Computer technology is always about being one step ahead of competitors. Information technology moves faster than light it seems, and by the time your new computer arrives at your doorstep, it is already out of date. Dell, whose computers can be found in most offices, homes, and campuses across the country, has been doing its best to stay ahead of the curve.
Proving it is both environmentally friendly and hip to the trends of popular culture, Dell has just finished installing a grove of solar trees at its Corporate headquarters in Round Rock, Texas.
I am a firm believer that if electric cars are to gain widespread acceptance, they first need to be proven in America’s congested cities. Most city dwellers usually don’t drive that far, have access to alternate forms of transportation, and likely spend more time on their iPhones than in a car anyway. It is the perfect proving ground for electric cars.
The MINILUX Solar Car concept realizes this, and rather than serving as an expensive paperweight while sitting idle, it can actually return energy back to the grid. It’s pretty neat looking too, aside from those funky wheels.
Concept car designers have a great job. These vehicles don’t really need to have any basis in reality, they just have to look cool and generate buzz. Sure, when they are practical it is all the better, but sometimes good ideas and good looks don’t always translate into the real world. Take, for example, the BMW Lovos concept, designed by 24 year old Anne Forschner, a design student at Pforzheim University in Germany.
Panasonic Corporation just announced that it will sponsor Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT). The team will be competing in the upcoming Global Green Challenge (GCG) to be held in October of this year in Australia. As part of the sponsorship, Panasonic will provide the team with its a high-capacity (2.9 Ah) lithium-ion batteries.
The MIT SEVT student team will compete in the World Solar Challenge with a solar powered car using Panasonic lithium-ion batteries to store its solar generated power. Separately, Panasonic will provide the same high-capacity, lithium-ion batteries to a team from Japan’s Tokai University which is also competing in the same category.
This started as just another ho-hum, run-of-the-mill, zero emissions, homemade solar powered EV.
But, sensibly, noting the enormous contribution of the wind turbine in the “snout” 400 watts at 28 MPH, night or day! Joe Rush, the inventor plans on adding a second wind turbine! This would bring the total on-board electricity supply to nearly 1 KW. Well, at least when it’s traveling at 28 mph, it would.
Unfettered by the slow-moving decision-making procedures of giant auto companies (some of which will no doubt still be trying to sell us gas guzzlers even while our poor planet enters it’s second Eocene) Joe is able to nimbly head back to the drawing board for this radical revision. A second wind turbine will be added.
Call me crazy, but I think zeppelins have gotten a bad rap. Sure, the Hindenburg went up in flames rather spectacularly, and airplanes made slow-moving dirigibles all but obsolete after WWII. But I still love me some giant floating gas bags.
So this announcement that a team of French engineering and tech students have come up with solar-powered blimp that uses flexible solar cells gets me all giddy. Called Project Sol’R, the team hopes to cross the English Channel using their blimp, simply to prove that it can be done. Read the rest of this entry »
The Auriga Leader, a Japanese owned NYK cargo ship capable of carrying 6,400 cars and using over 300 solar panels as part of its power supply was docked in Long Beach yesterday, and just departed. It is the first commerical cargo ship employing solar power technology to reduce diesel emissions. The solar panels can supply up to 15% of the vessel’s electrical power when docked. The ship will probably return to Long Beach in about 30 days, and could be available for visitation. Call the Port of Long Beach to find out specific details about the possibility of seeing the solar panels. The ship is in the service of Toyota, carrying its’ vehicles from Japan.
At 665 feet long, and about 100 feet deep and wide it has a carrying capacity of 60,000 gross tons. 1.6 million dollars was the cost of the solar technology - to install and make it operational. The Auriga is the first in a generation of new cargo ships which will use solar power to reduce their diesel consumption. Emissions from cargo ships are a globally massive source of air pollutants…” just 15 of the world’s biggest ships may now emit as much pollution as all the world’s 760m cars” according to a recent publication. Shipping pollution has been found by research to contribute to human deaths.
The Long Beach port is one of the busiest in the nation, and is a very large air polluter due to the activities of large ships and approximately 100,000 diesel trucks. The Long Beach and Los Angeles ports may be the number one polluter in the state of California. A special report was produced on the problem by California Connected.
Solar technology used by the Auriga Leader is a small attempt to start reducing emissions from cargo ships. Lessons learned from the Auriga can be utilized for solar technologies on other vessels, which will need to start going green if there is to be any reduction in air pollution and carbon emissions. NYK engineers are considering similar solar power installations for their 800 other ships.
The Port of Long Beach has been making efforts to reduce air pollution and was commended recently with an EPA Green Flag for trying to slow cargo vessels as they motor towards the docks, in order to reduce their emissions.
Ohio state trooper cruisers are getting small solar panels to assist in the powering of their onboard equipment. 1,150 Ford Crown Victoria cruisers will get 5 watt solar panels to improve battery peformance and reduce fuel consumption.
The solar panels will help power the radio and other electronics when the cars’ engines are turned off. Currently electronics drain batteries when the cars are not running. The official press release states the solar panels will decrease the chance of an officer being unable to respond to an incident due to her or his car having a dead battery. The panels will be installed in the rear deck area, and their brackets have been made from recycled license plates. Each panel costs $37 and could last five years.
Richard Gryzch has built what he claims is the world’s first fully sun-powered electric motorbike.
A project that has taken him more than two years. In fact, to finance building the bike Cryzch sold his other motorbikes and even a house.
He calls the bike a Solar Flyer. A name inspired by those Radio Flyer wagons.
“Everyone told me I was crazy for doing it,” he said. “But I’m riding it and it works. And it could change everything. No gas, just hit the throttle and go,” he boasted.
In the tiny Aspen sleeper community of El Jebel, Colorado, a man is on a mission. Jim Duke has always been known for his environmental streak — back in the 80s he spearheaded efforts to establish recycling and composting programs for Aspen and surrounding communities.
Now he’s spent $84,600 to install a large array of solar panels on his ranch capable of producing 15,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually — and he’s giving away the power for free to charge any electric cars who’s owners show up on his doorstep.
A North Carolina Parks Department has bought three electric cars as a way to lighten their impact on nature preserves.
Custom Solar Array
Two of the vehicles charge by plugging into the wall. The third has been specially retrofitted with a solar array over its flatbed, freeing it from the grid and allowing it to charge while in the field. The vehicles, which all have small flatbeds, will be replacing ATVs and trucks for hauling maintenance and landscaping materials. The Mecklenburg County Department of Park and Recreation bought the three GEM vehicles (Global Electric Motorcars - a Chrysler company) with help from the Solar Center at North Carolina State University.
To celebrate the record-breaking environmental achievement, the driver arrived at the World Climate Change Conference in Poland and plowed through a wall of Styrofoam, releasing some of the only harmful emissions on the car’s 32,000-mile trip.
Louis Palmer, 36, drove the “solar taxi” through 38 countries, picking up celebrities and global officials for short legs along the way. Palmer says his passengers included U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Monaco’s Prince Albert, Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron, and Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
The fire department in Shawnee, PA decided in July to experiment with solar panels atop one of their trucks, hoping the few panels would produce enough juice to power the many tools that otherwise are often powered by an idling engine. Months later, the firefighters report success.
Gas 2.0 digs into the viscous world of biofuels and the fast-paced transit arena, exploring the technologies and substances that are the future of transportation.
