Sustainable design ideas from nature

Janine Benyus gave this speech at the TED Conference in Monterey, Calif. She talks about "biomimicry," or learning from examples in nature, and applying that to the human experience. Benyus is a natural sciences writer who actually coined the term.

Be forewarned this is a long video.

Some pretty cool stuff, though.

Does your car run on fish and chips? Fried appetizer plates?

This New York Times story details how the United Kingdom is setting up stations to collect used cooking oil, which will be turned into biodiesel fuel.

Just think if the United States turned to such a project. All the fried food we eat surely should be put to a better use.

Ride the wave

The bulk of the U.S. population lives on the coasts. We really should be investigating more wave-power projects such as the one above.

The video is of a Pelamis wave generator. The first commercial wave farm was started in September 2008 off the coast of Portugal. It can generate up to 2.25 megawatts, or enough to power 1,500 Portuguese homes.

Wind turbines old and new - an insider's view

The view from the top is amazing. Installing these would not be a job for the faint-of-heart.

Time-lapse video of wind turbine construction

If only they all went up in less than a minute! Very cool video.

Electric vehicles that give back to the grid

Plug-in electric cars obviously will be a draw on the electrical grid.

Now, Willett Kempton, a renewable-energy professor at the University of Delaware, is developing a car that adds electricity back to the grid when it contains a surplus.

For electric cars to be the most energy efficient, it will take innovative ideas like this.

Making electricity from potholes - the shocking truth

It's possible to build a regenerative apparatus on a car that takes advantage of the power absorbed when a car's wheel goes over a pothole.

A team of MIT undergraduates came up with a prototype that gains a boost of 10 percent in overall vehicle fuel efficiency through regenerative shock absorbers.

To make our cars go longer per unit of energy, we're going to have to be more inventive, which these MIT students obviously are.

Now, we should put the concepts to work in buildings. Elevators, for instance, are a prime candidate to regenerate electricity on the downward haul. Buildings with rotating doorways could generate modest amounts of electricity.

Even floors could be designed to absorb the impact of footsteps and transfer the energy into electricity. Think about the foot traffic in a mall or other public spots.

So that's how it works

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Well, for months now we've had a pretty good idea how we got ourselves into this awful economic mess.

This clever video does a pretty good job explaining it. It would almost be enjoyable if it wasn't so depressing.

From behind bars to the rooftop

California has an innovative program to train ex-convicts to install solar panels, which is a booming market in the state.

Some solar-installation companies say these new employees are among their most productive and trustworthy, according to this WSJ article.

It would be great if more states had programs like this. And prison inmates should be put to work fabricating rooftop wind turbines, in addition to license plates. The turbines could be installed on government buildings, saving taxpayer money.

It's about time for a German electric car

When it comes to cars, I have a soft spot for German makes. If you've ever driven a good Audi, BMW, Mercedes or Volkswagen, you know that they are well-engineered and a blast to drive.

Now, it looks like Volkswagen is teaming up with Toshiba to develop an electric car.

They aim to have one on the market by 2012.

Towers of power

A California utility plans to power more than 800,000 homes with solar electricity in a new project.

Southern California Edison plans to puchase electricity from a series of solar towers to be operated by BrightSource Energy.

Drawing from the design of a BrightSource "power tower" in Israel’s Negev Desert, the California towers will use heliostats or moving mirrors to concentrate light onto a tower. This concentrated energy will be used to make steam. The first project will be completed in 2013, according to this article.

Aiming to generate 100-megawatts of power in Ivanpah, Calif., Brightsource says it can power 65,000 homes via 286,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year.

Financial details of the deal are not being revealed, but some are calling this one of the biggest solar power contracts in the United States.

This is the kind of project that can be replicated in many areas of the United States.

Here's a video from Brightsource.

How to build a rain barrel

We have several rain barrels in use at our house. They are very similar to this design, except for the filler.

They are great for watering in the summertime. The main downside to a rain barrel is when you hook a hose up to it, the water pressure is pretty low. Evidently you can buy an electric pump but that kind of defeats the green notion.

We use the rain barrels to fill up a hand held water bucket, and I'll hook up the hose and run it out to certain garden plants like tomatoes and peppers, where a slow stream actually is of benefit.

Aptera electric car makes ZapRoot video

Here's another video on the Aptera 2e electric car, from ZapRoot Video. Sorry about the clutter at the end of the video. Maybe you can get some holiday shopping ideas, in February.

Chinese take interest in wind turbines

Interesting video on Chinese interest in Canadian wind turbine technologies.

China is seeing the light, and it certainly has the manufacturing prowess to make wind turbines out the wazoo.

The United States should be taking the lead on exporting this kind of technology, yet where did this figure into the stimulus package?

