NewNergy – What’s New in Energy? Inventions, Innovations, Breakthroughs

This section has a focus on breakthroughs and things that are new or highly-significant in the field of energy, especially renewable energy. Web resources that are about new and path-breaking concepts in these fields are regularly added in this section, under various Energy-domains.

Do have a look at this section and please let me ( narsi at esource dot in) know if you could think of any improvements / refinements to make this section more useful.

Content will be continuously updated.

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/

Algae Biodiesel & Algae Oil

Algae Oil, Biodiesel – Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/algae/algae.html

Mutant Algae is Hydrogen Factory – Feb 2006, Wired - Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have engineered a strain of pond scum that could, with further refinements, produce vast amounts of hydrogen through photosynthesis. The work, led by plant physiologist Tasios Melis, is so far unpublished. But if it proves correct, it would mean a major breakthrough in using algae as an industrial factory, not only for hydrogen, but for a wide range of products, from biodiesel to cosmetics.
See Oilgae Blog directory for latest articles and developments in the field of oil from algae

Alternative Energy

Alternative Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Energy Inventions Category of Alternative Energy News – excellent updates news
Robert Green, an American Inventor, has developed a brand new technology which generates kinetic energy through the conversion of waste heat (as well as many other fuel sources). The Green Steam Engine is piston powered and designed for a wide assortment of practical applications…Read more from Alternative Energy News, Oct 2006
Methane Hydrates: US DOE Commissions Voyage of Discovery for Vast New Resource – A US Department of Energy commissioned project embarked on a 35-day voyage of discovery that is part of an effort to map a virtually inexhaustible supply of energy - the methane hydrate that may represent up to 200,000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The project will aim to understand a potentially huge energy resource trapped in methane hydrate, called the "ice that burns" because it releases a flammable gas when it melts. The resource is found far beneath the surface in waters. Today's recoverable non-hydrate methane resource pales in comparison at an estimated 1,400 Tcf…Read more from this Energy Bulletin article (Mar 2005)
Where do you get your energy from? Latest on alternative liquid fuels – from Energy Bulletin, Oct 2005
Energy from Pollution? - Researchers at the Center for Biotechnology at The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University are developing an amazing new technology which will potentially have the ability to extract electricity from pollution and organic waste products. They hope their biological fuel cells will help slow global warming by cleaning excess carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. At the same time this new technology would help deal with rising populations and resultant waste/pollution problems. This process would also eliminate the need to use fossil fuels as an energy source. Know more from this Alternative Energy News article

Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Found: Thousands of Megawatts of New Renewable Energy Potential – Sustainablog – Apr 2005
Crowd Power: The Latest In Renewable Energy – Tree Hugger, June 2006 - Vibrations from passing trucks, the rumbling of speeding trains and even the footfall of busy city commuters could be captured and converted into energy to light walkways and buildings, engineers say. A London-based architectural firm is working on a project that aims to harness the pulse of a city and use it as a renewable energy source….
Renewable Natural Gas? The Discovery of Active Methane Biogenesis in Coalbeds - Researchers at Luca Technologies, a biotech firm focused on energy solutions, have announced the discovery of evidence pointing to ongoing, realtime natural gas generation by anaerobic (living without oxygen) bacteria resident deep in coal fields in Wyoming. Methane (natural gas), while frequently developed with petroleum, also occurs in association with coal. Coalbed methane accounts for about 7.5% of current US natural gas production. Until recently, methane was thought to be thermogenic: derived from long-buried carbonaceous materials subjected to intense heat and pressures over geologic time. Additional work then determined that some percentage of the methane was biogenic in origin: created by ancient microbes that metabolized other hydrocarbon sources to generate methane… Read more from this Green Car Congress article, Nov 2004
Challenges to Achieving Breakthroughs in New/Renewable Energy Technologies – IEA, June 2004 (PDF)

Battery Power

Battery Power - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/bat/bat.html

