Bloom Box 60 Minutes Segment

Bloom Energy, a California startup with big financial backing, is about to launch (tomorrow) their Bloom Box, a fuel cell device that they hope to see in the home of every American in the next 5 to 10 years. Holding up two tiny boxes, K.R. Sridhar of Bloom Energy told Lesley Stahl in a recent 60 Minutes interview that they were enough to power a single American home (incidentally, the same number of boxes could power 4 Asian homes, and UK homes require just one).

Many, however, are skeptical that these Bloom Boxes will be able to deliver on their power-saving promises. Michael Kanellos, editors of Greentech Media, has doubts. His concerns are twofold. First, big firms such as GE already have patents for fuel cells but have not yet begun to sell them, primarily because they cost too much to be competitive. Second, well-funded projects like this one with a protracted product development stage—Bloom Energy has been working on its fuel cells for about 10 years and has already received more than $400 million in funding—tend to fall flat when they finally “go live.”

But Bloom Energy already has several clients that have been using the Bloom Box for 9+ months with a lot of success. The installation on the eBay lawn has been running for about that much time and apparently has already saved the company more than $100,000 in electricity costs, providing about 15% of the building’s energy. Their system produces about five times more energy than their acres of solar panels, too!

What remains to be seen is whether the Bloom Box will be affordable for the average consumer looking to save energy at home. Sridhar promises that it will be affordable for Americans, and even for communities in developing countries. We’ll find out tomorrow!

InCharge Battery Station

The Greener Gadgets Design Competition is on in anticipation of Greener Gadgets Conference to be held in New York City on February 25. You can make your voice heard by voting for the gadget you find more eco-friendly.

Consider, for instance, the BuLogics Smart Grid Home Controller. It’s billed as the world’s first smart grid-compatible wireless controller. By installing the Z-Wave HAN in your home, you can automatically shut down appliances and electronics that are not being used during peak electricity demand times. This occurs when your local utility grid sends a demand change request and allows you to reduce your monthly power costs. You can also monitor how much you’re using and saving using a wireless computer or cell phone. It’s a great way to really get a handle on when and how much energy you use in order to save power as much as possible.

Another option is the InCharge Battery Station by Pensa. We all know that using rechargeable batteries is not only cost-effective, it’s more environmentally-friendly than disposable batteries. But it can be a pain to plug in the charger and hook up the batteries. With the InCharge Battery Station, simply drop the batteries into the base—it automatically sorts them and begins charging. The LED light indicates the relative charge in each individual battery, holding charged batteries until you need them so that you always have batteries at the ready.

And if you want to produce your own power to charge your electronic devices, check out the RollerGen. As you cycle, the RollerGen will automatically charge two devices—cell phone, mp3 player, and so on—simultaneously. In fact, a 2-mile ride can charge a smartphone!

Or how about the Turbine Light? It’s a renewable energy harvesting device that doubles as a renewable energy system. As the wind turns the turbine, energy is created, which can be used to power the lighting at night. The wind is generated by weather or by passing vehicles.

So don’t miss out on your opportunity to vote for the greenest gadget (deadline February 25)!

RollerGen bicycle powering device

Turbine Light

Concord Keystone solar-powered handbag helps you save power on the go

Concord Keystone Trading LLC, an interesting little company, has recently produced a new solar-powered tote bag that’s stylish as much as it is an energy-saver. Unlike many other solar-powered backpacks, briefcases, and handbags that are so not trendy or chic in the least, the 4U2ReUSE (for you to reuse) Solar Sling actually has some good style sense.

But more than that, the bag provides renewable energy while exposed to solar energy during the daytime. Using G24i’s solar panel technology, which is a thin-film variety form of photovoltaics that is capable of charging even when the sun hides behind the clouds, the on-board battery stores the energy from the panels and then can dole it out to small electronics via USB connector. It can charge anything from a cell phone or smart phone to digital cameras and iPods. When in full sun, the system should be fully charged within approximately five hours, according to Concord.

To add to the bag’s eco-credibility, it is made from recycled PET plastic bottles and of course can be used in place of disposable plastic bags handed out at a variety of vendors—from your local grocer to fashion retail outlet.

The bag’s other features include a compartment for a laptop, a key clip, and spacious pockets. It will be available in four color combinations and comes with the battery pack.

