Energy Inventions

If we try to get rid of plastics altogether from our lives, we know that it is quite impractical. So what is the next best thing? We can recycle plastic in such a manner that it is economical and produces clean and green energy for our utilization. Industrial designer Chris Allen has come up with an imaginative answer to the problem of plastic litter. He named his project as 'The Plastic Plan.' This project needs millions of plastic bottles along with their caps. We can procure these plastic bottles from landfills and carbon-intensive recycling plants. The next step is to convert these plastic bottles into thousands of cubes that can float on the ocean surface. Now after having thousands of similar these cubes can be joined together to form an offshore structure. This structure’s size is akin to three football fields. These structures are stacked one on top of the other. 9 Comments

We all are waiting for a miracle to happen that can effortlessly replace the fossil fuel and we don’t even feel the change over and go on with our lives as usual. These kinds of transitions have happened as is the case with iron and wood. Many things made of iron and wood got quietly replaced by plastic and the transition was quiet smooth. When the Iron Age got converted to plastic age, we never realized. But the same thing doesn’t seem to be happening with fossil fuel. So the current strategy followed by environment conscious people is, replace fossil fuels in bits and pieces or rather take baby steps till something big and wonderful happens. We are hearing about ecological homes, electric cars, solar energy powered bus stops etc. Now we are hearing about the green jet yacht meeting the eco-friendly green standard. The Green Jet yacht is designed by Erik Sifrer. This Green Jet yacht is 187 foot long and is powered by both wind and hydrogen. The fat cats can flout their eco friendly possession without the guilt of the haves. 3 Comments

An environmentally friendly washing machine has been developed by the University of Leeds, Britain. The technology has been developed by Professor Stephen Burkinshaw of the University of Leeds. He has been working on this project for the past thirty years. This project had been funded by IP Group, an intellectual property commercialization group. The project team claims that this clean and green machine will just need a cup of water to wash clothes. It would be available in the market next year. But currently the washing machine will be available in hotels and dry cleaning outlets only. 7 Comments

If we can control the excess carbon emissions from fossil fuels we can control the global warming to a great extent. When we start our cars and apply brakes using combustion engines we use generous amount of fossil fuel and the carbon emission too is in the direct proportion of the amount of gas used. Now researchers are trying to concentrate on two points: starting a combustion engine and applying breaks. If we start using hybrid cars that use electricity for breaks and then run on fossil fuel for the rest of your journey then we will be able to reduce the emitted carbon quantity. Now companies are paying heed to the green consumers and launching hybrid cars in the market. They produce less pollution. 6 Comments

Not even in our wildest dreams have we anticipated that while we are simply looking out the window enjoying the outside view our windows can simultaneously produce energy for our household needs! Not only windows but the facade of the house, too, might be harnessing the power of solar energy. This might be our future domestic power supply scenario. This can be possible with the help of transparent solar cells. These solar cells can increase the surface area to produce energy. 6 Comments

What a wonderful age we are living in! We hear about so many possibilities in the field of alternative energy. Scientists all over the world are thinking about alternatives to fossil fuel. On every scale be it large or small progress is being made. Here the researchers are inspired by the Greek legend Dionysius' ear. Dionysius erected a cave. It was shaped like an ellipse. Dionysius’ purpose was to hear the words whispered by a prisoner in one of the foci of the cave. Some of the present day science day museums are following the same features where two people standing the extreme ends of a room can hear each other’s whisper. This feature motivated physicists Roberto De Luca and Aniello Fedullo, both of the University of Salerno in Italy, to design sunlight traps. They are using two elliptical mirrors, with one collecting sunlight and another (they named it zozzaroid) focusing sunlight back to the vertex of previous one and into the blackbody. Here they are using mirror for steam generation. 6 Comments

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland have developed flexible solar panels that could be installed on roofs like shingles. This technology was originally used to protect flat panel televisions from dampness. They used to cover television screen with transparent, thin films that acted as barriers. These transparent thin film barriers are now becoming the basis for flexible solar panels that would be installed on roofs like shingles. These flexible rooftop solar panels are known as building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPVs. They could replace today's boxy solar panels. We all know that current solar panels are made with rigid glass or silicon and mounted on thick metal frames. If we compare present solar panels and flexible solar shingles we will find the later ones less expensive to install than current panels and made to last 25 years. 13 Comments

