Sustainable Technology

Tree Power!

2009-09-17T16:34:00.001-05:00

Trees Produce Electricity

I saw this in Technology Review recently, this is a post from Green Design Briefs:

Last year, MIT researchers found that plants generate a voltage of up to 200 millivolts when one electrode is placed in a plant and the other in the surrounding soil. A University of Washington team followed up on this research, and has run a custom circuit entirely off tree power.

By hooking nails to trees and connecting a voltmeter, Carlton Himes, a UW undergraduate student, found that bigleaf maples generate a steady voltage of up to a few hundred millivolts.

The UW researchers next built a device that could run on this available power. Brian Otis, assistant professor of Electrical Engineering, led the development of a boost converter - a device that takes a low incoming voltage and stores it to produce a greater output.

The team’s custom boost converter works for input voltages of as little as 20 millivolts, an input voltage lower than any existing such device. It produces an output voltage of 1.1 volts, which is enough to run low-power sensors.

The UW circuit is built from parts measuring 130 nanometers and it consumes on average just 10 nanowatts of power during operation.

Photo: Dustin Schroeder/University of Washington

New Solar Technology

2008-11-10T16:18:00.001-05:00

New Anti Reflective Coating Increases Solar Power

A new anti-reflective coating is being hailed as a "Game Changer" for photovoltaic energy. The nano structured coatings help panels absorb nearly all the light that falls on them, including light at angles that normally bounces off.

This technology could increase solar output by 20 - 30%.

From Rensselaer Polytechnic:

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered and demonstrated a new method for overcoming two major hurdles facing solar energy. By developing a new antireflective coating that boosts the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels and allows those panels to absorb the entire solar spectrum from nearly any angle, the research team has moved academia and industry closer to realizing high-efficiency, cost-effective solar power.

"To get maximum efficiency when converting solar power into electricity, you want a solar panel that can absorb nearly every single photon of light, regardless of the sun's position in the sky," said Shawn-Yu Lin, professor of physics at Rensselaer and a member of the university's Future Chips Constellation, who led the research project. "Our new antireflective coating makes this possible."

Results of the year-long project are explained in the paper "Realization of a Near Perfect Antireflection Coating for Silicon Solar Energy," published this week by the journal Optics Letters.

An untreated silicon solar cell only absorbs 67.4 percent of sunlight shone upon it - meaning that nearly one-third of that sunlight is reflected away and thus unharvestable. From an economic and efficiency perspective, this unharvested light is wasted potential and a major barrier hampering the proliferation and widespread adoption of solar power.

After a silicon surface was treated with Lin's new nanoengineered reflective coating, however, the material absorbed 96.21 percent of sunlight shone upon it - meaning that only 3.79 percent of the sunlight was reflected and unharvested. This huge gain in absorption was consistent across the entire spectrum of sunlight, from UV to visible light and infrared, and moves solar power a significant step forward toward economic viability.

Lin's new coating also successfully tackles the tricky challenge of angles.

Most surfaces and coatings are designed to absorb light - i.e., be antireflective - and transmit light - i.e., allow the light to pass through it - from a specific range of angles. Eyeglass lenses, for example, will absorb and transmit quite a bit of light from a light source directly in front of them, but those same lenses would absorb and transmit considerably less light if the light source were off to the side or on the wearer's periphery.

More at: Rensselaer Polytechnic,

Sustainable Design Update

New Blog

2008-10-03T08:41:00.003-05:00

It is definitely worth checking out the new blog: www.grownasspeople.blogspot.com (GAP)

The blog is fresh, intelligent, informative and fun.

GAP will cover politics, the environment, robotics and more. The writers are unusually intelligent with a real sense of humor.

Check it out and add it to your bookmarks!

Cheers

jsbarrie

New Solar Cell Process Saves $$$

2008-09-24T10:29:00.002-05:00

Univ. of Utah Students Cut Germanium for Solar Cells

University of Utah engineers devised a new way to slice thin wafers of the element germanium for use in the most efficient type of solar power cells. They say the new method should lower the cost of such cells by using less raw material and reducing waste.

Germanium solar cells, the most efficient solar cells, now are used mainly on spacecraft, but with the improved wafer-slicing method, "the idea is to make germanium-based, high-efficiency solar cells for uses where cost now is a factor," particularly for solar power on Earth, says Eberhard "Ebbe" Bamberg, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

Dinesh Rakwal, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering, adds: "We're coming up with a more efficient way of making germanium wafers for solar cells - to reduce the cost and weight of these solar cells and make them defect-free."

Bamberg and Rakwal are publishing their findings in the Journal of Materials Processing Technology. Their study has been accepted, and a final version will be published online late this month or in early October, and in print in 2009.

Their novel process uses a brass-coated, steel-wire to slice round wafers of germanium from cylindrical ingots. The brittle germanium cracks easily, requiring a saw with a soft touch. The width of the saw creates waste. In the past a significant amount of germanium is lost during the cutting process. The new U of U sawing method improves efficiency by about 10%.

The new method for slicing solar cell wafers - known as wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) - wastes less germanium and produces more wafers by cutting thinner wafers with less waste and cracking. The method uses an extremely thin molybdenum wire with an electrical current running through it.

More Info at: U of Utah

Check Out: Sustainable Design Update

New HP Laptop - 97% Package Free!

