In comparison to wind turbines, tidal turbines operate underwater. While both flowing water and wind can be used to generate power, using the tide for energy has its benefits. One is that since the turbines are underwater, they are silent and placed out of sight from residential communities. Also, in places where tidal inlets with significant energy potential are, there are sure to be densely populated areas nearby that can benefit from the energy generated.

Due to the hurdles of technical logistics of deploying the turbines, tidal power only represents a fraction of the renewable energy that can be produced worldwide. So far, most of the tidal turbines currently in operation are experimental prototypes from Europe.

Atlantis’ CEO, Timothy Cornelius remarked that the future is bright for marine power if the project would receive support from all levels of government. He likened the unveiling of the turbine to the start of a new industrial boom, similar to the development of the North Sea oil and natural gas fields.

The AK1000’s turbines were developed to withstand the harshness of the North Atlantic with its robust design. At the same time, though, the turbines were also developed to turn very slowly, so they have zero impact on the surrounding environment.

Already, the prospect of producing clean, reliable power from tidal turbines has been drawing investors in. Because of this, the company faces competition in the race to develop affordable commercial-scale tide power.

This combination of sturdiness and care for the environment present in the AK1000 are what I believe to be the marks of a success in producing green energy. Investors should note that renewable resources will not only reduce consumption of fossil fuels, and reduce carbon emissions, but it has the potential to eliminate much of the collateral environmental damage that we’ve been seeing lately.

Interestingly enough, what served as an impetus behind the idea was an 800-pound sculpture of Benjamin Franklin and the Liberty Bell made entirely out of butter. Each year, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the state’s Farm Show commissions a work of art crafted out of butter. In 2007, organizers asked for suggestions for what to do with the masterpiece once the farm show ended. Dr. Haas submitted the idea of making biofuel out of it, and so he gained a source of raw materials for his research.

This project was done in collaboration with BlackGold Biofuels, a small company in Philadelphia that has developed a process of creating biodiesel fuel out of inedible, low-value fats, oils and grease. Since the rancid butter was a fat, it was possible to put the sculptures through BlackGold’s chemical conversion process to transform it into usable biodiesel fuel.

Usually, this process is reserved for cooking oil but through BlackGold’s flexible chemical conversion process, it was possible to create fuel out of the butter despite it being rancid. At the end, the 800 pounds of butter sculpture became 75 gallons of a mix of biodiesel fuel and a lower-grade bunker fuel.

Despite the success of converting the rancid butter into fuel, both the researchers and BlackGold do not advocate the diversion of the nation’s butter production into creating biofuel. But BlackGold considers the project as a success, as it demonstrates the robust technology and opens the possibility of converting all kinds of low-grade waste into usable fuel.

In fact, in California, a biodiesel plant that makes use of BlackGold technology has been put up to handle pan scrapings and brown grease from restaurants and turn them into fuel. This goes to show how little goes a long way when it comes to innovation. With more avenues with which to turn waste products into usable resources, we learn to introduce less waste into the environment and reduce our ecological footprint.

Haim Rabinowitch and research student Alex Goldberg, together with Boris Rubinsky at the University of California at Berkeley, found that by simply boiling the slice of potato before inserting zinc and copper electrodes into it, the battery can generate 10 times as much electricity as a regular potato battery. It also enabled the battery to work for days or even weeks.

This discovery can have a significant impact on the developing world. As the world’s top non-grain starch food commodity, potatoes are produced in 130 countries over a wide range of climates, making them available all year round. They are also cheap, have long shelf life and do not require refrigeration for storage. According to the researchers, these attributes make potatoes an ideal source of energy for developing countries.

Boiled potato batteries can produce electricity that is nearly half the output of AA batteries at a cost that that is 5-50 times cheaper. Unlike kerosene lamps, which are the typical light source of many remote communities in the developing world, potato batteries are also a sustainable energy resource, leaving no by-products that can be harmful to the environment.

With such simple, economical innovations as the potato battery, we can help provide power to those in need. Modern-day comforts, such as electricity and long-distance communication can be made available even to remote areas where power lines have no reach. Many lives are sure to change for the better.

With a power-management system that cuts the power when the batteries are fully-charged, the new battery charger nearly eliminates the so-called “vampire draw.” While similar chargers for nickel-metal hydrite rechargeables on the market may draw up to 315 milliwatts on standby, Apple’s charger has reduced this down to 30 milliwatts, thus wasting less energy on standby.

