NewNergy

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

New Glitter-Sized Photovoltaic Cells Use Less Silicon, Generate More Electricity

Posted on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 1:00 AM

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have come up with a new photovoltaic cell no bigger than a flake of glitter, but it packs a big punch. The new cell uses 100 times less silicon to generate the same amount of electricity as conventional solar cells. While still in the development stage, the new solar particles could lend themselves relatively easily to commercialization because they are made of crystalline silicon and use the same micro-manufacturing processes typical of modern electronics.

The Sandia team also cites the potential for applying the tiny photovoltaic cells directly to roofing materials, which would practically eliminate the often cumbersome permitting process that is currently needed to install a conventional rooftop solar array (Dow has taken a similar approach with its new solar shingles). Compared to six-by-six inch conventional solar cells, the new solar particles are only up to 20 micrometers thick, less than one third the thickness of a human hair, and they could be imprinted with circuits that would control the collection and disbursement of solar energy within the building and to a grid connection, without the need for expensive and time-consuming electrical design work. Roof maintenance, repair, and shading issues may also be mitigated due to the small size of the micro-cells.

The new cells can be made from available silicon wafers of any size, without some of the quality control problems involved in conventional solar cell manufacturing. The Sandia researchers also expect them to be less expensive, more durable and more efficient that conventional solar collectors, and they could open up an exciting new range of applications.

See more

Labels: costs, efficiency, energy, solar

PermaLink - New Glitter-Sized Photovoltaic Cells Use Less Silicon, Generate More Electricity 0 Comments

Prism Makes $1 a Watt Unique Solar Hybrid

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 12:47 AM

Prism Solar Technologies in Highland, NY has innovated a breakthrough holographic thin-film (Holographic Planar Concentrator™) that makes possible a very parsimonious use of crystalline PV cells to counteract that problem for Northern regions.This brings the cost down to $1 a watt.

Each of their solar modules is actually made up of both crystalline PV and their unique holographic thin-film. The thin-film strips diffract both direct and reflected energy to the PV cell strips integrated between strips of thin-film. Solar modules made in this way are cheaper because they use 50-72% less silicon to make the same energy.(more from here)

Here are the advantages of Holographic Planar Concentrator™ (HPC) technology:

Less silicon reduces cost per watt
Passive tracking from holographic effect produces more energy from diffuse and reflected light.
Cooler operation than conventional PV module, most unusable light passes through module without being turned into heat.
Bifacial PV cells can increase module performance when mounted over a reflective surface.
Lower embodied energy, the energy required to manufacture the HPC film is much less than that required to mine and process silicon.

Labels: costs, energy, solar, technology

PermaLink - Prism Makes $1 a Watt Unique Solar Hybrid 0 Comments

New Failure-Proof Wind Turbine Technology

Posted on Monday, December 7, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 12:10 AM

A wind turbine efficiency breakthrough by Dr Markus Mueller and Dr Alasdair McDonald of the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Energy Systems has the potential to revolutionize the wind energy industry by making large turbines more failure-proof by cutting their weight in half.

It is expensive and hazardous sending workers out to off-shore wind farms for repairs when there is a mechanical failure. By reducing the weight, the researchers reduce mechanical failures, caused by the sheer stresses in these very large turbines.

Their technology substituted a “C” shaped core generator (initially in a 20 kW prototype) to test to see if by changing the mechanical structure of the generator they could still maintain rigidity and structural integrity while cutting the weight by more than half.

The researchers have formed NGenTec; a spin-off company, with the help of Derek Douglas, an entrepreneur familiar with raising money for start-ups.NGenTec hopes to raise £4 million to demonstrate that their improvement will also work full scale; at the 6MW level, and then a further £10 million to set up an assembly and manufacturing operation. The technology would reduce costs for both land-based and off-shore wind farms, while having a more marked effect on repair costs of hard to-get-to locations.