How we see things around us without noticing it! We know the peculiar habit of the sunflower. How it moves with the movement of the sun everyday. But if we want to move anything with the help of sunlight we are not as lucky as the sunflower is. We first have to convert sunlight into heat or electricity and then convert any of this into mechanical energy. Scientists are trying to imitate the action of the sunflower at nanoscale right now. It is no less than a miracle but scientists are the greatest magicians on this earth. Coming generations will reap the benefits of their hard work. A team of the University of Florida chemists is trying a new mechanism to transform light straight into motion – albeit at a very, very, very tiny scale. 4 Comments

For centuries we have been using fossil fuels for industrial and domestic purposes. Most of us consider fossil fuels cheap. But now we are realizing the "real" costs of using fossil fuels. It is destroying our environment and making us pay in other terms. Another problem we are facing is, what were luxuries for the previous generation have become the necessities for current generation. We are using lots of gadgets such as computers, cell phones, iPhones and kitchen and home appliances. They all run on electricity. It is now clear that most of us will be driving electric cars in future. So the problem will be compounded by our growing energy needs. According to the newest forecast from the World Energy Council (WEC) global electricity requirements will double in the next 40 years. At the same time, we know that prices for the dwindling resources of petroleum and natural gas are mounting. 5 Comments

Bye Aerospace Inc. (Denver, Colorado), is collaborating with thin film PV manufacturer Ascent Solar. This is not one of those tie ups taking place everyday. The echo of this tie up will be heard for a long time in the alternative energy scenario. Ascent Solar is providing necessary solar energy technology to Bye Aerospace to develop a hybrid unmanned aerial vehicle (H-UAV). The aerial vehicle is named as Silent Sentinel. This aircraft will be stored using electric power, thin film solar photovoltaics (PV) and some additional technologies to enhance its low emissions, quiet operations and endurance. Bye Aerospace will also utilize a Williams International FJ33 turbofan engine for primary propulsion. Silent Sentinel would be a robust, long-range UAV that would integrate various clean-energy features. 1 Comment

If you happen to travel to Las Vegas, you can come across a tall tower surrounded by around 1,800 mirrors. Mirrors size may be equivalent to a billboard. Don’t confuse it with a futuristic movie set. It is an alternative energy power plant committed to produce clean and green energy in desert areas. The project could be completed by 2013. It might utilize an array of 15,000 heliostats to direct sunlight to a solar collecting tower. The solar collector might be at a height of 600 feet. Twenty five feet wide mirrors can also be utilized to direct sunlight to the tower. 15 Comments

Most of the time we ignore simple solutions dismissing them as too simplistic. But often we can achieve immeasurable amount of success with simple and practical solutions. We might think about the shape of wings and speed of airplanes but we don’t give much thought to an airplane’s wings in terms of reducing fuel and carbon emissions by making changes to those wings. But someone was looking at airplane’s wings and thinking of clean and green energy. If we make tiny holes in plane's wing they can reduce airline fuel intake by up to 40 per cent. A team of British scientists are relying upon the same principle that applies when you blow across the top of a bottle to make a sound. 6 Comments

Scientists are tirelessly working on sources of alternative energy so that we can have a better substitute for fossil fuels in near future. We know that sunlight, wind and geothermal sources of energy are better for everyone. But they also need efficient fuel cells for better utilization of power. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) seem promising enough for both stationary and mobile applications. Stationary use can cover residential applications to power plants. Mobile applications contain energy for ships at sea and in space, as well as for automobiles. Another advantage of the SOFCs is when they are working in reverse manner as solid oxide electrolyzer cells they create pure hydrogen by splitting water. 3 Comments

The Metropolis Magazine has been holding Next Generation Design Competition since 2003. They want to provide a platform for young designers to promote the spirit of activism, social involvement, and entrepreneurship. They offer prize money of $ 10,000. But the real attraction is the publicity given to the projects of winners and runners-up. This recognition helps abstract ideas take concrete forms. For 2009, the theme for the Next Generation Design Competition was: How do we fix our energy addiction? They offered some guidelines, "Think about how we live and work, what we use, how we get where we need to go, hidden costs to our pocket books and the environment, across the whole design spectrum. Focus on one area that needs fixing—products, interiors, buildings and landscape, communication systems, or anything else you can imagine—and develop your idea fully. And above all, think of our energy addiction as a design problem at all scales." 14 Comments

