MetaFilter posts tagged with power and energy

2009 Solar Decathalon

thewalrus — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:20:07 -0800

For the second time in two years a team from Germany has won the US Department of Energy's Solar Decathalon. This year's entry was a cube shaped house entirely covered in 300W and 70W solar panels generating a peak of 11.1kW. The DoE has published a complete product directory of all the subsystems and components used to build each house. Another notable design is the Canadian Team North house designed for optimal solar+insulation performance in high latitude climates.

If it's got to be clean [energy] , it's got to be Tide

dersins — Thu, 07 May 2009 09:12:49 -0800

The Wave Motors of California. "Still embedded somewhere in the shores of California, buried by more than a century of sand, are lost hydroelectric machines." Further reading.

Hot Rocks

Artw — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:06:09 -0800

Google goes geothermal with EGS.

All Night Long

chuckdarwin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:51:13 -0800

MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for later use. "If you can only have energy when the sun is shining, you're in deep trouble. And that's why, in my opinion, photovoltaics haven't penetrated the market," Daniel Nocera, an MIT professor of energy, said in an interview at his Cambridge, Massachusetts, office. "If I could provide a storage mechanism, then I make energy 24/7 and then we can start talking about solar." Solar has been growing as a power source in the United States -- last year the nation's solar capacity rose 45 percent to 750 megawatts. But it is still a tiny power source, producing enough energy to meet the needs of about 600,000 typical homes, and only while the sun is shining, according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association. Most U.S. homes with solar panels feed electricity into the power grid during the day, but have to draw back from the grid at night. Nocera said his development would allow homeowners to bank solar energy as hydrogen and oxygen, which a fuel cell could use to produce electricity when the sun was not shining. "I can turn sunlight into a chemical fuel, now I can use photovoltaics at night," said Nocera, who explained the discovery in a paper written with Matthew Kanan published on Thursday in the journal Science.

Coal.

brownpau — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:51:56 -0800

Coal. Cheap, Abundant, Clean.

The Arrival of Energy Positive Buildings

rongorongo — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:06:26 -0800

A positive energy building is one that produces more power than it consumes (yes they have been around for a while). The Masdar Headquarters in Abu Dhabi – due for completion in 2010 claims that it will be the first to do this on a substantial scale (mainly thanks to use of solar energy). David Fisher's spectacular “Dynamic Architecture” building in Dubai will aim to achieve the same goal using wind. Scaling up on the ambition stakes France has pledged all of its new housing will fit into this category by 2020.

Biocrude

caddis — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:04:40 -0800

Pond scum saves the planet? In the beginning, there were algae, but there was no oil. Then, from algae came oil. Now, the algae are still there, but oil is fast depleting. In future, there will be no oil, but there will still be algae. ^ Power your ride with pond scum. In some iterations you don't even need light. (we have talked about this before and the fact that CO2 powers the algae production is not insignificant) More details here.

Windmill output of up to one MegaTrumpton

Artw — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:04:54 -0800

Could giant magnetically levitated windmills be the solution to the worlds energy problems? Chinese scientist have reported 20 percent increase in capacity over traditional wind turbines using maglev turbines, and now Arizona-based based Maglev Wind Turbine Technologies claims their turbines will have 1000 times the capacity of a traditional turbine. Not everybody is convinced.

solar chic

madamjujujive — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:33:29 -0800

The Solar Decathlon is a just-completed competition in which 20 teams of college and university students competed to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. View a photo gallery or take video tours of the homes. Inhabitat has been blogging the event - here's their view of Germany's winning entry. Note: There are links above each photo in the photo gallery that will bring you to details of the project and a link to the college or university's home site for each project. More coverage from Inhabit:

Second prize: University of Maryland’s Leaf House
University of Colorado Solar House
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
University of Cincinnati
2005 winning entry led to business launch: Cornell Zero Energy home

Solar tower in Spain

stbalbach — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:15:26 -0800

Solar Tower (text and video). "The rays of sunlight reflected by a field of 600 huge mirrors are so intense they illuminate the water vapour and dust hanging in the air."