Battery Breakthrough -- An Update - An article appeared in the current issue of Science describing the latest in a series of recent advances that could make hybrids, and even all-electric vehicles, practical. Researchers have long known that a material based on lithium, nickel, and manganese could be used to make lithium-ion batteries that store large amounts of energy. The problem has been that batteries based on this material could be charged and discharged only slowly, otherwise the amount of energy they could store would drop dramatically. In the Science paper, researchers at MIT and the State University of New York (SUNY) in Stony Brook described a way around the problem. Read more from this Feb 2006 Technology Review article
Battery Breakthrough? - A Texas company says it can make a new ultracapacitor power system to replace the electrochemical batteries in everything from cars to laptops. This Jan 2007 Technology Review article reports that a Texas startup is developing what some are calling a "game changing" energy-storage technology. The product is a kind of battery-ultracapacitor hybrid based on barium-titanate powders, and the company claims it will dramatically outperform the best lithium-ion batteries on the market in terms of energy density, price, charge time, and safety. The company announced that it has reached two production milestones and is on track to ship systems this year for use in electric vehicles. EEStor's ambitious goal, according to patent documents, is to "replace the electrochemical battery" in almost every application, from hybrid-electric and pure-electric vehicles to laptop computers to utility-scale electricity storage.
In April 2005, Toshiba made a breakthrough step toward the day of instantly recharging lithium-ion batteries. The company announced news of a prototype battery that can be 80% recharged in 60 seconds - rather than the normal three or four hours -- and be fully charged in a "few minutes more." It also has a life cycle of 1,000 recharges before any degradation of performance. The secret of the new battery is the addition of nanoparticles that, because of their size and unique properties, "prevent organic liquid electrolytes from reducing during battery recharging. The nanoparticles quickly absorb and store vast amount of lithium ions, without causing any deterioration in the electrode." Read more from this Fool.com report
For the first time in its over-30-year existence, an electric powered model (powered by Lithium-Polymer LiPo batteries) was competitive against the most powerful O.S. and Y.S. glow-powered pattern airplanes in an FAI world championship format. At the start of the event, contestants and spectators alike were skeptical, believing that competing with an electric model was more of a publicity stunt than a serious competition attempt. But after the first flight, all skeptics were silenced and by the end of the preliminary rounds, a 4th place position transferring into the finals proved that an electric-powered model had the right stuff to compete against the most powerful glow-powered aircraft, as flown by the best pilots in the world. Read this report from RC Hobbies
In April 2006, there was a story in Reuters that a group of MIT scientists have engineered a simple and easily manipulated virus called the M13 virus, to create nanowires for microscopic batteries. The genetically modified virus bonds with certain metal ions. The virus in incubated in a cobalt chloride solution which allows cobalt oxide crystals to mineralize uniformly along the length. Electrical properties are provided to the solution with the addition of gold. The resulting wires, about 900 nanometers long and just 6 nanometers in diameter, worked as positive battery electrodes. The researchers hope to build batteries ranging in different sizes - as small as a grain of rice to the sizes we are more accustomed to, say that of hearing-aid batteries. This was not the first time nanowires had been created this way - previous work had allowed the creation of semiconductor and magnetic nanowires using similar processes.
Sulphur fuels battery breakthrough - May 2004 article, The Register, UK - Tucson-based Sion Power Corporation has demonstrated a new generation of batteries based on Li-S (Lithium Sulfur) technology. Long anticipated as the lighter successor to Lithium Polymer, Sion claims that the Li-S battery pack at 350 watt hours/kg compared to 150 Wh/kg for today's Li-Poly batteries, and are good for 300 power cycles. The new technique uses a similar manufacturing process to litium polymer. The lower weight could make it attractive to phone and computer businesses, while the higher power discharge rate could make it attractive to bike and car manufacturers.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Japanese find less expensive methid to produce Biodiesel - Japanese scientists may have found a cheaper and more efficient way to produce "biodiesel.".. Michikazu Hara, of the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Yokohama, Japan, and his colleagues have used common, inexpensive sugars to form a recyclable solid acid that does the job on the cheap. Their research is reported in last week's issue of the journal Nature. They estimate the cost of the catalyst to be one-tenth to one-fiftieth that of conventional catalysts. Read more from here & here – Nov 2005
Biodiesel Breakthrough – Value-added co-products can improve the economics of Biodiesel, says this Biocap Canada research brief (PDF)
Green breakthrough for Biodiesel - A team based at the University of Wisconsin, whose work is reported in the latest edition of the journal Science, has devised an efficient catalytic reactor that produces a diesel-like fuel from organic matter. June 2005 article from CNN
Farmers using microtechnology to produce biodiesel - Farmers are working with scientists from Oregon State University to make biodiesel from their own soybean, canola, rape and mustard seed crops. Using microtechnology, the scientists have developed a new, faster way to create biodiesel. …a design prototype, which is a plastic plate with 30 microreactor channels running parallel to each other, each about the width of a human hair. The entire plate can easily fit in the palm of a hand…Read more from Tree Hugger, Feb 2006 article
Peanut Biodiesel Promising but Costly Alternative Fuel - Peanut oil produces approximately 123 gallons of biodiesel per acre, compared to 50 gallons for soy oil. The problem is peanut oil on the world market is more valuable than soy oil, making conversion to biodiesel economically impractical. Tests are underway at the University of Georgia to develop non-edible peanuts that are high in oil, and could be grown specifically for biodiesel production. These varieties are higher in oil content than currently grown runner and Virginia type varieties and would not compete on the world market with peanuts grown for food and commercial cooking oil products. Read more from Renewable Energy Access article, Nov 2006
Pioneering a New Generation of Biodiesel - Neste Oil’s new, proprietary NExBTL technology for producing biodiesel marks an important step forward in efforts to meet the growing demand for this type of fuel, as it offers not only valuable production-related benefits, but also results in a fuel with excellent product properties, particularly at low temperatures. Various companies have experimented with the idea of combining a natural raw material with an oil refining process to produce a biofuel capable of competing with hydrocarbon-based equivalents, but with limited success – until NExBTL that is. Read more from this June 2005 article in Innovations Report