2008-09-06T15:18:00.001-05:00

HP - Laptop Without Box

I saw this over at Gizmodo and thought it deserved to be a Friday post.

From Gizmodo:

We've seem our share of good packaging ideas and bad packaging ideas, but this new method from HP is a great packaging idea. Their Pavilion dv692 systems available at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club will sit on the shelf in their own recycled material messenger bags, stabilized and protected with internal air bubbles. This alternative to huge boxes shoved full of styrofoam has reduced HP's individual consumer packaging by an outrageous 97%.

Via: Gizmodo

Megabus - MegaEfficient Transportation

2008-08-26T10:35:00.002-05:00

Megabus

Last weekend I had a chance to catch the Megabus from Chicago to Ann Arbor. The Megabus is a new intercity express bus line that provides fast, safe and inexpensive travel between select cities in the Midwest and the Northeast.

Mass transit options are increasing to keep pace with the price of fuel. The bus I rode is a double decker that holds 79 passengers in comfort. It gets about 6 - 7 miles per gallon so that works out to 474 - 553 passenger miles per gallon. You would have to pack 10 passengers Clown-Car style in your Prius before you reached passenger fuel economy equivalent to the Megabus.

Costs are low and Megabus overhead is kept to a minimum by ticketing only online. There are no Megabus Stations. For my trip I caught the bus near the Chicago Union (train) Station. The pick up is a public bus stop with no shelter. At Union Station there is a sign on the door stating:

You have chosen a carrier that has not provided an indoor passenger waiting area for you. Amtrak and Chicago Union Station have no business relationship with 'Megabus' and cannot provide assistance unless patronizing Chicago Union Station establishments. Please wait outdoors for your bus.

More at: Sustainable Design Update

Living Like Ed

2008-08-25T22:25:00.001-05:00

Ed Begley Jr.

I met Ed Begley Jr. this weekend at the Great Lakes Green Conference. Ed was speaking on how to make your home energy efficient and incorporate renewable energy without going broke. He also has a new book, "Living Like Ed". I got a chance to review a copy and it is the ideal place to begin if you want to make your house more energy efficient.

We had a chance to talk a bit after his presentation. Ed comes across as a down to earth, no nonsense kind of guy. His sincere nature and desire to save the earth makes a great contrast with his wife Rachelle, who goes along with many of Ed's ideas on how to live sustainably, but has her own ideas of what living comfortably is. The Begleys are filming their third season of "Living With Ed".

If you get a chance you should ask Ed about his rather cut-throat competition with Bill Nye - The Science Guy.

Ed has been a committed environmentalist ever since the first Earth Day He has always tried to “live simply so others may simply live.” Now, as more and more of us are looking for ways to reduce our impact on the planet and live a better, greener life, Ed shares his experiences on what works, what doesn't–and what will save you money!

From Random House:

These are tips for environmentally friendly living that anyone–whether you own or rent, live in a private home or a condo–can try to make a positive change for the environment. From quick fixes to bigger commitments and long-term strategies, Ed will help you make changes in every part of your life.

And if you think living green has to mean compromising on aesthetics or comfort, fear not; Ed's wife, Rachelle, insists on style–with a conscience. In Living Like Ed, his environmentalism and her design savvy combine to create a guide to going green that keeps the chic in eco-chic.

From recycling more materials than you ever thought possible to composting without raising a stink to buying an electric car, Living Like Ed is packed with ideas–from obvious to ingenious–that will help you live green, live responsibly, live well. Like Ed.

Check Out:
Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life

Efficient Ethanol

2008-08-20T19:39:00.000-05:00

Corn - Photo Credit: MarS via Flickr

We at SDU are big fans of ethanol - if it is made from cellulosic materials. Corn ethanol is problematic. Making ethanol from corn consumes a lot of energy so the pay-off, or the net increase in energy, is small compared with other biofuels. To make corn based ethanol more energy efficient, researchers at Washington University are demonstrating a process used in breweries and wastewater treatment facilities: oxygen-less vats of bacteria that naturally feed on organic waste produced from the fermentation process.

This "new" process is one we have covered many times. (Link) The WU team is using a simple biodigester after the fermentation process. The biodigester uses bacteria in the absence of oxygen to produce methane.

As the bacteria break down waste, methane is released, which can be used to power the distillation process. The methane generated can offset much of the energy required to make ethanol.

From Technology Review:

Largus Angenent, a professor of chemical engineering, and his team at Washington University have tested anaerobic digestion on waste from ethanol plants and found that the process could cut down an ethanol facility's use of natural gas by 50 percent. The team has published the results in the recent issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Angenent says that the process would serve as a short-term solution until more-efficient biofuel, such as cellulosic ethanol, is commercially viable. "Rather than have hope for new technology that comes to fruition in 10 or 20 years, we need technology we can implement now," says Angenent, who recently became an assistant professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University. "This is an interim process, and it's off the shelf."

Nearly all ethanol biofuel in the United States is made from corn. Typically, the ethanol production yields organic waste that is then consolidated into two parts: a dry, cake-like substance and a syrupy solution, called thin stillage, that's layered on top. The concoction is used as animal feed. Angenent says that a large portion of this feed, particularly thin stillage, which is laden with salts, provides low nutritional value but may have high energy potential for powering a plant when broken down via anaerobic digestion.

