Wild Ideas News

• 12/27/2013 -   Apple's wind turbine technology uses heat, not rotational energy to generate electricity
  
  Apple has patented a new type of wind turbine that produces heat which is then stored to turn a turbine. Seems similar to concentrated solar's molten salt energy storage, but can it really produce enough heat? Seems questionable...
• 1/9/2013 -   Google is Greenwashing, Paper Industry Claims
  
  An angry debate has sprung up between Google and the paper industry about the seemingly innocuous push for a paper-less world. With both sides having an obvious horse in the race, the paper industry makes a good point that sustainable paper production can be green whereas power production needed to run computers is decidedly bad for the environment.
• 1/9/2013 -   Close up - Testing the V164 80-metre blade
  
  An uneventful look at the largest turbine blade yet made with the exception of the description of their testing and data collection process. They are building a database comprehensive enough to completely avoid using prototypes in the future.
• 10/3/2012 -   China and Netherlands sign deal for world’s largest tidal energy project
  
  Dynamic Tidal Power (DTP) is a Dutch technology that sets up a physical barrier between coastal places with different tidal patterns and pushes turbines with the water pouring from high to low tide. This project will set up a small demonstration plant in China, which is said to have 150 gigawatts of DTP potential.
• 7/4/2012 -   Scientists to push organic solar cell efficiency
  
  Organic solar has already reached 10% efficiencies in the lab and have excellent flexibility, but have more distance to cover before competing with silicon on a price/watt basis.
• 8/3/2012 -   Siemens unveils world's largest wind turbine blades
  
  The newest prototype's individual blades are nearly as wide as the wingspan of the largest passenger aircraft on earth, the Airbus A380. Efficiency or monstrosity?
• 6/19/2012 -   Floating turbine and energy-saving vessels lead offshore wind cost-cutting plans
  
  Initial success with an experimental floating turbine prompts requests for funding for 5 more and better maintenance vehicles promise a way to cut costs by keeping turbines operating.
• 4/19/2012 -   Heating system draws on limitless fuel: sewage
  
  "Sewage Geothermal" converts the heat from wastewater into energy and avoids digging deep holes in the ground. This latest application of the Chinese tech is in Philadelphia.
• 9/7/2012 -  Spinach Power
  
  A cheesy but very interesting audio interview about using spinach and natural chemicals involved in photosynthesis. The Vanderbuilt professor Kane Jennings claims this will be competitive with silicon cells in 3 years and commercially marketable within 5-10 years.
• 9/4/2012 -  Can Solar Robots Cut The Cost of Renewable Energy?
  
  QBotix has designed and built robots to take care of solar panels! These robots run on a track around an installation and turn panels to face the sun, eliminating the need for individual motors and extra hardware in each panel and cutting costs up to 20%. There's a great video too. VERY COOL!
• 8/23/2012 -  Regulators push for energy storage for solar farms
  
  California is pushing harder for renewable installations with storage capabilities. BrightSource's solar thermal plants plan on incorporating molten salt heat storage, NOT a molten salt battery, to continue heating steam after the sun goes down .
• 7/17/2012 - Department of Energy Awards $56 Million to 21 Concentrating Solar Power Projects
  The US government's grant funds research and projects relating to concentrated solar power, a type of solar growing in popularity, exposure, and effectiveness.
• 7/17/2012 - Commuters Pedal to Work on Their Very Own Superhighway
  Denmark has designated a huge number of roads as bike paths to encourage clean commuting.
• 2/27/2012 -  Envia Battery Yields 'World Record' Energy Density
  
  Not a new one, but a new one to me. Despite what looks like a quick drop off in capacity after charging a few times, this battery can bring electric car driving distances up to gasoline levels.
• 6/4/2012 -  How Cheap Will Algae Biofuel Really Get?
  
  Despite treehugger.com's claim that gasoline's externalities raise the price, Biofuel will need serious subsidies to compete.
• 5/12/2012 -  EGS Takes Geothermal Global
  
  Not so wild as their are already a number of these operational, but a good article on deep drilling geothermal.
• 5/6/2012 - Geothermal energy from abandoned mines
  
  A way to reuse mines and save cash on monitoring them after they are spent.
• 5/4/2012 -  UK-Based Architecture Firm Makes Solar Energy More Accessible
  
  Lilly pad solar panels for energy production and city revitalization, why not?
• 4/27/2012 - From garbage to green, study being done in Eau Claire for solar energy
  
  This small town is considering putting a solar installation on top of an old landfill. Opens the question of what other "unusable" land can be reassigned for solar or wind installations.
• 4/26/2012 - Can renewable energy sustain consumer societies?
  An excellently written breakdown of the idea that even a society with perfectly renewable and clean energy cannot sustain our level of consumption.
• 4/22/2012 - Earth Day technology: the spray-on solar panel?
  
  Thin-film solar is a cheaper and less efficient alternative to standard "bulk" solar panels, but this application takes it to the next level with printed transparent solar panels on windows and the possibility of taking it home in a spray bottle! It absorbs infrared too. Check out "SolarWindow" here.
• 4/22/2012 - Helium-filled floating wind turbine, renewable energy with style (video)
  
  A floating wind turbine suspended at 350 feet pumping energy to the ground over cables. Mad scientists gone private from some of the most elite universities built this ridiculous contraption. Enjoy the video!