Archive for Green Tech
July 20, 2010 at 3:06 pm · Filed under Green Tech
Several vendors have come together to optimize a transportation route for baggage handling at Copenhagen Airports. The project, which is an experiment in environmental technologies, are funded by Copenhagen Airports, and it will now be used as a showcase for other companies wishing to reduce their energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
Copenhagen Airport approx. 700 conveyor belt for transporting baggage. Most are stored in the cellars below the terminals, but in 2009 chose the airport to get the ribbon energy to light; conveyor belts using much power and is virtually always in operation, though need not always equal. This is obviously great potential for energy savings just by a different management philosophy. Read the rest of this entry »
June 2, 2010 at 10:12 am · Filed under Green Tech, Solar
Despite the fact that silicon is actually the market normal semiconductor in the majority of electronic products, which includes the photovoltaic cells that photovoltaic panels use to transform sunlight into power, it is not really the most cost-efficient component readily available. For instance, the semiconductor gallium arsenide and similar substance semiconductors offer practically double the efficiency as silicon in photo voltaic units, yet they are rarely utilized in utility-scale applications because of their excessive production cost.
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November 6, 2009 at 1:46 pm · Filed under Green Tech
Here is a a story I wrote for the Finnish company Wärtsilä recently: Emissions from ocean-going ships are now being investigated and discussed in public, and there is a demand for stricter regulations. While land industries and other transport forms have been widely regulated during the last decades in order to limit the emission, the ocean transports have been ignored. This might be due to the fact that shipping takes place on the high seas away from populations who can readily see impacts of emissions has been part of the reason the industry’s fuel standards lagging behind other industries. 
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November 5, 2009 at 3:19 pm · Filed under Bio Fuel, Green Tech
Alkylated gasoline is a newer type of gasoline on the Danish market, it is branded as “green gasoline”. It is not, but it has advantages to traditional gasoline. The new type of fuel is directed to smaller engines typically used in private gardens, but it also has a history of use in high performance sport engines.
The gasoline, which is technically called ‘alkylated gasoline’, are cleaner than traditional gasoline, Soder less and gives a more complete combustion. It is an advantage for those who use tools with internal combustion engines, such as garden tractors or chain saws. Alkylated gasoline is storage stable and does not change, although it has been stored in a cold tank all winter long. Conventional petrol contains reactive substances that can get gasoline to oxygenation, and thus reduced quality already after few weeks of storage.
“Everybody knows the situation where you have to start a chain saw or lawn mower in the spring and the motor has difficulty to jump in again. It is often caused by petrol. With alkylated gasoline the problem is partly solved. Alkylate gasoline is the cleanest fuel that can be produced at a petroleum refinery, “says Steenbuch, Product Manager at Bauhaus, who now sells the alkylated gasoline brand Aspen.
Aspen is among a few special refineries to produce alkylate. Gasoline has in recent years been taking off as consumers’ environmental awareness and greater emphasis on the interaction between the engines and fuel quality.
“It is quite natural for us to present alkylate gasoline for our environmentally conscious consumers. First and foremost, we have a green policy that applies to all our product lines. In addition, we have for many years had various types of oil on the shelves, primarily for our motorized garden tools, “says Steenbuch. Read the rest of this entry »
November 5, 2009 at 12:18 pm · Filed under Green Tech
Recently I visited a heating system in the Danish city of Svendborg. A new double gas boiler should in future keep city residents warm – and it happens to a plant which promises more than 100 percent efficiency.
“We have an efficiency of currently more than 100 percent. It sounds crazy, but it is actually possible, when we simultaneously make use the heat from the collected fluid, which is a byproduct of flaring, “said Ove Andersen, who is head of Svendborg plant. He points out that the extensive surveillance of the facility has made it easy to fine tune production, according to what is most effective. For example, it appears that the best answer is to have two boilers running at partial strength, rather than to have one boiler running at full strength. Such observations are used to get the maximum out of the facility both economically and environmentally.
The advanced mechanics and monitoring of the new plant has been developed and delivered by Weishaupt and Lemvigh-Müller. 