See more

Labels: costs, energy, inventions, wind

PermaLink - New Failure-Proof Wind Turbine Technology 0 Comments

New Generator Design to Make Wind Power Cheaper

Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 3:06 AM

A radical new design of electrical generator that solves an engineering quandary and promises to be cheaper, lighter and more reliable than anything currently available has been unveiled by scientists at the University of Edinburgh.The work by Markus Mueller and Alasdair McDonald at the university’s Institute of Energy Systems has solved one of the fundamental engineering problems faced by builders of offshore wind turbines.

A new company, NGenTec, was formed ten days ago to exploit the new design. It is chaired by Derek Shepherd, a former managing director of Aggreko International, a Glasgow-based supplier of mainly diesel-fuelled generators.

The blades of conventional turbines are connected to a generator via a gearbox. In harsh conditions at sea, this is prone to breakdown, leading to costly repairs which themselves are at the mercy of the weather.The alternative is to dispense with the gearbox and connect the blades directly to a generator via an axle.

The institute’s design — through a novel arrangement of the magnets inside the generator and the copper coils that produce electricity as they pass the magnets — has succeeded in cutting the weight of direct-drive generators by up to half and made assembly much easier. A prototype installed on a wind turbine has proved that the design works.

See more

Labels: costs, energy, wind

PermaLink - New Generator Design to Make Wind Power Cheaper 0 Comments

A New Solid Catalyst to Reduce Costs of Biodiesel Process

Posted on Monday, November 16, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:58 PM

Biodiesel Magazine reports that a study of Catilin Inc.’s new T300 solid catalyst process saves biodiesel producers 13 cents a gallon over a traditional catalytic process, and up to 19 cents a gallon if you figure in capital expense savings.

The T300 heterogeneous catalyst is nontoxic and can be a direct replacement for conventional catalysts used in biodiesel production. The drop-in solid catalyst operates at industry standard pressures and temperatures and is removed with filtration. As a result, current producers can retrofit their plants in a matter of days at very low cost. Another key advantage is that the glycerin coproduct has purity greater than 98 percent and qualifies as technical grade, which significantly enhances its overall value.

Catilin is commercializing the research done in developing the new catalyst at Iowa State University in Ames and the U.S. DOE’s Ames Laboratory.

See more

Labels: biodiesel, costs, inventions, research

PermaLink - A New Solid Catalyst to Reduce Costs of Biodiesel Process 0 Comments

Dow's New Solar Energy Technology Wins Accolades

Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 10:34 PM

A shingle that generates solar energy was named one of the 50 Best Innovations of 2009 by Time magazine.

Dow Chemical, the Powerhouse Solar Shingle's inventor, will make the shingles commercially available by the middle of next year. The Powerhouse design includes thin-film cells of copper indium gallium diselenide. Dow notes the cells' low cost relative to other solar technologies.

And, on top of low cost, Dow's new shingle has other advantages. The company reports that the installation process is no different than that of traditional shingles, making Powerhouse shingles attractive to contractors. And in addition to saving money for homeowners by cutting energy use, the shingles are anticipated to make a lot of money for Dow - up to $10 billion a year by 2020.

See more

Labels: costs, energy, inventions, solar

PermaLink - Dow's New Solar Energy Technology Wins Accolades 0 Comments

Underwater Kites to Harness Tidal Power

Posted on Friday, October 30, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:50 PM

Sweden-and Uk- based Minesto, has developed a new concept called Deep Green "Underwater Kites"; which uses hydrodynamics to harness tidal currents and makes the flow velocity to increase ten times.

The lite spins in a repeated manner by the force of the tidal current. This process will increase the flow speed entering the turbine ten times. When the tide hits the wing it turnsdown, and creates a little force. The kite is mounted to the ocean bed with a tether and is controlled by a rudder trajectory. This system will use a conventional plant to convert the movement onto electric power.

According to the company, the Deep Green Kite has a wingspan of 12 meters depth at sites with a tidal flow of 1.2 - 2.2 meters/second. The company estimates it'll cost Euro 0.06 - 0.14 per KWh. The company is now preparing to build a scale 1.4 prototype of the technology, which will be ready in 2011.