Concord Keystone featured this new product at CES, the consumer electronics tradeshow that took place in Las Vegas, Nevada. It has yet to be priced, though is expected to come on the market soon.

DIY solar is now a reality with solar systems available at Lowe's via Flickr - OregonDOT

Starting now, you can purchase easy-to-install solar photovoltaics from Lowe’s, carrying them home and installing them yourself, if you so desire. This first-ever, off-the-shelf option was recently announced by Akeena Solar Inc and is a way for DIY consumers to get the renewable energy system they want.

Akeena Solar is a manufacturer and installer of solar power systems and has hooked up with 21 Lowe’s home improvement stores in California to offer these plug-and-play solar panels to the general public.  Packages include racking, wiring, grounding, and all of the other parts needed to produce your own energy. Plus they have built-in inverters so they output AC power, which means no high-voltage wiring is required. These simple systems are supposedly to be installed easily by experienced do-it-yourselfers as well as electricians and HVAC contractors.

Barry Cinnamon, CEO of Akeena Solar, had this to say:

“The PC revolution in the computer industry occurred when new technology made PCs easy to use and affordable. Likewise, with panels becoming plug-and-play appliances, the solar revolution has started. The availability of solar panels in Lowe’s stores makes it easy for homeowners to go solar and is a big step toward getting solar on every sunny rooftop.”

The award-winning solar panels will be in Lowe’s Energy Centers where customers, using an interactive information kiosk, create their own unique energy plan according to their budget and energy goals. Additional energy-saving products will also be available in the Energy Centers.

The good news is that Lowe’s Energy Centers will be added to more stores throughout the US and Canada during 2010.

Lowes Home Improvement Energy Centers now carry solar systems (in California) via Flickr - doortoriver

Akeena Solar has teamed up with Lowe's to provide a DIY solar option for consumers

Obama administration recently announced a new clean energy REDI program

The Obama administration announced a new program on December 14: The Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative (REDI), which will offer $350 million in funds to accelerate the development of clean energy technologies. As both a domestic and global initiative, some of the funds ($85 million) will go into a joint coffer (supported by other countries such as Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, the UK, and France) to be used to develop and deploy clean energy tech around the world.

The program will operate in several industries, including advanced vehicles, bioenergy, building and industrial efficiencies, smart grid technologies, carbon capture, high-efficiency coal,  and of course, solar, wind, and marine energy. The official REDI website outlines the following programs that will receive this funding:

• The Solar and LED Energy Access Program will accelerate deployment of affordable solar home systems and LED lanterns to those without access to electricity.  This program will yield immediate economic and public health benefits by providing households with low-cost and quality-assured solar alternatives to expensive and polluting kerosene.
• The Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment Program will harness the market and convening power of MEF countries to improve efficiency for appliances traded throughout the world.  A number of MEF countries have implemented, or are exploring, incentive programs for energy-efficient appliances. Coordinating incentives, standards and labeling systems can create unprecedented economies of scale for these appliances.

• The Clean Energy Information Platform will establish an online platform for MEF countries to exchange technical resources, policy experience and the infrastructure to coordinate various activities in deploying clean energy technologies, and share this information with the world.

• The Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program (S-REP), under the World Bank’s Strategic Climate Fund, will provide policy support and technical assistance to low-income countries developing national renewable energy strategies and underwrite additional capital costs associated with renewable energy investments.  Funding through Climate REDI will accelerate the launch of S-REP.

Further, it states that REDI will use the following tools to disseminate the new technologies:

1. Quality assurance to guard developing country consumers against sub-standard renewable energy products;
2. Minimum efficiency standards to remove the lowest efficiency appliances from the market;
3. Labeling to guide consumers to quality-assured and high-efficiency products;
4. Financing for scale up of early-stage low-carbon products, to bring down costs and remove barriers to deployment and to catalyze investment by the private sector;
5. Information sharing that enables all energy stakeholders to access state-of-the art information on technology and best practices.

Solarmer Energy's organic photovoltaic technology

There have been some interesting developments in the world of solar this month and two in particular seemed share-worthy. First, ShadePlex, purportedly the leader in solar-electric flexible-use architectural fabrics, is now offering color-coordinated solar products! Their energy-producing fabric frames come in a variety of colors (red, yellow, green, or bright blue) so that you can match them to various surfaces.