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July 23, 2009 at 12:55 pm · Filed under DIY Projects, Green Tech, Solar
I just read about a new type of solar based water heaters for households, that are already on the market. The setup is pretty much the same as with normal solar water heaters. There are panels for absorbing solar heat, a pump and a an indoor tank for accumulation. But with this type, there is no water circulating. Instead the system uses gas that will boil at a temperature about 0 degrees. The gas will then be transported inside to a compressor and this will create a temperature at about 100 degrees. The pump and compressor uses a minimum of electricity – far less than the popular ground- air- or lake heating system.
The amazing thing about this setup is that:
December 1, 2008 at 10:47 pm · Filed under DIY Projects, Ecology, Green Tech
I just came across this Canadian invention that lets you reuse the thermal energy from your shower. The great thing about is that is so simple and it is has no moving parts meaning no energy consumption. The downside is that it has to be build in with your drain. This is on my list for my future house. Check it out at http://www.ecodrain.ca/
The cold water that you usually mix with the hot water gets heated by the used water. This increases the efficiency of the water heater by 25%-40%, says ecodrain.
June 21, 2007 at 11:30 am · Filed under Bio Fuel, Green Tech, The Politics
I am in the market for a new car. To my surprise there is no alternatives in Denmark to gasoline and diesel cars. It is possible to order a Prius, but no dealers has a model home I can test. It is also possible to import a hybrid, electric or plantoil/biodiesel ready car but theres is not one single place in this country I can go and see and have a spin in such a car.
Importing a car is a difficult task, there will be doubt about the tax until the car is imported and I would prefer to have a local salesman to address for service and if something goes wrong.
I do not understand why this is. All major car manufacturers have electric cars, hybrid and plant oil ready cars and they are on the market in several countries, why not here? Why do they not test the Danish market – they would find me and possible a lot of others potential buyers.
Some months ago the tax on new cars were differentiated, so it makes environment friendly cars a lot cheaper. This is said to have increased the sale of small gasoline cars – but so far no new products have been introduced. Thats a shame, now I’ll buy a Hummer instead…
June 20, 2007 at 2:20 pm · Filed under Green Tech, Money and Finance, Solar
Japan was the largest producer of solar power until Germany exceeded it in 2005. European countries have been expanding their production of solar power more rapidly than Japan. Germany now accounts for 39 percent of total production, while Japan’s contribution is 38 percent. Germany, which will host the summit meeting on global warming in June, has a reputation for being environmentally conscious, and subsidies for solar power have been increased, with the stable price of such power helping to make solar power generation more popular. However, in Japan, subsidized projects by the New Energy Foundation, aimed at generating solar power for private residents ended in fiscal 2005, and now only local governments have subsidized projects.
Source: Daily Yomiuri Online
June 19, 2007 at 4:39 pm · Filed under Bio Fuel, Green Tech, On Grid, Video, Wind Power, hybrids
Google.org – the philanthropic arm of Google – yesterday lauched an exciting project that offers a glimpse of a smarter energy future: cars that plug into an electric grid powered by solar energy. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles can quadruple the fuel economy of the average car on the road today. As Google.org demonstrated at yesterday’s event, plug-in hybrids can sell power back to the electric grid when it’s needed most through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology
Google.org’s core missions is to address climate change. In the U.S., transportation contributes about one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions –- with more than 60 percent of those emissions coming from personal vehicles. By accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrids and vehicle-to-grid (“V2G”) technologies, this new project, RechargeIT.org, aims to reduce emissions and dependence on oil while promoting clean energy technologies and increasing consumer choice. Linking the U.S. transportation system to the electricity grid maximizes the efficiency of our energy system. From these efforts, we believe the environment will benefit – and consumers will have more choices to fuel their cars.
We’ve been working with Google engineers and Hymotion/A123Systems to build a small fleet of plug-in hybrids, adding an external plug and additional batteries to a regular hybrid car so that it runs on electricity with gasoline (or even better, biofuels) to extend the driving range for longer trips. Here’s what it looks like:
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