See more

Labels: costs, electricity, tidal

PermaLink - Underwater Kites to Harness Tidal Power 0 Comments

SoloPower Displays CIGS PV Module Prototype

Posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 3:08 AM

SoloPower, a California-based manufacturer of thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules has announced that a prototype of its flexible copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS ) photovoltaic module will be on display at the Solar PowerInternational 2009 conference in Anaheim, California on October 27-29, 2009.

SoloPower`s flexible CIGS modules represent a breakthrough solar product. Because of their lighter weight, they will be deployable with lower installation costs, providing less expensive solar electricity for utility, commercial and industrial customers.SoloPower’s unique and proprietary CIGS technology is a major break-through in low-cost, high-quality, high-volume manufacturing and commercialization of CIGS-based photovoltaics.

SoloPower`s flexible modules will present new opportunities to large rooftop sites that glass-plate modules cannot service due to factors such as weight, high wind conditions, or roof penetrations.SoloPower flexible CIGS modules are expected to be available for sale later in 2010.

See more

Labels: costs, electricity, energy, solar

PermaLink - SoloPower Displays CIGS PV Module Prototype 0 Comments

Nanotechnology Could Reduce Costs of Cellulosic Ethanol?

Posted on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 12:26 AM

Cellulosic ethanol is an exciting technology which promises to convert the abundant sources of organic waste worldwide (kitchen waste, yard waste, paper industry waste, etc.) into green alternative fuel.

The traditioinal production process of cellulosic ethanol involves breaking down the cellulose into smaller units (hydrolysis reaction) on pretreated lignocellulosic materials followed by fermentation and distillation.The hydrolysis can be achived by using either acids or enzymes to breakdown the pretreated cellulosic biomass.The process of using enzymes for hydrolysis has been more expensive than the other approach, as the enzymes cost a lot of money, and typically a significant portion are lost during the cellulose degradation.

Researchers from the Louisiana Tech University have developed a way of immobilizing the enzymes, greatly reducing enzyme loss and its corresponding costs. Details on the new approach are scant other than that it uses "nanotechnology", but it seems likely that it employs some sort of charged particles to affix the non-catalytic domains of enzymes to reactor walls or a porous network, or else uses extracellular matrix proteins to bind the enzymes.

The university estimates that a commercial plant would save approximately $32M USD (they did not specify if this was a yearly total or perhaps over the plant's lifetime) and that under the federally established goal to reach 16 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol, the net saving could be $7.5B USD, if the goal was reached. LTU also notes that they estimate cellulosic ethanol to reduce carbon emissions by 89 percent over traditional fuels.

see more

Labels: co2, costs, ethanol, waste

PermaLink - Nanotechnology Could Reduce Costs of Cellulosic Ethanol? 0 Comments

Multi-Junction Solar Cells with High Efficiency

Posted on Thursday, May 21, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:34 PM

Cyrium Technologies Inc.,Ottawa,announced that multi-junction solar cells produced by the company now exceed the performance of all commercially manufactured solar cells.

Cyrium's first generation solar cells offer efficiencies of 40 per cent or higher together with a nearly constant conversion efficiency for solar concentrations from 200 to greater than 1000 suns. This performance sets a new standard for the solar cells' intended use in the Concentrator PhotoVoltaic (CPV) industry.Cyrium's solar cells not only have record efficiencies, but they exhibit nearly constant efficiency over solar intensities varying from 200 to 1000 suns.Other multi-junction solar cell technologies typically peak at some sun concentration value and decline quickly (efficiency roll off) with increasing concentration.Another benefit of the very low roll-off feature of Cyrium's cells is that CPV systems often have a variable intensity profile when the sun is focussed on an array of cells so that cells need to perform even when the peak concentration is two to three times higher than the nominal concentration.

The most outstanding feature of Cyrium's approach is an optimized design for multi-junction cells that does not add complexity or cost.Cyrium anticipates its second generation product will reach 43 per cent efficiency within one year and third generation products are targeted to be at 45 per cent within two years.

see more

Labels: costs, efficiency, energy, solar

PermaLink - Multi-Junction Solar Cells with High Efficiency 0 Comments

Irish Tube Compressor: New Method of Harvesting Wave Energy

Posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:42 PM

Dublin based company JOSPA hopes to demonstrate superior performance in sustainable electricity production with their new device called Irish Tube Compressor.