While the fabrics themselves don’t product energy, the thin-film, flexible solar material is bonded to architectural fabrics to form a flexible, framed solar panel. They can be used to cover walkways and canopies, as tents, and in other flexible structures. And because of their lightweight materials, they require little to no reinforcement. Interesting concept!

Second, Solarmer Energy Inc has recently boosted the efficiency of their flexible plastic solar panels (organic photovoltaic technology or OPV) from the 7.6% efficiency they achieved earlier this year to 7.9%, a number that has been confirmed by the US Department of Energy. Though that may not seem like a huge bump in efficiency, it is still movement. And since Solarmer aims to reach 10% efficiency by the end of 2010, every bit counts. Here’s what they said regarding the breakthrough:

“First, low-cost plastic is used as the active materials to convert solar energy into electricity. Thanks to the extraordinary light absorption capability of the plastics, the active plastics layer is extremely thin – only a few tenth of micrometer thick, i.e. less than 1/1000 of silicon cell. This material cost is significantly lower.

Second, very low cost printing techniques can and will be used to manufacture plastic solar cells (just thinking of the newspaper). The combination gives much lower cost of equivalent energy (only ~10 – 20% that of silicon technology). In addition, the fabrication process is both low temperature and environmentally friendly, significantly reduces the amount of energy consumption in the manufacturing process.”

ShadePlex color-coordinated solar panels

Solarmer Energy's building-integrated solar photovoltaics

Solar Cookers International

If you’re looking for a meaningful way for you to symbolically save power this holiday season, why not consider sponsoring a solar cooker through Solar Cookers International? In fact, sponsoring a solar cooker through this organization could make a very good gift. Making donations to nonprofit organizations in someone else’s name rather than purchasing something they neither need or want is a great way to support a good cause, reduce your consumption and waste, and help perpetuate a more sustainable future.

Of course, there are many great options for nonprofit gift giving but this is certainly a great one. Solar cookers come with many benefits for fighting climate change. Not only do they require no dirty energy, their use helps to protect forests and human health.

Traditionally, people in developing countries cook over open fires by burning things like wood and animal manure. The resulting air pollution leads to millions of respiratory problems and many deaths. It is estimated that as many as 2 million children die from health problems caused by the black carbon smoke emitted by cooking fires. And this black carbon is said to be the second more significant global warming pollutant in the world! Solar cookers create none of this air pollution and are therefore healthier for people to use. Of course, when forests are protected, they are able to help sequester carbon, too.

And instead of spending time to forage for firewood with the potential for depleting local forests, women who cook with solar cookers can do so without harming their community’s natural resources and have more time for other endeavors, such as entrepreneurial work or caring for their children.

The Solar Cooker International’s kit comes with the solar cooker and a pot along with tips and hints on how to use them. What’s even better is that a water indicator is included. This makes it possible for women to measure whether harmful microbes have been killed in the water so that they know whether it’s safe to drink.

So make a difference this holiday season—donate a $50 solar cooker to someone in a developing nation to change a life and offset emissions in the process. Of course, you could also purchase one for yourself or a family member or friend to get into the renewable-cooking movement yourself!

Residential Wind Turbines and Solar Panels - greenforall.org

Good news via a study out of Yale, Berkley, and the University of Illinois. The study, entitled Clean Energy and Climate Policy for U.S. Growth and Job Creation outlines some very positive statistics on where we’ll be after the implementation of a climate bill in the US. According to the analysis by these folks, a climate bill will have exceptionally-positive benefits for both job creation and the economy: it could potentially boost the bottom line by $111 billion by 2020 as well as add 2 million jobs at the same time.

These numbers depend on a few key factors being present in any bill passed in the US. For instance, it requires that targets for emissions reductions be at least 17% nationwide by 2020, and then 83% by 2050. Additionally, utilities will need to get their electricity from renewables at a rate of 20% or greater.

According to the report’s summary, the key findings are as follows:

“All 50 states can gain economically from strong federal energy and climate policy, despite the diversity of their economies and energy mixes.

“Contrary to what is commonly assumed, comprehensive national climate policy does not benefit the coasts at the expense of the heartland states.

“The country as a whole can gain 918,000 to 1.9 million jobs, and household income can grow by $488 to $1,176, by 2020 under comprehensive energy and climate policy.”

The report even offers a state-by-state analysis of what effects a climate bill will have on local economies. This is all very good news for a skeptical and fearful society convinced that dealing with climate change will cost too much.

