January 31, 2007 at 1:39 pm · Filed under Green Tech
As a United Nations panel readied an update on global warming this week, charges erupted in Congress Tuesday over alleged White House political manipulation of scientific climate-change research.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said at a hearing that evidence indicated Bush administration officials had tried to “mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of global warming.”
Two advocacy groups released a survey to the panel in which a number of government climate scientists claimed either that their research had been edited to change the meaning or that they were told to delete references to “global warming” or “climate change” from reports, writes the Chicago Tribune.
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January 25, 2007 at 6:56 pm · Filed under Green Tech
A new ecomentary is up. Be prepared for this genre now that Al Gores “and inconvenient truth” is nominated for two Oscar (well, one is for the soundtrack) a lot more will come since these movies also proves to be good business. This one is called “Who Killed the Electric Car?” and once again the oil industry and President Bush are among the usual suspects:
“It was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American … all » technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert?”
See the trailer right here - right now:
It reminds me of the local big time start up company when I was a young teenager. The company produced hundres if not thousands of these one-person electric cars called “Ellerts”. They could run about 40 km/h. and had a range at a bit more than 30 km. The price was low as far as I remember a new one could be purchased for 6-7.000 euro in 1990. Unfortunately the company did not have any experience in this field, the technological financial challenges where to much and the company went bankrupt.
The Ellert was produced some years after that in Germany and some fanatics are still driving around in their Ellerts.
Click to enlarge
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January 25, 2007 at 12:08 am · Filed under Green Tech
A Texas company called EEStor has announced a type of battery it calls an Electrical Energy Storage Unit, or EESU. It uses barium-nitrate powder and stores 10 times as much energy as a lead-acid battery, by weight. It also recharges much more quickly than lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries. EEStor claims that, using an automated production line and existing power electronics, it will initially build a 15-kilowatt-hour energy-storage system for a small electric car weighing less than 100 pounds, and with a 200-mile driving range. The vehicle, the company says, will be able to recharge in less than 10 minutes.
The company announced this week that this year it plans to begin shipping such a product to Toronto-based ZENN Motor, a maker of low-speed electric vehicles that has an exclusive license to use the EESU for small- and medium-size electric vehicles. By some estimates, it would only require $9 worth of electricity for an EESU-powered vehicle to travel 500 miles, versus $60 worth of gasoline for a combustion-engine car.
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January 22, 2007 at 8:50 pm · Filed under The Politics
The government will cut the use of fossil fuels by making it easier for Danes to go green. Whether by issuing credits for energy efficiency, cutting registration fees on hydrogen-powered cars or increasing expenditures on clean fuel research, the government will make it easer for people to contribute to the national goal of 30 percent renewable energy by 2025.
The plan, presented Friday, would require a doubling of the amount of renewable energy currently used in Denmark. At the same time, fossil fuel use would be reduced by 15 percent.
The plan has critizised for not beeing ambitious enough since the targets will be more than met if continuing the path allready chosen.
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January 16, 2007 at 5:21 pm · Filed under Green Tech
Just found this video of an interesting concept. The HumanCar operates with four people working in concert like an engine. The two front people ‘body-steer’ to turn like motorcyckles and skateboards - so you better agree on where to go.
January 10, 2007 at 5:06 pm · Filed under Green Tech
A new World Energy Technology Outlook 2050 study published by the EU Commission demonstrates the need for radical change in world’s energy mix to face the double challenges of energy security and climate change. Download the brand new 168 pages report here.
The Commission’s Research Directorate presented the “World Energy Technology Outlook 2050 as background to the adoption of its comprehensive new energy/climate change package on 10 January. The report is full of background figures, facts and infographics like this one:
The study predicts the development of the world’s energy system to 2050 using three different scenarios:
A “reference” (or ‘business-as-usual’) scenario with moderate climate-change policies and short-term energy production constraints
A “carbon constraint” scenario with stronger climate-change policies
A hydrogen scenario, which is a variation on the “carbon constraint” scenario but predicting more hydrogen technology breakthroughs.
It is the second WETO report following the first one, which was published in 2003. the new study shows comparitively remarkable differences in results. The WETO 2050 report is also more pessimistic than the International Energy Agency’s “World Energy Outlook 2006″
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I am having a meeting with the Danish company EC-Power in a couple of days. They had seen some of my articles in Berlingske Tidende about renewable energy and thought I might be able to help doing some PR for their products. This post is not to promote EC-Power, but I find their products and approach very promising.
EC-Power has developed a gas/oil generator that produces electricity. This is a known technology, but the machine, XRGI, is also used for heating water. This heat is normally wasted. In general, the production of 1 kilowatt of power creates 2 kilowatts of usable heat energy.
From the EC-Power website: “The extremely high efficiency of EC Power Micro CHP systems is dramatically superseeding ordinary energy technology.
By comparison, traditional electricity production has an efficiency of only 30 - 40%. Thus, the EC Power Combined Heat and Power solution can reduce energy bills by 40 - 60%, or increase efficiency by more than 100% - a considerable improvement. Furthermore, the EC Power solution will reduce future investments in the energy infrastructure. By decentralising energy production, the need for new, regional transmission systems for heating and power will be diminished and transmission losses, a substantial cost factor in any centralised energy supply system, will be greatly reduced or become non-existent.”
The system is in use several places in Denmark and other European markets. One of the great future prospects of the technology is that it very easy can be convertet to operate with fuel cells. EC-Power was bought by Norwegian Statoil some years ago. Link to video.