To test this theory, the researchers cultivated thermophilic bacteria from a wastewater treatment plant in two small, five-liter anaerobic digesters. Angenent and his colleagues then slowly began feeding waste samples into the digesters, which were kept at 55 °C to maximize the bacteria's activity. As the digesters ran, the team measured the amount of methane released.

Via: Technology Review

Check: Sustainable Design Update

Vertical Farming - Will It Work?

2008-08-16T10:29:00.002-05:00

Vertical Farm

I have been asked several times lately what I think of vertical farming - the proposed practice where crops are grown in skyscrapers. The idea is being pushed by academics and enthusiasts.

My big doubt about vertical farming is based on the economics of building a superstructure with sufficient structural capacity to hold crops, water, soil (in the non-hydroponic proposals) humans and machines. Plus the live loads associated with rain, snow and wind. The structure would have to be at least as robust as what we currently build for offices and the infrastructure would be just about as expensive as any other building. So, based on current costs for construction, the cost of a vertical farm could be about $100.00 per square foot.

The cost of Georgia farm land is $2,074 per acre, average (University of Georgia Study), which is about 5 cents per square foot. This gives the Georgia farm a serious advantage. The rent on a $100.00 per square foot structure is about $21.00 per square foot per year, so space on a vertical farm might go for $10.00 = $21.00 per square foot. Corn brings in about $259.00 per acre ( www.profitablefarming.com) or about 7/10 of one cent per square foot. And corn is considered a profitable crop!

I can't see the economics of vertical farming working out.

Check out: Sustainable Design Update

Check out this very cool video of an advocate for vertical farming on the Colbert Report.

Via: AIDG Blog

Shark Skin Design - Reduce Drag - Improve Energy Efficiency

2008-08-12T14:21:00.003-05:00

Dr. Amy Lang Tests Sharkskin Inspired Surface

Sharkskin inspired swimsuits are helping swimmers at the 2008 Olympics set new records. Can this biomimetic design help airliners reduce drag? That is what Dr. Amy Lang is going to find out. Backed by a grant from the Lindbergh Foundation, Dr. Lang is researching “Reducing the Drag Over Aircraft by Mimicking the Surface Geometry of Bristled Shark Skin Scales”.

If this technology works for sharks, swimmers and airliners, it should also work for cars, boats and anything that moves through a viscous fluid.

From the Lindbergh Foundation Website:

With her Lindbergh Grant, Dr. Lang will determine whether the surface texture on the skin of fast-swimming sharks, potentially capable of bristling their scales when in pursuit of prey, could be mimicked and used to reduce the drag on aircraft. She will perform water tunnel experiments to measure the flow over and within a bristled sharkskin model (2 cm size scales), which achieves similarity with real sharkskin (0.2 mm size scales) Lang Labby a corresponding scale down in velocity of the experiments. She will also obtain drag measurements over a sharkskin model in a Couette flow facility containing high viscosity oil. Her objective is to reveal the boundary layer control mechanisms of the bristled sharkskin to deduce the means by which sharks minimize their drag. Dr. Lang’s project has the potential to reduce aircraft drag by 30%, once the technology is refined and implemented, greatly reducing the nation’s dependency on fossil fuels, reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, and costs.

Check Out the Lindbergh Flyer

Check Out: Sustainable Design Update

New Solar Tower for Namibia

2008-08-08T12:04:00.001-05:00

Solar Updraft Tower

A new proposal for the construction of a solar tower capable of generating 400 MW of electricity has been approved by the Namibian government.

The solar tower, aptly named the "Greentower" will be 1.5 km (about 5,000 feet!) high and 280 m (918 feet) in diameter. The tower functions like a chimney. Air heated in an apron around the tower becomes relatively buoyant and wants to rise. The only path is up the chimney. Turbines on the ground or near the bottom of the tower convert the updraft into electricity.

In 1982, a small-scale experimental model of a solar chimney power plant was built under the direction of German engineer Jörg Schlaich in Manzanares, Ciudad Real, 150 km south of Madrid, Spain; the project was funded by the German government. The tower ran trouble-free for eight years, producing 50 kW of electricity, until it was decommissioned.

In recent years there has been renewed interest in the solar tower concept, a 1 km-high solar tower, capable of producing 200 MW is scheduled to be constructed by 2010 in Australia. (Project Link)

Turbines can be installed in a ring around the base of the tower, with a horizontal axis, as planned for the Australian project, or, as in the prototype in Spain, a single vertical axis turbine can be installed inside the chimney.

He adds that the Australian tower, as well as its Namibian counterpart, will be built out of reinforced concrete, using technology developed for building high-rise buildings.

"Several thermodynamics, structural, wind loading and power generation experts have developed an executive summary for a prefeasibility study for the Namibian project," says intellectual property company Hahn & Hahn MD representative Alan Dunlop.

More at: Sustainable Design Update

Photo: Wikipedia

Via: Engineering News

New Solar - LED Lighting System

2008-07-28T16:50:00.002-05:00

Solar - LED Light

This summer in Guatemala we designed a Solar - LED lighting system for people who live without access to electric power.

Our system consists of a 10 watt solar panel and two LED light fixtures rated at two watts each. The system has enough capacity to charge a cell phone and to run a small radio too. The prototype fixture shown above is made in part from recycled water bottles from the Black Cat Hostel in Quetzaltenango, (AKA Xela) Guatemala.

