Clean Energy

October 12, 2007 In another development that aims to make alternative energy generation more efficient and more affordable, Braggone has discovered a method of capturing more light in a solar cell. The result is a new product line that greatly increases the efficiency of solar cells and allows manufacturing facilities to cost-effectively increase their capacity.  Read More

October 8, 2007 In a move designed to accelerate the development of viable and sustainable clean fuels for commercial aviation, Boeing will team up with Air New Zealand and Rolls-Royce to conduct a biofuel demonstration flight planned for the second half of 2008.  Read More

September 7, 2007 In a development that marks another step towards the vision of a sustainable, clean future for home power generation, UK company ITM Power has announced the upcoming release of a device which can generate hydrogen in the home to fuel central heating boilers and cookers while drastically cutting CO2 emissions. Set to go into production next year, the ITM electrolyser is designed to utilize off-peak or renewable electricity sources to create its own hydrogen fuel which can then be stored and used as a conventional gas to burn in central heating boilers as well as a fuel for cooking.  Read More

September 6, 2007 Solar panel manufacturing is a costly process and is a major reason for solar electricity being so expensive to set up and maintain. In what it describes as a world first, Applied Materials has introduced an integrated production line for manufacturing solar modules using 5.7m² glass panels. The ultra-large substrates, sized at 2.2m x 2.6m ,are designed to achieve low production cost per watt and drive down the cost of solar electricity installations by around 20%.  Read More

July 30, 2007 With rising oil prices threatening to put sports aviation out of reach of the average enthusiast, innovators are looking at how the sport might be preserved for the next generation. Sonex and Aeroconversions are two such innovators and in partnership the two companies unveiled their three-prong e-Flight strategy at the recent AirVenture OshKosh trade show. An ethanol conversion of Aeroconversions’ AeroVee powerplant and efficiency enhancements for the engine took a back seat to the prototype electric Waiex aircraft introduced to an appreciative crowd. With lithium and lithium-polymer-based battery technologies advancing by the day - gaining power, reliability, endurance and efficiency while constantly shedding size and weight - the partners believe the time is ripe to adapt the brushless electric engine for sports aviation use. The AeroConversions electric motor and battery boxes should end up roughly the size of the petrol engine currently installed in the Waiex with a 130mph top speed and 1 hour flight duration expected for the production model.  Read More

July 5, 2007 The problem of keeping your mobile phone fully charged when miles away from a conventional electricity source is being tackled by UK wind turbine specialists, Gotwind. The Orange wind charger prototype is a small, portable tent mounting mobile phone charger that uses stored kinetic energy to fully charge a mobile phone in up to two hours. Weighing only 150 grams, the wind generator may be a convenient answer for your next camping trip and adds another option to the growing number of ecologically friendly phone accessories such as solar powered phone chargers (which have limited functionality at night and in colder climates) and wind-up units.  Read More

May 22, 2007 The clean fuel movement may have an unlikely ally in the task of bringing environmentally friendly motoring solutions to the market - Formula One racing. FIA president Max Mosley has announced a partnership with clean engine specialists Ricardo - and a plan that could see F1 cars running on clean biofuel and leading a "green revolution" by 2011. Under the plan, the current 2.4 litre V8 engines would be downsized to 2.2 litre turbocharged V6s running on biofuel. Maximum engine revs would be dropped from the current screaming 19,000rpm to 10,000rpm, making the cars far less noisy than they are currently. The estimated power output of the smaller engines would be around 770 horsepower, down about 100 compared to the present engines.  Read More