Center for American Progress Action Fund - 2009 National Clean Energy Jobs Tour

Georgia Tech - close-up of 3-D solar cells

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It just makes sense that solar cells be exposed to as much sunlight as possible, right? Not with Dr. Zhong Lin Wang’s new nanostructure optical fiber “hidden” photovoltaic cells. This Georgia Institute of Technology professor, along with a team of researchers, recently developed a new way to create renewable energy, and it could spell a major change in the roof-top solar panel dominated industry—and in fact may take solar collectors underground. According to Wang:

“Optical fiber could conduct sunlight into a building’s walls where the nanostructures would convert it to electricity. This is truly a three dimensional solar cell.”

These solar collectors are made by modifying common optical fibers used in the telecommunications industry for data transport, applying zinc oxide (think lifeguard nose protection) as a conductive coating, and then adding nanowires as well. Then a dye-sensitized material is added that uses a photochemical system to produce energy. These are cheap to make, are highly durable and flexible, and very versatile. In fact, they could be installed into walls, roofs, and other building materials without any visual disturbance, making the collection of energy possible on nearly any surface.

“This will really provide some new options for photovoltaic systems,” Wang said. “We could eliminate the aesthetic issues of PV arrays on building. We can also envision PV systems for providing energy to parked vehicles, and for charging mobile military equipment where traditional arrays aren’t practical or you wouldn’t want to use them.”

One drawback is efficiency. Unlike traditional silicon-based solar cells which get about 12% efficiency, these currently only about 3.3%, but with diverse applications in which this technology could be used, the trade-off may just be worth it. And they hope to increase efficiencies to about 8% in the near future.

Georgia Tech - working on new hidden solar cells

Georgia Tech - Dr. Wang with zinc oxide solar cells

Chinese renewable energy Via Flickr - drs2biz

All eyes were on the Chinese-US talks the last week as Obama met with key leaders in the Asian country. With clean energy being one of the biggest issues on the table for the first time in a really public manner, we were all holding our collective breath to see whether anything would get done. And it seems that there is reason to hope!

The US and China, knowing the joint sway they will hold over the Copenhagen talks in January, were eager (or so it appeared) to see how they could influence the talks for good by developing a renewable energy agreement. These the two biggest emitters were able to agree on a broad plan that would help to bring about serious advances in clean energy.

The seven-point plan included the following:

• They US and China will establish a Clean Energy Research Center to facilitate joint research and development of renewable energy technologies. The center will receive both public and private funding to the tune of $150 million over the next five years.
• A joint US-Chinese Electric Vehicles Initiative was announced that will see joint vehicle standards, public education, demonstration projects, and more.
• Together, China and the US will work on an Energy Efficiency Action Plan for buildings, consumer products like appliances, as well as industrial facilities.
• A new US-China Renewable Energy Partnership was launched that will help to support renewable energy deployment and regional partnerships for sharing expertise and best practices.
• “Clean” coal was part of the overall strategy—21^st Century Coal. The two Presidents will work together to develop large-scale carbon capture and storage projects for coal-fired plants.
• Working together, the two countries will explore Shale Gas Resources within China using the experience gained on US soil.
• A new Energy Cooperation Program between China and the US will also be established to leverage private sector resources that will support smart grids, green buildings, combined heat/power, renewable energy, clean coal, and more.

According to the United Nations 170,000 square kilometres of forest is destroyed each year. If we constructed solar farms at the same rate, we would be finished in 3 years.

How little land is required to power the world with solar

Using some everyday math and artistic talent, the folks at Land Art Generator Initiative have put together some maps depicting how much physical space would actually be required to power the world energy requirements—all 678,000,000,000,000,000 Btus of energy worth—using only wind and solar energy. The results are quite encouraging, indeed.

As you can see from these visual representations of where and how wind and solar power could be generated, it’s obvious that the amount of land required would actually be very small. The US, for instance, would need approximately 1,000 solar “supersites” measuring about 10 square km (about 6.2 square miles) to generate enough solar energy for the entire country.

Compared to the amount of space required for the American highway system—94,000 square kilometres, or 58,400 square miles, and those highways were constructed in a space of 35 years.

