My Space is Geen

Fuel cells were discovered more than 160 years ago by a Welsh judge, Sir William Grove. First used commercially by NASA in the 1960s during its Apollo space missions, they’ve been utilized on U.S. Navy submarines since the 1980s.

As far back as 1897, 30% of the residents of Pasadena, California owned solar water heaters. Photovoltaic (PV) cells were first developed in the 1950s for use on U.S. space satellites.

Wind farms took off in the early 1980s. At that time, the state of California owned 80% of the world’s wind capacity.

Two state buildings aim for “zero net energy”

March 11, 2009 -- The Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) has announced plans to make two of its buildings meet “zero net energy” specifications. The new buildings using this treatment include the Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, called MassWildLife, in Westborough, as well as the North Shore Community College’s Health and Student Services Building in Danvers.

Talkin' 'bout an auto revolution

Toronto-based Zenn Motor Company (ZENN is an acronym for “zero emissions, no noise”) is developing a fully functional electricity-fuelled vehicle that’s on track to make the biggest inroads in this currently niche market.

“If we introduce a car that’s as good as or better than the ones it replaces, the belief is that consumer demand will follow,” Clifford says.

Due out late in 2009, the CityZENN will have a top speed of 125 km/h and a range of 400 kilometres. And, once plugged into a regular outlet, it will recharge in fewer than five minutes.

As well, the CityZENN’s approximately $30,000 price tag will make it competitive with internal combustion engine vehicles.

EEStor’s Batteries Enlisted for Battlefield

EEStor, the much-talked about ceramic battery maker, has signed an exclusive international rights agreement with military-industrial giant Lockheed Martin to integrate EEStor’s Electric Energy Storage Units (EESUs) into military applications. This is a big win for the stealthy Cedar Park, Texas-based battery maker founded in 2001. EEStor’s claims of making a ceramic batteries that have 10 times the energy density of lead-acid batteries with 1/10th the weight and volume at half the price were met with a due amount of skepticism back in 2006. Since then the company has been tight-lipped about their potentially revolutionary technology.

Secretive EEStor Granted Patent for Ultracapacitor Technology

on December 16th EEStor was granted a US patent for their EESU. The patent is a highly information-rich document that give a remarkable insight into these potential devices. EEStor notes “the present invention provides a unique lightweight electric-energy storage unit that has the capability to store ultrahigh amounts of energy”.

The core ingredient is an aluminum coated barium titanate powder immersed in a polyethylene terephthalate plastic matrix. The EESU is composed of 31,353 of these components arranged in parallel. It is said to have a total capacitance of 30.693 F and can hold 52.220 kWh of energy. The device is said to have a weight of 281.56 pound including the box and all hardware. Unlike lithium-ion cells, the technology is said not to degrade with cycling and thus has a functionally unlimited lifetime.

Better Batteries

Better Batteries The dawn of the hybrid car—not to mention $4-per-gallon gasoline—shows the importance of fuel-saving batteries. At the head of the class is A123. This Watertown, Massachusetts, start-up has a $148 million venture capital war chest that fueled a nanotech breakthrough: a battery that charges faster, holds more power, and is safer than anything out now. A123 is already taking orders for lithium batteries that turn a Toyota Prius into a plug-in machine clocking 100 miles per gallon; and by 2010, they will power GM’s Chevy Volt.

A123 Systems developed MIT professor Yet-Ming Chiang’s nanophosphate material into electrodes for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The size difference between these particles and those found in conventional lithium-ion electrodes provides increased power without loss of safety or battery life.

Revolionary Urban Wind Turbine

End Dependency on Oil

Although the U.S. possesses only 3 percent of the world's oil, it consumes 25 percent. The consequences of this "deadly addiction" to fossil fuels range from the continued worsening of the climate crisis to the funding of dictatorial governmental regimes. We already possess much of the technology necessary to cut ourselves free from fossil fuels; join this community.

