 25-year patterns of water consumption revealed in the DOI report provide tantalizing clues about the ability of the U.S. to sustain its legendarily consumer-centric lifestyle while stabilizing and ultimately decreasing its contribution to carbon emissions and other greenhouse gasses.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/06/us-water-use-declines-despite-30-population-increase/feed/ Compost with a Kick: Bokashicycle Brews First Large-Scale Food Waste Fermentation Operation http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/04/compost-with-a-kick-bokashicycle-brews-first-large-scale-food-waste-fermentation-operation/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/04/compost-with-a-kick-bokashicycle-brews-first-large-scale-food-waste-fermentation-operation/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:20:39 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/04/compost-with-a-kick-bokashicycle-brews-first-large-scale-food-waste-fermentation-operation/ Bokashicycle announces the first successful use of commercial scale bokashi composting at Oregon farm.

Bokashi is a centuries-old Japanese method of recycling household food waste into all-natural compost.  By employing a special culture of yeast and other microorganisms, bokashi is a compact, odorless process that takes only days instead of weeks or months. Now the Bokashicycle company is breaking the process out of the kitchen and into a commercial-scale food waste recycling operation, in partnership with New Earth Farm in Hillsboro, Oregon.

New Earth Farm takes in food scraps from Bon Appetit cafeterias on the nearby Intel Hawthorn Farm campus, which provides a significant waste disposal savings compared to disposing the scraps in landfills.  Waste reduction is one goal, and in an even more sustainable twist the composted soil is used to grow crops for Abundant Harvest, a local consumer-supported agriculture (CSA) store.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/04/compost-with-a-kick-bokashicycle-brews-first-large-scale-food-waste-fermentation-operation/feed/ Rice University Cooks Up Nanotube Stew http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/rice-university-cooks-up-nanotube-stew/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/rice-university-cooks-up-nanotube-stew/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:35:27 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/rice-university-cooks-up-nanotube-stew/ Rice University researchers develop a new method for bulk processing carbon nanotubes.

Researchers at Rice University have announced the discovery of a new breakthrough method for producing carbon nanotubes in bulk fluids.  Rice’s new nanotube “stew” could spur the inexpensive mass production of carbon nanotube-based products, much like the plastics industry employed bulk loads of melted polymers as a cheap base for making everything from medical equipment to polyester shirts to plastic bags, and countless other things in between.

Rice’s nanotube research was sponsored in party by U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy.  Aside from their military application, carbon nanotubes have a practically unlimited potential for sustainable civilian products because of their strength, light weight, and electrical conductivity among other properties. Lightweight nanomaterials could boost the gas mileage in cars and airplanes, make thinner and more flexible solar cells, increase the efficiency of lithium-ion batteries (in combination with another new high tech material, graphene), and be used in artificial photosynthesis to generate hydrogen fuel.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/rice-university-cooks-up-nanotube-stew/feed/ Welcome Back, Pittsburgh: FLABEG Brings 200 Green Solar Jobs to Steel City http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/welcome-back-pittsburgh-flabeg-brings-200-green-solar-jobs-to-steel-city/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/welcome-back-pittsburgh-flabeg-brings-200-green-solar-jobs-to-steel-city/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:09:47 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/welcome-back-pittsburgh-flabeg-brings-200-green-solar-jobs-to-steel-city/ b nnn

FLABEG of Germany will open a new high-tech solar mirror factory near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh has been laying the groundwork for a high tech green jobs renaissance ever since its mighty steel mills shut their doors 30 years ago.  Now the payoff is coming.  FLABEG, the global specialty glass manufacturer, has just opened a solar mirror factory by Pittsburgh International Airport that will bring an estimated 200 jobs to the region, and perhaps as many as 300.

The new $30 million facility will initially focus on its core production line of parabolic curved solar mirrors.  Months before the plant opened it already received 700,000 orders, and FLABEG expects to reach a capacity of 1 million mirrors annually.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/03/welcome-back-pittsburgh-flabeg-brings-200-green-solar-jobs-to-steel-city/feed/ WindSentinel from Catch the Wind Could Cut the Cost of Siting New Offshore Wind Turbines http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/02/windsentinel-from-catch-the-wind-could-cut-the-cost-of-siting-new-offshore-wind-turbines/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/02/windsentinel-from-catch-the-wind-could-cut-the-cost-of-siting-new-offshore-wind-turbines/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:53:51 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/02/windsentinel-from-catch-the-wind-could-cut-the-cost-of-siting-new-offshore-wind-turbines/ Offshore wind turbines could be sited more quickly and cheaply with high tech, low cost floating WindSentinel wind sensor.