Energy Technology

Energy Technology - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Nanotechnology Holds Promise for Energy Breakthroughs - Nanotechnology holds promise for necessary breakthroughs in a number of critical energy sectors, including solar cells, thermoelectric conversion and transport, hydrogen storage, and electrochemical conversion and storage (i.e., batteries, capacitors and fuel cells), according to scientists participating in the first Energy Nanotechnology International Conference (ENIC2006) held in June, 2006. Read more from this article at Green Car Congress
Nanotech key to future energy solutions, says Nobelist - A global-scale energy crisis looms ahead, according to Nobel laureate Richard E. Smalley, who said that nanotechnology will figure centrally in providing technological solutions. – Energy Bulletin, May 2003
Infinite Energy - the international magazine for Cold Fusion and New Energy Technologies. It is a technical magazine that includes some technical papers and patents. It also includes non-technical articles and news on developments in the field, as well as the social, political, and economic implications of these changes
Renewable and energy efficiency breakthroughs turn science fiction into fact - Goals of environmentally friendly energy and reduced U.S. dependence on imported fossil fuel have encouraged some recent advances in existing technologies have resulted in alternative fuel source development or more efficient energy use. This section has a list of technology breakthroughs in the alternative energy domain. From Energy Services Bulletin, Dec 2003
Nine critical questions to ask about alternative energy – an interesting and useful article that provides a list of criteria to be used to distinguish genuinely good alternative technology – From the Wilderness, May 2003
Clean Production Of Coke From Waste Carbonaceous Fines - In the United States, the demand for coke used for fuel exceeds domestic supply. A new process that produces coke from waste carbonaceous fines will increase the U.S. supply of coke and provide a less expensive fuel for the steel industry. The process is projected to provide the means to produce about 10 million tons of coke per year. The clean production of coke from waste carbonaceous fines offers an alternative to conventional coke production, says this Feb 2002, US Department of Energy report (PDF)
US Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Inventions & Innovations section; see also this section (PDF)

CO2 Sequestration

CO2 Sequestration - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Novel Approaches to Carbon Management: Separation, Capture, Sequestration, and Conversion to Useful Products - Workshop Report (2003) - National Academies Press. New energy technologies and CO2 sequestration - Report by Messrs. Christian BATAILLE and Claude BIRRAUX, Members of Parliament, from: Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology Assessment, France (PDF)
Capture and Sequestration of CO2 from Stationary Combustion - Systems by Photosynthesis of Microalgae. A research report from NETL, Department of Energy, Government of USA (PDF)
Carbon Sequestration Technology Roadmap and Program Plan, U.S. DOE Office of Fossil Energy - National Energy Technology Laboratory, Mar 2003 report (PDF)
Carbon Dioxide Sequestration by Ex-Situ Mineral Carbonation - August/September 1999 report presented at the Proceedings of the Second Annual Dixy Lee Ray Memorial Symposium, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Washington D. C. (PDF)

Ethanol Fuel

Ethanol Fuel - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Ethanol Research Breakthrough: Wood Feedstock - Corn is the usual feedstock for producing ethanol in the U.S, but wood could open up the growing market to states outside of the Midwest. Researchers at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) say they have invented a method for removing energy-rich sugars from wood, a process that could help develop agricultural feedstocks for ethanol production, and increase profits for New York's and other states' pulp and paper industries. - Energy Bulletin, Feb 2005
40-year Old Discovery May Hold Key to Cellulosic Ethanol Production - About 40 years ago, Iowa State Chemistry professor John Verkade based his doctoral dissertation on a chemical compound, and only realized a few years ago that it may very well hold the key to breaking down the cellulose that forms the structure of a plant's cell walls. Read more from the Nov 2006 article on Auto Blog Green
Bioengineered Yeast Tolerates Higher Ethanol For Biomass Energy Use - Some MIT researchers have developed a yeast strain that can continue to produce ethanol up to a much higher concentration of ethanol. The work by MIT chemical-engineering professor Gregory Stephanopoulos and his colleagues focuses on the second part of this process: fermenting sugars to make ethanol. The yeast strain they made can tolerate ethanol concentrations as high as 18 percent--almost double the concentration that regular yeast can handle without quickly dying. In addition, the new strain makes about 20 percent more ethanol by processing more of the glucose, and it speeds up fermentation by 70 percent - A December 2006 article from Future Pundit
Creating Ethanol from Trash - Researchers find a way to make liquid fuels from waste cheaply and without the pollution produced by earlier methods. By Kevin Bullis @ Technology Review, Jan 2007 - A new system for converting trash into ethanol and methanol could help reduce the amount of waste piling up in landfills while displacing a large fraction of the fossil fuels used to power vehicles in the United States. The technology, developed originally by researchers at MIT and at Batelle Pacific Northwest National Labs (PNNL), in Richland, WA, doesn't incinerate refuse, so it doesn't produce the pollutants that have historically plagued efforts to convert waste into energy. Instead, the technology vaporizes organic materials to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide, a mixture called synthesis gas, or syngas, that can be used to synthesize a wide variety of fuels and chemicals. Read more from the Technology Review article

