XCPV Solar Technology Has a 37% Efficiency Rate

Sunrgi HQ (TGW) – Sunrgi has unveiled its new solar power technology which it says will only cost 5 centers per kilowatt – as cheap as fossil fuels.

The system, Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics (XCPV), concentrates the equivalent of more than 1600 times the sun’s energy onto extremely efficient solar cells. The XCPV system uses the same principle as a magnifying glass, concentrating the sun’s energy onto solar cells that convert more than 37% of the sun’s energy.

Sunrgi’s Coolmove technology also prevents the solar cells from melting under the intensified sunlight.

However, the technology is different from solar thermal power in that it does not heat water into steam that drives a turbine like in solar thermal power.

The company expects the technology to be available in 12 to 15 months.

Via :: Sunrgi :: Ecogeek

Water Statistics - Running Out of Water

80,000 liters – amount of water it takes to make a pair of leather shoes
2,000 liters – amount of water it takes to make a cotton shirt
2,400 liters – amount of water it takes to make a hamburger
1,200 liters – amount of water it takes to produce a gallon of ethanol
75 liters – amount of water it takes to make a glass of beer
140 liters – amount of water it takes to make a cup of coffee

4,000 cubic liters – amount of water per person in the mid 20th century
1,000 cubic liters – amount of water per person today
1,700 cubic liters – amount of water person “water stress” is defined as having

2021 – the year Lake Mead is expected to go dry

97.5% - amount of water in the world that is saltwater
1.75% - amount of water in the world that is freshwater but frozen
0.75% - amount of usable drinking water in the world
.0007% - amount of water in the world that is readily accessible for direct human use for drinking

Sources:
http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9925900-54.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=GreenTechblog
http://siwi.client.constructit.se/sa/node.asp?node=159

New Hydroelectric Dam in Congo Could Double Africa's Electricity Capacity

Congo (TGW) – Several African governments and the world’s largest construction firms and banks met recently to discuss a proposed $80 billion hydroelectric dam that would double the amount of electricity available to the African continent.

Proponents hope the Grand Inga dam in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will jump start the continent’s economy, and say the dam will produce twice as much electricity as the world current largest dam, the Three Gorges in China.

Activists, however, believe the dam will ignore local peoples and leave the Congo with massive debts.

"The project would be a magnet for corruption in one of the world's least stable regions. Inga will centralize a vast store of the region's electric and financial power, a development model that can foster tensions and civil wars," said Terri Hathaway, Africa campaigner with International Rivers, a watchdog group monitoring the project.

Via :: Guardian

Rockport, Missouri is the First U.S. Town to be Powered 100% by Wind Power

Rockport, Missouri (TGW) - The 1300 person town of Rockport, Missouri will become the first town in the United States to be completely powered by wind power.

The $90 million Loess Hills Wind Farm, built by the Wind Capital Group and the John Deere Corp. on bluffs west of Rock Port, generates five megawatts each day. That is approximately twice as much power as is needed to power Rockport; in other words, the 4 turbine Loess Hills Wind Farm could power two towns the size of Rockport.

To celebrate being America’s first wind-powered community, Rock Port, which is located in the far northwest corner of Missouri, will host a “Green Switch” celebration on Friday.

Via :: Meta Efficient :: The Examiner

ANALYSIS: Bush's Climate Plan Too Little Too Late

Reuters: Bush urges halt of CO2 emission growth by 2025

Background
President Bush, several months after the Bali climate conference, has announced the United States of America’s new climate policy: he wants our emissions to stop growing by the year 2025. That’s right, he wants them to stop growing. Not to go down, but to stop growing. Make sure you understand that part.

Also note, the president announced little (if any) plans that would actually stop emissions from growing.

Analysis
Now, there are principally three reasons for this:
1. To pressure China, India and other developing countries to start thinking about climate change
2. To speed up talks on a new international emissions treaty

Also, the initiative builds on the Administration’s new willingness to take a chance with an international treaty.

More needs to be done
This proposal obviously lacks any substance. First of all, only stopping emissions from growing by 2025 is too little, too late. The other problem, of course, is that Bush didn’t actually give any ideas on how to actually reduce emissions.