His energy bill is $0

mr_crash_davis — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 08:59:54 -0800

Mike Strizki lives in the nation's first solar-hydrogen house. "The technology this civil engineer has been able to string together – solar panels, a hydrogen fuel cell, storage tanks, and a piece of equipment called an electrolyzer – provides electricity to his home year-round, even on the cloudiest of winter days. Mr. Strizki's monthly utility bill is zero – he's off the power grid – and his system creates no carbon-dioxide emissions. Neither does the fuel-cell car parked in his garage, which runs off the hydrogen his system creates."

Stanford Ovshinsky

kliuless — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 15:23:05 -0800

The Edison of our age? Stanford Ovshinsky may not be a household name, but his inventions have the power to change the world.

algae power

reklaw — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 17:10:15 -0800

Will algae defeat global warming? "Fed a generous helping of CO2-laden emissions, courtesy of the power plant's exhaust stack, the algae grow quickly... The cleansed exhaust bubbles skyward, but with 40 percent less CO2... The algae is harvested daily and a combustible vegetable oil is squeezed out: biodiesel".

Tapping the Sky

fenriq — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 08:19:48 -0800

45,000 pounds + four 130 foot rotors + up to 200 mph Jet Stream winds = Energy Problem Solved
Like the monster mother of all kites, a company called Sky Windpower (which sports an excellent website about high altitude wind power) has been founded by an Australian engineer with three others to attempt to harness the near limitless windpower of the jet stream with a machine they call an FEG (Flying Electric Generator).
They're currently seeking $4 million to build a 200 kilowatt prototype but still need to get FAA clearance to fly it. The production models would generate 20 megawatts each and would be flown in farms of up to 600 turbines to generate enough power to light up two cities the size of Chicago. Power and control of the huge machines would be handled by a three inch thick tether connected to a winch on a ground station.
Man, I love Popular Science!

Alternative power sources

LouReedsSon — Mon, 24 Jan 2005 11:32:49 -0800

It's not the other white meat, but it seems cows have yet another use.

"That's some good shit, man (in my very best Tommy Chong!)."

And a little shrimp shall lead the way....

troutfishing — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 07:01:08 -0800

New validation of desktop fusion claims - far from hating the small crustaceans, God has a plan for shrimp : to point scientists towards the secret - tiny bubbles! God also has a pan for shrimp, and some cajun blackening spices too...

So, umm.....about that oil in Iraq....

troutfishing — Wed, 24 Sep 2003 06:53:29 -0800

Wind Power cheaper than coal, electric car does 0 to 60 in 3.7 w/300 mile cruising range

It's official: wind power is now cheaper than electricity from Coal, Stanford Researchers report in a study published in the Journal Science. Quiz for Metafilter science wonks: how much of current US energy consumption could be supplied by spending 200 billion dollars on wind turbines?

Meanwhile...Powered by 6800 lithium-ion batteries, the Tzero "from zero to 100 and through the quarter mile, will run with, or beat, the $281,000 Lamborghini Murci

Got power?

ElvisJesus — Mon, 28 Jul 2003 09:29:11 -0800

An alternative means towards alternative energy? Duke Energy in NC is offering its customers an opportunity to vote for alternative energy sources with their wallets starting today. While you are not really buying the Green Power directly, you are in effect subsidizing it. Is this a creative way to Go Green, or just another feel good gesture?

Another Route to Fusion

alms — Mon, 07 Apr 2003 19:21:17 -0800

Take enough electricity to power 100 houses for two minutes and use it to generate enough elecrticity to power one 40-watt lightbulb for one ten-thousandth of a second. What do you have? Nuclear Fusion.

shauna — Tue, 17 Jul 2001 05:30:14 -0800

He's GOT to be kidding -- Citing "the fluctuating and unpredictable nature of utility costs," Cheney lobbies for the Navy to foot his power bills. This from the same guy who's been, shall we say, less than sympathetic to those of us who've been dealing with the exact same problem.

UrineSoakedRube — Tue, 13 Feb 2001 16:04:21 -0800

Superconducting power transmission cables In another thread, I mentioned that High-Tc power transmission cables were an example of an anticipated use of a technology which never came to fruition, and that the possible energy savings weren't worth the effort. Oops.

aaron — Thu, 11 Jan 2001 13:56:08 -0800

This time it's for real: A Stage Three Power Emergency has been declared in California this evening. Rolling blackouts are expected, especially in Northern California. If MeFi goes down tonight, this is why. Nothing like government intervention disguised as "deregulation" to muck up the works.