NewNergy

NewNergy discusses the latest inventions, innovations and breakthroughs in the energy & environmental sciences.

Synthetic fuel recipe mixes reclaimed CO2, water, sunlight

Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 11:20 AM

Synthetic fuel recipe mixes reclaimed CO2, water, sunlight

In the hydrogen economy, automobiles would be powered by the simplest element on the periodic table, leveraging the element's abundance. But as the Hindenburg disaster demonstrated, hydrogen is the also most difficult element to compress into a safe, usable form. Why not instead synthesize a hydrocarbon-based fuel, such as methanol or even gasoline?

Sandia National Laboratories is building such a fuel synthesizer in a bid to harnesses sunlight to reverse the process of combustion. The reactor would use reclaimed carbon dioxide emissions to create renewable synthetic fuel by combining the CO2 with water.

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Ex NASA Engineer, Super Soaker Inventor Touts Solid State Heat-2-Power

Posted on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:01 AM

Ex NASA Engineer, Super Soaker Inventor Touts Solid State Heat-2-Power

10th January 2008

A former NASA engineer, most famous for inventing the noted "Super Soaker" squirtguns, may be on the track of a radical new energy technology which could have important implications for power generation.

Popular Mechanics reports that Lonnie Johnson, late of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, believes he may be able to hugely increase the efficiency of converting heat into electricity. Dubbed the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Conversion system, it's a "solid-state engine" which uses temperature differences to drive a closed hydrogen loop in which protons move across a membrane. This generates electricity, drawing energy efficiently from the heat source. Johnson thinks it will easily scale up to the megawatt range.

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Inventors use sun to capture pool debris at surface

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 6:57 AM

Inventors use sun to capture pool debris at surface

Jan. 10, 2008 12:00 AM

Solar Breeze is the world's only solar-powered pool skimmer - it also adds chlorine or other chemicals to your pool while it cleans.

When Ruzsa and his partner, Terry Maaske began to consider pool cleaners, what struck them was the fact that most pool cleaners only work after debris falls to the bottom of the pool, requiring a motor and a pump.

"We thought, 'Why not capture it at the surface?' ". In development for about three years, Solar Breeze was launched last spring and has already garnered a strong response and consumer demand. The small machine floats on the surface of a pool, using a solar-powered battery to collect any debris floating on the water's surface.

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New 3D Solar Panel Design Traps More Light

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 6:52 AM

A new solar panel unveiled this month by the Georgia Tech Research Institute hopes to brighten the future of the energy source.

The difference is in the design. Traditional solar panels are often flat and bulky. The new design features an array of nano-towers — like microscopic blades of grass — that add surface area and trap more sunlight.

And that has resulted in a big jump in current generated. Ready said the three-dimensional panels produce about 60 times more than traditional solar cells.

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New Solar Panel Demo and Details

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 6:50 AM

Info abt a new solar panel, provided by the inventor himself

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NYU grad invents solar bikini

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 6:46 AM

NYU grad invents solar bikini

September 19th, 2007 by by Mary Jane Weedman

Imagine it’s a warm August day. You’re lying on the beach and trying to relax — but your beer is warm, and your iPod’s batteries are dead. If only there were a bathing suit that could solve yr problems.

Andrew Schneider knows how you feel. And he’s done something about it. A 2007 graduate of New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, Schneider spent a semester inventing a solar bikini, made of small photovoltaic film strips. The suit isn’t waterproof, but it has a built-in USB port and can generate enough power to charge an iPod.

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New invention to make parabolic trough solar collector systems more energy

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 6:35 AM

New invention to make parabolic trough solar collector systems more energy

A mirror alignment measurement device, invented by Rich Diver, a researcher at Sandia National Laboratories, may soon make one of the most popular solar collector systems, parabolic troughs, more affordable and energy efficient.

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Solar Heat Stored in Molten Salt

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 6:31 AM

Solar Heat Stored in Molten Salt

This article Commercializing Solar Power with Molten Salt talks about a new system that will store the sun’s heat in molten salt. The salt will allow a solar power plant to be able to generate electricty even when it is dark or cloudy.

"But now, a new venture called SolarReserve hopes to change all that using salt! Their program would save and store captured solar energy in molten salt, the new solar plant will produce up to 500 megawatts of peak power — comparable to what a regular coal power plant can produce, only with no greenhouse gas emissions…"

Va: BrainStuff

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Invention Nation: The Search for Eco Inventions

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 6:24 AM

Invention Nation: The Search for Eco Inventions

The Science Channel has joined NBC and The Sundance Channel in adding eco-focused programming to their respective lineups. The three hosts of Invention Nation travel from New York to California, meeting up with green inventors along the way.

Episodes include:

Deep Fried Diesel: Converting a bus to run on biodiesel.
Human Power: Learning about solar and building a bike from bamboo.
Sun Power: Exploring solar, micro-hydro power, lighting, & solar ovens.
Dirt Rules: Turning food waste to methane gas and urban agriculture.

Invention Nation website.

Via: Pangaya Blog, Nov 2007 post

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  In the beginning, there were algae,
but there was no oil Then, from algae came oil.
Now, the algae are still there, but oil is fast depleting
In future, there will be no oil, but there will still be algae  
So, doesn't it make sense to explore if we can again get oil from algae?
This is what we try to do at Oilgae.com - explore the potential of getting oil from algae