Catch the Wind Ltd. of Virginia has just announced that its new Vindicator laser wind sensor has been deployed on a specialized buoy for a field test off Race Rocks Island in British Columbia.   If successful, the laser sensor would be part of the world’s first buoy-based wind power assessment system, which could shave millions off the cost of assessing conditions at potential sites for offshore wind turbines.

Conventional site assessments for large scale wind farms are done through the construction of a permanent offshore tower, which can cost up to $10 million.  Catch the Wind’s movable buoy-based system, called the WindSentinel, could virtually eliminate that expense and help open up sustainable offshore wind power to small communities, military bases, and other modestly scaled projects.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/11/02/windsentinel-from-catch-the-wind-could-cut-the-cost-of-siting-new-offshore-wind-turbines/feed/ Fish and Solar Cells will Co-Exist in Pyron’s New Concentrated Solar Project http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/27/fish-and-solar-cells-will-co-exist-in-pyrons-new-concentrated-solar-project/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/27/fish-and-solar-cells-will-co-exist-in-pyrons-new-concentrated-solar-project/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:52:02 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/27/fish-and-solar-cells-will-co-exist-in-pyrons-new-concentrated-solar-project/ Pyron Solar has partnered with San Diego Gas & Electric to demonstrate new solar concentrating technology.San Diego Gas & Electric has embarked on a demonstration project to test the commercial viability of a new concentrated solar power system that uses shallow pools of water as a passive cooling system for high-efficiency solar cells.  The unique proprietary technology was developed by Pyron Solar of Sorrento Valley, California.

The new technology could be attractive in land-rich areas, and it may also have some application for introducing sustainable energy to more densely developed areas, since its use of high efficiency solar cells enables it to pack more generating capacity into less space.  It also may prompt some new exploration of the opportunity to double up solar energy generation with other operations, such as fish farming.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/27/fish-and-solar-cells-will-co-exist-in-pyrons-new-concentrated-solar-project/feed/ Sharp Nails a Record 35.8% Solar Conversion Efficiency http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/25/sharp-nails-a-record-358-solar-conversion-efficiency/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/25/sharp-nails-a-record-358-solar-conversion-efficiency/#comments Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:10:46 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/25/sharp-nails-a-record-358-solar-conversion-efficiency/ Sharp Corporation has just announced that it has achieved the world’s highest solar cell conversion efficiency using a compound layered design based on the technology used in the solar cells that power space satellites.  Mindful of the link between sustainable energy and the future market for consumer electronics, Sharp has been aggressively pursuing solar efficiency improvements that lend themselves to commercial application.

Instead of silicon, compound solar cells use two or more photo-absorption layers composed of different elements.  The trick is to find materials that generate the most current with the least waste.  Sharp’s innovation is a proprietary technology that enables it to produce a high-efficiency crystalline compound, InGaAs (indium-gallium-arsenide), which boosted the efficiency of Sharp’s previous cells from 31.5% to 35.8%.

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]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/25/sharp-nails-a-record-358-solar-conversion-efficiency/feed/ First Polio, Now Mercury: World Unites Against Global Health Threat http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/24/first-polio-now-mercury-world-unites-against-global-health-threat/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/24/first-polio-now-mercury-world-unites-against-global-health-threat/#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:31:02 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/10/24/first-polio-now-mercury-world-unites-against-global-health-threat/ Mercury is a neurotoxin that makes its way into the food chain from coal power plant emissions and other sources.

Mercury pollution is next on the list of global health threats to face concentrated action with the goal of elimination.  According to Zero Mercury Working Group, yesterday the first significant steps toward a binding treaty to control mercury pollution were announced at a United Nations Environmental Program meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, in advance of negotiations that will take place in Stockholm next summer.

The global nature of mercury pollution lies in its ability to travel long distances from its point of emission through the food chain.  In fish it accumulates in its most toxic form, methylmercury.  Zero Mercury hopes to achieve a treaty by 2013 that promotes more sustainable alternatives to mercury in products and industrial processes, with the broad goal of addressing all controllable emissions of mercury in the environment.

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