Archive for category Energy news

Food Waste Produces 13 Million kWh of Electricity for Supermarket Chain

Posted by Leigh Kim in Energy news on May 18, 2013

West Coast supermarket chain Ralph’s uses leftover fruit and expired meat and milk from its stores to keep generate electricity. The closed-loop system, to which it is referred, was developed by the Boston start-up Feed Resource Recovery and offsets more than 20% of Ralph’s Compton, CA distribution center’s energy demands. In Ralph’s distribution center that it [...]

Oil Production Surges with Technological Advances, Biofuel Interest Wanes

Posted by Leigh Kim in Energy news on May 15, 2013

Oil production is taking off, much to the surprise and chagrin of proponents of biofuel. The United States could see a surge in oil production that could make it the world’s leading oil producer within the next 10 years, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. Several years ago, experts posited that [...]

London Power Station Generates Electricity From Fat in Sewers

Posted by Mila Luleva in Energy news on May 14, 2013

A new type of power station in London will turn oil and fat, which accumulate in the sewers under the city streets, into electricity. The station will be located in Beckton, east London, and it will generate enough electricity to serve nearly 3.5 million people in case of emergency. The water company have already agreed [...]

Loss in Rainforest Could Lead to Drop of Hydropower Generation

Posted by Mila Luleva in Climate Change, Energy news on May 14, 2013

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science earlier this week revealed that deforestation in tropical regions will lead to a reduction in hydroenergy output. Scientists explain that rainforests, especially in the Amazon basin, Central Africa and Indonesia, are not only responsible for controlling the carbon cycle, but they also play [...]

Bosch Power Max Electric Vehicle Charging Station is just $450, Also Most Efficient

Posted by Benji Jerew in Electric Vehicles, Energy news on May 9, 2013

Part of electric vehicle ownership is installing your own refueling station, an electric vehicle charging station, that is. When you look at the overall costs of running an electric vehicle, it’s easy to see how many people could benefit financially by avoiding the gas pump and recharging at home, or even on the go. It’s [...]

World’s First Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Plant to be Built Off Chinese Shore

Posted by Mike Sandru in Energy news on May 8, 2013

US aerospace company Lockheed Martin have signed an agreement with Reignwood Group, a resort developer based in Beijing, China, to construct an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plant – the first of its kind in the world – off the shores of southern China. The plant, scheduled to be finished by 2017, will produce 10 [...]

New Plant in Arizona Turns Garbage Into Gas

Posted by Mila Luleva in Energy news on May 7, 2013

The Spanish engineering company Abengoa announced that they will invest $110 million to build a plant, which will turn garbage into electricity. The new factory will be located in the city of Glendale, Arizona. Abengoa states that the construction will take around 20 months. The factory will be owned by Vieste Energy, a Chicago-based energy [...]

Offshore Oil Rig Workers, 5th Worst Job in America

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy news on May 2, 2013

In a recent survey by CNBC of the worst places to work, offshore oil rig workers ranked #5. Another study by the CDC notes that offshore oil rig workers are seven times more likely to die on the job than the average American worker. When looking at the occupational outlook for any career, we’re most [...]

Low-Cost Fuel Cells Run on Fire

Posted by Leigh Kim in Energy news on May 1, 2013

Craig Jacobson, an entrepreneur, scientist, and CEO of startup Point Source Power, has chosen what is usually considered an improbable technology, the fuel cell, as a power source for off-grid villagers in Kenya. Typically, fuel cells are more expensive than grid power in both 3rd world countries and the developed world. Portable fuel cells have [...]

WWII Bunker Turned into Green Power Generating Facility in Germany

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Energy news, Recycling on April 24, 2013

An old World War II bunker used for sheltering 30,000 people in Hamburg is going to be transformed into an energy-generating facility that will provide heat for 3,000 homes and electricity for 1,000, reports Inhabitat. A large solar array has already been attached to the roof and exterior, and an open-air terrace will open this [...]

World’s Largest Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Plant to be Built by Lockheed Martin

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy news on April 23, 2013

The earth receives more energy from the sun than we can ever use, 80% of that in the ocean. Lockheed Martin’s Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion [OTEC] power plant aims to put some of that energy to use. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion [OTEC] uses the temperature differential between the warm water at the surface of the [...]

Adoption of Clean Energy Too Slow to Limit Global Warming

Posted by Leigh Kim in Energy news on April 20, 2013

On Wednesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that low-carbon energy development is progressing far too slowly to have any limiting effect on global warming. Governments are not taking quick enough action, and power generation is still dominated by the fossil fuel industry. Experts have warned that the goal of limiting the global temperature rise [...]

Randy Curry’s New Plasma Generator Could Revolutionize the Energy Industry

Posted by Benji Jerew in Energy news, Green Policy on April 18, 2013

University of Missouri engineer Randy Curry has developed a plasma generator that can send a ring of plasma out a couple of feet into open air, instead of the normal requirement of vacuum tubing and magnetic fields. Energy research is ongoing, and scientists and technicians are working hard to discover new ways to generate and [...]

Australia Capable of 100% Renewable Energy by 2030

Posted by Mike Sandru in Energy news on April 7, 2013

Australia not only is one of the largest producers of coal with significant export mainly to China, but is also a big user of fossil fuels, with more than 75% of its 2008/2009 electricity derived from it. However, researchers from the University of New South Wales have conducted a study showing that Australia can rely [...]

Rare-Earth Metals Not So Rare in Mud off the Coast of Japan, Tokyo University

Posted by Benji Jerew in Electric Vehicles, Energy news, Hybrid vehicles on April 5, 2013

China pretty much has a chokehold on the market for rare-earth metals, but a recent discovery off the coast of Japan could offer some competition. Because of their unique chemical properties, rare-earth metals are important in the production of electronics and even hybrid and electric vehicles. Rare-earth metals are found around the world, but they [...]