Green Options

Just about this time last year I reported on the very promising and innovative Mcgyan® biodiesel process. It was one of the most popular stories gas 2.0 ran that year, and rightly so: the breakthrough seemed to deliver the possibility of making biodiesel in mere seconds from start to finish, reducing costs by half the price of other biodiesel, producing no waste, using no chemical reactants, and using any animal fat or vegetable oil as a feedstock.

At the time the company in charge of the project, Ever Cat fuels, had only succeeded at making a small-scale pilot operation of 50,000 gallons per year. But, as of 2 days ago, the process has been completely commercialized.

In a story seemingly ripped from the pages of the National Enquirer, the UK’s Daily Mail reports that a Nepalese teenager has invented a solar panel that uses human hair instead of silicone as the conductor in solar panels. According to 18 year old Milan Karki, his solar panel design can be produced for as little as $38.

A Flemish company has announced plans to sell what it claims to be the world’s only true zero emissions vehicle, the HPV (pictured above).

Moving vehicles will generate electricity for street lights and road signs in a London trial.

“Green” speed bumps that will generate electricity as cars drive over them are to be introduced on Britain’s roads. The hi-tech “sleeping policemen” will power street lights, traffic lights and road signs in a pilot scheme in London that could be rolled out nationwide.

Speed bumps have long been the bane of motorists’ lives, but these will capture the kinetic energy of vehicles.

A Swedish inventor has unveiled a solar-powered water purifier that could provide billions of the world’s poorest people with access to clean and disease-free drinking water [video].

The device, called the Solvatten, (Swedish for ’sun water’), looks much the same as a standard jerrycan and can be filled with up to ten liters of water, opened out, and left in the sun. A simple indicator shows either a red or green face to let users know when the water is safe to drink (typically after 3-4 hours), thus avoiding the risk of contracting water-borne diseases.

A UK engineer has invented a device that harnesses wave power to pump sea water uphill, from where it can flow downhill to create hydroelectricity, raising hopes of a cheap, abundant source of renewable energy.

In trials, the device, called the Searaser, has pumped water more than 160ft above sea level, using little more than the natural motion of the waves. There are now plans for a much larger version, capable of pumping to a height of more than 650ft.

Inventor Alvin Smith reckons that each full-size device would be able to pump enough water to supply electricity to 470 homes. He also calculates that a fleet of 43,000 could generate enough power for a staggering 20 million households.

Scientists have created a new material that could dramatically increase the efficiency of solar cells, by literally capturing every color of the rainbow.

Whereas other materials only catch a small range of light frequencies, and therefore only a small fraction of the potential energy, the new invention is capable of absorbing all the energy contained in sunlight. According to team leader, Prof. Malcolm Chisolm, “There are other such hybrids out there, but the advantage of our material is that we can cover the entire range of the solar spectrum.”

Scientists from the University of Calgary in Canada have created a method to efficiently capture carbon dioxide directly from the air around us. The device, which is built on near-commercial technology, was built by Uof C climate change scientists David Keith and his team.

“At first thought, capturing CO2 from the air where it’s at a concentration of 0.04 per cent seems absurd, when we are just starting to do cost-effective capture at power plants where CO2 produced is at a concentration of more than 10 per cent,” says Keith, Canada Research Chair in Energy and Environment.

“But the thermodynamics suggests that air capture might only be a bit harder than capturing CO2 from power plants. We are trying to turn that theory into engineering reality.”

A small group of unassuming mid-westerners has discovered what could be a complete game-changer for the global biodiesel industry. Their new system makes biodiesel in mere seconds, creates a product that costs half the price, produces no waste, and can use any animal fat or vegetable oil as a feedstock.

Even though I’m sometimes down on my country because of the pathetic state of our government, the thing that always makes my patriotism swell is the truly amazing and unexpected ingenuity that seems to spring forth from the American people.

And in this tale, American ingenuity doesn’t get much more classic. A student and his professor at a small college smack dab in the middle of the heartland that virtually nobody’s ever heard of, have figured out a way to make biodiesel quickly, cheaply, and efficiently from a very small package.

The after school arts program in which I teach begins tomorrow, with the start of the new month. This year, the Playhouse is instituting the theme, "This belongs to us." I am interpreting this idea in my Art Adventures class with lessons that emphasize a respect for the planet, the school community and one’s own creations.

I will be posting our progress! Please pass along any cool projects using product packaging or other materials usually doomed for the dumpster

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