I hope everyone has enjoyed my blog

I just wanted to inform readers that this will be my last blog. I hope that readers have realized that green technology is out there and that sustainable energy is definitely obtainable. With new knowledge and new inventions, the world may one day be ran completely from renewable resources. Over the past weeks I have touched on some of these inventions and ways of thinking that can produce the energy we need while keeping the environment healthy at the same time. Some of these included solar, wind, nuclear, and even concepts such as energy from the hydrogen in water and even energy directly from air. Although my blogging will stop, new technology will always be discovered and I have listed a few sites where you can keep up to date on the world around you. Hope you enjoy them.

http://www.claiborneconferencecenter.org/

http://www.wanttoknow.info/newenergysources

http://energy.gov/

http://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/

Just a website i found interesting

While searching for updates on new energy sources or technology, I stumbled across a website that informs the reader about much energy the world consumes, and who consumes the most energy. It also goes into description about how much energy can be gained from wind turbines and compares to how much energy is actually released from the sun. Some of the links on the side even go on to explain other energy sources and the website is rather helpful and informative. Here’s the link

http://www.claiborneconferencecenter.org/

Update on bioenergy from the Department of Energy

The Department of Energy has released a report that reviews the nation’s capacity to produce a billion dry tons of biomass  and how to go about doing it. This large increases in biomass will help to lower petroleum use and therefore increasing the use of renewable resources and decreasing the output of harmful gases in the process.  This could also aid in lowering our the amount of energy that is imported into the U.S. which also lowers the amount of GHG’s released from the transportation of said energy. With an increase in technology in the biomass field, all of this can be accomplished and this could be the next step to helping keeping our planet green. Wish to know more? link posted below

http://energy.gov/articles/department-energy-releases-new-billion-ton-study-highlighting-opportunities-growth

 

Wind turbines and health issues?

Some people believe that those living close to wind turbines can be harmed physically and psychology.  However, the only thing that the turbines create is noise. This noise is not typically loud and most people would block it out unconsciously. Those that are not from the city and aren’t used to mild noise can be affected, however. The noise can keep people from sleeping as well and in turn, psychological illnesses can occur. Extended exposure to low noises can harm the inner ear, but the damage is minimal. I don’t personally believe that these illnesses are a large problem and shouldn’t be worried about.  If you would like to read more, the link is posted below.

http://newenergysources.net/the-effect-of-wind-turbines-on-humans/

Holographic solar

The major problem with solar is that it is very expensive for the amount of energy that you get out of the solar panel. Many companies have used mirrors or lenses to help concentrate the sun’s rays in order to help increase energy output. However, this just makes the panel bulky and still doesn’t output large amounts of energy. Well, Prism Solar Technologies has developed a proof-of-concept solar module that uses holograms to concentrate light. This technology will hopefully cut the cost of solar energy per watt drastically. If everything goes as planned, the new holographic solar design could possibly make solar energy competitive with electricity produced from fossil fuels. This will hopefully spark a whole new era of ideas for solar energy and help the planet take another step closer to sustainability. Link below.

http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=16736&ch=biztech

Car that runs using only air

Father-and-son team Guy and Cyril Negre from southern France claim to have made a car that is fueled only by compressed air. The car is said to be, “a new way of thinking,” and there are claims that the car will go 120 miles with only 2$ spent. The best part is Guy has announced that the car is also a zero emission car, meaning the car releases zero pollutants into the air. Only time will tell if this car will actually make it to large scale production. Link posted below.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/28/tech/main2135518.shtml

Danish Island Self-sufficient

There’s a short video in the link below about a Danish Island that is completely self-sufficient and that has zero carbon emissions into the atmosphere. This is done by using solar energy and wind turbines to produce electricity, and by growing seeds that produce oil for fuel so that no fossil fuels are needed.. The houses are warmed using hot water that run through pipes under the houses. This hot water comes from the burning of hay for heat. This process does indeed release carbon, but when the community re-grows the hay, the carbon previously released is then removed from the air, creating a completely carbon-neutral community.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/08/eveningnews/main2549273.shtml

Clean aluminum energy

There is a new idea that could be used to fuel cars without actually having to stop and fuel up with gasoline. The fuel would actually be made inside the tank of your car by using an aluminum alloy that would extract hydrogen from water inside the tank of the gas and use the hydrogen to fuel the car by powering an internal combustion engine. The inventor, Professor Jerry Woodall, says, “All you have to do is replace the gasoline fuel injector with a hydrogen injector.” Some weight would have to be added to the car but it is said that it wouldn’t be more than just adding an extra passenger. The only problem with the design is the price of aluminum is too high right now to match the price of a gallon of gasoline. If your interesting, link is posted below.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18700750

Algae for the win

I have recently read an article about that icky and slimy green goo called algae. Most people consider it gross and useless but it has been said that algae could possible free the U.S. “petroleum addiction”. Algae, grown anywhere with just sunlight and water, captures light by using photosynthesis and can be turned into vegetable oil. This vegetable oil is then turned into biodiesel which can then be used to power diesel engines. If algae is used then less and less petroleum and soybeans will have to be used which will help sustain the environment. More details in the link posted below.

http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2007-07/greenest-green-fuel

update on nuclear fusion

Nuclear fusion is basically where you smash two nuclei into each other and one larger nucleus is created. When this happens, a larger amount of energy is released. However, in order to do this, large amounts of either electricity or heat have to be inputted and the energy released from the reaction is significantly lower than the energy inputted. Scientist have recently found that by using the properties of crystals they can use a lot less energy to make this reaction happen, but the output is still not higher than the input in energy but it’s still much closer. Cold fusion may one day be the new source of power that runs the world, but at the moment, its still stuck. Link to the article is below.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0606/p25s01-stss.html