Bow down before Google

While perhaps well-meaning, Google is overstepping its bounds in trying to shape the nation's energy future.

Google has been quietly pushing an energy agenda with the Obama Administration, and on February 11 the Internet giant unveiled Google PowerMeter, a program that helps people monitor their home power consumption. See the article here. See Google's own blog on the topic here.

Again, all good and well, but I think Google already has enough of a handle on what Americans do with their time, money and conversations (public Web, e-mail, phone).

This is coming from someone who loves Google products like youtube, and blogger, which supports this particular blog.

I remember when I first saw Google in action. It must have been the late 90s. I was an editor at a newspaper, and a hotshot intern was showing me the search engine he really like. And it beat the heck out of the multiple search engines I was using at the time. It was just a simple little search box on a white Web page.

At its core essence, Google hasn't changed so much. In what else it does, it has taken a life of its own that is probably too much power for one entity.

Spray-on solar cells from Down Under?

Australian scientists are working on a technique for spray-on solar cells. See the article here.

Now, this won't be sold in a can at the hardware store. But if they are successful, it will be an intriguing new method for manufacturing lower-cost solar cells.

The reason for the high cost of solar cells is the fact they must be coated in a vacuum. Skip that step and the price tag comes down.

According to the article: The new method uses a spray-on hydrogen film and spray-on anti-reflective film. In this spray-on method vacuums are not needed. The cells travel along a conveyor belt where the films are sprayed on. The simplified process could trim down about $5 million in capital equipment costs per medium-sized factory.

Australian solar company Spark Solar and Braggone Oy, a materials group from Finland, are working with Australian National University (ANU) on the method, which may be available by 2011.

Stimulus bill not stimulating enough for alternative energy

If you've read this blog before, you know that I firmly believe the best thing we can do for this nation is reduce our energy usage. Doing so will allow us to scale back our military footprint and make us a less-hated presence in the world. We have spent well over a trillion dollars on our Mideast wars so far.

So I'm more than a little displeased with the compromise stimulus bill, which tags a mere $50 billion toward energy programs, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Specifically for energy programs, the bill includes:
$13.9 billion to subsidize loans for renewable energy projects;
$11 billion toward a smart electricity grid to reduce waste;
$6.4 billion to clean up nuclear-weapon production sites;
$6.3 billion in state energy efficiency and clean energy grants;
$5 billion to weatherize modest-income homes; and
$4.5 billion to make federal buildings more energy efficient.

Among other line items, the bill also contains:

$8.4 billion for mass transit;
$8 billion for construction of high-speed railways;
$6.4 billion for clean and drinking water projects; and
$7 billion to bring broadband Internet service to underserved areas.

Meanwhile, the Obama team is saying the bank bailout may top $2.5 trillion. By the way, that's $8,333 per man, woman and child in the United States. The $50 billion for energy amounts to just over $166 per capita.

Come on! Let's put our money where, as a nation, we're bleeding. End wars over oil, put the money into renewable energy. Build an export-oriented economy around wind turbines, solar cells and whatever else we can dream up.

It's seems so simple that I'm starting to wonder if I'm a simpleton.

Nevada city actively seeking ecopower development

Carson City, Nevada, has launched a private-public initiative called Team Nevada, with the aim of drawing businesses willing to invest in renewable energy technology.

According to this article, the project also has backing from the Nevada Commission on Economic Development and renewable energy investment engine NV Energy.

From wind to solar to geothermal, Nevada offers a lot of renewable energy potential. To harness this, Nevada is building a 250-mile long grid that runs north-south, enabling renewable energy projects to tap into the delivery system.

Smart states are getting ahead of this trend. Every state has an economic development commission of some sort. Now is the time for state business interests to convince government to establish separate commissions to go after cleantech. Or at least to have working groups within the existing commissions.

Windmill 101

There are some good general insights about installing wind power at this site.

Homemade wind turbine built using 55-gallon plastic drums and PVC

Gotta love homespun ingenuity. Learn more at the builder's blog.

Here's part two, which covers actually making electricity from the project. This produced about 12 volts, or enough to keep charge on a typical car battery.

UK wind turbine

This video of a homemade wind turbine in the United Kingdom shows what a little ingenuity and experimentation can produce.

This turbine can produce up to a kilowatt of electricity but on average makes 200 watts.

Making water

Some say that future wars will be fought over water, not oil.

With the growth of human population, we continue to move to areas that don't have good, quality natural water sources. Thus grows the need to create potable water from less-than-ideal sources.

This Popular Mechanics article has a rundown on five ambitious water projects.

Pedal-powered homemade submarine

In what sounds like a very slow way to cross the Atlantic Ocean, a man plans to pedal a one-man submarine from West Africa to Barbados.

The trip would take about 50 days, according to this article.