Harvesting wind for the world’s energy needs

Land Art Generator - Wind Power to Fuel the World

The numbers for wind energy are equally as impressive:

A 5 MW turbine can be expected to produce 17 GWh per year (they are 40% effective from their peak rated capacity – 5 MW x 365 x 24 = 43.8 GWh). Therefore, it would require 11,748,294 of the 5 MW capacity turbines to create the same yearly output. There are 500 million cars in the world so it’s not like that’s an unattainable goal from a manufacturing standpoint. And each 5 MW turbine is a 30 year lifespan money making machine for whoever buys it. The same can not be said for my car. But if we can build 90,000 Cape Wind size installations, we would be there on wind alone. Based on that installation, each turbine requires 1/2 square mile of area for offshore sites. This would require 5.85 million square kilometers for 2030 world energy needs.

Sunny Flower solar charger Via DesignBoom

We use energy to charge our mobile devices every single day. And since so many chargers are inefficient in their design (wasting energy by turning it into heat), it does us good to look for lower-energy methods of powering our gadgets and such.

But what is a green fashionista to do when she wants to power her gadgets without a clunky backpack or solar strip? Use a small, happy little solar charger, of course.

Welcome the new Sunny Flower solar charger by Chinese designer Fandi Meng. This ultra-portable solar-powered charger comes in a compact form, but by spreading out the “petals” it flowers into a cheery charging station.

It comes with the mini solar panel petals that charge an on-board battery. Once charged, simply fold up the petals and then use it to power almost any small mobile device—iPhone, mp3 player, etc. There’s even an indicator light that glows when your device is fully-charged.

This is a really nice, stylish solution for green power options on the go. It provides plugless, free solar energy and makes dead batteries a thing of the past, too.

Sunny Flower solar charger Via DesignBoom - on window

Sunny Flower solar charger Via DesignBoom - folds up

Nanosolar has an ambitious goal: to “design, engineer, and manufacture solar power technology that sets the standard for cost and capital efficiency.” Their goal has been to come up with a way to produce thin-film solar panels that would be extremely cheap to make and easy to handle.

On September 9, they announced that they’re finally finished their panel factory in Germany—a factory that uses automation 24/7 to produce their new thin-film panels at a rate of 640 MW annually or about one panel every 10 seconds. These panels are made by “printing” the solar cells onto a flexible metal foil using a nanoparticle solar ink (see video for a demonstration).

They also announced that they’ve already begun to produce the same solar panels through serious production in their San Jose, California factory earlier this year. They already have $4.1 billion worth of contract orders to complete.

The same day, the unveiled their first product Nanosolar Utility Panel™ which is panel designed specifically for utility-scale power systems.

The panel effectively eliminates the “balance-of-system penalty” that medium-efficient thin panels have conventionally carried relative to higher-efficiency (yet far more expensive) silicon panels.

It is said to be the industry’s highest-current thin panel by a factor of six and is certified by TUV for a system voltage of 1500V, which is 50 percent more than the previously highest certified. They’ve also published a white paper on the subject of utility technology.

Nanosolar panels

Nanosolar production line

Nanosolar production

  

Solar energy assisted solid desiccant air drying/ventilation system flow diagram

Conventional air conditioning systems apply an evaporation-condensation cycle in order to cool the humid air and thus remove the water content from the air stream. The condensation process which is carried on by a compressor utilizes a significant amount of energy. An alternative to this procedure is moisture absorption by chemical materials known as desiccants. The desiccation process is reversible by heating the desiccant substances called as regeneration. The absorption-regeneration cycle consumes less energy than evaporation-compression cycle. Solid desiccant materials can be packed in or impregnated on corrugated sheets within a wheel or a cartridge to act more convenient in an air conditioning system. The solid desiccant wheel rotates regularly in this system while a part of it is absorbing humidity from countercurrent humid air stream and the other part is regenerating against heat stream.

Thermal energy exploited from solar heater panels has been recently assisted in a desiccant wheel air conditioning demonstration project in Kish Island, Persian Gulf, Iran. “This demonstration unit was completed in late 2008 and successfully tested afterwards” said Pejman Izadkhast, M.E., the project manager, “simple solar water heating panels by total surface of 48m² were utilized to supply required heat for solid desiccant regeneration. The hot water moves through a water-to-air heat exchanger and supplies the hot air stream for desiccant regeneration”. Interior air conditioning in very humid climate Kish Island located in southern Iran is a subject of great interest because the large number of inhabitants and passengers in this outstanding tourism spot creates a high energy demand for air conditioning which in turn imposes a great load to the independent power grid in the island. The long sunny hours in Kish Island (about 3100 hours per year) makes it attractive for exploitation of solar energy.