Fossil Energy & Fossil Fuel

Fossil Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Huge potential seen in Gulf of Mexico oil well; Deepwater well could be nation's largest source; A group led by Chevron Corp. on Tuesday raised expectations that it has tapped into what could be one of the nation's biggest oil discoveries in decades, releasing results from the long-awaited test of a Gulf of Mexico deepwater oil well – Energy Bulletin, Sep 2006 (see also: A clarification for the original news item)
Shell makes massive natural gas discovery (Dec 2004) - Shell Canada Ltd. has tapped into a massive natural gas reservoir in Western Canada -- its largest discovery in the area in nearly two decades -- raising hopes that the birthplace of the Canadian oil industry may still contain undiscovered elephant-sized deposits. Read more from the Energy Bulletin article here
PetroChina makes major oil discovery (May 2004) - PetroChina, China's largest oil producer, has made the nation's biggest oil discovery in a decade, bolstering its reserves by at least a third at a time when oil prices are at a record and the country's demand is soaring, the company said Thursday. PetroChina Changqing Oilfield, a unit of the Beijing-based company, found 108.2 million tons of proven reserves and another 327 million tons of estimated reserves in the Xifeng oilfield in the northwestern province of Gansu, PetroChina's parent, China National Petroleum, said on its Web site…Read more from the Energy Bulletin article

Gravitational Energy

Gravitational Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Eugene Podkletnov Anti-Gravity Breakthrough - Superconducting Force-Beam Generator produces an output in excess of hundreds of pounds of pure gravitational force. Follow-up interview – Aug 2004, Pure Energy Systems
On the Nature of Gravity and the Synthetic Gravitational Waves - A new theory is being offered according to which gravity waves are interpreted as the collective modes of vibration of virtual particles in the unit cells that constitute the crystal lattice of the vacuum. This natural vibration (quantifiable as gravitophonons) is caused by cosmic radiation. The task of the designer then is simple: to tap this natural vibration. An idea is offered for the new gravitational force emitter which resolves the problem of weakness of gravitational effects produced by earlier gravitational devices. This emitter's strong effect on gravity allows for many practical applications including those in the fields of wireless communications, wireless power transmission, non-invasive surgery, and satellite launching. A Feb 2006 paper by Boris Volfson
Apparatus to recover energy through gravitational force - US Patent Issued in February, 2004 - The present invention is in the field of devices for conserving energy. Among the variety of known types of different devices for conserving energy various flywheels have been invented generally to achieve two main objectives. First, a rotating object may absorb energy from a power source during the greater portion of its revolution and then deliver the energy as useful work during the remaining portion of its revolution. Second, a rotating object such as a flywheel mounted to an engine smooths out the speed fluctuations resulting from power inputs from the engine's cylinders. In each of these cases the rotating flywheel receives and stores energy, thereby conserving the energy. This invention relates to gravity operated or assisted machines for supplying, conserving, and/or recovering power, for example for the purpose of rotating a shaft, with the shaft in turn driving any of various devices including generators, displaying devices, toys, etc.

Hybrid & Electric Cars

Hybrid & Electric Cars - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Ocean-powered hydro-electric generator invention – Scoop, Invention Could Solve “Bottleneck” In Developing Pollution-Free Cars - by Lockergnome on December, 2006 - Hydrogen-powered cars that do not pollute the environment are a step closer. Whilst hydrogen is thought to be an ideal fuel for vehicles, producing only water on combustion, its widespread use has been limited by the lack of a safe, efficient system for onboard storage. Scientists have experimented with ways of storing hydrogen by locking the gas into metal lattices, but metal hydrides only work at temperatures above 300°C and metal organic framework materials only work at liquid nitrogen. Now scientists at the University of Bath have invented a material which stores and releases hydrogen at room temperature, at the flick of a switch, and promises to help make hydrogen power a viable clean technology for the future. Read more from this Lockergnome Blog article
Lithium-Ion Batteries For Hybrid Cars - by Jonathan G. Cohen in January, 2006 @ Philoneist - Sandia National Laboratories is researching ways to refine lithium-ion batteries for use in hybrid cars.