The Irish Tube Compressor is based on reinforced, flexible tubes lying on the water, using air and water driven forward in successive ’slugs’ by ocean waves, with the resulting water head and air pressure being converted to electricity, either by conventional means or being used directly in other processes (such as water desalination).

According to the company, the benefits of the Irish Tube Compressor are:

A big improvement in lower maintenance costs
Tube- or Hose- based, it mitigates the severity of marine conditions while it cannot remove them entirely.
A lower specific capital cost is expected (€ or $ per kW installed capacity)
A greater response to varying waves - superior bandwidth availability - greater time availability
Lower specific production costs - lower € or $ cost per kWh of production
Greater marine survivability
Faster return on capital invested due greater annual salable output

Labels: costs, energy, wave

PermaLink - Irish Tube Compressor: New Method of Harvesting Wave Energy 0 Comments

Green Technology Converts Waste Ash from Power Stations into Minerals

Posted on Thursday, May 14, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 12:15 AM

Two British scientists, John Watt and Philip Michael, have launched technology that will convert the controversial tonnes of waste-ash from Britain's coal-fired power stations into valuable minerals useful to industries including cement, car and aviation manufacturers.The first plant for RockTron, which is now finished and on-line in Fiddlers Ferry coal-powered station in Cheshire, UK, will transform 800,000 tonnes of ash per year into five valuable minerals. It will also cut the cost of dumping the ash in land-fill sites.

The most significant of the so called eco-minerals are solid glass spheres called aluminio-silicates that could reduce CO2 emissions in cement making - one of the dirtiest processes - by an estimated 400,000 tonnes a year in Britain alone. Another by-product are hollow glass spheres that can be used by automotive and aviation industries to make lighter cars and planes.

Labels: co2, costs, technology, waste

PermaLink - Green Technology Converts Waste Ash from Power Stations into Minerals 0 Comments

Mirel: Compostable Bioplastic Get Go-ahead

Posted on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 11:24 PM

Massachusetts-based Metabolix is working with the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), to develop its proprietary bioplastic, Mirel™ for military use in food packaging.ADM (Archer Daniels Midland) has teamed up with Metabolix in a joint venture called Telles, to market Mirel bioplastic. The first plant capable of producing Mirel bioplastic in commercial quantites is under construction.

Metabolix announced that Vinçotte (A Belgian firm emerging as a leader in certifying materials for meeting European Norm (EN) standards for compostability) has certified Mirel bioplastic for compostability with its OK Compost and OK Compost HOME marks, meaning that the material is certified to biodegrade appropriately for compost under both industrial and household conditions.

One thing holding bioplastics back from the mass market is price, so once that barrier falls, anything is possible.With the U.S. military and “supermarket-to-the-world” ADM both throwing their considerable weight behind a bioplastic that’s not merely biodegradable but compostable, there’s a chance for the economics of scale to kick in.

see more

Labels: biopolymers, costs

PermaLink - Mirel: Compostable Bioplastic Get Go-ahead 0 Comments

Engineered Microorganisms for Cost-Effective Cellulosic Biofuel Production

Posted on Friday, May 8, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 1:32 AM

Mascoma Corporation today announced that the company has made major research advances in consolidated bioprocessing, or CBP, a low-cost processing strategy for production of biofuels from cellulosic biomass. CBP avoids the need for the costly production of cellulase enzymes by using engineered microorganisms that produce cellulases and ethanol at high yield in a single step.CBP is widely considered to be the ultimate low-cost configuration for cellulose hydrolysis and fermentation.The advances of the research includes both bacteria that grow at high temperatures, called thermophiles, and recombinant cellulolytic yeasts.

The first report of targeted metabolic engineering of a cellulose-fermenting thermophile, Clostridium thermocellum, leading to a reduced production of unwanted organic acid byproducts and makes possible production of nearly 6% wt/vol ethanol by an increase of 60% over what was reported just a year ago. Selected strains of C. thermocellum that can rapidly consume cellulose with high conversion and no added cellulase, and grow on cellulose in the presence of commercial levels of ethanol.