On the hike up to visit one of the families who will be testing our lighting system we were met by one of the children from the household. She knew we were on our way because her mom had called her on her cell phone. We found from our surveys that many people living without power have cell phones. Cell phones are almost free in Guatemala. I purchased my Guatemalan cell phone for about $15.00 U.S., and it came with $15.00 in minutes pre-installed. The phone was essentially free!

This leaves the rural poor with a new problem. Where do they charge their phones? Most have to hike in to the phone store (there are phone stores almost everywhere) and wait while their phone is charged or if they are lucky they have a friend within walking distance who has power or a battery. Whatever the system, it takes hours to charge a cell phone if you live without electricity.

Our Solar-LED system has a 12 volt battery and an automotive outlet (in the old days we called these cigarette lighter outlets). This feature makes our system more like a home power system than just a light fixture. Amazingly, 10 watts is a lot of power if you are accustomed to living with no power at all.

What our questionnaires and conversations with people who will be using our lights uncovered is that people need more than just light. People want to be connected.

Our lighting system will cost about as much as people spend in a year on kerosene lamps, candles and batteries. In addition to having more light and better visibility, they will also be able to save the time and energy spent to keep their cell phones charged.

The estimated savings in Carbon Dioxide per household per year is about 750 pounds. Our system is designed to last over 20 years, with the batteries changed every 5 years.

Later this year when we have the final list of materials and the final circuit board designed we will publish all of the technical specifications on www.apptechdesign.org

This project is sponsored by the Lindbergh Foundation. Our design partner for the project is the Xela Teco Workshop in Guatemala, with special design help from Jose Ordonez and Carlos Alvarez Cahuex.

DIY Air Powered Scooter

2008-04-23T18:42:00.003-05:00

There are several air powered small vehicles making the rounds of the eco-blogs. Some have novel engines that claim 100% greater efficiency other companies have been “just about” to release their air powered cars for nearly a decade.

From Wikipedia:

Various companies are investing in the research, development and deployment of Compressed air cars. Overoptimistic reports of impending production date back to at least May 1999. For instance, the MDI Air Car made its public debut in South Africa in 2002,^[13] and was predicted to be in production “within six months” in January 2004.^[14] Most of the cars under development also rely on using similar technology to Low-energy vehicles in order to increase the range and performance of their cars.

As you can see, I’m a bit of a skeptic when it comes to Air Powered Vehicles -but…

This DIY scooter doesn’t rely on inflated claims (sorry) of super efficiency. Rather it is a simple design using recycled materials and easily available parts. No magic - sorry. Just a really cool bike that runs for free if you can find a gas station that still has free air. The range of this scooter is about 7 miles and the top speed is under 20 mph. While this may seem pretty wimpy by motorcycle standards, 18 mph or so on a bicycle is pretty fast, and 7 miles would get me to work and back twice. For free.

From Motorcycle News:

An inventor has created what he claims is the world’s first motorcycle powered by fresh air.

Jem Stansfield says his converted Puch moped produces cleaner air than found in many town and city centres and so can actually reduce pollution.

“It actually fires out cleaner air,” said 37-year-old Stansfield, who used to be a sheep herder.

The University of Bristol aeronautics graduate fitted the Puch with high pressure carbon fibre air cylinders used by fire fighters as breathing apparatus in burning buildings.

The cylinders power two rotary air engines which in turn drive the chain to the rear wheel.

Unlike electric scooters, it takes just seconds to recharge from larger air tanks filled by a diving compressor.

With a top speed of 18mph and a range of just seven miles between air top-ups, Stansfield admits it’s never going to be good for trans-continental touring. But hesaid: “You could definitely run a fleet of delivery bikes on it.”

Via: Sustainable Design Update

New Wind Turbine

2008-04-17T13:04:00.002-05:00

FloDesign Schematic for New Wind Turbine

EcoGeek has an interview with one of the engineers at Flow Design about their new wind turbine design.

If you think this looks more like a jet engine you’re right. The engineers at FloDesign have experience in designing components for turbine engines.

The features that make this wind turbine design innovative (I will add the word “potentially” to this, they have yet to produce a working prototype) is that they use a shroud and nozzle combination to decrease pressure and suck more wind into turbine blades. They also use a stator (stationary set of turbine blades) to aim the air at the moving blades to extract the maximum amount of energy from the wind stream.

This may all prove not to work when they actually build a prototype, but I have hope that FloDesign can get this very innovative wind turbine up and running and that it will produce energy more efficiently than what is currently on the market.

Check out the interview over at EcoGeek

Via: Sustainable Design Update

Save Energy With Kill-A-Watt

2008-03-22T13:01:00.002-05:00

Kill A Watt

Want to make your home more energy efficient? Want to find the real energy hogs in your house? Then the Kill A Watt is the Tech-Tool for you.

Professionally, I have used a variety of power monitoring tools and the Kill A Watt is the best balance for price and quality.

How it works:

You just plug the Kill A Watt in a standard power outlet and then plug into it whatever it is that you want to test. That’s it. You can forceast your costs with a little data from your electric bill.

At home we are energy geeks to begin with and yet we still found hidden energy hogs using the Kill A Watt.

(BTW – our oven has a built in analog clock that drew an unusual amount of current. It must have been defective. We never look at the oven clock so I opened the back of the oven and disconnected the clock. One small step for energy efficiency.)

Kill A Watt is available at Edmund Scientifics - type in “Kill A Watt” in the search field on the left side of the page after the jump.