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Credit:Earth2Tech

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Credit: Flickr

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Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Gets Funding

Mariah Power HQ (TGW) – Mariah Power has raised $500,000 from venture capital firm Big Sky Partners for its vertical axis wind turbine, it said this week.


The ground-mounted, vertical-axis home turbine is expected to be available later this month for $4000.

By Mariah Power’s calculations, the company’s turbine is capable of generating a third of the electricity for a U.S. single-family home.

Via :: Green Tech Blog

An Inconvenient Truth 2

Or so it appears. Al Gore's brand new slideshow, exclusively at TED.com.

Olympic Torch Emits 5500 Tons of CO2 - More Than the Country of Niue

Mt. Olympus (TGW) - If you need another reason to get pissed about this year's Olympics, you've got one: by the time it's done, the Olympic torch will have emitted about 11 million pounds of CO2.

That is 5500 tons of the stuff, more than the whole country of Niue.

To be fair, Niue is a tiny island country somewhere in the Pacific. And also, Niue is emits the least amount of CO2 total per any country in the world.

So, why all the emissions? The journey the torch takes covers 85,000 miles. And when it isn't being run by some poor soul, the torch is flown on an Air China A330 custom painted with the Olympic logo and color scheme. The A330 burns 5.4 gallons of fuel per mile. That translates into 462,400 gallons for the entire trip. With Earthlab estimating that every gallon of jet fuel burned produces 23.88 pounds of CO2, that comes to a grand total of 5500 tons.

Via :: Wikipedia :: Wired

Ethanol Statistics

365: Days one person could be fed on the corn needed to fill an ethanol fueled SUV
$100 billion: Estimated size of the 2010 biofuel market.

2000-15000 gallons: Amount of biodiesel produced in one year by one acre of algae
300 gallons: Amount of ethanol produced by one acre of corn

75%: Drop in food prices from 1974 to 2005
$2.20: Corn price per bushel, January 2006
$6.00: Corn price per bushel, April 3, 2008


Sources:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725975,00.html
http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1315297/algae_can_help_us_move_past_ethanols_problems/
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=7216688&story_id=10252015
http://www.mfahealthtrack.net/mfa-content/graph1.pdf
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ixWlEKVzYLBv7gFujF5QhIUwtGqAD8VQJHLO0

Explain

"Found on a city street..."

via :: Flickr

New Engine Cuts Fuel Consumption 27%

Your hybrid (TGW) – Engineers in the U.K. have developed a new kind of hybrid that is able to switch between being a two-stroke and a four-stroke engine, which cuts fuel usage 27%.

The improved fuel consumption essentially comes from downsizing the engine. "A smaller engine has less internal friction and delivers better fuel consumption," said Neville Jackson, technology director of Ricardo UK, which developed the engine.

The two stroke internal combustion engine differs from the more common four stroke engine by completing the same four processes (intake, compression, combustion, exhaust) in only two strokes of the piston rather than four. (Wikipedia)

Small car engines are usually based on the four stroke engine, which doesn’t offer as much power. They can be particularly problematic when operated at low speeds with a high load, such as when accelerating uphill.

This new engine, 2/4SIGHT, can switch between the two stroke and four stroke engine depending on need.

Via :: Technology Review

ExxonMobil Agrees to Cease All Operations, Calls for International Boycott of Petroleum

Exxon HQ (TGW) – ExxonMobil Corp. announced today that it has fully realized the dangers of global warming and has agreed to cease all operations, CEO Rex Tillerson said today.

The company has also called for an international boycott of all fossil fuels.

“The facts can not be denied,” Tillerson said in a press conference. “After meeting with Al Gore yesterday, I have come to the conclusion the Earth is in fact warming because of humans.”

He declared all ExxonMobil operations would be shut down by August 1.

“This is just a small step,” Michael Boskin, an ExxonMobil board member, said. “150 years of greenhouse gas emissions cannot be overturned by something simple like this. That is why I have decided to create the nonprofit ExxonNewEnergy Group, which will invest in renewable energy and reforestation efforts.”

He said all Exxon profits from the last 3 years would be donated to the fund.

President Bush greeted the decision with glee. “I’m glad someone is finally doing something about this potential disaster,” he said.

Via :: Aprils Fools