Inventor Ted Ciamillo is no stranger to marine propulsion technologies. In 1997, he designed the Hydrospeeder, a sort of underwater motorbike. (see image below)


Later, he invented the amazing Lunocet, a tail fin that you strap onto your feet, allowing you to swim much more like a dolphin. See the Lunocet video:



Ciamillo obviously has some talent. And to think about taking a homemade sub across the Atlantic he has cajones. A very interesting story.

Hopefully just a false start

Demand for solar and wind power systems is plummeting, according to this New York Times article.

Low energy prices, the credit crisis and lack of general confidence in the economy are to blame.

From the article:

Much of the problem stems from the credit crisis that has left Wall Street banks reeling. Once, as many as 18 big banks and financial institutions were willing to help finance installation of wind turbines and solar arrays, taking advantage of generous federal tax incentives. But with the banks in so much trouble, that number has dropped to four, according to Keith Martin, a tax and project finance specialist with the law firm Chadbourne & Parke.

But this is just a bump on the road. At some point, the world economy will recover and demand for energy and commodities will resume its healthy growth rate. When that happens, the United States needs to have renewable energy infrastructure in place. We need to have factories ready to export such technology and products.

If President Obama wants to look for a place to inject stimulus funds, this is it. The future is now if we make it so.

The wild Canadian Hinterland

A Canadian automotive design group led by executives from Bombardier (airplanes, boats) has a design for a long range electric car.

The Hinterland uses a German word as its namesake (Hinterland is a a place untouched by man, far from urban areas). Check out some more images and information on the vehicle here.

The car would be constructed of aluminum.

From company press materials:

This original form is also an attempt to find a characteristic image for a Canadian economy electric car that could become a recognizable national icon, rather like our distinctive and characteristic emblems (Olympic Stadium, Montréal Metro). The case of London’s and New York’s taxis are good examples of this.

By combining sources of artistic, technical and scientific expertise (recreational vehicles, electric motors and batteries, aeronautics, aluminium, plastics processing, video games, etc.), we could design, produce and sell a technically and distinctly innovative passenger vehicle, elegant in its simplicity, non-polluting, recyclable, safe and adapted to the North American climate, while providing jobs for thousands of specialists and qualified workers.

Another city of the future being planned

In the unlikely nation of Azerbaijan, a radical eco-city may be about to take wing.

An island named Zira will become a 1 million square-meter tourist resort and residential area with zero carbon footprint, according to this Fast Company article.

Zira, in the Caspian Sea, will receive its makeover from Dutch architects Bjarke Ingels Group. Buildings and architecture will resemble the Seven Peaks of Azerbaijan. View a slideshow of the project details here.

Solar and other sustainable energy features will be integrated throughout the structures, and off-shore wind turbines will provide a big chunk of electricity too.



The eco city will feature beaches, a hanging garden, golf course and promenade.

Here's a view of the cityscape.



Here's a representation of the city's resemblence to the seven peaks.

Google and NASA launching school to help humans keep up with computers

From the world of truth is stranger than fiction comes the news that Google and NASA are partnering to create a special school for futurists in Silicon Valley to "prepare scientists for an era when machines become cleverer than people," according to the Financial Times article.

The institution - “Singularity University” - will be led by Ray Kurzweil, who predicted the exponential pace of technological change.

Among other things, Kurzweil gained notoriety for his stance that before 2050 artificial intelligence will outpace humans, thus meaning we will be living in the freaking Matrix.

To quote the FT article:

The so-called “singularity” is a theorised period of rapid technological progress in the near future. Mr Kurzweil, an American inventor, popularised the term in his 2005 book “The Singularity is Near”.

Proponents say that during the singularity, machines will be able to improve themselves using artificial intelligence and that smarter-than-human computers will solve problems including energy scarcity, climate change and hunger.

Yet many critics call the singularity dangerous. Some worry that a malicious artificial intelligence might annihilate the human race.

Well, I'm glad NASA is on this one. We will need the world's brightest minds to save us from computers. Aren't we already addicted enough to these things?

Not to trivialize a significant matter, because the law of unintended consequences is alive and well. Who knew that those computer punch cards of yore would lead to where we are today, a world where people text instead of talk, surf instead of walk and theorize without chalk.

Welcome to the future.

Green social networking online part I: Just Means

"Where good work lives." That's the motto of green social networking site JustMeans.

This site claims to give users the ability to "talk to companies about their social and environmental impact."

Prominently on the front page, registered users can make posts about what they're up to, what they think, what they'd like to see happen, using the 140 characters or less standard employed by twitter.

There's a pretty decent green jobs board. Users can create profiles, post their resume, manage a job search.

For companies wanting to spread the word about their environmental and social programs, there is a place to post press releases.

There is an events listing page.

Are you a member of JustMeans? Let us know what you think of the site.