We keep hearing about harnessing the solar power from space. Some call it tall claims and some dismiss it as too costly an affair or pie in the sky. But it seems that in near future harvesting solar energy from space is becoming a reality. Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) from San Francisco is in the energy sector for decades. They have produced power from atomic energy, natural gas and water. Now PG&E has gone ahead and collaborated with Manhattan Beach start-up called Solaren Corporation. But what put this deal apart from others? Actually Solaren Corporation aims to launch a series of giant solar collectors into orbit 23,000 miles above Fresno. They will beam the energy to earth in the form of radio waves. Now PG&E has finalized a contract with Solaren to buy the power on one condition if they can make the technology work. 6 Comments

People are trying various sources to produce alternative energy. We have often witnessed children flying kites. But very few of us have given a thought to generate energy from kites. Scientists from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands produced energy from the wind by flying a 10-sq metre kite that is attached to a generator. It generated 10 kilowatts of power. This energy was enough to meet the power needs of 10 family houses. Scientists are now aiming for a 50kW version of their invention. They have named it Laddermill. Their ultimate aim is to go for a version of multiple kites. They will be able to produce 100 megawatts of power that could meet up the energy requirements of 100,000 homes. In order to generate power the kite pulls a string attached to the generators on the ground. Upon reaching their maximum height, they are reeled back down to repeat the process. 8 Comments

Wind power is the fastest growing industry in the alternative energy sector. Wind turbines generate clean and green power for us but they have certain precondition. One of it is the power unit has to be set up in strong wind area. But Green Energy Technologies has developed a brand new wind power generator known as the WindCube. It is smaller compared to the normal wind generator. WindCube is specially designed to set up on the roof of a building in urban and rural areas. WindCube carries a 22 x 22 x 12 feet framework and its single unit can produce a maximum of 60kW of power. Mark L. Cironi, who is the president and founder of Green Energy Technologies, explains, "Building owners anywhere can consider being a part of the renewable energy picture. With WindCube, it’s not necessary to have the wind of Kansas or Nebraska to become a generator of wind power. In states with excellent renewable energy incentives, moderate wind and high electric rates, the payback can be as little as three years." 26 Comments

Sources of alternative energy are still in infancy stage and taking nascent steps towards the future. So there are ample scopes for scientists to improve upon the various aspects of existing models of alternative sources of energy. There is so much untapped, and so much to explore in this sector. That’s why we are daily flooded with information in the alternative energy field. But sometimes we hear about the improvement in the existing models itself. Researchers from the University of Alcala (UAH) and the Complutense University in Madrid (UCM) have devised a new method for predicting the wind speed of wind farm aerogenerators. 9 Comments

The alternative sources of energy are constantly evolving. Scientists and manufacturers are trying to come up with better products that are user friendly and economical. Government is drawing policies that encourage use of alternative sources of energy. Researchers, entrepreneurs and common people are devising their own ways to use clean and green sources of energy. We are reading almost everyday about some innovation in the area of alternative energy by one university or another. Recently, University of Lleida has designed a concentration solar power module that produces heat, cold and electricity. The unique feature of these solar power modules is that they can be integrated to façades or building roofs. People instrumental in this project are Daniel Chemisana who is a member of the research group in Agrometeorology and Energy for Environment, Manel Ibáñez and Joan Ignasi Rosell. Both Manel Ibáñez and Joan Ignasi Rosell are lecturers in University of Lleida. 4 Comments

We all know about the impending future of the fossil fuels. Ultimately we will be forced to look for alternative energy fuels. Those countries who have resources and infrastructure are taking up these challenges very intelligently. Scientists and researchers know that existing alternative sources of energy can’t take up the challenges created by total exhaustion of fossil fuel. So they are continuously trying to better the existing technologies of the sources of alternative fuels. This time Leviathan Energy presents a technology for new and existing wind farms to produce more energy from a relatively small investment, a solution every manufacturer worth his/her salt wants i.e. more by investing less! 3 Comments