Recombinant, Cellulolytic Yeast facilitates 3,000-fold increase in cellulase expression and a significant 2.5-fold reduction in the added cellulase required for conversion of pretreated hardwood to ethanol.These advances enable the reduction in operating and capital costs required for cost-effective commercial production of ethanol, bringing Mascoma substantially closer to commercialization.

see more

Labels: biofuels, cellulose, costs, ethanol, research

PermaLink - Engineered Microorganisms for Cost-Effective Cellulosic Biofuel Production 0 Comments

New Carbon Capture Technology

Posted on Sunday, March 8, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:30 PM

According to ION Engineering, until now the state-of-the-art in current emissions control technology was the inefficient, aqueous (water-based) amine technology, but a breakthrough has seen the company become the first to successfully integrate ionic liquid solutions into carbon capture and emissions control technology by replacing the water based solution with ionic liquids - molten salts that do not evaporate. The company says that while recent developments in carbon capture technology have brought costs of carbon capture down to $50 to $100 a ton, its ionic liquid technology could cut the costs of capturing carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants to as low as $20 a ton. This reduction is cost is mainly due to the fact that around 80% of the total cost of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) comes from the capture of CO2 – the very area that the company’s system focuses on.

see more

Labels: co2, costs

PermaLink - New Carbon Capture Technology 0 Comments

Big Breakthrough in Solar Costs?

Posted on Monday, March 2, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 7:39 PM

First Solar, the Tempe-based producer of photovoltaic solar panels, said this week it has scored a major breakthrough by reducing the cost of manufacturing its modules to less than $1 per watt.

First Solar uses thin-film technology to convert sunlight into electric current without the need for silicon, a more expensive material used in most photovoltaic cells. Also the company said it is benefitting from mass production techniques as demand soars for its modules.The company has reduced its production costs by two-thirds in four years - from more than $3 a watt in 2004, the company said.

see more

Labels: costs, energy, solar

PermaLink - Big Breakthrough in Solar Costs? 0 Comments

BroadStar Breakthrough in Low-Cost Energy With New Generation Wind Turbine

Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:59 AM

Renewable energy from the wind, which previously could only be generated in restricted geographic locations – typically off-shore or in remote rural areas – can now be made available almost anywhere, including urban environments, with the introduction of the AeroCam wind turbine. The AeroCam, developed by BroadStar Wind Systems, was designed and patented for commercial applications. With its parallel rotor blades, not only does it look radically different from conventional propeller designs, but also can be manufactured, transported, installed and maintained at lower cost.

“Wind energy now can be made directly available to everyone,” says Stephen Else, president of Dallas-based BroadStar Wind Systems. “By harnessing its power in almost any setting, the AeroCam can now generate energy close to where it’s actually required. This is a new and exciting product with great potential.” Following four years of research and development and the issuance of U.S. patents, the company is currently in the final stages of negotiations to place the product with two Fortune 100 companies.

Full article here

Labels: alternative-energy, costs, renewable, wind

PermaLink - BroadStar Breakthrough in Low-Cost Energy With New Generation Wind Turbine 0 Comments

Highly Efficient Miniature Crystals for Cost-effective Solar Power

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:29 AM

Researchers in Australia have produced highly efficient miniature crystals -- a breakthrough which they claim can soon revolutionise the way people harvest and use solar energy.

Lead researcher Professor Max Lu from the University of Queensland said they were one step closer to the holy grail of cost-effective solar energy with their discovery.

"The beauty of our technique is that it is very simple and cheap to make such materials at mild conditions. Now that the research has elucidated the conditions required, the method is like cooking in an oven and the crystals can be applied like paints," the 'Nature' quoted Lu as saying.

HTC Purenergy Announces CO2 Capture Cost Reduction Breakthrough

Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:26 PM

HTC Purenergy announced a new CO2 Capture cost reduction breakthrough - the Thermal Kinetics Optimization process. TKO will be added to the existing base Purenergy CCS CO2 Capture System and will substantially reduce the energy requirements of capturing CO2 from post-combustion coal and natural gas power plants.