The installed solid desiccant air conditioning unit in Kish Island

This project was implemented in order to evaluate the performance of solar thermal assisted solid desiccant air drying system in practical conditions of Kish Island’s environment and its influence on energy saving. The nominal capacity of this demonstration unit is 5RT (60,000Btu/hr or 17.58kW) and employs primary heat exchanger, air humidifier, rotary desiccant wheel, regenerative heat exchanger, hot water tank, water pump, solar collectors, secondary heat exchanger, evaporator, condenser, supply fan and regeneration fan. The process flow chart has been demonstrated in the following figure:

Solar energy assisted solid desiccant air drying/ventilation system flow diagram

Performance monitoring of demonstration system during summer 2009 revealed some 32% reduce in electricity consumption comparing to conventional home air conditioners” declared Pejman Izadkhast, our next step is to compare its performance with absorptive chillers.

The next figure demonstrates the 3D configuration of system.

Three dimensional configuration of solid desiccant air conditioning package

The project was collaboratively supported by New Energies Organization of Iran (SUNA) and Niroo Research Institute (NRI) which performed investigations, conceptual and detailed designs, procurement, assembling, installations and test operations. Installation of this demonstration plant was carried on in administrative building of Kish Island’s Water and Power Organization. The following picture shows the completed system.

Guiding Light Mailbox

If you’ve been in the market for a way to light-up your home’s address markings, then you may just want to take a look at this new Guiding Light Mailbox. While having a lighted home address might seem a little over-the-top for many of us, as the company points out on their website, having an illuminated address sign on the exterior of your home may just help in emergencies. Should be awaiting the arrival of an ambulance, fire or police crew, having a lighted sign on the exterior of your home may just help them get to you a little faster. And now you can do it without using extra energy.

Produced by Sharpe Products, Inc, the Guiding Light Mailbox has several power-saving and eco-friendly features. First and foremost, it comes with its own miniature solar cell that collects energy from the sun all day long. Then, instead of using electricity or battery power to light up a sign with your home’s address, your Guiding Light Mailbox will guide people to your home using only the sun’s power.

And you don’t have to worry about not having enough sunlight to power your sign either. With only 4 hours of solar exposure, your address sign will have enough energy to shine for 4 days! Amazingly, the light can apparently be seen from about one-half of the length of a football field away, so that’s relatively powerful, too.

Another great green feature of this mailbox is that it is made to last a long time. Although not recycled, the saddle for the mailbox is tested to withstand scorching sun and wind, so it should function for a long time to come.  It will be available for about $79.99 starting on October 1, 2009.

E-WERK Bicycle Charger

We always like to cover chargers for portable devices since our lives are so tech-heavy, especially on the go. From cell phones and PDAs to laptops and GPS devices, we’re wired for work everywhere we go, and all of this technology requires some sort of energy to keep it going.

There are all sorts of charging technologies on the market today, including solar, wind, fuel cell, and more. But today’s gadget charger is one that uses your own human energy. Attached to your bike as you cycle to work, take a leisurely ride with your kids, or whatever, this E-Werk device is a universal power supply and recharger made by Busch & Muller KG in Germany.

E-WERK Bicycle Charging Tools

With your own muscle power as you ride, the E-Werk will generate up to 16 W of power and recharges as quickly as the average plug-in charger. It weighs about 53 grams and comes with two cables as well as a USB connector so that you can hook it up to almost any device. You can use a stylus that’s mounted at the bottom of the E-Werk to adjust voltage and current so that you can use it to serve a variety of applications. It can be used to power anything from your GPS device, PDA, cell phone, bike lights, music player, and more.

The E-Werk was awarded the esteemed Eurobike Green Award for a product that “exhibits particularly significant ecological and sustainable value.” It will be available for purchase starting in October for £139.

Medis Fuel Cell Charger

The small-scale fuel cell gadget chargers that have been talked-up for a couple of years are now finally hitting the consumer market. The Medis Fuel Cell chargers look like they could be a fun, renewable way to power small devices and handheld electronic toys for the green gadget owner.

Made without environmentally-harmful materials like batteries that use heavy metals for energy storage, the direct liquid fuel cell technology used in this device is supposedly green. It’s free of mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, and other heavy metals and is made with non-ozone-depleting solvents.