Check out Kill-A-Watt and more sustainable tools at: Access to Tools

You can purchase a Kill-A-Watt at Edmund Scientific, just write Kill a Watt in the search box on the left side of the page after the jump.

Edmund Scientific

2008-03-10T15:50:00.002-05:00

The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation was originated by friends of the Lindberghs at The Explorers Club in New York City. It is a non-profit organization whose mission is “Supporting Great Innovations that Foster the Environment for a Planet in Balance”.

One of the programs of the Foundation is the Lindbergh Grant program where each year grants are made in support of research that promotes a balance between technology and the environment.

From the Lindbergh Foundation Website:

Each year, The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation provides grants of up to $10,580 (a symbolic amount representing the cost of the Spirit of St. Louis) to men and women whose individual initiative and work in a wide spectrum of disciplines furthers the Lindberghs’ vision of a balance between the advance of technology and the preservation of the natural/human environment.

To date, 270 men and women in the United States and abroad have received more than $2.6 million to support their work.

“The concept of a technology/nature balance, in which Charles and Anne Lindbergh so firmly believed, is now coming to the forefront as the answer to some of our global problems,” said Clare Hallward, Chairman of the Lindbergh Foundation Grants Selection Committee. “The projects of our grant recipients have, since 1978, made significant contributions to such a balance. Because of the standards employed by the Foundation’s grants program, it has earned international credibility which enables many Lindbergh Grant recipients to secure additional funding to continue their important work.”

The value of the Lindbergh Grants program as a provider of seed money and credibility for pilot projects that subsequently receive larger sums from other sources to continue and expand the work has again been confirmed. Seventy-four percent of Lindbergh Grant recipients responding to a recent survey by the Foundation said they had received additional funding for their research or educational project earlier supported by a Lindbergh Grant, with 34% receiving funds ranging from $50,001 up to $500,000 in supplementary support.

SDU will be posting on Lindbergh Grant recipients over the next several weeks leading up to the announcement of the 2008 Lindbergh Grants.

If you have a research or educational project that promotes a balance between technology and the environment you may want to apply for a 2009 Lindbergh Grant.

While no official announcement about the 2008 Lindbergh Grant Recipients has been made, check out This Link.

Via: Sustainable Design Update

Open Source Block Maker

2008-02-27T17:24:00.002-05:00

Blocks Made From Compressed Earth

Schematics for the machine that made these blocks is going to be available free to anyone who wants to make inexpensive construction blocks.

The Liberator Project, the design for a Compressed Earth Block (CEB) machine is an online collaboration, with the final design to be available to all.

The tech. literature for CEBs should show somewhere that working with CEBs is a little tricky. The blocks don’t do well in tension. When the wind blows on an exterior wall it causes the wall to want to bend, possibly making one face of the wall “stretch”. CEBs are a brittle material and they don’t really stretch, instead the walls crack. Designers must overcome this tendency by designing CEB walls and their applied loads heavy enough to keep the inside face from stretching.

You should check out some of the following cool links:

BoingBoing

CEB Press

Sustainable Design Update

Greenhouse Gas or Fuel Source?

2008-02-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

Cow Expressing Displeasure With Photographer

What can we do with cow emissions and animal waste emissions? Animal waste can be collected in a biodigester to make methane gas. Small farms can make enough gas to cook their meals, and larger farms can run their equipment and/or run generators that feed power into the grid. Farm animals belch and otherwise emit copious amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

Near New Zealand scientists have discovered a bug that eats only methane. The bug can live in extreme conditions, and I hope it can be safely added to cattle feed to reduce the gas generated by our bovine friends.

From National Geographic:

The reason VOCs are a concern at all is because they're one of the components that contributes to the formation of ozone, which is the primary ingredient of smog," Malay said.

But VOCs aren't the only worrisome gases that emanate from livestock. Scientists say animals such as cattle and sheep are responsible for around 20 percent of global methane emissions.

Methane, a greenhouse gas, is believed to be a major driver of climate change, because it traps 21 times as much heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

"In more rural communities as much as 50 percent of the methane comes from livestock," said Jamie Newbold, professor at the Institute of Rural Sciences in Aberystwyth, Wales.

Newbold is among a growing number of scientists now investigating how farm animals influence atmospheric pollution. The field is sometimes dismissed by critics as "fart science."

Via: Practical Environmentalist

Photo: Outdooralex Via Flickr

Cadbury Chooses Sustainable Cocoa

2008-01-30T18:51:00.000-05:00

Cadbury Chocolate Shows Their Quaker Roots

Cadbury has announced the establishment of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership to secure the economic, social and environmental sustainability of around a million cocoa farmers and their communities in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean.

This ground-breaking initiative, which will be carried out in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other partners, marks 100 years since the Cadbury brothers first began trading in Ghana and aims to holistically support the development of sustainable cocoa growing communities.

Research by the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, and the University of Ghana, Legon, into “Sustainable Cocoa Production in Ghana,” funded by Cadbury, showed that the average production for a cocoa farmer has dropped to only 40% of potential yield and that cocoa farming has become less attractive to the next potential generation of farmers. The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership programme aims to address some of the root causes of these issues - improving farmer productivity and helping to attract the next generation into cocoa farming.

