Alternative Energy News
A New “Open Rotor” Jet Engine That Could Reduce Fuel Consumption
Posted: 26 Oct 2008 07:04 PM CDT
NASA and GE Aviation are testing a new “open rotor” jet engine with with a different design that puts the fan blades on the outside of the engine. The jet fuel consumption will be reduced by more than 30 percent.
Blacklight`s Free Energy Device Finally Verified by Rowan University
Posted: 26 Oct 2008 06:56 PM CDT
As far as I know from 7th grade, hydrogen is the only chemical element that has only one electron spinning around an atom. It seems, though things are going to change here, since a medical doctor from New Jersey has discovered a different reality on it. The company Randell Mills founded is called Blacklight Power, and it has been written all over the internet about it a few months ago, when they firstly announced their "free energy" device discovery.
T. Boone Estimates He’s Down $2B From Drop in Oil, Gas Prices
Posted: 26 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT
Yet another profile of wind crusader T. Boone Pickens aired Sunday night — this time on 60 Minutes — and it had the usual details about the 80-year-old former oil baron's plan to get the U.S. off its addiction to foreign oil. But 60 Minutes did score an interesting tidbit about how much Pickens and his investment firm BP Capital have lost since oil and natural gas prices started dropping in July: $2 billion!
The steep drop in oil and gas prices since July has cut the value of Pickens' hedge fund in half. . . Overall, Pickens and BP Capital are down a staggering $2 billion. . . Boone acknowledges that is serious money. Asked if he'll get it back again, he says, “Yeah, I'll get it back.”At the end of September the Wall Street Journal estimated that Pickens' funds had lost about $1 billion this year, including $270 million of personal losses. “It's my toughest run in 10 years,” Pickens told the Journal. “We missed the turn in the market, there's nothing fun about it.”
But Pickens also told the Journal that he thought oil would finish the year around $120 or $125, barring a major global economic downturn. Well, the international economic downturn appears to be here. On Friday oil prices dropped to around $63. While it's pretty hard to predict oil prices these days, we're not sure it's set to double in 2 months.
UK's Carbon Trust Launches Algae Biofuel Development Project
Posted: 26 Oct 2008 01:00 PM CDT
10/27/2008 - The UK's government-funded, low carbon technology investor and grant provider Carbon Trust has launched a project to fund research and development into algae-based biofuel...
AWEA 3rd Quarter Report Predicts Another Record Year for Wind Energy
Posted: 26 Oct 2008 01:00 PM CDT
10/27/2008 - The U.S. wind energy industry installed 1,389 megawatts (MW) this quarter, bringing to 4,204 MW the total of wind power projects completed in what is expected to be another record year, the American Wind Energy Association announced recently in its 3rd quarter market report...
Cascade Launches Oh-So-Quiet Rooftop Wind Turbine
Posted: 26 Oct 2008 01:00 PM CDT
Plastic parts maker Cascade Engineering is bringing a small rooftop wind turbine called the SWIFT to North America. The company says the SWIFT is significantly quieter than traditional small wind turbines — less than 35 decibels, compared with 40 to 50 decibels for competing products. The tiny turbine is already available in the UK, Belgium, New Zealand and the Netherlands through its Scottish designer, Renewable Devices. Cascade has licensed the technology to bring it to the U.S.
Several cities, including San Francisco and New York, have called for more small wind systems to be installed on city buildings, so perhaps the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Cascade could be a hit with urban planners concerned about noise pollution from wind turbines. Renewable Devices says the SWIFT is “the quietest wind system currently available,” due to a ring that connects the outer edges of the blades, which causes air to move silently off the rotor.
In North America, Cascade is targeting both commercial and residential building owners, and the company will first offer the product in the Northeast and Great Lakes states. While the company is targeting home owners, it isn't a DIY product — it requires a professional installer and costs $10,000 to $12,000. For that price, customers get a wind turbine that produces 1.5 kW, or up to 2000 kWh per year, and has a blade diameter of 7 feet.
In the U.S., the market for small-scale wind is still tiny, and most of the wind turbines that get installed are for large wind farms that will sell the power to utilities. But there are still a variety of startups looking to develop products, as the trend of small-scale distributed renewable energy has started to gain momentum. Some of the startups we've covered include Quiet Revolution, Mariah Power, Marquiss Wind Power, Helix Wind, and Southwest Wind Power (round up here).
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Posted: 26 Oct 2008 11:47 AM CDT
This week saw only one announced cleantech venture deal. Things have gotten suddenly very sloooowwww out there… And this week’s deal requires a mandatory: (self-promotion alert)… Cobalt Biofuels, a developer of technologies for the production of biobutanol, announced a $25mm Series C co-led by LSP and Pinnacle Ventures, and including participation by new investors Harris and [...]
Australian Scientists Create World’s Most Efficient Solar Cells
Posted: 26 Oct 2008 03:11 AM CDT
Scientists at the University of New South Wales have set a new world record by creating the first silicon solar cell to achieve 25% efficiency.
Team leader, Prof. Martin Green of the university’s ARC Photovoltaic Centre of Excellence, says their world-beating solar cell is now a massive six per cent more efficient than the next best technology. The record edges the current generation of solar cell technology closer to the theoretical limit of 29% efficiency.
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