Medis Fuel Cell Emergency Kit

The Medis Fuel Cell chargers provide instant-power much like batteries, so you don’t have to wait like you would with a solar charger for the cells to soak up energy. It will power all kinds of small devices, including cell phones, handhelds, radios, and more and comes with hook-ups for standard USB, mini USB, micro USB, Nokia tip, and Palm Treo connectors.

Its other green credentials include PVC-packaging (it’s wrapped in recyclable PET plastic packaging) and RoHS Compliance to meet the touch European environmental standards.

Unfortunately, it’s not all eco-friendly with this particular power-up device because of a couple of environmental downsides. Apparently, it is disposable so has a limited power capacity and will eventually run out of juice. The entire thing needs to be disposed of once it’s spent, including all of those tips and plugs, most of which you likely won’t ever use. But the concept is very interesting! It seems that a longer-life portable solar charger would be a better investment.

Wind turbine Via Flickr - greenforall.org

Many have argued that switching to a renewable energy structure in the short term would really put the economy on the rocks. But a new report put out by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) called Working for the Climate shows that moving to a renewable energy economy while phasing out dirty energies like coal would create 2.7 million new jobs!

Perhaps more surprising than the statistics pointing to new jobs with a renewable energy push (are we surprised?) is the conclusion that continuing with business as usual could actually lead to additional job losses.

We found that under the Energy [R]evolution scenario, there would be an overall increase of around 2 million power sector jobs over 20 years. But if we carry on without measures to make the shift to clean energy, we will see sector-wide job losses – half a million energy supply jobs would disappear between 2010 and 2030.

As one way of proving the stability of the renewable sector, they cite these statistics:

According to the UNEP Report “Global Trends in sustainable Energy Investment 2009”, investment in the sustainable energy market has in some ways defied the global recession growing by around 5%—from  $148 billion in 2007 to around $155 billion in 2008.

These kinds of reports fly in the fact of clean energy deniers who purport that injecting funds into renewable energy will destabilize the economy even more than it already was. In fact, those who have claimed that for every green job created two jobs will be lost, the NREL has this to say:

The analysis by the authors from King Juan Carlos University represents a significant divergence from traditional methodologies used to estimate employment impacts from renewable energy. In fact, the methodology does not reflect an employment impact analysis. Accordingly, the primary conclusion made by the authors – policy support of renewable energy results in net jobs losses – is not supported by their work.

In combination with emissions-savings projects, such as improving building efficiencies and planting forests, the renewable energy sector has tremendous potential to re-employ America and get the country thriving again. And healthier in the process.

Installing solar PV panels Via Flickr - bkusler

Recycling pick-up Via Flickr - vict0r ram0s

Wind park in the Baltic Sea near Samso, Denmark Via Flickr - m.prinke

According to a report published by the European Wind Energy Association on September 14, the total installed capacity of offshore wind may leap to 150 gigawatts of energy by 2030.  That could account for 17 percent of the EU’s electricity demand by 2030 if all goes as planned.

Producing renewable energy in the bloc will see a surge in the coming decades due to a new law under the EU that requires that they more than double to 20 percent on average their renewables (wind, solar, biomass, etc) by 2020. This will be a huge leap for offshore wind energy which currently occupies only 0.3 percent of the electricity mix.

European Wind Energy Association - 20 Year Offshore Network Development Master Plan

Additional impetus for renewables will come from an EU legislation that will make fossil fuel usage more expensive. In the EU’s emissions-trading system, the EU hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industry by 20 percent in 2020 compared to 1990 levels.

At present, there are more than 100 gigawatts of offshore wind power installations planned with participation from 15 EU member states.  If these planned wind installations are permitted to move forward, it would allow the EU to avoid 290 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The European Wind Energy Association urged the European Commissions to make the creation of an offshore grid linking the 11 installed and 21 planned installations possible.

Wind power generators in Dongfang Via Flickr - drs2biz

That’s the conclusion of a recent report published in Science magazine by Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. China is a coal-loving nation (it’s cheap and plentiful), but the carbon emissions and air pollution resulting from this love affair could become one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions as the country grows along with their demand for energy. Currently, China has the second largest power generating capacity in the world, with a whopping 792.5 gigawatts per year being produced and an anticipated growth of 10 percent every year.

