Researchers from the US Air Force Academy have a new, outside-the-box idea for dealing with these problems — use an aerospace approach.

This is yet to be developed to full-scale and tested in that form, but early computer and model-scale tests are showing higher efficiencies than wind turbines, according to the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Read more of this story »

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.

Read more of this story »

Though disposable bottled water is a thorn in the side of sustainability, the reality is that disposable bottles will be with us, at least for some limited uses, far into the foreseeable future.  The Renew Blue solution offers a way to provide the convenience with a lower carbon footprint.

Read more of this story »

There is a new force on the wave-energy front. It’s called the Oyster. If it is successful in its debut this autumn, it could change the face of wave energy forever. You see, this giant electricity producing machine is different from conventional wave-energy machines. And those differences could make it extremely marketable.

The Oyster is unlike other wave power devices in that it uses hydraulic technology to transfer wave power to the shore to be converted into electricity. The machine has an 18m wide oscillator, which Dr. Ronan Doherty, Chief Technical Officer of Aquamarine Power the Edinburgh based company which has developed the first ‘Oyster’, says is a key to the machine’s design. The oscillator is fitted with pistons, which work according to wave action. The pistons pump high-pressure water through sub-sea pipelines to shore, where traditional hydro-electric generators use the high-pressure water to create electricity.

Read more of this story »

Is the world ready for another ambitious ocean power program?

Blue Energy Canada Inc. and World Energy Research are moving quickly in that direction.  After signing a memorandum of understanding last month, the two companies just announced a formal agreement to build a 200 megawatt, half-billion dollar commercial tidal power project based on Blue Energy’s Davis Tidal Turbine.  Meanwhile, DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has been quietly working the other end of the scale to develop buoy-sized ocean power generating equipment.

Read more of this story »

An unlikely savior may be coming to the rescue of the planet’s beleaguered coral reefs: Chris Olson, the founder and inventor of Swell Fuel wave powered electricity generators.  Olson has been building and testing small-scale floatable energy converters for a number of years, and they may prove ideal providers of the the low-voltage charge that seems to help coral reefs regenerate.

Read more of this story »

Less than a week after the Interior Department published the findings of a report claiming that 25% of the nation’s electricity could be supplied by offshore wind farms, the Department also reached an agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over how the two agencies would handle the permitting and licensing of all types of renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of the United States.

On Thursday, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff signed a memorandum of understanding (pdf) that establishes a streamlined process by which Interior’s Minerals Management Service and the FERC will lease, license and regulate all renewable energy development activities on the OCS.

Read more of this story »

We were pretty excited about Pelamis’ wave power plan in Portugal., but not every technology written about here pans out in the end. Pelamis’ €9 million Aguacadora wave power project–the world’s largest–has been taken offline due to numerous technological and financial setbacks.

Read more of this story »

Editors Note: This is a guest post by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. See his last post for us on EV charging stations on Gas 2.0.

Today, San Francisco took a meaningful step toward turning the promise of renewable ocean energy into reality. We submitted a preliminary permit application to the federal government to develop a wave power project off our coast that we believe can generate between 10 to 30 megawatts of energy, with potential of up to 100 megawatts. When this project is fully operational, upwards of 100 jobs could be created in San Francisco.

Ocean power is a true “game changer” in the area of renewable energy. When wave and tidal power technologies reach commercial scale, they are expected to be able to provide thousands of megawatts of power to our coastal communities, dramatically green our energy portfolios and create thousands of new American jobs. In San Francisco, we’ve been doing our part to spur these technologies by aggressively advancing tidal and wave power pilot projects.  We are 100% committed to this challenge.

Read more of this story »

This morning, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced a preliminary permit application sent to the federal government for a wave power project off the coast of California. The project promises to bring wave energy and jobs to the Bay Area.

