Audi Planning to Win 2008 LeMans with Biodiesel
http://www.motorsportinsight.com/?p=59
Audi’s R10 diesel won LeMans last year, the first diesel engine powered vehicle to do so.
Archive for December, 2006
STEREO Sends Back First Solar Images
NASA’s twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories (STEREO) sent back their first images of the sun this week and with them a view into the sun’s mounting activity.
A close up of loops in a magnetic active region. These loops, observed by STEREO’s SECCHI/EUVI telescope, are at a million degrees C. This powerful active region, AR903, observed here, produced a series of intense flares over the next few days.
Merry Christmas
I will not have time to write much more this year. Merry christmas, see you next year!
EU and USA sign new Agreement on Energy Efficiency of Office Equipment
The EU and the USA have signed a new Agreement to continue the ENERGY STAR programme for office equipment for another five years. The Agreement features energy efficiency criteria for computers, copiers, printers and computer monitors, and is expected to yield 30 TWh electricity savings – the approximate equivalent of the electricity demand in Hungary - in the EU over the next three years. ENERGY STAR is part of the Commission’s strategy to better manage energy demand, contribute to the security of energy supply and mitigate climate change.
The new Agreement was signed by the Finnish Presidency of the EU and the US Environmental Protection Agency in Washington yesterday. The initiative was welcomed by EU Member States as the programme also provides them with valuable data on the efficiency of office equipment, which they can subsequently utilise in their own public procurement initiatives.
The strangest bio fuel sources
With the second generation bioethanol plants there is no limits to what organic material you can make fuel out of. Grist have some nice examples including: Credit-card statements, human fat and dead cats. Link
The Alternative Energy Store Named on the 2006 Inc. 500 List
The Alternative Energy Store has been named one of the United States’ fastest growing private companies by inc.com on their 2006 Inc. 500 List. Their commitment to consumer education, efficient use of technology, business model and commitment to the environment has positioned them to take off as the alternative industry continues to grow. The Hudson, Massachusetts based, privately held renewable energy purveyor ranked #440 on the list with an impressive 335.8% three year growth.
“We are excited and honored to be a part of the 2006 Inc. 500 List,” said Sascha Deri, one of Alternative Energy Store’s founding partners. “We’re fortunate to have such a valuable team of hard working and dedicated people in our company. They have really been the reason for our success and rapid growth.”
The Alternative Energy Store is creatively taking advantage of the burgeoning renewable energy boom, helping consumers and business owners optimize their energy resources to spend less and reduce their dependency on fossil fuels. By branching into the South American market and offering a wide and deep product offering on their newly enhanced website, this efficient and dynamic company is positioned to further capitalize on a growing industry.
Clean technology is truly one of the industries to watch. More and more residences and businesses are seeking methods of reducing their dependencies on non-renewable fuel sources creating a spike in growth among solar panel, wind turbine and hydro-electric power system manufacturers. In fact, according to CleanTech.com, the alternative energy industry is now the 3rd largest venture capital investment category.
Read the rest of this entry »
Largest International nuclear contract in history signed
China National Nuclear Corp. selected the Westinghouse/Shaw consortium to build four nuclear reactors for an estimated
US$8 billion, the largest International nuclear contract in history. The 1.1 gigawatt plants will use Westinghouse’s advanced AP1000 design, which was only fully certified by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year, writes The Energy Blog
EU Trade Chief SaysEurope Can Green Globe by Pushing Trade Partners
Europe can green the globe by pushing trade partners to eliminate tariffs on clean and renewable power technology, EU trade chief Peter Mandelson said Monday.
“It should be possible to agree a zero percent deal for these key goods,” Mandelson said in a podcast posted on the Web site of the European Commission’s trade department.
He said he was writing to Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organization, to ask him to spearhead this push as the world was faced with the “urgent challenge” of greening the growth of rapidly expanding economies China, India and Brazil.
Europe had a lot to gain in getting ahead of the curve on technologies and services that attempt to tackle climate change and European companies are already exporting wind farms and solar panels to China, he said.
China worries environmentalists by building one coal-powered electricity plant a week to feed its booming economy, adding to the carbon emissions that cause climate change.
“We can … export the tools and expertise to tackle climate change worldwide,” he said, stressing that other countries could also win, citing India’s growing exports of low-power water heaters and China trading wind-powered electricity generators with Africa. More at ENN
Planting forest to prevent global warming only works in the tropics
Planting forests to combat global warming may be a waste of time, especially if those trees are at high latitudes, new research suggests. Scientists say the benefits that come from trees reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide can be outweighed by their capacity to trap heat near the ground. Computer modelling indicates that trees only really work to cool the planet if they are planted in the tropics. Link
Solar Panels using Blueberries
Scientists from the University of Tor Vergata, located in Rome, announced that they developed a new type of solar panel made with the pigment of blueberries. The panel, as opposed to traditional ones, eliminated completely the use of silicon. The result is a much cheaper product and more efficient to a certain extent because the panels are more flexible and in the near future they could even become transparent sheets.
The technology is based on the idea that organic semiconductors could reduce drastically the cost of production of the solar panels, which is one of the main drawbacks of this alternative energy source. It is estimated that the standard solar panels manufactured with silicon have an efficiency rate of 15%, meaning that the electric energy produced is 15% of the solar energy captured. The solar panels using only organic materials, like the pigments of blueberries, are achieving an efficiency of 4% in the laboratories, but the hybrid panels created with a mixture of organic and inorganic material are already presenting efficiency rates of 10% or more, close to what current commercial panels offer, writes the Italian newspaper La Republica.