The TKO process improves the CO2 Capture System through heat recovery, thermal balancing and optimized process flow. The primary advantage of this newly patented system is that it directly reduces the largest single cost of CO2 capture - the use of power plant steam - to a ratio of below 1 unit steam required to 1 unit CO2 captured.

Germany's Signet Solar Makes Thin Film Solar Breakthrough

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:08 PM

Germany is again making news in the solar field with the announcement of the industry’s first ever Gen 8.5 (5.7 m^2 ) silicon thin film solar PV module at Signet Solar’s new factory near Dresden. The accomplishment at the company's 200,000 square foot production facility and is another step towards lowering the cost of renewable solar energy through thin film technology.

Signet Solar says it has lowered the production cost of photovoltaic (PV) modules by combining silicon thin film technology with very large area manufacturing and an industry standard equipment set. The initial modules from the new manufacturing line met the specification of the product and were confirmed by independent testing by Fraunhofer Institute. Signet will start prototype production in early June and will showcase the Gen 8.5 module product line at the Intersolar Conference in Munich. Commercial production will start in the third quarter of 2008, with capacity expansion to over 100MW at the same site expected by 2009.

Nanosolar Breakthrough Makes Solar Electricity Cheaper Than Coal

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 11:24 AM

A new combination of nano and solar technology has made it possible for solar electric generation to be cheaper than burning coal. Nanosolar, Inc. has developed a way to produce a type of ink that absorbs solar radiation and converts into electric current. Photovoltaic (PV) sheets are produced by a machine similar to a printing press, which rolls out the PV ink onto sheets approximately the width of aluminum foil. These PV sheets can be produced at a rate of hundreds of feet per minute.

More from here

Labels: coal, costs, electricity, solar

PermaLink - Nanosolar Breakthrough Makes Solar Electricity Cheaper Than Coal 0 Comments

Hybrids Do Not Save You Money

Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 4:54 AM

Hybrids: Don't buy the hype

Sure, hybrids save gas but they won't save you money. There are smarter ways to go, says By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN/Money staff writer

With gasoline prices at a high, you might think it makes a lot of sense that hybrid cars are hot sellers.

They may make a social statement you're interested in, but if you want to save money because of rising gas prices, you're heading down the wrong road by buying hybrid autos, at least for now, says this report.

This kind of gets me thinking about the prices of various alternative energy sources right now...and in almost every case, the prices are higher than what we get from conventional sources and fossil fuels.

For instance, in the case of hybrids, I understand that they don’t save much at highway speeds, and many Americans commute at highways speeds. The capital costs on hybrids are higher as well. And it is not just with hybrids...I live in a hot (not sexy, but 105 degree F hot) city in India, and may be I can simply capture all the sun's heat and convert into electricity...maybe, but solar panels aren't cheap. Geothermal perhaps, way too costly.

You go across the spectrum, and analyse other alt energy sources - wind energy, wave energy, biofuels, all these cost relatively more right now...

Now don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, just stating a fact. This does not unduly worry me though, the prices are higher but not unaffordable, which in itself is great...when you consider that we are just on the threshold of exploring new sources of energy, I am optimistic the prices will fall quickly, and all the time, the prices of fossil fuels will be rising...

Back to hybrids. A further search on the cost of ownership of hybrids landed me on an interesting post on hybrids which said, "The Time for Hybrid has Come". The author cites an Edmunds.com report which gives the following reason why the hybrids are more economical now:

1. Now is the time when the prices and expenses on hybrid vehicles are at its lowest because there is now more supply than demand.
2. Incentives are now being offered on most of the popular hybrid vehicles.
3. Tax credits would be way lower especially later in the spring.
4. Gas prices are going up again.

So, perhaps right now hybrids might be more attractive than what they could be a couple of months lower, especially if gas prices go down again (optimistic thinking, I admit), but we need a far more stable price differential than that. Overall, I am not sure the time for hybrids has come, but perhaps what that day is not far into the future.

