Green Energy

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The Next 5 in 5 - Innovations That Will Change Our Lives in the Next Five Years

Fri, 2011-12-30 21:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Albert Gomez

ibm.com

Science fiction becomes reality. Worlds collide. The future is now...or within five years, at least.

At the end of each year, IBM examines market and societal trends expected to transform our lives, as well as emerging technologies from IBM's global labs, to develop a multi-year forecast called The Next 5 in 5.

IBM predicts that over the next five years technology innovations will change the way we work, live and play in the following ways:

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Cheap Power: An Overnight Revolution (Also Documentary Introduction Video - 39:28)

Thu, 2011-10-20 12:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Mark Gibbs - networkworld.com - October 14, 2011

Every now and then along comes a technology that is revolutionary and changes everything. But a very few of these new technologies cause fast change. Mostly they seep out of the lab, into the arms of early adopters, and then ooze out into the world in general.

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How an Artificial Leaf Could Boost Solar Power

Thu, 2011-09-29 22:49 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Time.com - September 29, 2011

Photographer's Choice - RF

Nature is amazing. Take the humble leaf—it's capable of absorbing the sunlight and converting it into the chemical energy that fuels the growth of plants. Photosynthesis is one of the fundamental forces of life, and it's far superior to our technological efforts to harness sunlight. A photovoltaic solar panel can transform sunlight to electricity, but right now that power is difficult to store without expensive batteries, which limits the potential of solar energy. The sugars produced by photosynthesis, though, can be tapped by a plant for energy whenever it's needed. A solar cell that could mimic photosynthesis would be a game changer for alternative energy.

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A Way to Make Motor Fuel Out of Wood? Add Water

Wed, 2011-09-28 21:27 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

The New York Times - by Matthew L. Wald - September 27, 2011

Technology from Renmatix obtained this sugar solution from wood pulp by applying very hot water at high pressure. The New York Times Company

A Georgia company says it has overcome a major roadblock in turning agricultural waste into vehicle fuel and other useful chemicals by experimenting with a technology that treats the waste with compressed water heated to very high temperatures.

The company, Renmatix, plans to cut the ribbon on a research and development center on Tuesday in King of Prussia, Pa., near the heart of the nation’s chemical and refining industry, to complete development of the process. The goal is to accomplish something that has eluded a dozen companies in recent years despite big government inducements: to commercialize a technology for making use of cellulosic biomass, or wood chips, switchgrass and the nonedible parts of crops.

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http://www.tenesol.com/-Tenesol-Madagascar,226-.html

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Jeremy Rifkin: The Third Industrial Revolution: Toward a New Economic Paradigm

Tue, 2011-09-27 09:28 — mdmcdonald

Our industrial civilization is at a crossroads. Oil and the other fossil fuel energies that make up the industrial way of life are sunsetting, and the technologies made from and propelled by these energies are antiquated. The entire industrial infrastructure built off of fossil fuels is aging and in disrepair. The result is that unemployment is rising to dangerous levels all over the world. Governments, businesses and consumers are awash in debt and living standards are plummeting everywhere. A record one billion human beings--nearly one seventh of the human race--face hunger and starvation.

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Solar Brings Clean Water to Madagascar

Wed, 2011-08-17 00:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Duncan Alfreds - news24.com - August 16, 2011

Tenesol Madagascar provides thermal and photovoltaic solutions.

Cape Town - Rural communities in Madagascar are receiving access to safe drinking water and electricity with a solar power project.

"Solar energy is a life-giving technology that can improve the welfare and education of a country's population," said Benoit Rolland, managing director of Tenesol.

Typical of a poor country, the majority of Madagascar's population do not have access to clean drinking water and solar water pumps are an efficient way to ensure that communities get access to water.

Solar pumps have also been installed in Zambia where it has allowed farmers to irrigate land that would otherwise not be able to produce crops.

Cost-effective

Local communities in Madagascar are trained to maintain the solar pumps to ensure that they work optimally.

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U.S. lifts moratorium on deep-water drilling in Gulf of Mexico

Wed, 2010-10-13 07:40 — mdmcdonald

Reporting from Washington — The Obama administration on Tuesday lifted its moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, potentially blunting a serious political issue in the weeks before the midterm congressional election and signaling its confidence in newly tightened regulation. "There has been significant progress over the last few months in enhancing the safety of future drilling operations, and in addressing some of the weaknesses in spill containment and oil spill response," Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said in announcing the moratorium's end. "More needs to be done," he said, "but we believe the risks of deepwater drilling have been reduced sufficiently to allow drilling under existing and new regulations." But the moratorium's end satisfied few players involved in offshore oil drilling issues. Some environmentalists criticized ending the drilling suspension while investigations and cleanup continued into the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 people and unleashed the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Get breaking news alerts delivered to your mobile phone. Text BREAKING to 52669.