Electric Cars

Miljøbil Grenland Launches new Electric Vehicle Powered by Electrovaya Battery Pack – Green Car Congress, Oct 2005
Honda’s Cute Electric Scooter – Honda has been showcasing this little gem since last summer. The electric Moped-EV is designed specifically with in-city commuting, and designers kept its size down accordingly. The bantam weighs only 44kg (just under 100lb) and employs an innovative nickle hydrogen battery to store 360 watt-hours of energy (compared to your digital camera's battery, which holds around 3.5 watt-hr) - Tree Hugger, Feb 2005

Energy from Waste

Waste to Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Pioneering solution to deal with the UK's municipal waste, Jan 2006 - Households in the Isle of Wight could become the first community in the UK to benefit from a technology that allows local communities to deal with their own waste in an environmentally responsible way. Rather than incinerate the waste, ENERGOS uses what is known as Advanced Conversion Technology - gasification, a two-stage thermal treatment process. Heat energy is recovered from the process to produce steam that can supply industry, generate electrical power, heating or hot water for nearby consumers. Read more from this Jan 2006 news report from Ener.g, UK
Energy from waste: Dundee Energy Recycling paves the way for a cleaner future - a detailed 2005 case study from Metso Automation (PDF)
New invention will convert waste to active carbon - Patented process utilizes synthetic crude oil product, greatly reducing mercury emissions - New U of T research will make it possible to convert waste material from oil sands into active carbon, and has the potential to greatly reduce mercury emissions, says this Oct 2005 article from University of Toronto
NASCAR fuel expert claims invention of Pigoline gas, that is, fuel from hog waste – a lively forum in which a number of related alternative energy possibilities are discussed. See the complete article about Pigoline gas at Philoneist, Oct 2006
Pig Manure Converted to Crude Oil - Stefan Lovgren @ for National Geographic News, July 2004 - One scientist has found an alternative source of energy: pig manure. Yuanhui Zhang, an agricultural engineering professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, has succeeded in turning small batches of hog waste into oil, says this NG article
Energy from Organic Waste - To accomplish this, three major hurdles would need to be overcome: combustible and non-combustible components need to be separated, metals and glass must be recovered, and the remaining waste needs to be converted to energy in a nonpolluting way. Wet thermal oxidation is proposed to produce energy from waste without polluting incineration. This type of combustion has been studied extensively in connection with coal, but has not been applied to other fuels. The system would not discharge pollutants, smoke, or odors. Wet thermal oxidation can handle waste in a continuous, enclosed process with much lower pollution and higher efficiency than the “mass burn” incinerators that are commonly used now. Read more from the US Department of Energy article (PDF)

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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System and Method for Recoverying Geothermal Energy and for Converting Recovered Geothermal Energy into Useful Power - This research has been developed by Charles J Mankin Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, Office of Technology Development. Fore more details, see here
Multiple-completion geothermal energy production systems - Document Type and Number: United States Patent 3957108 - Abstract: A system for the mining of geothermal energy in which a plurality of geothermal wells radiate from a single surface site into a subsurface geothermal reservoir. From Free Patents Online
Method for locating and evaluating geothermal sources of energy by sensing electrostatic voltage gradients - from Free Patents Online
Geo Heat Center Quarterly Bulletins @ Oregon Institute of Technology

Heat Energy

Heat Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Renewable Heat Energy – see an interesting Wikipedia article on Renewable Heat
Ambient Heat – a contribution towards the Kyoto target
Ambient Temperature Energy Collection – from the Archimedes Submerged blog
Green Steam Energy - Robert Green, an American Inventor, has developed a brand new technology which generates kinetic energy through the conversion of waste heat (as well as many other fuel sources). The Green Steam Engine is piston powered and designed for a wide assortment of practical applications. These steam engines are easy to build and can be used to power boats, electricity generators, air or water pumps, water distillers, heat pumps, air conditioners and a wide array of other small to medium sized appliances. Read more from this blog article
Reclaiming Corn Drying Energy - The methods of reclaiming heat energy fall into two distinct categories; (a) heat recirculation and (b) the use of heat exchangers. Heat recirculation works best on continuous flow dryers operated to dry and cool simultaneously. Heat exchangers, however, can be used on either continuous-flow or batch type high-temperature dryers. Read more from this Ministry of Agriculture, Govt of Ontario, Canada web page
Some Thermally Activated Technologies Info given at this US Dept of Energy web page - The key thermally activated technology (TAT) program areas are: Absorption chiller and heat pump technologies, solid and liquid desiccant VAQ (ventilation air quality) technologies, heat and mass transfer (energy recovery and recycling), thermal storage and thermal management technologies, advanced heat-driven power cycles (Organic Rankine Cycles, Stirling Engines) and adapting these to IES applications.