If I write a similar post perhaps a couple of year later the title in all probability will be, "Of course Hybrids save you money".

Read the full post here @ Hybrid Cars News

Labels: autos, costs, hybrids

PermaLink - Hybrids Do Not Save You Money 0 Comments

Toyota to be 100% hybrid by 2020?

Posted on Saturday, May 12, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 9:56 PM

Toyota to be 100% hybrid by 2020?

A short TreeHugger post informs about a Toyota executive saying that the company has seen some success in reducing the cost of the electrical components used in it's hybrid powertrains, and that Toyota ultimately aims by 2020 to have all Toyotas to be hybrid.

Not sure if this is just the company's ambition or a strategy...

Read the original TreeHugger post from here

Labels: autos, costs, hybrids

PermaLink - Toyota to be 100% hybrid by 2020? 0 Comments

Cut Your Energy Bill in Half

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:49 AM

Cut Your Energy Bill in Half, or How I Saved Over $500 this Winter

The author of this blog reports that he saved an astonishing 500+ $ previous bills, by following these "secrets":

1. Replaced all lights with CFLs - Every one. The light is the same. They hardly burn out.
2. Better management of phantom loads (things that are “on” even when “off”, for instance anything with a remote control, a clock, cell phone chargers, printers, monitors, etc.)
3. Switching to natural gas appliances
4. Buying Energy Star appliances - As you replace your old appliances, pay a little bit more for ones with the “Energy Star” label. They are more efficient and save more money in the run.
5. Buy a window air conditioner, instead of central AC
6. Efficient management of the refrigerator, such as turn off the ice maker at suitable times.

Read the full post from here @ Solar Kismet

Labels: conservation, costs, electricity

PermaLink - Cut Your Energy Bill in Half 0 Comments

Pros and cons of solar power

Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 9:51 AM

Pros and cons of solar power

24 Mar 2007

Vicki Vaughan, Express-News Business Writer - My San Antonio

In this article, the author discusses the pros and cons of solar energy.

One interesting concept discussed is "net metering". If, for instance, you instal solar panels and if you do not have batteries to store excess power, on some days the extra energy being generated by the solar panel can be fed being fed back into the electric grid, thus making a meter "run backward." Known as "net metering," customers who produce electricity at home (or their business) using renewable sources such as solar and wind get credit for any excess power they put back into the Energy grid.

But solar energy is not without its pitfalls, the main issue being cost, says this article.

Read the full article from here @ My San Antonio

Labels: costs, solar

PermaLink - Pros and cons of solar power 1 Comments

How Green is Nuclear Power?

Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 12:55 AM

How Green is Nuclear Power?

By Mark Clayton, The Christian Science Monitor

Nuclear Power is an idea that may be catching on. At least 11 new nuclear plants are in the design stage in nine states, including Virginia, Texas, and Florida, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute website.

But that carbon-free pitch has researchers asking anew: How carbon-free is nuclear power? And how cost-effective is it in the fight to slow global warming? asks this article from CSM, read the full article here @ KVOA, Tucson

Labels: climate-change, costs, environment, greenhouse-gases, nuclear

PermaLink - How Green is Nuclear Power? 0 Comments

Geothermal Energy Delivering Big Savings - Case Study

Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 9:27 AM

Geothermal energy delivering big savings

Ground-source heating attracts interest despite initial costs

By James Bow - Business Edge
09 Mar 2007

In only two months last year, Eric Lange's company, Lange Transportation and Storage Ltd. found $12,000 in energy savings beneath his company's 70,000-sq.-ft. Mississauga warehouse after installing a geothermal heating & cooling system.

Geothermal energy conjures up images of homes heated by volcanic hot springs in Iceland or Japan, but the system Lange installed, referred to as ground-source heating and cooling, works most places on the planet.

Geothermal power may not be for every building, and initial capital costs are an obstacle.

Read more from this report @ Business Edge Canada

Labels: costs, geothermal

PermaLink - Geothermal Energy Delivering Big Savings - Case Study 0 Comments