Aside from the battery charger, Apple has also introduced its own brand of rechargeable batteries which are also designed for more energy-efficient use. These batteries are made to retain a high charge capacity so as to make them last longer than most other rechargeables. This way, users of the batteries would not have a need to buy new batteries every few months. According to Apple, their reusable batteries can serve up to 10 years, based on a designed life cycle and anticipated user scenario. Apple also demonstrates that the batteries have a low self-discharge rate as well; given the scenario of these batteries stored at room temperature, they are estimated to retain about 80 percent of their original charge.

Although designed to work best with the batteries supplied by Apple, the new battery charger is also compatible with other AA-sized nickel-metal hydrite rechargeable batteries on the market. With a removable AC plug, the charger can also be used internationally with different plugs suited for different outlets around the world.

Currently, the charger kit, including six AA-sized batteries costs $26. As it is built for long-term use, this new battery charger from Apple is definitely a step towards making simple staples of technology take the green route. I believe that Apple is definitely going in the right direction with improving simple technology and making them more energy efficient. It could extend the rate of battery exchange from months to years.

For this project, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman announced an award of up to $122 million over five years for the team to establish an Energy Innovation Hub aimed towards the development of artificial photosynthesis. By finding a way to harness this innovative method of generating fuel, it may be possible to cut down dependence on oil and enhance energy security.

According to Senator Feinstein, the award for California’s top scientists would help them along the way to producing a fuel that can be put into cars without further processing, and thus make use of the excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere while at the same time, eliminating dependence on oil. This same project also hopes to generate an innovative industry in the heart of California, a state on the cutting edge of the clean energy movement.

Aside from the Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub, there will also be two other hubs that will receive funding for the Fiscal Year 2010. One would be a hub dedicated to the modeling and simulation of nuclear reactors, established by a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The other would be announced over the coming months.

“Finding a cost-effective way to produce fuels as plants do — combining sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide — would be a game changer, reducing our dependence on oil and enhancing energy security. This Energy Innovation Hub will enable our scientists to combine their talents to tackle this bold and highly promising challenge,” said Poneman.

This is not just a push for investments in science and finding breakthrough discoveries, it’s a way to turn theoretical science into practical technology by bringing together great minds from different industries. It’s a catalyst of change.

Made entirely out of recycled materials, the Plastiki’s voyage served to highlight the benefits of recycling. On its website, ThePlastiki.com, visitors were asked to pledge their support for beating waste, putting up the marker at 12,500, which is the exact number of 2-liter plastic bottles used to provide buoyancy to the boat.

It wasn’t just the boat that consisted of environment friendly products. A host of green gadgets accompanied the crew during its voyage. The boat was fueled by flexible solar panels and wind turbines. It also housed a vacuum water evaporator for desalination and a urine-to-water recovery system.

Throughout its journey, Rothschild and the boat’s crew continually posted updates on their blog and various social media sites, drawing hundreds of people to its cause. During the past 130 days, the crew got its fair share of exciting moments, including a violent wind storm that gusted at 63 knots and threatened to blow the boat off course.

David de Rothschild also runs Adventure Ecology, an educational organization that also aims to spread environmental awareness. He believes the Plastiki’s trans-Pacific voyage can open people’s eyes to the wonders of recycling. Indeed, who would ever think that a vessel that is made from recycled plastic and aluminum, and glued together using organic glue made from cashews and sugar cane, would withstand a strong wind storm in the high seas? The inspiration for the Plastiki was drawn from Thor Heyerdahl’s 1947 expedition aboard the Kon-Tiki, a vessel made as a reproduction of an Incan raft. Heyerdahl’s grandson Olav Heyerdahl, was part of the Plastiki’s crew.

More than anything, I think that the project is about ambition and ingenuity. In an environmentally friendly way, it proves that great things can be done with enough hard work and innovation, even when materials are limited.

This new product, the LifeVillage, is aimed towards areas needing temporary shelters. The product is a series of prefabricated structures with light-gauge steel framing and solar panel roofs. Comparable to the German Huf Haus in terms of concept, which brings together transparent architecture and efficient energy use in creatively designed homes, Envision Solar’s LifeVillage structures not only provide temporary shelter, but also electricity and purified water.

These structures are made to be put up with ease, even with unskilled workers, with the prefabricated materials arriving in two standard shipping containers. A single LifeVillage kit includes energy storage batteries, photovoltaic modules and corresponding roofing, a water pumping and purification system, inverters, and lighting. According to Envision, the light-gauge steel frame that makes up the structure of the shelter enables it to meet international building codes.