Human Powered – includes Foot Power / Pedal Power

Human Powered Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

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Human Powered Energy Devices - Using power of human activity for electrical and other power needs. An interesting list of updates and products @ Free Energy News
Human Powered Energy Generator (HPEG) - by Ben Erickson. Components Needed to Build a 12 volt Pedal Powered Generator - A Pedal Powered generator provides a method of generating electricity by means of a modified exercise bike for use in energy storage and running household appliances. Human/mechanical energy is converted into electrical current by means of a Direct Current (DC) generator that is connected by a fanbelt to an exercise bike flywheel. This article explains how to construct one
Foot Powered Generator from Freeplay Energy - Freeplay Energy has released a human-powered electricity generator for commercial sale. Power is generated by pushing up and down with your foot on a step-action treadle. The FreeCharge can be re-charged by any 110v to 240v wall sockets and power input from other sources such as solar and wind. See this Alternative Energy News article for more
East Japan Railway has improvised the Marunouchi North exit of Tokyo Station, a busy thoroughfare, for an experiment about generating power. In mid-October (2006), officials installed sensors in the floor under ticket turnstiles to absorb energy from the millions of footsteps of the 700,000 commuters who pass through each day. The devices convert the vibrations from each step into power by using piezoelectric elements that produce tiny quantities of electrical charge when weight is applied. Executives dream of one day using commuters’ footsteps to power information boards, lights and other devices throughout stations. The initial results from this experiment were not apparently very encouraging, generating minimal power, but it is a creative start, to say the least.

Hydro-power & Hydro-Electric

Hydro Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/hyd/hyd.html

1. Back-to-nature – Hydropower Helicoids - It took a chance meeting between a hydropower engineer and a medical scientist five years ago to discover that the energy output of hydroelectric stations could be boosted by up to 10% by adopting the spiral-shaped plumbing of blood vessels. Read the abstract here

2. Ocean-powered hydro-electric generator invention – Scoop, New Zealand, Jan 2006

Hydrogen Energy

Hydrogen Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/he/he.html

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Archives – from Alternative Energy News – Excellent, Updated News & Info
MIT Professor Racing to Tap Photon to Make Hydrogen – EV World, May 2006
Iowa Company Making Engines to Run on Hydrogen, Ammonia – Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier, May 2006
Crystal Sponge – A Hydrogen Breakthrough? - In what could be a breakthrough on the road to a pollution-free hydrogen economy, researchers say they have developed a “crystal sponge” material that can store nearly three times more hydrogen than any other known substance. Obstacles to mass market vehicles that some day run on hydrogen include storage capacity. Chemists at UCLA and the University of Michigan claim their material is the first to achieve the kind of storage capacities required to make hydrogen fuel practical. They are publishing their findings in late March in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Read more from this MSNBC article
Scientists cite breakthrough in producing pure hydrogen - The heart of the plan is an improvement on the most efficient way to extract hydrogen, which is to run electric current through water, splitting molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, called electrolysis. The new method involves running electricity through water that has a high temperature. As the water molecule breaks up, a ceramic sieve separates the oxygen from the hydrogen. – Energy Bulletin, Nov 2004
New Process Could Help Make Hydrogen Fuel Affordable - Scientists in Australia say they have have made a breakthrough in the efficiency of using sunlight to generate hydrogen from water. It may be a step toward an affordable source of clean energy - Aug 2004 by National Geographic News
Scientists Make Fuel Cell Breakthrough - A team of Korean scientists has developed a new method of storing hydrogen as a solid, easing potential complications associated with the commercialisation of fuel cell technology – Platinum Today, Aug 2006
Sweet Success for Pioneering Hydrogen Energy Project - Bacteria that can munch through confectionery could be a valuable source of non-polluting energy in the years ahead, new research has shown. In a feasibility study funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, bioscientists at the University of Birmingham have demonstrated that these bacteria give off hydrogen gas as they consume high-sugar waste produced by the confectionery industry. Read more from this May 2006 report from Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council, UK
Hydrogen & Fuel Cells 2007 – International Conference & Trade Show

Fuel Cells

Fuel Cells - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/fc/fc.html

Micro-Fuel Cell Technology for Handheld Electronic Devices – Technology News Daily, May 2006
'Cool' fuel cells could revolutionize Earth's energy resources - Jul 2004 by University of Houston
Pioneering fuel cell system provides power and hot water in the home for the first time - switch-on completes successful research project - Fuel Cell Markets
Pioneering Fuel Cell Technology Underlines Ceres Power’s Receipt of Frost & Sullivan’s Excellence in Technology Award - Jul 2006 - Ceres Power is presented with the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Technology Award in the European micro combined heat and power (CHP) market for developing a fuel cell technology that operates at lower temperature ranges compared to conventional solid oxide fuel cells. Read more from this Frost & Sullivan report