According to the study, which uses meteorological data combined with bidding information and financial restrictions on wind power from the Chinese government, estimate that using wind energy alone, the country could provide enough electricity to meet demands for the nation for 2030! At present, only 0.4 percent of China’s electricity supply comes from wind.

But with the recent (2005) passing of the country’s Renewable Energy Law which provides favourable tax status for alternative energy projects as well as low cost of 7.6 US cents per kilowatt-hour could allow wind energy to surge ahead of fossil fuel energies.

“Wind farms would only need to take up land areas of 0.5 million square kilometers, or regions about three quarters of the size of Texas. The physical footprints of wind turbines would be even smaller, allowing the areas to remain agricultural,” said Xi Lu, Harvard graduate student.

Wind turbines Via Flickr - Leo-seta

To reach this full potential, the Chinese government would have to invest $900 billion over the next twenty years, a cost some consider reasonable for China.

UCS - Climate Change in the United States - Prohibitive Costs of Inaction - Nationwide Projected Temperature Increases

Climate deniers often talk about the cost to businesses and industry that will come as a result of climate legislation, but far too often, they gloss over the costs we’ll endure if we do nothing about climate change. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has recently published a new report, entitled “Climate Change in the United States: The Prohibitive Costs of Inaction,” which gives an overview of 60 studies that focus on the financial consequences of ignoring the problem of global warming.

Costs will be incurred as a result of hurricanes and flooding of greater intensity, rising sea levels, strained water and energy resources, wildfires, human health problems related to a warmer climate (vector-borne diseases, etc), and so on. The bill for these impending environmental problems will be somewhere in the neighborhood of hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century.

Lexi Shultz, deputy director of the Climate Program at UCS, makes this comment:

If we don’t address global warming, you can imagine a cash register going ‘ka-ching’ all across the country.

The report isn’t all doom and gloom. They take pains to point out that it will be much more affordable for us to address climate change now through preventative actions. Although there will be some financial costs to fighting global warming—the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration suggests that in 2020 it will amount to about $10 monthly for the average US household—these will be significantly less than what taxpayers and businesses will have to pay if we ignore the problem.

There are also separate reports for the Southeast, Midwest, and Western states of the US, outlining more thoroughly the local implications of climate change.

Wildfire Via Flickr - DRB62

Hurricane Gustav, Mississippi Via Flickr - au_tiger01

People are packing their backpacks to head off to school, and so it’s a good time to talk about how you can charge your gadgets and things using the power of the sun. Here’s a run-down of a few great options available from the solar world today.

Solio Charger

Portable Solar with Solio

A standard in any green backpack, the Solio Charger from Solio will charge devices anytime (there’s a battery on board for storing energy) from anywhere.  It’s small and versatile.

Cost: $50

Voltaic Systems Solar Backpack

Solar-powered anything with Volaic Systems Solar Backpack

A favorite with greens for many years, this Voltaic solar backpack can charge nearly any device (comes with 11 standard adaptors) as you walk to work or hike a mountain. There’s also a battery back that will store energy until you need it.

Cost: $249

NovoThink iphone-solar-skin

Sun-powered skin for the iPhone or iPod Touch by NovoThink

Available by the end of September, the NovoThink Solar Surge will make it a whole lot easier for iPhone or the iPod Touch owners to power-up their portables with solar. According to the literature, the Solar Surge will provide 30 minutes of talk time on 3G networks and 60 minutes on 2G networks with just 2 hours of charging in direct sunlight. The battery built into the skin will also hold 120 percent of the iPhone 3G’s capacity, too.

Cost: $70

Brunton SolarRolls

Roll-away solar charging is convenient, compact

The SolarRoll by Brunton is made to be packed pretty much anywhere—in your car, your backpack, or your briefcase—because it’s lightweight and compact. It’ll charge most hand-held devices and comes with three watt capacities for added flexibility.

Cost: $295-$480

SolarGorilla Laptop Charger

High Wattage with SolarGorilla Laptop Charger

From PowerTraveller comes the SolarGorilla, a portable solar charger that’s big on power. It’s compact, fold-up design is rugged and easy to use, and will power most devices, including laptops. Comes with many attachments for maximum usability.

Cost: $276

Japanese manufacturers are joining forces in a $21 billion project to collect and beam energy from space to earth. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and IHI Corp, along with 14 other entities in the research group, have invested heavily in a giant solar-power generator project that they’re aiming to complete in the next 30 years. read more +