Ocean Dead-Zones May Be Linked to Global Warming

A review of all available ocean data records concludes that the low-oxygen events which have plagued the Pacific Northwest coast since 2002 are unprecedented in the five decades prior to that, and may well be linked to the stronger, persistent winds that are expected to occur with global warming. In a new study in the journal Science, researchers from Oregon State University outline a "potential for rapid reorganization" in basic marine ecosystems and the climatic forces that drive them, and suggest that these low-oxygen, or "hypoxic" events are now more likely to be the rule rather than the exception.

EPA plans to institute mandatory national GHG registry

March 11 -- Large businesses across the United States could begin reporting their annual greenhouse gas emissions to the federal government within the next two years under a proposal unveiled by EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
Jackson unveiled agency plans on March 10 for instituting a mandatory national greenhouse gas registry that would require about 13,000 facilities nationwide to tell the EPA how much carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases they emit each year. The reporting system, which would exclude smaller businesses that are not major emitters, would account for 85% to 90% of all emissions, according to agency estimates.

Portland Architecture: Getting electricity from rivers without ...

March 12 -- By Brian Libby

Before the industrial revolution and the invention of electricity, communities all over the world had water mills that relied on river currents turning turbines (a wheel in the water) to produce products like flour, lumber and textiles. ... Imagine a series of individual turbines that look and function like wind turbines, only they're buried under the Willamette River or the Columbia River in a way that's benign to the local wildlife habitat and shipping lanes? …

Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat

In a surprising discovery, researchers have found that almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these "green" fuels are taken into account. The benefits of biofuels have come under increasing attack in recent months, as scientists took a closer look at the global environmental cost of their production. The destruction of natural ecosystems required to grow plants for biofuels not only releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned and plowed, but also deprives the planet of natural sponges to absorb carbon emissions.

First Atlantic testing biofuel jumbo jet.

As airlines race to develop an alternative to jet fuel (the price of oil is now almost $100 a barrel!), Virgin Atlantic Airways tested a biofuel-powered jumbo jet on Sunday. But while it may sound like a green idea, recent studies find that almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels. How could that possibly be?!

1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles — $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car

Cars are a new arena for the X Prize Foundation, whose mission is to spur innovation by doling out cash awards to teams that solve thorny technical and engineering problems. The foundation's first purse was the $10 million Ansari X Prize for spaceflight; Burt Rutan and Paul Allen won it in 2004 when their rocket plane made it to the edge of Earth's atmosphere twice in two weeks. Then there's the Google Lunar X Prize, which will go to the first private venture to send image-transmitting rovers to the moon, and the Archon X Prize: $10 million to the first outfit that can sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days for no more than $10,000 apiece (see "The X Prize Ecosystem"). Now the "revolution through competition" model is being applied to energy and the environment with the Automotive X Prize.

A mighty wind

The wind turbines that engineer Bil Becker installed on top of a Chicago apartment building last year probably don’t resemble the structures that pop into your head when you think “windmill.” Instead of propellers mounted on soaring poles, these turbines are made primarily with curved, galvanized steel shaped like the double helix of DNA. This special design means that they can generate renewable electricity in the densely-built urban environment, unlike their counterparts found twirling in the boonies.

Becker’s Chicago company, Aerotecture International, is just one of a growing number that is developing rooftop wind turbine technology. Unlike the towering, free-standing commercial variety, these vertical-axis wind turbines extend from buildings, capturing winds blowing from any direction. Some can generate electricity in conditions running the gamut from 8-mile-per-hour breezes to 100-mile-per-hour gusts — a range nearly three times that of conventional, horizontal-axis turbines. New rooftop wind turbines don’t have the same problems as their predecessors: They’re safer for wildlife, quieter, and don’t vibrate violently in howling winds. And, at as little as $3,000, they’re increasingly affordable. Obstacles to widespread implementation remain, but the number of buildings crowned with spinning turbines climbs every year.

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Green Links

	U.S. Green Building Council
	Playbook for Green Buildings & Neighborhoods
	LEED Building Tax Opportunities
	Global Green
	Dept of Energy
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	Global Warming
	The American Institute of Architects
	IT Greening
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