More @ Cadbury

Via: The Jakarta Post

Neighborhood Renewable Energy

2007-11-05T18:07:00.000-05:00

Qurrent is the winner of the 500,000 Euro Picnic Green sustainable technology challenge. Their technology is a decentralized renewable energy network. Here is how it works: A group of houses or businesses work cooperatively to generate renewable energy. One house may have a wind turbine, another solar panels and another may have both. That group exchange energy locally to maximize efficiency. Rather than sending your surplus electrons through the grid where up to 30% are lost, you share first with your neighbors in a Local Energy Network.

“Qurrent has in fact developed computer controlled energy management for entire streets, through which the available energy can be optimized between all houses. That’s a break-through.”

Sir Richard Branson, 01.10.07

The Qurrent design for a Local Energy Network is basically a mini-grid that is connected to the utility grid through one connection. Surplus electricity is first be exchanged within the network cluster members before being sold back to the grid. If the cluster as a whole isn’t producing enough energy, then additional energy is brought in through the grid.

One cool feature of the Qurrent system is the Qbox, a network interface device that knows energy rates and your particular energy needs. The Qbox can autonomously switch on your washing machine when it is most efficient, either when there is surplus energy in your Local Energy Network or when electric demand on the grid is low.

With prototype models already proven and a boost of 500,000 euros, Qurrent is ready for prime time, at least in Europe.

Check out more at Sustainable Design Update.

GaiaLux Light

2007-11-05T17:59:00.000-05:00



Hi-

I have entered the NASA "Design The Future" Contest, a
product design competition, with a design for an
energy efficient LED light fixture that uses recycled
cell phone chargers as the power supply.

See the light design at:  http://tinyurl.com/yphjlu

This design is intended for the billion people who
live in parts of the world where power is
intermittent, like in "squatter cities" and in places
where war makes access to electricity difficult.

My design charges batteries when power is available
and provides light when light is needed.  The
batteries can provide light for days between charges.
It also shuts off when the batteries are charged and
has no stand-by power loss.  (we measured this)

One of the ways the contest is judged is by the number
of page views each entry generates.  I would
appreciate it very much if you looked at my entry and
checked out the graphics (click on the thumbnail
images on the left of the screen)

If I win anything it will go exclusively toward
supporting The Appropriate Technology Design
Collaborative, a not for profit that designs new
technologies for less economically developed
countries.

The link:  http://tinyurl.com/yphjlu

or:
http://www.createthefuturecontest.com/pages/view/entriesdetail.html?entryID=1087


Check out developments at Sustainable Design Update

Paint With Clay

2007-08-10T15:17:00.000-05:00

This non-toxic alternative to paint may not be what comes to mind when you think of wall coverings, but compare it to wall paper, a material most often now made of vinyl.

From Building Green TV:

If you've been thinking about slapping a fresh coat of paint on the walls in your living room, or your bathroom, or your bedroom, or anyplace inside your home, you might want to stop and reconsider. Unless you're buying zero-VOC paint, the fumes can be harmful to your health.

You could skip the paint altogether and, instead, cover your walls in clay. Sounds a little odd; however, once you see the photo gallery at American Clay, you might be sold on the idea.

American Clay's line of natural earth plasters are non-toxic, non-dusting mold resistant, repairable—and the stuff creates essentially zero waste, as leftovers can be saved for patching or even spread around in soil outside.

Interested? You can attend a hands-on workshop near you and give the stuff a try.

Other articles on Sustainable Technology are available at Sustainable Design Update.

Energy Efficient Airplane

2007-04-09T16:37:00.000-05:00

56.25 Miles Per Gallon - 180 Miles Per Hour

If you have to get someplace in a hurry and mass transit doesn’t quite reach where you are going, you may want to try flying – your own plane. Small airplanes can be one of the most efficient forms of transportation if designed for efficiency.

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) has developed the CAFÉ or Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation to measure and promote aircraft efficiency. Dr. Paul McCready, the man who designed the human powered airplane that crossed the English Channel is a sponsor of the organization.

The CAFÉ Foundation measured a custom built airplane that can achieve 180 miles per hour while only burning just 3.2 gallons of gas per hour. (link)

The CAFÉ Foundation also sponsors the Personal Air Vehicle Challenge, modeled after the X-Prize, the PAV challenge is to design an airplane that:

200 mph “car” that flies above gridlock without traffic delays
Quiet, safe, comfortable and reliable
Able to be flown by anyone with a driver’s license
As affordable as travel by car or airliner
Near all-weather, on-demand travel enabled by synthetic vision
Highly fuel efficient and able to use alternative fuels
Up to 800 mile range
Walk to grandma’s from small residential airfields

VIA: Sustainable Design Update

Renewable Fuel

2007-04-09T16:25:00.000-05:00

XelaTeco BioDigester

I follow the work of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG) pretty closely. Through education and business development AIDG promotes sustainable technologies that improve the quality of life in developing countries. AIDG has identified several sustainable technologies that can be made locally, with local “eco-engineers”. One technology AIDG is promoting in Guatemala is the use of Biodigesters.

Biodigesters are appropriate technologies that take advantage of the energy that is naturally present in animal waste and kitchen trash. As these waste products break down, whether in the ground, a compost heap, landfill, or biodigester, they release methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In contrast to the other waste storage and disposal methods mentioned, a biodigester traps the methane before it becomes a problem and stores it for heating and cooking. In this way, biodigesters can provide a sustainable substitute for the propane, kerosene, and firewood that many rural families in developing countries use to serve these needs. For those families that have to buy their fuel, a biodigester can save them hundreds of U.S. dollars every year. For those that cut trees down for firewood, a biodigester will save them time and help to prevent the deforestation that is becoming prevalent in places where large numbers of people still gather their own firewood.

