Environment

November 22, 2005 Architect, urban planner and inventor John Alt today challenged the parking industry to license and implement new mobility technology that will increase pedestrian access throughout central business districts and make downtown "satellite" parking facilities feasible for the first time. The new technology, called SMRrTRAM ("smart tram"), is a bus-like vehicle that operates at street level and provides continuous, high capacity, two-way transport along a single, dedicated guide lane. Two trams always arrive together at each stop, from opposite directions, and the next pair is never more than two-and-a-half minutes away.  Read More

October 3, 2005 As expected, the Dutch Nuon Solar Team has smashed its own world record for driving a solar car from Darwin to Adelaide in this year’s Panasonic World Solar Challenge. Nuon’s car, Nuna 3, reached the finish line at Angle Vale, north of Adelaide after a 3021 kilometre journey with a winning time of 29 hours 11 minutes and an average speed of 102.75 km/h. This stripped almost two hours from its previous 2003 world mark of 30 hours 54 minutes and broke the 100 km/h average speed barrier for the first time. It is the third consecutive time the Dutch team from the University of Delft has been first to Adelaide in world record time. Australian car Aurora was second, beating its 2003 challenge time by four minutes, and finishing with an average speed of 92.03 km/h. The third-placed University of Michigan’s Momentum finished with an official time of 33 hours 18 minutes (90.03 km/h) with Japan’s Sky Ace Tiga close behind at 33 hours 45 minutes (88.84 km/h). Formosun from Taiwan University finished fifth with 36 hrs 01min (83.2 km/h).  Read More

September 5, 2005 Current Australian IPO Axiom Energy Limited has an interesting proposition for potential investors – the company will produce low sulphur diesel from waste plastics that until now could not be recycled and would otherwise end up as landfill. Axiom also plans to be the largest producer of biodiesel on the Australian Eastern seaboard. Currently, 88 per cent of the 1.5 million tonnes of plastic consumed in Australia annually is sent to landfill, this amount could convert to more than 1 billion litres of low sulphur diesel. For example, a simple ice-cream container, weighing just 68 grams can be converted into a diesel fuel which will power a VW Golf car with a diesel engine for approximately one mile.  Read More

August 24, 2005 UltraCell Corporation has announced a new fuel cell power source for portable electronic devices that has twice the energy density of lithium batteries. UltraCell's reformed methanol fuel cell (RMFC) technology uses a revolutionary micro reformer to generate fuel-cell-ready hydrogen from a highly concentrated methanol solution. This new portable power system has the power density of a hydrogen fuel cell but uses readily available, low cost methanol fuel in a convenient, compact package. Weighing just 40 ounces, the power unit is about the size of a paperback novel.  Read More

August 18, 2005 Primary producer Donald Dunklee has been watching the power grid slowly but surely failing, while the world demand for fossil fuel is slowly overpowering the world supply, driving prices skyward. It made him determined to "get off the drip" and build street-legal, affordable, dependable, sun-charged transport for his daily 5 mile commute. His solar powered motorcycle has not been plugged into the factory charger since April 15, 2005 and it’s now travelled over 700 miles since then. We guess he made it - this is Donald's story, as told by Donald.  Read More

August 13, 2005 Edison International subsidiary Southern California Edison (SCE), the nation’s leading purchaser of renewable energy, and Stirling Energy Systems have announced an agreement that could result in construction of a massive, 4,500-acre solar generating station in Southern California. When completed, the proposed power station would be the world’s largest solar facility, capable of producing more electricity than all other U.S. solar projects combined. The 20-year power purchase agreement signed this week, which is subject to California Public Utilities Commission approval, calls for development of a 500-megawatt (MW) solar project 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles using innovative Stirling dish technology. The agreement includes an option to expand the project to 850 MW. Initially, Stirling would build a one-MW test facility using 40 of the company’s 37-foot-diameter dish assemblies. Subsequently, a 20,000-dish array would be constructed near Victorville, Calif., during a four-year period.  Read More

July 28, 2005 It makes sense that with so few hydrogen service stations yet in service that hydrogen vehicle rivers know where they are, Honda has decided to fit all hydrogen fuel cell-powered 2005 FCX vehicles with a special Honda-developed navigation system. This new navigation system is the first in the world to incorporate the location of hydrogen stations, including stations being developed as part of California's "Hydrogen Highway" Initiative. if you're outside California though, you might need more than a good navigational system - 17 of the 26 hydrogen stations listed in the database are in California.  Read More

June 30, 2005 American Honda Motor today announced the lease of its FCX, an advanced hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle, to the world’s first individual customers, Jon and Sandy Spallino of Redondo Beach, California. It may seem an inconsequential event to many, but the first fuel cell vehicle getting into provate hands is a big deal, because until now, it's all been trial programs with government organisations. So fill your glasses and let's toast the beginning of hydrogen powered automobiles for the masses. Marking a historic achievement in the evolution of the automobile and the advancement of future transportation technology, the Spallinos become the world’s first fuel cell family, having signed an agreement to lease a 2005 Honda FCX for a period of two years.  Read More

June 20, 2005 The web is a wonderful resource and it yields many fabulous tools for the betterment of mankind. This is such a tool - it's free software to assist people in making informed decisions about energy projects. The new CHP Project Analysis Model can be used world-wide to easily evaluate the energy production, life-cycle costs and greenhouse gas emissions reduction for combined heat & power projects. It can be used to evaluate multiple applications including: power; heating; cooling; single buildings or multiple buildings; industrial processes; communities; district heating and district cooling. The CHP Project Analysis Model permits analysis with a wide range of renewable and non-renewable fuels (which can be used in parallel), including landfill gas, biomass, bagasse, biodiesel, hydrogen, natural gas, oil/diesel, coal, municipal waste, etc. These fuels can be evaluated using multiple types of power, heating and/or cooling equipment, including reciprocating engines, gas turbines, gas turbine - combined cycle, steam turbines, geothermal systems, fuel cells, wind turbines, hydro turbines, photovoltaic modules, boilers, heat pumps, biomass systems, heaters, furnaces, compressors, absorption chillers, etc., all working under various operating conditions (base load, intermediate load and/or peak load) ... and did we say it's free ... tell your friends (form at the bottom of the article)- and can be downloaded free-of-charge here.  Read More