Power generated from ocean waves has been recognized to be a cleaner, safer, more efficient answer to our energy needs. When the wind blows with enough consistency and force to provide strong and continuous ocean waves, a tremendous energy can be created. Wave power devices extract energy directly from the surface motion of ocean waves or from pressure fluctuations below the surface. Wave technologies are typically designed to be installed in nearshore, offshore, and far offshore locations.

Read more of this story »

Apparently, wave power plus offshore wind power equals something akin to Green Ocean Energy’s Wave Treader. The device is based on the Ocean Treader, a stand-alone wave power machine. According to Green Ocean Energy, its wind/wave power mash-up can generate 500 kW— enough for 125 average homes.

Read more of this story »

Internet juggernaut Google is moving into the renewables industry in a BIG way. Not only has the giant business been funding green energy start-ups like Aptera and Actacel, it has now filed a patent on a wave-powered data centre that would use seawater for cooling.

Read more of this story »

Scientists with research group SRI International recently completed a successful wave power test in the Monterey Bay off the coast of Santa Cruz, CA. While the buoy-like device only generates enough electricity to power a refrigerator light bulb, the design is an improvement on its problem-prone predecessors.

Read more of this story »

Solving our energy crisis requires serious manpower— and serious incentives. That’s why Scotland has launched the $15 million (€10 million) Saltire Prize Challenge to create commercially viable wave or tidal power.

Read more of this story »

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.

Read more of this story »

The US Navy has awarded Ocean Power Technologies a $3 million contract for participation in the second phase of its Deep Water Active Detection Systems (”DWADS”) program.

Read more of this story »

Earlier this week, Portugal debuted the world’s first commercial wave energy farm. Wave energy at the Agucadoura station is converted into electricity with the use of three red “sea-snakes”, or cylindrical wave energy converters, that are attached to the seabed off Portugal’s northern coast. Energy captured by the sea-snakes is carried to an undersea cable station, where it is then fed into the electrical grid.

Read more of this story »

1. World — Earth Hour 2008

As the clock struck eight in the evening, people across each time zone turned off their lights on March 29. It’s activism en mass and it’s called Earth Hour. The purpose: to inspire people to take action on climate change and to demonstrate that massive and immediate action is possible.

Earth Hour began as a city-wide voluntary blackout in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. This year, they’ve moved the date ahead two days and invited the world to join in. Even Google’s joined in. People from roughly 35 countries participated in this global event, which has become a yearly call to action. Read more: EcoWorldy, CNN.

2. Asia — Japanese Man Crosses Pacific with Wave-Powered Boat

A Japanese man named Kenichi Horie is attempting to be environmentally friendly by boating across the Pacific without sails and without fossil fuels.

How does he do it? With a wave-powered boat. Wave power has been discussed quite a bit recently, with a lot of applications including traditional grid energy generation. However, Kenichi is taking things to the next level by powering his ocean going vehicle with the very thing it bobs atop. Read more: Gas 2.0.

Read more of this story »

]]> http://ecoworldly.com/2008/03/30/10-top-environmental-headlines-of-the-week/feed/ http://gas2.org/2008/03/27/japanese-man-to-hang-10-in-pacific-journey-with-wave-powered-boat/ http://gas2.org/2008/03/27/japanese-man-to-hang-10-in-pacific-journey-with-wave-powered-boat/#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:42:46 +0000 Benjamin Jones http://gas2.org/2008/03/27/japanese-man-to-hang-10-in-pacific-journey-with-wave-powered-boat/ There are various ways to travel the sea in style. One of the most environmentally friendly ones would certainly be using sails alone. I mean, wind is free, right?

Well, a Japanese man named Kenichi Horie is attempting to be just as environmentally friendly but without the sails.

How does he do it? With a wave-powered boat. Wave power has been discussed quite a bit recently, with a lot of applications including traditional grid energy generation. However, Kenichi is taking things to the next level by powering his ocean going vehicle with the very thing it bobs atop.

Read more of this story »

]]> http://gas2.org/2008/03/27/japanese-man-to-hang-10-in-pacific-journey-with-wave-powered-boat/feed/