The modular LifeVillage kits are not only made to stand alone. While a single module offers 3500 square feet of living space, the kits are flexible enough to connect to create bigger temporary structures, such as for health clinics without available utilities. Each module can generate 50 kilowatts of power which can be used for a wide variety of needs in disaster areas.

While the solar-energy powered structures may not be the best for all climates, Envision points out that they could serve a great use in places like Haiti, India and parts of Africa.

I don’t think the issue of climate would be as significant if we remember that the greatest need for disaster operations tend to come from developing countries in the tropic and sub-tropic zones. These shelters will be able to not only provide simple necessities but also a place decent enough for people to live in temporarily until life returns to normal.

It was in 2007 when the Internet search giant first started going green. To promote sustainable development and environmental awareness, the company voluntarily took efforts to reduce its carbon emissions. By the end of 2009, Google formed its own energy subsidiary, Google Energy, followed by an announcement that it was to invest $38.8 million to NextEra Energy Resources’ wind energy project in North Dakota as its first investment in large scale clean energy projects.

More recently Google announced that it has completed a 20-year green Power Purchase Agreement, and plans to sell some of its acquired wind power back to the grid for Renewable Energy Certificates. With this move, the heavy-hitting company enters the energy market, solidifying its intent to promote sustainable, environmental solutions.

This has been a long time coming for Google, as so many other entities have already decided to join and back up the race for cost-effective, utility-scale renewable energy solutions. Considering the nature of the tech industry, which depends on vast amounts of electricity to keep services up and running, I believe Google’s move to go green may have a great impact on environmental efforts.

Wind power as a sustainable source of energy is by no means a new technology. Since men started putting sails on their ships, wind power has already been used. Typically, it is used in large scale wind farms to provide electricity to rural areas and other remote or far reaching locations. Several countries, such as Denmark, Spain, India and Portugal have already achieved high levels of wind power penetration.

Wind energy is touted as one of the most viable alternatives for energy resources because it is cheap, widely distributed and infinitely abundant. Utilizing wind energy will also significantly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and help reduce carbon emissions.

In the search for the next bright idea towards a greener earth, together with some of the best-known venture capital firms, GE’s Ecomagination Challenge opens the floor for people to send in their innovative ideas for a smarter power grid. The contest is open to all businesses, innovators, entrepreneurs and students who can brew ideas for harnessing energy in a more efficient manner. GE and its partnerships have allocated $200 million for the innovations they choose to fund.

Ultimately, breakthrough ideas from the Ecomagination Challenge will be put to use to creating a cleaner, more efficient and economically viable power grid. Also, this would take grid technology a step closer towards a digital upgrade, as the system has long been aging and analog. Selected participants from the Ecomagination Challenge will be offered an opportunity to develop a commercial relationship with GE through investments for promising start-ups and ideas and other benefits in connection with the company. Those who intend to participate in the challenge can enter as many ideas as they wish in three categories: Renewables, Grid Efficiency and Eco Homes/Eco Buildings.

Already, ideas have been flowing in not only from all over the nation, but from around the world as well. The ideas from the challenge will also be open for the general public to vote on for the first round, although ultimately, the final say is with the company and the panel of judges.

With the urging of a company as big as GE, I think that this challenge goes beyond solving a problem of the present. Perhaps it’s also a challenge to all of us to realize that just about anyone can make a difference with innovative ideas and a passion for the environment.

Adding to locations in Japan and Israel that are also developing or experimenting with charging stations, Berlin-Adlershof has recently been upgraded with a Yana Docking station, currently the world’s largest stand-alone solar charging station, where all kinds of EVs can be charged.

The station features a biaxial photovoltaic generator, which follows the direction of light coming from the sun and is able to generate up to 40 percent more electricity as a result. When the sun is not being cooperative, or at night, the power comes from a long-life vanadium redox flow battery. The battery stores 100 kWh, provides 10 kW, and allows for up to eight EVs to be charged at the same time.

Berlin-Adlershof, known as the “City of Science, Technology and Media,” is the home of Younicos AG. The area has been under heavy development for almost 20 years. It is now home to the Centre for Information and Media Technology, the Centre for Environmental, Bio and Energy Technology, and the Centre for Materials and Microsystems Technology, among others.

Now that the problems of affordability and speed have been resolved, relative mobility seems to be the only thing that’s keeping the EV from spreading like wildfire. This also creates a CO2 free solution for charging EVs. With recharging stations like these, EV doubters may run out of things to complain about and we can finally do what Younicos AG’s motto says and “Let the fossils Rest in Peace.”