Biodigesters also create high quality fertilizer.

In a biodigester, animal waste is converted into biogas and fertilizer. Apart from providing fuel to the family that uses it, a biodigester is also a source of high quality organic fertilizer the family can use on its crops. During the decomposition process in the biodigester, the waste is also sterilized. This means that animal manure, which has caused many health problems in developing countries when placed on fields with close to the ground crops such as lettuce or cabbage, can be used without fear of causing sickness. Disease causing bacteria, such as E. Coli, are killed inside the biodigester and never make contact with the plants.

In households that use biodigester gas instead of wood to cook with there is a measurable improvement in the occupants health.

Introducing this simple technology reduces pressure on natural forests, provides free high quality fertilizer, reduces food borne illness due to E. Coli, improves health and saves money. This is a win-win-win-win-win technology.

(some text above was taken from the AIDG website)

Link to a National Public Radio Podcast on AIDG work in Guatemala.

Via AIDG

Previously Posted on Sustainable Design Update

Appropriate Technology in Guatemala

2007-02-26T17:12:00.000-05:00

DIY Renewable Energy in Guatemala

Xelateco - Home grown appropriate technology in Guatemala.

My favorite Tech blogger and NPR correspondent, Xeni Jardin, is finishing a week long series of reports from Guatemala. Yesterday she reported on a group of American eco-engineers, the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG), who is working with a number of Mayan villages to provide the basics of clean water and energy.

Xelateco is the name of the workshop in the town of Quetzaltenango (or Xela for short). The American group AIDG is working with tech-minded Guatemalans to build eco-friendly devices. The workshop is a small business supported by the U.S.-based nonprofit.

What separates this enterprise from so many “Gringos Without Borders” is that AIDG provides knowledge and assistance with the goal of having the local group become independent.

In my travels to Guatemala and Central America over the last 30 years I have seen many short sighted but well intended projects come and go and leave circumstances on the ground largely unchanged. AIDG deserves your attention and your support.

Xeni has a unique voice in the Tech world. Check out her report here.

Hot Electric Car

2007-02-13T18:47:00.000-05:00

Tesla Roadster - Photo TeslaMotors.com

My son worked for an electric car and bicycle store for one summer. The cars were kind of cute but had real problems with range and speed. They went about 25 mph and could make it about 50 miles with a little luck. Tesla Motors Inc. has rebranded the idea of the electric car with their high design and high performance Tesla Roadster.

Wired Magazine has a great article:

He releases the brake and my head snaps back. One-one-thousand: I get a floating feeling, like going over the falls in a roller coaster. Two-one-thousand: The world tunnels, the trees blur. Three-one-thousand: We hit 60 miles per hour. Eberhard brakes. We’re at a standstill again — elapsed time, nine seconds. When potential buyers get a look at the vehicle this summer, it will be among the quickest production cars in the world. And, compared to other supercars like the Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari Enzo, and Lamborghini Diablo, it’s a bargain. More intriguing: It has no combustion engine.

The trick? The Tesla Roadster is powered by 6,831 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries — the same cells that run a laptop computer. Range: 250 miles. Fuel efficiency: 1 to 2 cents per mile. Top speed: more than 130 mph. The first cars will be built at a factory in England and are slated to hit the market next summer. And Tesla Motors, Eberhard’s company, is already gearing up for a four-door battery-powered sedan.

Read the rest of the article here.

Renewable Energy Boost

2007-02-10T07:29:00.000-05:00

For a long time renewable energy technologies have needed a financial "shot in the arm" for research and development. This need is particularly strong in the area of design for manufacturability. It now looks like China will make the needed infusion of cash that will make renewables competitive in future markets. Unfortunately this will further reduce US competitiveness in renewable and clean technologies.

Reuters has an interesting article today.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China is set to spend $200 billion on renewable energy over the next 15 years, and industry players are racing to grab a slice of the action.

That kind of money would buy you an oil firm the size of Chevron and leave change to fund the current renewables programs of all Europe's top oil firms for 25 years.

So from the arid plains of Xinjiang to the rolling hills of sub-tropical Guangdong, Chinese and foreign firms are erecting 40-storey wind turbines, installing solar panels, and conducting tests on corn for biofuel.

Beijing wants a tenth of its energy to come from environmentally friendly sources by 2010 -- a desire driven by soaring air pollution and chronic environmental degradation that is swelling medical bills and provoking discontent.

Projects will need turbines, blades and other power components, which is why General Electric Co., Vestas Wind Systems and Gamesa, as well as homegrown firms China Solar Energy Holdings Ltd. and Suntech, are expanding capacity in the country.

See the full article here.

Ethanol, Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide

2007-02-06T12:48:00.000-05:00

Wild Grasses - Feedstock of the next industrial revolution?

Over the last week I have been thinking about everything ethanol. (No, this wasn’t a lost weekend). The New York Times had an article on ethanol 3/26/06.

