Renewable Energy

BioOil to fuel industrial sector

By Emily Clark

17:46 December 12, 2007 PST

December 13, 2007 Missouri, USA is set to become home to a commercial industrial plant that will produce liquid biofuel from wood residues. The end product, known as “BioOil”, is an industrial fuel expected to be sold to commercial users as it is a price-competitive replacement for heating oils that are widely used in industrial boilers and furnaces. Read More

Jason’s Deli goes solar

By Emily Clark

02:13 November 22, 2007 PST

November 22, 2007 With 170 deli restaurants across the US, Jason’s Deli is now embracing renewable energy in its business model with the launch of its first 'Solar Deli'. The flagship store in Beaumount, Texas is the first to be powered in part by solar energy, with more systems planned in the near future. Read More

New technology promises solar cell efficiency boost

By Emily Clark

23:43 November 12, 2007 PST

November 13, 2007 Global Warming Solutions has announced the development of new solar energy conversion technology based on a special coating that can be applied to existing solar cells. The company expects that application of the technology will increase increase efficiency by 11-15% and boost the market value of a solar cell by more than 60 cents per watt, while at the same time raising manufacturing expenses by just 10 cents a watt. Read More

First commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in the U.S.

By Emily Clark

23:36 November 8, 2007 PST

November 9, 2007 The production of ethanol as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuel throws up a number of challenges - in particular it has been argued that the amount of land required to produce crops for ethanol fuel production is too great, taking away land that is needed for food production. The use of cellulosic biomass to make commercial ethanol has been seen as a possible solution to this problem and now Range Fuels has now announced plans for the first commercial ethanol plant in the U.S. to use cellulosic biomass. Read More

New five megawatt solar plant for California

By Emily Clark

23:11 November 7, 2007 PST

November 8, 2007 As well as having a reputation for sunshine and acceptance of alternative lifestyles, California is fast becoming a leader in the field of solar energy with more plans unveiled for a new large scale solar plant. Read More

Wind power blows into Texas

By Emily Clark

20:25 November 6, 2007 PST

November 7, 2007 Known for oil and gas production, Texas seems an unlikely leader in the field of wind power. Construction has begun on the new Stanton Wind farm in Texas, USA that will employ 80 1.5-megawatt wind turbines and commence operation by April 2008. Read More

Masdar Initiative: the world's first zero carbon, zero waste city

By Emily Clark

21:15 October 11, 2007 PDT

October 12, 2007 The sleek, modern capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, will be host to what is planned as the world’s first zero carbon, zero waste city. The project involves a six million square meter sustainable development that will combine traditional planning principals of a walled city with existing technologies. The planned development is a dense, car-free city to be constructed in an energy efficient two-stage phase. A large photovoltaic solar power plant will be constructed to power the city and the location is close to transport infrastructure with links to surrounding communities, as well as the center of Abu Dhabi and the international airport, by a network of existing road and new rail and public transport routes. Read More

California winery to convert to 100% solar power

By Darren Quick

21:50 September 17, 2007 PDT

September 18, 2007 The EOS Estate Winery has announced a $3.8 million plan to convert its California Central Coast winery entirely to solar power. To be completed by April, the project will include the installation of more than two acres of ground-mounted tracking solar arrays that will provide all the electrical power needs for the winery and tasting room, while additional roof-mounted solar arrays will provide all the hot water needs. The system will be installed by SunTechnics and will contain 3,084 photovoltaic modules totalling 540 kWp and 60 solar hot water collectors. Read More

Large scale solar plants have a bright future

By Emily Clark

00:13 September 14, 2007 PDT

September 14, 2007 Although the use of solar energy has is seen as viable for the operation of stand-alone devices such as phone-chargers and even a computer mouse, the question remains in some minds: is solar a viable alternative energy source on a mass scale? The proliferation of large scale solar power plants worldwide and plans to build several new ones seems to suggest that the renewable energy sector believes that solar does indeed have a bright future. Read More

Good vibrations: tiny generator harnesses kinetic energy to power wireless electrical systems

By Noel McKeegan

July 6, 2007 Researchers at the University of Southampton have developed a kinetic energy generator which derives electrical energy from the vibrations and movements that occur within its environment. Developed by Dr Steve Beeby and his team at the University's School of Electronics & Computer Science (ECS), the tiny generator (less than 1 cubic cm in size) is 10 times more powerful than anything yet developed in the field and could form the basis of technology for self-powered pace makers and other embedded applications that require periodic replacement of batteries. Read More

Portable LiDAR unit boosts windfarm evaluation

By Loz Blain

May 31, 2007 Wind farm planning and development will benefit from a deal just signed to market a portable LiDAR unit capable of accurately measuring wind speeds at heights of up to 150m. Designed and built by defense specialists QinetiQ, the unit will be brought to the market by Scottish consultancy Natural Power. It will be a key tool in the evaluation of prospective wind farm sites. Read More