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.

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.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest atom smasher and CERN’s most famous pet project. Thanks to popular books and the media, it has roused the people’s curiosity and seeped into popular culture as the ultimate hybrid of science fiction and science fact. In just a few months, the powerful particle accelerator was able to replicate every single particle currently known to physics. The next step, according to the people behind the project, is to make over our knowledge of physics itself.

CERN is not the only entity on the hunt for the God particle. Two rival projects, the Compact Linear Collider (CLC) and the International Linear Collider (ILC), are also dabbling with high energy physics, albeit using very different means. Whereas the LHC consists of a giant vacuum ring, which recreates microscopic “big bangs” by smashing together sub-atomic particles at high energy levels, the ILC and CLC smashes particles together in straight lines of up to 50 km.

It’s been a long time coming, and now CERN is finally ready to achieve what most people consider to be the main purpose of its existence. The discovery of the Higgs Boson might just change the course of history. The better we understand the God particle and its role in the Big Bang, the better we’ll be able to control our environment and make the best out of the universe that we live in, whether in the search for a new source of renewable energy or, as some science fictionists speculate, in time travel.

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.

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.”

Instead of scrapping the design altogether, Ford has been thinking up ways to bring it back to the market. The new Ford Explorer won’t exactly measure up to fuel-efficient minivan standards, but it will become the most fuel efficient vehicle in its segment at 28mpg for highway driving.

Although Ford doesn’t expect the once-Goliath to reach its former glory in sales, the company has done research that suggests that a more fuel efficient version of the Explorer has a niche market. This is despite the fact that many former Explorer owners have been forced to realize that they don’t really need a four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicle (SUV) that seats eight.

The bold move might have been spurred by the fact that the Ford Explorer was once the top selling SUV for 10 consecutive years. Sales peaked even at almost 450,000 units in 1998. However, only 52,190 were sold in 2009.

In any case, the overhauled version will be a 2011 model. The Ford Motor Company is not releasing much more information on its specifications apart from the expected fuel consumption already mentioned.

Ford may be banking on sentimentality for the familiar Explorer name, but they should also consider all of the bad memories of those who owned the gas guzzling SUV when its resale value took a dive.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Clean Energy.

A new Israeli company called Linum Systems has come up with ways to both cool and heat the home using traditional methods, combined with new technology. Linum, which was founded in 2009 by entrepreneurs Yuval Berson and Amir Hirshfeld, holds the patent for a solar cooling technology that will hit the commercial market in 2012.
As the term implies, solar cooling uses the sun to power air conditioners. The system, which will use a solar thermal collector, as opposed to photovoltaic cells, has yet to have a prototype out, but representatives from Linum Systems say that it could yield a return on investment (ROI) in a 3,000 square foot home in Texas or Arizona, for example, within three years.

One other major effect is that it will relieve power companies of much of the strain that they experience during peak temperatures in the summer. More than half of the electricity used in an average American home goes to heating and cooling. “In California as much as a recent 30 or 40% rise in electricity use is solely air conditioning oriented, and it’s a major issue for utilities to solve,” says Berson. The blackouts caused by such surges in power usage can cripple local economies and cause expensive damage to the power grid.

The climate control system developed by Linum will cater to houses ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet. The consumer would decide how many solar thermal collectors to install. In an optimum setting, the company says its air conditioner can cut the cooling, heating and water-heating electricity bills by as much as 85%.

This Linum Systems is definitely one company to keep an eye on. It has already been identified by the non-profit California Israel Chamber of Commerce as one of the top companies from Israel worth meeting.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about Israel.

A one-year demonstration and validation program will be conducted by the USPS in Washington, DC. The design, chosen from among a small group of bidders, will be based on the Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV), which was designed for and is currently being used by the US Postal Service and Canada Post. The vehicle was also sold to Mexico and many other countries for delivery purposes. Success in Washington could mean electrification of the 178,000-strong LLV segment of the postal delivery fleet, and could set the trend for other delivery services throughout the world.

The original lifespan of the vehicle, which first began service in 1987, was specified by the US Postal Service as 24 years. In 2009, this became 30 years, which makes now an ideal time to start replacing the vehicles without having the classic models go to waste.

Quantum will integrate its Quantum Quiet high efficiency battery electric drive system into a Grumman LLV, which is currently produced by Grumman. The chassis of this vehicle is in turn made by General Motors. The Quiet electric drive system will incorporate advanced features to maximize the efficiency of the electric drive system while operating as a typical postal delivery vehicle should, with 500-700 stops per day.

Since the LLV will be produced locally, its widespread use will not only help lower emissions of greenhouse gases throughout the country, but it will also support the local electric vehicle industry.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about clean energy.