Generate Some Negawatts

July 15, 2009

While researching for the Wide Angle on the Smart Grid, I came across a term that I had never seen before: Negawatts. Nega what? Immediately I g=Googled and discovered that this term dates back to at least 1989, when experimental physicist and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute, Amory Lovins gave the keynote address (The Negawatt Revolution: Solving the CO2 Problem) at a Green Energy Conference in Montreal. I can't believe I never came across the word, but it's an important one to have as part of your volcabulary.

Get Your Cool Tech Jobs Here!

June 22, 2009

Not all of us love our jobs. (Some people don't even have a job!) But a fortunate few have carved out unique, exciting, challenging careers in the area of technology, and all of them say they love their jobs. Find out what they do each day, why they like going to work, how they found their calling and what advice they have for you with this Wide Angle series: Cool Tech Jobs.

• Profile: Chasing the Sun
  Philippe Lauper and his team are building a plane that will circle the globe on sunlight alone.

• Q&A: User Experience Researcher
  Masuma Henry's passion is to help bring technology to underserved places like South Africa and Brazil. Find out why she loves her job at Microsoft.

• Q&A: Hacker/Consultant/Garbage Man
  Josh Klein is a self-described cross-discipline mad scientist who stirs up trouble and creates the impossible while solving real problems.

Microbes Make Wind Power Possible

June 05, 2009

I want to point you to a news story, Discovery tech writer Eric Bland published on the Discovery News site back in April. It has to do with a microbe that, in the natural world, consumes electrons emitted by bacteria and emits methane. Scientists think that the microbe, Methanobacterium palustre, could be used to consume excess electricity generated from renewable sources, such as wind, and emit methane that could be used to power a fuel cell or could be stored chemically until it's needed later.

Read Microbe-Powered Fart Machine Stores Energy for more details. It just goes to show that there's more than one way to make renewable energy work.

Wind Power Getting the Most Investment

June 03, 2009

Wind power has received a big spike in investment, the biggest, in fact, compared to other renewable energy sources, says a report from the United Nations Environment Program. In the NY Times article, "Clean Energy Funding Trumps Fossil Fuels," reporter James Kanter provides some details:

"Overall, the wind sector attracted the most new investment, with a total of $51.8 billion, representing growth of 1 percent compared to 2007. Solar made large gains, recording growth of 49 percent to reach total investment of $33.5 billion. Geothermal was the highest growth sector, with investment up 149 percent to $2.2 billion, but biofuels dropped by 9 percent to $16.9 billion."

Along those lines, China has recently announced that it plans to invest $14.6 billion US to boost wind power capacity to 30,000 Megawatts from 12,000 MW.

Image: iStockPhoto

Nobel Prize Winner Says Wind is Not the Future

June 02, 2009

This week on Discovery Tech, we're talking about wind power and it's potential to supplant fossil fuels. I've read over and over -- and also have spoken with experts who say -- that there's so much wind out there, we could power the United States five times over. But one of the biggest challenge is storage. Right now, when you generate wind energy, you have to use it or lose it. Or you have to store it, perhaps in batteries. But that technology isn't available yet. Sure, we have batteries, but not ones that can store megawatts of energy being generated on wind farms.

That's part of the reason that 1968 Nobel Prize winner in physics Jack Steinberger said the United States (i.e. Obama) shouldn't be focusing so much on wind power. They should be focusing on solar thermal power, Steinberger said. You may immediately think about solar panels, that is photovoltaics, that convert solar energy directly into electricity. But that's not what Steinberger was talking about. He was talking about solar collectors that concentrate the sun's energy to heat water to very high temps. That hot water is turned into steam, which is used to turn a turbine and produce electricity. Spain just built a huge facility to do this -- the PS10 Solar Tower (image).

Recently, Greenpeace released a report saying that solar-thermal power farms could provide 25 percent of the world's electricity needs by 2050.

Personally, I think we need both solutions, since the sun is not shining consistently in all places and there are plenty of people against the idea of blanketing sunny locations with solar collectors.

Video Sums It Up

June 01, 2009

Wide Angle: Wind Power

May 26, 2009

Energy from oil is so 1986. Green energy is all the rage now, and wind has a lot of potential to meet our planet's energy demand. A comprehensive study completed by Stanford researchers found that power generated from land-based and off-shore wind is equivalent to 54,000 million tons of oil per year -- five times the world's total energy use. Unfortunately, the world currently gets less than 2 percent of its electricity from wind. So what will it take to beef up wind power and reduce our reliance on oil?

• Blog: Museum Gets Rooftop Companions
  This summer the Boston Museum of Science's roof is going to be a whirl of activity. Scientists will be conducting the nation's first museum-top wind experiment to determine exactly how much power small turbines can swish out.

• Podcast: Wind Power for Antarctic Research Station
  The Belgian research facility, Princess Elisabeth station, located in East Antarctica is designed to be the first zero emission research station. Hear how wind is playing a role.

• News: Smart Wind Turbines to Switch Shapes
  Scientists from Purdue University are creating intelligent wind turbines that shape-shift with the wind. These smart wind turbines would help maximize the amount of electricity generated by wind power while ensuring longer life spans for wind turbines.

• Blog: Street Lights That Blow
  A French renewable energy products company Windela, based in Paris, came up with an off-grid street light powered by a combination of solar and wind power.

• Puzzle: Wind Turbine Breakdown
  Get an up-close, inside view of wind turbine technology, from cogs to blades to towers.

• News: Wind Power
  Today's wind turbine is more than just a large propeller. Researchers are using dozen of different designs and tapping into wind farms as the power plants of the future. Read how it's helping people all over the world.

• Feature: Europe Replaces Old Wind Farms
  The construction crane hauling wind turbines at the 20-year-old Norreaer Enge wind farm in northern Jutland, Denmark, is performing a highly energetic sleight of hand. By next summer it will have transformed a 77-turbine facility into one with just 13.

• Top 10: Countries With the Largest Capacity of Wind Energy
  Our list of ten countries around the world that have the largest capacity of wind energy.

• Video: Oceanic Wind Turbines
  An array of wind-powered generators has the potential to power over 100,000 homes. Find out more about why scientists are investigating the potential of off-shore wind turbines.

• My Take: Community Power Empowers
  The United States has a long tradition of democracy and citizen's rights. Why shouldn't folks be able to build wind turbines, produce electricity for the power grid and generate income? Stefan Gsänger gives us his take.

• Project Earth: Infinite Winds
  Can a wind turbine using the constant winds that exist above sea level to convert energy into electricity? Get the details on the science behind wind power from Project Earth.

Photo: iStockphoto

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