We often just assume that energy to power our TVs, computers, cell phones, and other electronics will always be readily available. But the earth’s resources are scarce – a reality that designer Mike Thompson wants to illustrate (somewhat painfully) with his blood-powered lamp. The single-use lamp forces users to think about where every drop of their energy is coming from–literally.
Recently Edinburgh-based company Aquamarine Power unveiled plans to install a new type of wave power system in place in the seabed off the Orkney Islands coast. Dubbed the Oyster, the system utilizes an on-shore base that is much easier to maintain than standard wave power designs, and the system is capable of operating at shallow depths, making it more consistent than systems that operate far out at sea. Each unit is capable of producing 300-600kw of electricity, so a commercial farm of ten units could provide clean energy for a town of 3,000 homes!
Personal flying vehicles may be a bit on the esoteric end of the transportation field, but they are still fun nonetheless. Earlier this year, two single-seat lightweight aircraft made their maiden flights from the British Sywell Aerodrome near Northampton. Not very exciting, you may think to yourself, but what if we told you that the planes were completely propelled by electric motors?
Energy 101: Where Does Our Power Come From?
Today we’re excited to announce the launch of our new Energy 101 series, in which we’ll be exploring the future-forward technologies that stand to upgrade our grids, reduce our energy footprint, and slow the speed of global warming. Unless you have been living in a cave for the past few years, you’ve probably heard terms like “energy conservation”, “off-grid energy“, and “smart grid” tossed around. But before getting into the nitty-gritty of transitioning to renewable energy, we should stop and examine where exactly our power comes from now.
POWERCUBE: Rock-Solid Solar Generator To-Go
Portable green power sources are steadily gaining momentum as alternative energy tech gears up to help shoulder the strain of our overloaded energy grids. This recently released generator, dubbed the PowerCube 6000, is showing plenty of potential as an all-inclusive clean energy system. Whether you’re greening your home’s energy sources, preparing for an emergency, or opening up a Black Rock smoothie stand, the PowerCube offers an enticing (if expensive) way to break free from the grid.
POOPTRICITY: Want Electricity? Flush Your Turbine Toilet!
What if every time that you flushed your toilet you could generate just a little bit of power? That is the idea behind the Benkatine Turbine by Leviathan Energy, which aims to get power from any pipe that water rushes through. So not only could you install this within a municipal system, but according to the company, you could get power from the water rushing down your gutter drains!
Harvest Fuel from the Air with GREEN FREEDOM
Most of us are worried about increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the air – and if you aren’t yet concerned about this, you should be. However, now there is a reason for hope: researchers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory have just announced a groundbreaking new project called Green Freedom, which will extract CO2 from the air and convert it into fuel to power cars and airplanes. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Not only will this remove some of the greenhouse gas currently in our atmosphere, but it will prevent future CO2 from being added to our air, by providing a new renewable form of fuel to power our lives.
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: Rain Power
Trying to find alternative sources of energy has proven to be an extraordinary feat, allowing us to use everything from sun to the motion of the ocean. But there is still one plentiful source of renewable energy which has so far remained pretty much untapped: rain. Getting energy from falling water droplets might seem like an obvious, ‘why didn’t I think of that’ idea, but so far no-one has really exploited this plentiful (albeit somewhat unreliable) energy source. Now a team from CEA/Leti-Minatec has created a system that is capable of recovering kinetic energy from the impact of falling raindrops.
Thousands of Wind Farms to Power England
Still think wind power isn’t mainstream? Think again. The United Kingdom’s Energy Secretary John Hutton unveiled a set of proposals to encourage the uptake of offshore wind turbines in England. The proposals call for the offshore wind industry to provide up to 33 gigawatts of energy by 2020, enough to power every home in Britain!
Underwater Ocean Turbines Will Generate Renewable Energy
One the greatest untapped energy resources in the world is the motion of the ocean. And while floating wind turbines and wave-powered generators are being explored throughout the world, there still remains one largely untapped power source, the underwater ocean currents. Well researchers at the Center of Excellence in Ocean Energy Technology have developed what they believe is a technology to allow them to use the Gulf Stream currents that could conceivably cover all of Florida’s energy needs.