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While EU-citizens are very positive about renewable energies and many expect fossil fuels to be replaced by renewable energy in the future, according to a Eurobarometer study, published today, US TerraEnergies just bought 100 acres of land Washington to build a gigantic ethanoplant next to a huge biodiesel plant still under construction. The Hungarian government, under pressure from Russian KGBGazprom, are ready order the release of Hungary’s strategic oil reserves to meet energy demands. Gazprom earlier moday shut off a major oil pipeline leading to central Europa, a move that could lead to fuel shortages across Europe.
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I heard it mentioned that in Norway it is common knowledge that Norway is world-famous for having invented the cheese knife. I don’t know if it is so or even if they did invent the cheese cutter, but I know that I have never heard anyone say: ” Hey did you know that a Norwegian genius invented this?”
The story is good to remember when politicians use the the trick of comparing our own state of things with other countries.
Very often in the energy debates in Denmark it is noted that Denmark is in the absolute front when it comes to research, biofuels, windpower etc. But when digging through the international mediascape for news about cutting edge green technologies, how come the genius in the class never speaks out?
Right now we are having a fierce debate about how not to meet the EU-Commissions regulations on biofuel. Politicians can´t agree on wether we should invest taxpayers money in first- or second generation ethanol plants while the americans and are building new high tech plants with help from our experts today. We thought that windmill business belonged to Denmark, and it has due to historical reasons, but the huge US-companies, Siemens and others are also in the business now. I am afraid the truth is that we are dreaming.
Today´s top energy story from NBC was that Sweden now has reached consensus that the country should outphase fossil fuel by 2020. Link.
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January 4, 2007 at 12:06 am · Filed under Activism
Greenpeace is campaigning against oversized cars, so called cross-over utility vehicles, in urban areas for their ineffective fuel economy, pollution and risks to other drivers.
Great article about SUV-criticism at Wikipedia: Link
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With Toyota’s latest buy from the General Motors fire sale being a 5.9 percent stake in Isuzu, speculation on where Toyota will use Isuzu diesel engines has largely revolved around trucks and SUVs. The two companies just announced a joint venture to develop diesels.
“If that sounds like Toyota will integrate a diesel engine into its Synergy hybrid drivetrain, you are right,” according to Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor North America.
ToMoCo will likely employ the oil-burners as part of a multifuel hybrid strategy, including diesel, biodiesel and ethanol.
This is sweet music for us who can’t decide if we should invest in a homebased biofuel plant or go high-tech and buy a gasoline hybrid. Now we get the best from boh worlds.
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January 3, 2007 at 4:58 pm · Filed under The Politics
For oil traders returning to trading pits on Wednesday, the new year begins with something that hasn’t preoccupied them in years: OPEC production cuts. After years of maintaining an open-taps policy, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has started restraining production to keep oil prices high in the face of a faltering global economy and an unseasonably warm winter in the Northern Hemisphere. With a military confrontation with Iran and other geopolitical concerns receding to the back burner, analysts say the extent to which OPEC complies with its output restraint will go a long way in determining whether oil prices stay above $60 a barrel this year after ending last year flat for the first time in five years. More
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January 3, 2007 at 1:59 am · Filed under Green Tech
A combination of global warming and the El Niño weather system is set to make 2007 the warmest year on record with far-reaching consequences for the planet, one of Britain’s leading climate experts has warned.
As the new year was ushered in with stormy conditions across the UK, the forecast for the next 12 months is of extreme global weather patterns which could bring drought to Indonesia and leave California under a deluge.
The warning, from Professor Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, was one of four sobering predictions from senior scientists and forecasters that 2007 will be a crucial year for determining the response to global warming and its effect on humanity, write the Independent. Link
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I can’t open a newspaper or listen to a debate programme these days without hearing that environmental thinking is becoming a global megatrend. To quote one newspaper analytics (translated from danish):
“Because environmantalism is based upon ethical values it has the power to embrace all parts of society and become a truly global megatrend.”
First time I heard the word megatrend mentioned was in A. Giddens Runaway World. Here he was talking about globalism as a megatrend and he also mentions “the third way” in politics as a megatrend.
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As a United Nations panel readied an update on global warming this week, charges erupted in Congress Tuesday over alleged White House political manipulation of scientific climate-change research.
thousands of these one-person electric cars called “Ellerts”. They could run about 40 km/h. and had a range at a bit more than 30 km. The price was low as far as I remember a new one could be purchased for 6-7.000 euro in 1990. Unfortunately the company did not have any experience in this field, the technological financial challenges where to much and the company went bankrupt.
A Texas company called EEStor has announced a type of battery it calls an Electrical Energy Storage Unit, or EESU. It uses barium-nitrate powder and stores 10 times as much energy as a lead-acid battery, by weight. It also recharges much more quickly than lead-acid or lithium-ion batteries. EEStor claims that, using an automated production line and existing power electronics, it will initially build a 15-kilowatt-hour energy-storage system for a small electric car weighing less than 100 pounds, and with a 200-mile driving range. The vehicle, the company says, will be able to recharge in less than 10 minutes.
I am having a meeting with the Danish company EC-Power in a couple of days. They had seen some of my articles in Berlingske Tidende about renewable energy and thought I might be able to help doing some PR for their products. This post is not to promote EC-Power, but I find their products and approach very promising.
I heard it mentioned that in Norway it is common knowledge that Norway is world-famous for having invented the cheese knife. I don’t know if it is so or even if they did invent the cheese cutter, but I know that I have never heard anyone say: ” Hey did you know that a Norwegian genius invented this?”
With Toyota’s latest buy from the General Motors fire sale being a 5.9 percent stake in Isuzu, speculation on where Toyota will use Isuzu diesel engines has largely revolved around trucks and SUVs. The two companies just announced a joint venture to develop diesels.
A combination of global warming and the El Niño weather system is set to make 2007 the warmest year on record with far-reaching consequences for the planet, one of Britain’s leading climate experts has warned.
