Alternative Energy Diggs

Wind energy is not a perfect technology, but it holds powerful potential to diversify power generation around the world. One of the statistics that struck me is that wind power could “reduce water consumption associated with electricity generation by 4 trillion gallons by 2030.”read more | digg story

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens has placed an the largest ever order for wind turbines: he ordered 667 wind turbines from GE, each costing $3 million dollars, making the total order $2 billion. Pickens plans to develop the world’s largest wind farm in the panhandle of Texas.read more | digg story

Architect Eugene Tsui is taking the gigantic volcano tower concept to a whole new eco level, by taking design inspiration from the natural world. His new design for the Ultima Tower – a 2-mile high Mt Doom-esque structure - borrows design principles from trees and other living systems to reduce its energy footprint.read more | digg story

Using biomimicry as the guiding design principle, the Australian firm BioPower Systems has developed Biowave: an ocean power system that harnesses energy by mimicking the motion of underwater plants in the ocean currents to generate electricity.read more | digg story

Floating wind turbines take advantage of air currents along the length of their shaft to generate electricity. Selsam’s prototypes produce 6000 watts in 32.5 mph winds - six times more power than a similarly sized seven foot single-rotor turbine can produce. read more | digg story

Unfortunately, even though it would improve gas mileage, the decision is up to the marketing people.read more | digg story

I know my state (NH) has wood-fired power plants, but I've never heard of a wood-fired car, until today.read more | digg story

Rural families can slash their energy costs, improve their health and help preserve local forests by harvesting natural gas from rotting manure, researchers argue.read more | digg story

The village’s forty houses and the school all have large solar panels covering their roofs. A typical roof will have a two kilowatt solar installation. In 2004, the government subsidized the solar systems in Donggwang, paying 70% of the installation fees.read more | digg story

In a stunning example of biomimicry, Scottish architecture firm ZM Architecture have come up with a brilliant scheme to provide solar power to the city of Glasgow - and do so in a way that is provocative, creative, and aesthetically appealing. Large lily-shaped discs which harness solar power could soon be seen floating on the River Clyde.read more | digg story

A Better Place, run by Israelis Shai Agassi and Idan Ofer have funded and are testing an electric car for the first time. take a look in the revolutionary car that may change in 2 years the fuel industry.read more | digg story

Construction of the new zero-emission city started last week. It will eventually house 50,000 people & 1,500 businesses. The energy efficient buildings and infrastructure will require less energy to start with, and what little energy they do require will be supplied entirely from renewable energy sources. read more | digg story

Energy company Sunrgi recently announced an astounding new solar system that will break our grids free from the fossil fuel lockdown. Their Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics promise a low-cost, high-efficiency system with an incredible projected energy pricing of 5 cents per kilowatt. This puts solar on par with the cost of coal, natural gas, etc..read more | digg story

A team of students, led by mechanical engineering graduate student Spencer Ahrens, has spent the last few months assembling a prototype for a concentrating solar power system they think could revolutionize the field.read more | digg story

This 100% biodiesel-powered, 78 ft wave-piercing trimaran aims to set an around-the-world speed record while maintaining a net zero carbon footprint. The Earthrace left Sagunto, Spain, on April 27, and has already made excellent time across the Atlantic, landing in Panama just 8 days later.read more | digg story

300 garbage collection trucks in California will soon be fueled by the same trash that they haul. Landfill gas will be purified and liquefied, producing up to 13,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) daily.read more | digg story

This is how to do things the right way! This mill has greated good, green collar jobs and kept the revenue flowing at home, on American soil. If it can be done in Washington State, it can be done anywhere in America. You don't have to believe in the environment or global warming to embrace this approach.read more | digg story

Clean Burning Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) are hot commodities in some parts of the country, where fuel can sell for as low as $0.63 per gallon. This Civic NGV is powered by the simplest and cleanest-burning hydrocarbon available, and though it looks like a standard passenger vehicle, its tailpipe emissions that are often cleaner than ambient air.read more | digg story

There is a gent in Oakland, California named Terry Kenney who is determined to turn road traffic into electricity. 'It took him eight years to get a working prototype, but now there's one working at the Port of Oakland which Kenney calls the "Dragon Power Station".read more | digg story

Welcome to the world of hypermiling!read more | digg story