Background – Ethanol is alcohol made from fermenting biological matter. Ethanol along with Bio-Diesel are two promising types of bio-fuels – fuels derived from biological resources. Biofuels are renewable and if the chain of development from planting, through cultivation, harvesting and processing into useable fuel is carefully managed, biofuels can reduce the use of fossil energy, reduce pollution and increase our national security.

Ethanol has been in the news for a variety of reasons. First there have been some studies that show the net energy gain from the manufacture of ethanol is very little or worse yet, negative. Much of this negative chatter has come from conservative talk show hosts bemoaning farm subsidies for the production of ethanol from corn. However there are some new technologies on the horizon.

In their fall 2005 newsletter the Rocky Mountain Institute has a great article on Ethanol and best practices for development of an Ethanol infrastructure. As usual the RMI was ahead of the curve on this development. In their newsletter from the fall of 2005:

Switchgrass Biofuels, and specifically ethanol, have been the subject of a great deal of criticism in recent months by detractors claiming that more energy is required to produce ethanol than is available in the final product, that it is too expensive, and that it produces negligible carbon reductions. These critiques are simply not accurate. State-of-the-art technologies have been competently forecasted—even proven in the market—to produce ethanol that is far more cost-effective and less energy-intensive than gasoline. We'll explore why, and why the critics have gotten it wrong.
When we say biofuels, we mean liquid fuels made from biomass—chiefly biodiesel and ethanol, which can be substituted for diesel fuel or for gasoline, respectively. The technology used to produce biodiesel is well understood, although its biomass feedstocks are limited and production today is fairly expensive. We will instead focus on ethanol, which we believe has significantly greater potential.
....But conventional processes and feedstocks used to make ethanol are not feasible in the United States on a large scale for three reasons: they're not cost-competitive with long-run gasoline prices without subsidies, they compete with food crops for land, and they have only marginally positive energy balances.
Happily, in addition to starch-based feedstocks, ethanol can be produced from "cellulosic" feedstocks, including biomass wastes, fast-growing hays like switchgrass, and short-rotation woody crops like poplar. While not cost-competitive today, already observed advances in technology lead us to believe that in the next few years, ethanol made from these crops will become cost-competitive, won't compete with food for cropland, and will have a sizeable positive energy balance. Indeed, because these crops are expected to have big biomass yields (~10–15 dry tons/acre, up from the current ~5 dry tons/acre), much less land will be required than conventionally thought. Further, cellulosic ethanol will typically have twice the ethanol yield of corn-based ethanol, at lower capital cost, with far better net energy yield.
We can't remember how many times we've been asked the question: "But doesn't ethanol require more energy to produce than it contains?" The simple answer is no—most scientific studies, especially those in recent years reflecting modern techniques, do not support this concern. These studies have shown that ethanol has a higher energy content than the fossil energy used in its production. Some studies that contend that ethanol is a net energy loser include (incorrectly) the energy of the sun used to grow a feedstock in ethanol's energy balance, which misses the fundamental point that the sun's energy is free. Furthermore, because crops like switchgrass are perennials, they are not replanted and cultivated every year, avoiding farm-equipment energy. Indeed, if polycultured to imitate the prairies where they grow naturally, they should require no fertilizer, irrigation, or pesticides either.

So, Cellulosic Ethanol could be a great way to reduce our dependence on Persian Gulf Oil.

A second technology that in my mind is linked to the potential of Cellulosic Ethanol is in development at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Lanny Schmidt has been developing a method of reforming alcohol into hydrogen using a very clever and simple technique. The core idea in his invention is to use a fuel injector to spray a fine spray of ethanol onto a catalyst. Water that naturally occurs in the ethanol turns to steam and this keeps the invention from exploding. (Apparently Dr. Schmidt had many a test rig explode in the lab!) With a carefully crafted catalyst the process runs clean and is very efficient.

Now, on one hand we have a new technology for the conversion of grasses and other agricultural waste into ethanol, and on the other hand we have a new technology for converting ethanol into hydrogen. This makes the possibility of using ethanol as a medium for storing hydrogen, and locally converting ethanol into hydrogen, say at the pump, a possibility. There are a lot of design decisions to make, like how to handle the CO2 that is generated as part of the conversion process. The overall process is close to carbon neutral but if we make high quality CO2 under controlled circumstances, then it seems like a good idea to sequester the CO2.

This leads to the third of the two technologies I wanted to write about today – Supercritical Carbon Dioxide. In the supercritical phase, that is when the pressure is really high, carbon dioxide can be in a phase right on the edge between gas and liquid. It can flow through a lot of materials and it is a highly polar solvent. SCCO2 can be used in some industrial processes as a solvent, or in certain processes it can react with some simple industrial waste products to make a form of carbonate mineral. This process makes a high quality form of pre-cast concrete. It can be used to make concrete block, concrete bricks, pre-cast stone or structural members. The process could sequester a couple of pounds of CO2 in every concrete block made with the process.

So, if you have Cellulosic Ethanol on one hand, a new highly efficient technology for the conversion of Ethanol to Hydrogen which leaves CO2 behind on your other hand, then on your third hand you have the SCCO2 conversion of industrial waste to carbonate minerals, you may have the makings of an entirely environmentally benign manufacturing/ industrial park.

I do plan on covering the SCCO2 process in an upcoming post. It is a lot like pre-cast concrete, only good for the environment.

Check out Cellulosic Ethanol at the Rocky Mountain Institute here.

Check out Dr. Schmidt’s Ethanol to Hydrogen technology here.