Google announced a new strategic inititaive for development of electricity from renewable energy sources. Electricity produced this way would be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. The initiative, refered to as RE<C, is to be focused on advanced solar power, wind power, enhanced geothermal systems and other breakthrough technologies. Engineers are getting hired as well as energy experts to lead research and development work for the RE<C. In 2008 Google expects to spend tens of millions on research and development in renewable energy resources. They are also contemplating investing hundreds of millions in renewable energy projects that will generate positive returns.

Larry Page, Google co-founder, said:

There has been tremendous work already on renewable energy. Technologies have been developed that can mature into industries capable of providing electricity cheaper than coal. Solar thermal technology, for example, provides a very plausible path to providing renewable energy cheaper than coal. We are also very interested in further developing other technologies that have potential to be cost-competitive and green. We are aware of several promising technologies, and believe there are many more out there.

Read more about this on Google Press Center.

Share This

I found this great mash-up which is used to watch 19 whales of the coast of Australia and New Zealand. If you’ve followed any of the recent environmental news, you’ve probably heard of the campaign against whale hunting (mostly done by the Japanese) in the South Pacific. Greenpeace has tagged 19 whales with global positioning devices that will allow scientists to monitor the whales over time and follow their trail (the Great Whale Trail) as they travel north towards Alaska. It has been a big scientific dilemma as to the exact course the whales take when migrating north, as they have been known to disappear from the scientists only to appear in the north later, without a clearly “visible” trail. This monitoring experiment hopes to collect position data that will finally give us an idea about how the whales migrate. Another reason for this experiment by Greenpeace is to prove that one doesn’t have to kill whales in order to study them, as claimed by the Japanese who said a large part of their whaling efforts are aimed at studying the whales. Anyway, you can see a nice mash-up of Google Maps and data gathered through global positioning technology which shows the “current” (not exactly; to prevent Japanese whaling ships from using this data, everything is delayed by an appropriate amount of time) position of the tracked whales. Some have names, while others are tagged with unique IDs.

To see the actual live position tracking go here.

Share This

Do you know your ecological footprint? American Public Media released a quiz game called Consumer Consequences where anyone can get an interesting ecological assessment of their lifestyle. The idea is to see how many planet Earths we’d all need as a species if we lived the lifestyle of the person taking the quiz. The calculations are based on data taken from official sources and other proven sources, so the estimate you get at the end, even though arguably accurate, will give you a good idea of what your ecological footprint is. You’ll be surprised at the least with the results, provided you give honest/accurate answers.

During the game you will have background graphics representing your neighborhood, as well as illustrations of your impact on the environment globally. Kind of like a lifestyle collage. It changes according to your answers as you progress to the end of the quiz. The impact is modeled using the “ecological footprint” model created by Redefining Progress. After every answer there are contextual tips and interesting information shown at the top of the game interface.

Take the quiz, see how many Earths your lifestyle demands. At the very least, the quiz is amusing, but can also induce some healthy ecological self-criticism.

Share This

Would you buy a CD with three singles and a ring tone? The music industry certainly hopes so. It has decided to wake up and do something old new. The latest thing to hit the music stores will be the ringle - a CD format containing three songs (a latest hit, a remix, and an older track) and a ring tone in slip-sleeve cover. The new product is expected to retail for $5.98 or $6.98, and that means about a 33% profit margin, with wholesale price at around $4.

According to Reuters, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which came up with ringle, and Universal Music Group are going to be the first to roll out ringles. Sony BMG will release 50 titles during October and November, while UMG will have somewhere between 10 to 20 titles ready by then. The “ringle” name has been approved by the Recording Industry Association of America, and there is an industry wide logo to help with branding. Only Sony thus far can distribute ring tones, while the other major players will have to seek deals with operators.

Music on CDs has been retailing for prices much lower compared to a few years ago, mainly due to various new ways of digital distribution (mostly through the Internet). Personally, I wouldn’t buy ringles for one reason at least - the ring tone on the CD and the couple of songs you will eventually have to move to your preferred listening device, whether it’s your MP3 player, or your mobile phone or computer. The CD will be virtually useless, except maybe as a collector’s item, or original backup storage. There will probably be millions of copies in the stores, and that’s millions of pieces of plastic, metal and other materials that will eventually find their way into the environment, if not recycled or disposed of properly. Would you buy ringles?

Share This

Energy from waves? Well, it’s quite simple really. The concept is that vertical motion of the waves is used to fill the floating hydraulic power plant with water which then interacts with a hydraulic turbine, which turns a power generator producing electric current. Finavera Renewables Inc., a company based in , has hit a significant milestone with the deployment and commissioning of the AquaBuOY 2.0 wave energy converter off the coast of Newport, Oregon. This represents a significant overall development, one that will allow for the completion of a bigger plan to introduce commercial exploitation of wave generated electricity in Oregon by 2010. Read the full press release here (PDF).

This may be a better alternative than the concept proposed by Marine Current Turbines, although their concept harnesses the energy of the underwater currents in the ocean. Aquabouy is definately environment friendlier, since it operates in the vertical direction, without the large disruption effect on the surrounding space (there are no huge blades turning in deep water without a protecting cover). Finavera plans to design generator arrays on the ocean surface, whereby a single production array could produce as much as 100 MW of power, which is quite impressive. Naturally, there should be close to no pollution at all, as the power units are quite small and simple.

It seems renewable energy has really gained momentum. The forthcoming months and years will almost certainly bring even more innovations in this field and give hope for a cleaner future.

Share This

It’s a twin underwater turbine generator that should generate about 1.2 MW of electrical energy. The generators are to be located off the coast of Northern Ireland, and will be a significant demonstration of tidal power conversion technology.

There had been many variants of tidal power turbine plants over the years, ranging from floating pool collectors, closed off bay hydro-power plants, to wind-turbine like systems such as the one mentioned to be installed in Northern Ireland. The problem so far has been limited power generation and rather large construction cost. Additionally, there are ecological problems, as these machines render a significant surrounding area very unfavorable towards wild life.

Marine Current Turbines, a company based in Bristol, UK, which is the author of the underwater turbine project in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, claims its turbines will not effect the ecosystem in any significant way. Effect on the ecosystem is a common problem for all tidal power turbine projects, and has thus far been probably the biggest obstacle for this technology. The turbines themselves, are to be very similar to wind-turbines, with impeller diameter of up to 20 m, and no more than 20 RPM. The twin turbines will basically sit on a wing hanged on a huge pillar embedded deep into the sea bed. The whole setup will rotate to capture the current as it hits the turbines, and thus give optimal performance at all times.

This is a test project, but Marine Current Turbines is planning on building turbine farms later on, that altogether could generate up to 20% of UK’s electricity needs, which is impressive.

[ Via Newsscientist ]

Share This

This is great! Ben Wood designed a car made almost completely from food. That’s right, and he claims it can go up to 150mph! Here’s the recipe if you are interested:

Made from such ingredients as potatoes, pulped hemp, cashew nut shells, this car is almost completely biodegradable. The engine is made from steel naturally (steel is pretty recyclable), and there is some parts made from plastic but Ben claims even those can be replaced with parts made from plants. The whole car cost about 20000 pounds to build and it took about two months.

via: DailyMail.co.uk

Share This