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/nuc/nuc.html

Colliding Plasma Toroid Clean-Energy Breakthrough - "The discovery of a new plasma toroid is a very significant discovery in plasma physics, and plasma scientists will be enormously excited about it." - Imagine being able to fly in an aircraft that is safe from explosions and fuel fires. Imagine being able to heat your home and to generate electricity for your own use, with about five percent of the fuel input it now takes just to get warm. Best of all, no carbon dioxide will be released. Modified high-density plasma toroids will be collided to produce both electricity and heat for homes, and to power road vehicles and aircraft. Read this PES Network News article (Mar 2006) to know more
Technological Breakthroughs May Bring Nuclear Power Out of the Mothballs - discusses the potential for commercial Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) that uses helium gas instead of water to cool the nuclear fuel, thousands of ceramic covered uranium “pebbles” instead of Uranium rods. Also discusses Accelerator-Driven Subcritical reactors (ADS) which relies on sub-critial chain-reaction. From Aug 2004 blog of National Center for Policy Analysis
“Clean Coal Technology – Beyond IGCC” a paper jointly authored by Mr. Klepper and Laurence W. Stewart Sr. Managing Member of Phoenix Biofuels, LLC. describes unique gasification and related innovations that will greatly expand our ability to unlock the energy of its abundant coal reserves as well as certain heretofore unusable coal waste streams for power, liquid fuels including ethanol, methanol, hydrogen, etc., and other products in environmentally friendly ways. Read more about this here – Mar 2005

Solar Energy

Solar Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/sol/sol.html

Solar Breakthrough will Help Spur Viability of Alternative Energy – Science Daily, Oct 2005 - While traditional solar panels are made of silicon, which is expensive, brittle and shatters like glass, organic solar cells being developed by this team are made of plastic that is relatively inexpensive, flexible, can be wrapped around structures or even applied like paint. These techniques make use of concepts in Nanotechnology. Read more from the Science Daily article.
The promise of artificial photosynthesis - A promising new contender is emerging: the harnessing of photosynthesis, the mechanism by which plants derive their energy. The idea is to create artificial systems that exploit the basic chemistry of photosynthesis in order to produce hydrogen or other fuels both for engines and electricity. May 2004, Energy Bulletin
Invention Heralds Advances In Solar Technology, Optical Computing - by Lockergnome, Jan 2007 - Physicists at Boston College have beamed visible light through a cable hundreds of times smaller than a human hair, an achievement they anticipate will lead to advances in solar power and optical computing.

Photo Voltaics

UCLA Engineering Announces Breakthrough in Silicon Photonics Devices, July 01, 2006, B2B Energy - Building on a series of recent breakthroughs in silicon photonics, researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a novel approach to silicon devices that combines light amplification with a photovoltaic – or solar panel – effect. In a study to be presented today at the 2006 International Optical Amplifiers and Applications Conference in Vancouver, Canada, UCLA Engineering researchers report that not only can optical amplification in silicon be achieved with zero power consumption, but power can now be generated in the process.
Solar Breakthrough Will Help Spur Viability Of Alternative Energy - While traditional solar panels are made of silicon, which is expensive, brittle and shatters like glass, organic solar cells being developed by a University of New Mexico team are made of plastic that is relatively inexpensive, flexible, can be wrapped around structures or even applied like paint, said physicist Seamus Curran, head of the nanotechnology laboratory at NMSU. Read more from this Science Daily Oct 2005 article
NanoHorizons Patents Cost and Efficiency Breakthrough for Solar Cells and Organic LEDs - NanoHorizons, Inc., an emerging leader in applied nanoscale materials and solutions, announced today that it has received a notice of allowance from the US Patent Office for its innovative nanoscale photovoltaic cell design. NanoHorizons' design enables dramatic improvements in solar cell efficiency and breakthrough reductions in fabrication costs. Brighter, more efficient Organic LEDs (OLEDs) are also made possible. Read more from this Nano Tech Wire June 2005 article
In a scientific breakthrough that has stunned the world, a team of South African scientists has developed a revolutionary new, highly efficient solar power technology that will enable homes to obtain all their electricity from the sun. The unique South African-developed solar panels will make it possible for houses to become completely self-sufficient for energy supplies. The panels are able to generate enough energy to run stoves, geysers, lights, TVs, fridges, computers - in short all the mod-cons of the modern house, says this Feb 2006 article from ZP Energy

Ocean Energy

Ocean Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/oce/oce.html

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) - Indeed, the Earth has an enormous natural solar collector - the tropical oceans. "On an average day, 60 million square kilometers (23 million square miles) of tropical seas absorb an amount of solar radiation equal in heat content to about 250 billion barrels of oil." Energy "equivalent to at least 4000 times the amount presently consumed by humans." If we can tap into this renewable source, considering thermodynamics and entropy, approximately 1% of it could provide the entire current worldwide demand for energy. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a technology that can extract useful work from solar energy stored in the sea. Since the sea IS the energy storage medium, OTEC offers 'always on' baseline supply - during bright clear days and dark nights, in still air and ferocious wind storms - without the expense and complications of artificial energy storage systems. Read more from this June 2006 article from Energy Bulletin

Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/eff/eff.html

New World Record Achieved in Solar Cell Technology - New Solar Cell Breaks the “40 Percent Efficient” Sunlight-to-Electricity Barrier. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner today announced that with DOE funding, a concentrator solar cell produced by Boeing-Spectrolab has recently achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent, establishing a new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity performance, says this Dec 2006 report from US Department of Energy
Urban Ecology Topics – Energy Efficiency Innovation – this page from the Urban Ecology Australian site provides a good list of energy

Wave / Tidal Energy

Wave / Tidal Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/wav/wav.html

Wave Power: Energy Buoy to Lead to Wavefarm? - BBC News reports that a pioneering project to harness wave power off the coast of north Cornwall, England is being monitored by scientists around the world. A state-of-the-art energy buoy is being launched 12 miles off St Ives by the Renewable Energy Agency for the South West (Regen SW) on Friday. The $132,000 buoy will record wave activity and measure wave power…Alt Energy Blog, Jan 2005
Wave Dragon – A large-scale ocean-energy solution for bulk electricity generation – see Wave Dragon web site. Wave Dragon is a floating, slack-moored energy converter of the overtopping type that can be deployed in a single unit or in arrays of Wave Dragon units in groups resulting in a power plant with a capacity comparable to traditional fossil based power plants. The first prototype connected to the grid is currently deployed in Nissum Bredning, Denmark. Long term testing is carried out to determine system performance; i.e. availability and power production in different sea states. The energy absorption performance stated at this website has now been independently verified and focus will now be on power production optimisation. These tests will lead to a multi-MW deployment in 2007.
Cliff-based Wave Power Potential for UK - Wave power plants built into cliff faces around the UK coast could be a reality within the next decade thanks to a pioneering wave energy plant being developed in a cliff on the Faroe Islands. Inverness based Wavegen, the company behind the world's first grid-connected wave power station on Islay, have been working in partnership with SEV, the Faroese electricity company, to develop a wave power station in the Faroe Islands. Read more from Renewable Energy Access, Feb 2005

Wind Energy

Wind Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/win/win.html

Floating Windmills – from Hydro.com – Nov 2005
The World's First "Magnetic Levitation" Wind Turbines Unveiled in China - Chinese developers have unveiled the world’s first permanent magnetic levitation wind power generator at the Wind Power Asia Exhibition 2006 in Beijing. The device is called a MagLev generator, and is being regarded as a key breakthrough in the evolution of global wind power technology. The generator was jointly developed by Guangzhou Energy Research Institute under China’s Academy of Sciences. The MagLev generator is expected to boost wind energy generating capacity by as much as 20 percent over traditional wind turbines. Read more from this July 2006 article of Tree Hugger. Read more from this July 2006 article of Tree Hugger
Why are R&D Needed for Wind Power? – European Commission Article

Transportation

Energy for Transportation - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/tra/tra.html

Discovery Could Increase Power of Ultracapacitors in Hybrid Propulsion - Previously, we noted the use of ultracapacitors in hybrid propulsion. Now MIT laboratories are announcing that they can improve ultra-capacitors by swapping in carbon nanotubes, thereby greatly increasing the surface area of electrodes and the ability to store energy. Ultracapacitors, a souped-up version of the capacitors widely used in electronics, have been around for decades Read more @ Tree Hugger, Feb 2006
115 mpg Biodiesel Harley? An electric harley with electric sidecar generator? Read more from Sep 2006 Auto Blog Green article

Public Transit

Eco & Conservation Related

Energy Conservation - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/eco.html

The Interflush Water-saving Product - Varyflush Ltd makes the Interflush™: A kit which fits on top of your WC siphon and connects to the front mounted flush handle. Only flushes when the handle is held down, releasing the handle stops the flush (when pan is clear). Only uses just what water is needed. Any less and the toilet would need flushing again. That is why nothing can flush a toilet with less water. Read more from the Interflush, UK web site

Others

Energy - Inventions, Research, Innovations, Breakthroughs

http://www.oilgae.com/energy/nn/oth/oth.html

Not Exactly Break-through, But Just Plain Interesting!

Bicycle Chosen as Best Invention – BBC UK (May 2005) – The humble bicycle has won a UK national survey of people's favourite inventions. Listeners to BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme were invited to vote in an online poll looking at the most significant innovations since 1800. It was an easy victory for the bicycle which won more than half of the vote.
Top 100 Renewable Energy Sites
Alternative Energy Inventors & Inventions – from About.com
Why the World is Not about to Run Out of Oil – The Economist, Apr 2006

Oilgae.com – Oil from Algae