A team of scientists at the Cornell University have developed an energy harvesting "piezo-tree" that uses the flittering of leaves connected to a piezoelectric stem to generate electric energy.
Scientists at Stanford University have developed photovoltaic retinal implants for people that suffer from degradation in their photoreceptor cells, causing partial vision.
NASA has recently been very interested not only in space exploration but as well in the rising energy costs and climate change. NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, has developed a system of growing algae in waste-water for the biofuel production.
There are some ideas that could evolve no matter what technology is used to apply them. For example, James Yarger, an industrial designer, thought of a concept vehicle made from recyclable materials, inspired by Dean Kamen's Segway.
Panasonic Corp, who recently took over more than 50% of Sanyo Electric's shares, has a plan of marketing lithium-ion batteries for home use, and they want to finish that plan around 2011.
Just recently, Scotland-based energy developer Pelamis has signed a joint-venture with the European energy giant Vattenfall, for the huge energy project off Scotland's Shetland Islands. The costs of the project rise to almost $100 million.
As the automotive industry has oriented itself towards green energy usage, the need of a "supreme" alternative resource is obvious. And what is more obvious is the demand of Electric Vehicles. EVs need to store their energy in batteries: mainly Lithium-Ion batteries. As of this particular reason, Lithium seems to be one of the most searched resource.
Yesterday ( 23 December 2009) has been inaugurated in southern Taiwan the largest High-Concentration Photovoltaic (HCPV) in Asia. According to the officials this HCPV power plant is expected to save up to 700 tons of carbon emission annually.
The former WW2 bomb shelter in Helsinki became the center of attention lately, since a data center located there is going to be contributing to the town's heating system, powered by Finnish company Helsingin Energia, starting next month.
â€Ã…“Eventually units could be mass-produced and wrapped around unusual shapes for building-integrated solar, tents and maybe even clothing. This would make it possible for hunters, hikers or military personnel in the field to recharge batteries for phones, cameras and other electronic devices as they walk or rest.†said Greg Nielson, Sandia lead investigator.
