Solar Panels Built Directly Into Roads

A design proposal would cover roadways with solar panels.

Adrian Covert at Popsci.com reports:

"The Department of Energy just gave $100,000 to upstart company Solar Roadways, to develop 12-by-12-foot solar panels, dubbed "Solar Roads," that can be embedded into roads, pumping power into the grid. The panels may also feature LED road warnings and built-in heating elements that could prevent roads from freezing. Each Solar Road panel can develop around 7.6 kwh of power each day, and each costs around $7,000. If widely adopted, they could realistically wean the US off fossil fuels: a mile-long stretch of four-lane highway could take 500 homes off the grid. If the entire US Interstate system made use of the panels, energy would no longer be a concern for the country." See full article.

Hummer Challenges Chevy Volt On Fuel Economy: For Real?

Can you imagine a fuel-efficient Hum-V?

Jeremy Hsu at PopSci.com reports:

"Hummer H3e claims its green version can get 100 mpg on average. And what's a little boasting without taking a shot at the competition? Raser Technologies calls its revamped Hummer a "Prius-Stomping Green Machine," based on an E-REV powertrain that supposedly enables large vehicles to drive the first 40 miles in all-electric mode. The company calculates that a typical driver who goes 65 miles per day would average about 100 mpg, and that driving over 200 miles per day would still get about double the fuel economy of a regular Hummer.

The electric Humvee developer has also not hesitated to join the crowd questioning Chevrolet's claim of 230 mpg for the upcoming Chevy Volt hybrid. Fast Company reports that Raser claims a Hummer would get 190 mpg in city driving conditions, based on the same methodology used to calculate the Volt's fuel economy." See full article.

Solar Sunflowers: A New Design For Solar Power

An art exhibit and alternative energy project near Austin Texas is turning heads with a enw design for solar energy: the sunflower.

PopSci reports:

"Designed by Massachusetts art duo Harries/Heder, the SunFlowers are an art exhibit at heart, and stand over 30 feet tall. They collect power from the sun by day, and use that energy to power their blue LEDs at night. Up to 15 kilowatts of surplus power is sent back to the grid as payment for any maintenance fees the SunFlowers incur." See full article.

Chevy Volt Looking At 230-Mile In-City Range

Recent tests are indicating that the Chevy Volt will have a greater range between charges than originally expected.

Darren Quick at Gizmag.com reports:

"With the anticipated production date of 2010 rapidly approaching, GM has announced that its extended-range electric vehicle is expected to achieve city fuel economy of at least 230 miles per gallon. The figure is based on development testing using a draft EPA federal fuel economy methodology for labeling for plug-in electric vehicles. The new methodology being developed weights plug-in electric vehicles as traveling more city miles than highway miles on only electricity and uses kilowatt hours per 100 miles traveled to define the electrical efficiency of plug-ins." See full article.

Laser-Guided Wind Turbine Technology For Greater Output

Emerging laser technology can help wind turbines be more efficient.

Jeff Kart at CleanTechnica.com reports:

"The Manassas, Virginia-based Catch the Wind has signed an agreement to work with the National Renewable Energy Lab in Boulder, Colorado, to test the company’s Vindicator laser wind sensor. Catch the Wind will provide a test unit to the U.S. Department of Energy facility for up to three years. The lab will use the Vindicator to measure wind speeds and direction with a goal of optimally aligning turbines and turbine blades. The idea is to cut stress loads on turbines and up their energy output." See full article.

Fusion Power Breakthrough: Energy In Ten years?

"Low budget" in fusion reactor terms means $1 billion. A new design may bring fusion power to the world sooner than anyone ever thought.

Physorg.com reports:

"Currently, most nuclear fusion power plants are large, expensive projects that will take decades to benefit from. But a startup company in Vancouver, Canada, called General Fusion is taking the fast track to fusion, with a plan to build a working prototype fusion power plant within the next decade at a cost of less than a billion dollars." See full article.

Meet The Amphibious Hybrid

More fuel-efficient vehicles -- by land and by sea!

Jeff Salton at GizMag.com reports:

"The Amphibious Hybrid concept vehicle - is a case of Bond meets the Transformers with its automatically adjusting tire design that morphs to ensure maximum grip on any given terrain including ice and water, where it becomes a kind of three wheel paddle boat. The team that designed this car thought it should be able to navigate on land, ice and water and, hence, its tires have the ability to change shape automatically to suit the terrain. For instance, when the terrain sensors located within the ‘intelligent wheels’ detect the vehicle has moved from normal mode (bitumen roads) to a slipperier surface, like snow, the tires open up a little. The more traction required, the wider the tire. When on the water, the tires resemble something more akin to a propeller." See full article:

A Review of Home Energy Monitoring Devices

There are a number of new programs and devices designed to help consumers and homeowners know more about energy of their use HVAC systems and appliances.

Paul Lester at GizMag.com reports:

"Perhaps the first step on the road to being green comes from learning a bit more about the various appliances in the modern home and how much energy they actually use. There are a range of home energy meters available for just this purpose, reporting not only current usage in monetary terms, but also estimated CO2 emissions, power consumption and historical data that can be used to identify and cut down during periods of excessive consumption." See reviews:

How Does the "Cloud Ship" Idea Strike You?

A new climate change-fighting idea being "floated" in the "global engineering" realm is to build a fleet of ships that pushes sea water into the sky to make reflective white clouds.

