Alternative Energy

American scientist Peter Glaser proposed the idea of using space solar power in 1968. The fast depleting conventional energy resources renewed the interest for trapping the solar power via satellites. Right now the usual alternative energy methods have their own shortcomings. Hydro power plants disrupt ecosystems and human habitats. Minimum rain threatens hydro power. [...]

Norwegian company StatoilHydro is working on a 2.3 megawatt floating wind turbine that will be attached to the top of ‘Spar-buoy’ and moored to the seabed by three anchor points. It is hoped that the 80 meter diameter, 65 meter high Siemens turbine will have lower deep-water installation costs when compared to traditional wind [...]

California based company Green Vehicles recently began selling an affordable $20,000 electric car called the Triac. The small but efficient 3-wheeled car has a range of 120 miles and can travel up to 70mph on the highway. Charging the lithium-ion batteries that power the 20kw electric motor takes about 6 hours, and there is [...]

Canadian Inventor Ben Gulak of BPG-Technologies has developed a wild new green motorcycle that uses gyro technology to stay upright on its two side-by-side wheels. Acceleration is controlled by leaning forward to go faster, and leaning back to slow down. The gyro tells the ECU how much to accelerate and that in turn delivers [...]

Scotland based firm ZM Architecture was recently awarded a prize by the International Design Awards for its promising solar technology concept known as the solar lily pad. What makes the most sense about this concept is that it can be implemented with very little environmental impact while saving precious land resources for other uses. [...]

Eugene Tsui has designed a concept city called The Ultima Tower that would help solve the global population crisis. Acting as a human termite nest, and costing $150 billion, these two mile high green towers would house over one million people in a one mile wide area. Instead of floors, the building’s interior would [...]

Recently we posted an article announcing the production of a portable solar charger for airplane avionics. At the end of that article we asked if you thought airplanes could one day be powered by solar. Since then we discovered a whole slew of existing solar airplane concepts and projects that we thought we’d share [...]

Pacific Gas and Electric has announced plans to work with BrightSource Energy to three four or more huge solar thermal electric generators in the Mojave desert. The first plant will be operational by 2011 and will produce almost 250 megawatt hours of renewable electricity per year. Brightsource Energy’s president John Woolard claims it is [...]

The Bahrain World Trade Center (BWTC) has completed the construction of the three wind turbines that will generate electricity between it’s twin towers. The BWTC design blends maritime aesthetics with the functionality of traditional wind-towers. The buildings are the tallest in Manama and the turbines officially make it the world’s first wind-powered mega structure. [...]

Powerenz, a manfacturer and retailer of portable solar power systems in Georgia, has designed a system to help pilots power up their light airplane avionics without having to start the engine. It can power up the aircraft avionics silently, without smoke, and without wasting aircraft fuel. The unit can be used for approximately 90 [...]

A new hybrid vehicle prototype could make cargo transportation a lot more energy efficient. The add-on system uses a special trailer that provides a power assist on hills and uses regenerative braking technology to recharge the onboard battery system. The system works similar to a hybrid car; the motor generators produce electricity via regenerative [...]

An environmental engineer/developer has plans to construct a unique lifestyle “Green” condo development on the banks of the main channel of the Mississippi River in the historic River city of McGregor in northeast Iowa. The site is within a 4 hr drive of Chicago, Minneapolis and Milwaukee & Madison, WI. While close to several [...]

Seattle company HumanCar®, founded by Charles S. Greenwood PE, has been developing human powered vehicles for over 30 years. Their showcase creation is the human car, a 4-wheel, 4-passenger vehicle that can achieve remarkable speeds of 60+ mph! Unfortunately the car is not available to the public, the orginal prototype cost $250,000. The stated [...]

Pakistan inventor Sarfraz Ahmad Khan has been working hard to develop new hydro technologies like this hydro power invention. His latest concept features the run of river active setup of micro hydro power generation blended with basic principals of hydraulics. This concept explores the possibility of transmitting the (collective) mechanical power gained from run-of-river [...]

Paul Taylor: Installation Of The World’s First Commercial Tidal Current Power System Confirmed. Marine Current Turbines has today (June 6th 2007) confirmed that installation of its SeaGen commercial tidal energy system will commence during the week of August 20th in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough. At 1.2MW capacity, SeaGen will be the world’s largest ever [...]

Residents of Dubai may one day experience a unique and constantly changing skyline thanks to Dynamic Architecture’s wind powered rotating skyscraper. The main idea behind their concept involves a central concrete core surrounded by 59 independently rotating levels. The skyscraper would generate its own electricity from the massive horizontal wind turbines that would be [...]

The Masdar Initiative is an environmental urban ambition by Foster + Partners to develop a sustainable city. They recently released these beautiful images of their conceptual walled city where residents would enjoy a carbon and waste-free environment. The 6 million square metre project is based on the principles of an ancient walled city, combined [...]

Toronto Inventor Tom J. Gilmour recently published his conceptual designs for what he is calling Tom’s Whirligig. Patent applications have been made, and Tom hopes to reserve all rights and worldwide patents for his design. Tom believes his windmill plans to be the most complex ever devised. While he is not yet sure of the [...]

A new hydro power technology is being developed by Sarfraz Ahmad Khan of Pakistan. In theory these hydro plants would not require a reservoir and would have a minimal impact on the environment. They could be run side-by-side in rows and would be much cheaper to build, operate and maintain. Sarfraz has high hopes that [...]

Minnesota based JPods LLC and Swiss-based Festel Capital have signed a letter of intent to begin raising capital to commercialize JPods’ patented form of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The JPod system supplies power to the JPod vehicles via power conductor cables supported from the rail support structure. The system is [...]