NANOSOLAR: Thin, Flexible Solar-cell Coating
To truly compete with coal, solar power needs to be at least as cheap or cheaper, something that is quite difficult to achieve today. Solar panels are big, clunky, heavy, require special installation, and, if they break, replacing them can be quite expensive. With these problems in mind, Nanosolar has devised a way of making solar panels that are as thin as paint and come from a printing press.
Power your home with LIGHTNING!
As part of our ongoing exploration of alternative energy sources, we’re happy to report this “shocking” new source- lightning! Through an innovative and efficient partnership with nature’s more ethereal forces, lightning generation and harvesting is currently gaining momentum and proving to be a viable and renewable way to create energy. While there are numerous initiatives making progress of the green power frontier, this one is certainly worth ‘getting charged up about.’
TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: The Solar Sailor
One of the coolest sights in the Sydney Harbour (aside from the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the Pirate Ship) is the fully solar-powered ferry known as The Solar Sailor. This rather unique boat, designed by Robert Dane, uses both solar power and wind to reduce its emissions by half compared to standard ferries. What better way to travel?
Want to stop global warming? STOP COAL!
WHY?
Coal is the only fossil fuel plentiful enough and supposedly ‘cheap’ enough to push the planet to 450 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere – an event which will trigger potentially irreversible glacial melt and sea level rise. 53% of Americans live in and around coastal cities and towns and, beginning with just one meter of sea level rise, many of these cities and towns will be inundated.
COAL WILL DESTROY US ALL!
A warning from Architecture2030.org….
Think You’re Making a Difference? Think Again!
There are 151 new conventional coal-fired power plants in various stages of development in the US today.
HOME DEPOT
Home Depot is funding the planting of 300,000 trees in cities across the US to help absorb carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions… The CO2 emissions from only one medium-sized (500 MW) coal-fired power plant,
in just 10 days of operation, will negate this entire effort.
SONY ‘BIO-BATTERY’ RUNS ENTIRELY ON SUGAR
Next time that someone asks you if you have some sugar, they may actually need it for something else other than their coffee addiction. They could be using it to power their walkman. Sony, the Japanese electronics maker announced that they have developed an experimental ‘biobattery’ powered by carbohydrates, or as it is most deliciously known, sugar.
SOLAR DECATHLON: Solar house design competition
How difficult is it to design a house fully powered by the sun? That’s what the U.S. Department of Energy is trying to find out. To do this, they have staged, once again, the Solar decathlon, a competition challenging 20 college teams from around the globe to design, build, and operate an energy-efficient, fully solar-powered house that will be able to satisfy the needs of a typical family, and look good doing it.
PAINT-ON SOLAR CELLS
In the future you might painting your home not with standard paint, but rather, with a nice coating of energy-generating solar cells. In one of the most interesting developments in solar panel technology so far, researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology, directed by Somenath Mitra, claim to have developed a way to create a solar cell that can be painted on flexible plastic sheets.
WORLD’S LARGEST SOLAR ARRAY Planned For California!
Continuing California’s quest to decrease dependence on fossil fuel-based power plants, the largest solar array farm in the world will be built in the Golden State, providing zero emission electricity to Central Valley residents.
SPINACH POWERED HOUSE
We all know how good spinach is for your body, but did you know that it is also good for your house? That’s the proposition behind the house designed by Matthew Coates and Tim Meldrum. Together, they have designed a residence which obtains its electricity from spinach, making it worthy of being declared the winner of Cradle to Cradle contest.
POO POWER: Could Cow Poo Power Your Home?
When it comes to finding cleaner greener sources of electrical power, we’re going to have to start thinking out of the box a bit if we want to reduce carbon emissions and increase efficiency. Coal, solar, wind and hydro may be the most common sources to power your home, but now you can now add cow poop to the list as well. And no we’re not kidding…
LOTS MORE GREAT GREEN DESIGN STORIES HERE... KEEP READING!