Kevin Jess at the Digitial Journal reports:

"A flotilla of 1,900 cloud ships would be needed to cruise the Pacific Ocean in order to create clouds that would deflect the sun rays and curb global warming. The project, now being worked on by U.S. and UK scientists is the favorite among many schemes aimed at fighting climate change. It would see wind-powered ships travelling the ocean sucking up seawater and spraying minuscule droplets of it out through tall funnels to create large white clouds." See full article.

MIT Tackles Making An Electric Car That Recharges In Ten Minutes

The overall practicality of electric vehicle tranportation depends on the speed of battery recharge. Many EVs take six to eight hours. MIT is going for something closer to what people might experience at the gas pump.

Michael Mulcahy at GizMag.com reports:

"Sometimes in science, it helps to set the bar high. That seems to be the attitude of the MIT Electric Vehicle Team (EVT). By their reckoning, one of the biggest impediments to the average driver adopting an electric vehicle is recharge times. So ....their next project is to produce a prototype family car that will achieve 0-60mph in under nine seconds, have a range of 200 miles, and fully recharge in under 11 minutes. Dubbed the elEVen, this latest project is an attempt to build an electric car that meets the expectations of mainstream drivers, including a “refill” time comparable to that at a gas pump. The engine will be replaced with a 250-horsepower, 180kW AC induction motor, donated by SatCon and originally designed for use in a 16.5-ton electric transit bus. Given the sedan will only weigh about 2 tons, it should easily achieve their acceleration goal and, better, manage a top speed of about 100mph." See full article:

A Battery That Stores Enough Solar to Run A House For 24 Hours

A new battery is helping to store enough power to greatly improve the overall effectiveness of alternative energy.

Times of India reports:

"A Utah-based company has found a new way to store solar energy – in a small ceramic disk which can store more power for less. Researchers at Ceramatec have created the disk, which can hold up to 20-kilowatt hours, enough to power an entire house for a large portion of the day. The new battery runs on sodium-sulfur — a composition that typically operates at greater than 600°F. “Sodium-sulfur is more energetic than lead-acid, so if you can somehow get it to a lower temperature, it would be valuable for residential use”, Ralph Brodd, an independent energy conversion consultant, says. Ceramatec’s new battery runs at less than 200°F. " See full article.

Startup eSolar Switches On Solar Thermal Plant

A new solar plant in California uses algorithims to power 4,000 homes.

Rick Merritt at EETimes.com reports:

"The 5 MW Sierra SunTower solar power plant in Lancaster, California, will produce electricity for Southern California Edison, powering more than 4,000 homes in the Antelope Valley area. The plant was built in less than a year. The startup uses algorithms that track the Sun's movements and move thousands of small mirrors to concentrate solar energy. To speed construction time it prefabricates its system in a factory and builds the generator on private land close to transmission systems, said Bill Gross a serial entrepreneur and chief executive of eSolar." See full article.

Electric Trucks: Quiet and Effective

High fuel prices caused a Missouri company, Smith Electric Vehicles, to think about rolling out elctric trucks for local deliveries.

Chris Woodyard at USA Today reports:

The first truck to run solely on electricity was released by Smith in Washington last month. Smith also announced partnerships with six companies, including Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, Staples and AT&T, which plan to make the new trucks part of their shipping and carrying fleets as early as this year. They are interested in a truck that can run a long ways around town:

The electric truck has a lithium-ion battery that recharges in a 220 volt outlet in six to eight hours. The battery is good for 100 miles per charge and has a lifetime of about seven to 10 years. The truck drives like a big golf cart -- no gears or shifting -- but is extremely quiet due to the electric engine. It can reach speeds of up to 50 mph. See full article.

The Floating Solar Island Concept

Another idea about using water bodies as locations for solar energy has been put forward.

Alternative Energy News.info reports:

"Remember the Solar Lily Pads? Well, Swiss inventor Thomas Hinderling has taken that idea to the next level with his solar islands concept (check out the video). The 5km wide, 20m height island concept would be mobile and would adjust according to the sun’s movement across the sky. Each island would generate hundreds of kilowatts of electricity that would be almost five times cheaper than current electricity rates." See full article.

Hybrid Tugboats On The Drawing Board

The boats that move cargo up and down America's rivers (also called tow boats) are enormous fuel consumers. Now there are plans to develop a hybrid vessel.

Alternative Energy News.info reports:

"General Electric and the C-MAR Group .... announced plans to work together on the development of hybrid engine technologies for tugboats, in an effort to offer lower costs for customers and while lowering carbon emissions. The tugboat platform builds on current hybrid technology projects for locomotives, city buses and off-highway vehicles. These hybrid technologies are all part of GE’s ecomagination initiative." See full article.

The New Gyroscopic Electric Uno-bike

Here is an interesting way to save fuel and get around town -- the Uno-bike!

Alternative Energy News.info reports:

"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 the proper amount of current to the electric motors, one for each wheel. Weighing in at a mere 129 pounds, the ‘bike’ has a top speed of 25mph and a battery life of 2 1/2 hours. The bike was recently unveiled for the first time at the 2008 National Motorcycle Show in Toronto." See article and video.

New Combination Bus/Train Vehicle Developed

The availability and convenience of public transportation is getting a boost with a new vehicle that can run on tracks and on the road.

Alternative Energy News.info reports:

"A dual mode road/rail vehicle is being tested in Japan by Toyota and its truck-manufacturing division Hino Motors. The bus bridges the gap between road and rail with 4 rubber tires for road use and 4 steel wheels for riding on rails. It can hold 25 passengers and is based on the Toyota Microbus. ....the bus 'is expected to be another step toward more practical use of the dual mode vehicle.' This could be the mass transit vehicle of the future for Japanese commuters." See full article.