Industrial Revolution 2

Technology Review: Nanopillar Solar Cells

MONDAY, JULY 06, 2009

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have made a new kind of solar cell by growing an array of upright nanoscale pillars on aluminum foil. They make bendable solar cells by encapsulating the entire cell inside a transparent, rubbery polymer. The design, the researchers suggest, could lead to solar cells that cost less than conventional silicon photovoltaics.

The nanopillars allow the researchers to use cheaper, lower-quality materials than those used in conventional silicon and thin-film technologies.

Here’s the article…

Technorati Tags:
Solar Panels, Solar Energy

Architecture 2030 E-news

The NAIOP Disinformation Study

By Edward Mazria

I was wondering when it would happen, a Building Sector disinformation campaign launched by vested interests. Well, it’s happened. The campaign hit The New York Times on Saturday…

Here’s the article…

Technorati Tags:
Economic Policy, Economic Stimulus, Emerging Tech for Energy, Green Architecture, Sustainable Economy

Earth2Tech

Written by Katie Fehrenbacher
March 27th, 2008 at 12:00 am

If corn-based biofuels are the Britney Spears of the cleantech world (a fallen star but still all over the place), fuel made from algae is the next great American Idol winner (major potential in the pipeline). And despite the fact that algae-to-biofuel startups have been taking their sweet time bringing a pond scum fuel product to market, some inroads have been made recently — GreenFuel is building its first plant, PetroSun starts producing at their farm on April 1, and big oil Chevron and Shell have made some early bets as well.

As we watch this play out, here are 15 algae biofuel firms that you should know about:
Here’s the article…

Technorati Tags:
biofuels

Ausra – Press Releases: Solar Power Company Ausra Launches First Solar Thermal Plant in California in Nearly 20 Years

Solar Power Company Ausra Launches First Solar Thermal Plant in California in Nearly 20 Years

Governor Schwarzenegger on Hand as Next Generation Solar Technology Provides Power and Industrial Steam on Cost-Competitive Basis

Bakersfield, CA—October 23, 2008—Ausra, Inc. (http://www.ausra.com) and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today launched the company’s Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant in Bakersfield, CA, showcasing the company’s “next generation” concentrating solar thermal technology.

Governor Schwarzenegger joined Ausra President, CEO and Chairman Bob Fishman, U.S. Reps. Jim Costa (CA-20) and Kevin McCarthy (CA-22), California Assemblymember Jean Fuller and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) CEO Peter Darbee in launching a new era of solar thermal power with the turning of Ausra’s large solar thermal mirrors—harvesting California sunshine and creating California jobs.

“This plant proves that our technology is real, it works, and it’s ready to power businesses or provide process steam for industries—now,” said Fishman. “Ausra is first on the market, providing customers a dependable, cost-effective solar thermal energy system. Some of the best investment minds in the country have backed our technology and our management team’s ability to deliver.”

At full output, Kimberlina will be able to generate 5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 3,500 homes in central California. The Kimberlina plant is the first solar plant in the country to utilize Ausra’s next generation technology, and it is the first solar thermal power plant of any type built in California in nearly 20 years.

“This next generation solar power plant is further evidence that reliable, renewable and pollution-free technology is here to stay, and it will lead to more California homes and businesses powered by sunshine,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Not only will this large-scale solar facility generate power to help us meet our renewable energy goals, it will also generate new jobs as California continues to pioneer the clean-tech industry.”

Technology Review: Blogs: TR Editors’ blog: A Dirt-Bag Fuel Cell

A simple microbial fuel cell could offer reliable power in the developing world.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009
By Kristina Grifantini
A startup that is striving to bring energy to countries that lack reliable power has developed a remarkably simple new microbial fuel-cell design: grain bags, stuffed with metal and dirt. Lebônê, a startup based at Harvard University, has already shown how to make fuel cells from buckets full of wastewater, with a graphite cloth as the anode and chicken wire as the cathode. In this setup, bacteria extract electrons from organic waste at the anode to generate small amounts of power–enough to charge, say, a flashlight or cell phone.

Here’s the article…

Technorati Tags:
Emerging Tech for Energy, Sustainable Energy

Technology Review: Blogs: Guest Blog: Dispelling Carbon Capture’s Scaling Myth

Dispelling Carbon Capture’s Scaling Myth
Pipelines needed to deploy CCS technology pose little impediment, according to an overlooked national lab study.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
By Peter Fairley

PNNL estimates that CO2 pipeline build (red or blue) will look slim compared with natural-gas pipeline growth (yellow). [Larger image]
Credit: PNNL
Critics of carbon capture and storage (CCS) often deride the scale of infrastructure required for CCS to make a meaningful dent in global carbon emissions–not just in equipment to capture emissions at power plants (and other “point” sources of CO2), but also in pipelines to move the captured CO2 to storage sites. But an overlooked recent study by t

Here’s the article…