Facebook application takes over your computer for the good of mankind

Here's a story I wrote this week. It's about Intel using a Facebook application to let people's idle computers power a scientific project that is modeling climate change.

From the article:

"The Progress Through Processors application essentially takes a Facebook user’s unused computing power at any given moment to help run the researchers’ climate models at ClimatePrediction.net, as well as separate research on battling cancer and malaria.

Worldwide, the connected personal computers form a sort of supercomputer to help perform complex calculations. While participants are using their computers, the Facebook software sits idle, according to InformationWeek."

Personally, I'm not about to give my computer over to an outside source. But it's a cool concept that I'm sure many people will latch on to.

Solar forest serves as parking lot cover

I have seen parking lots with solar coverings, but I haven't seen a concept as aesthetically pleasing as this.

I love the way the panels rotate to follow the sun, and you can plug your electric car into them.

Roof tiles that generate solar electricity

Here's a pretty cool style of roofing tile that gathers solar energy to create electricity for the home.

Nice idea, but I wonder about the durability of something like this. If a tree branch falls on it or I climb on the roof, will they last?

Washing machine that uses one cup of water?

I'm from Missouri, so paint me into the corner of "Show Me" when it comes to the claim that a new washing machine will use just one cup of water.

It's maker, Xeros, claims that it uses less than 90 percent of the water of conventional machines and 30 percent less energy.

I don't doubt that it uses just one cup of water.

I doubt that it gets my clothes clean.

That said, show me. I'd like to see this thing work.

From the Alternative Energy News site, here's an explanation of how the machine works:

"The work of water is replaced by using thousands of tiny reusable nylon polymer beads. These plastic beads attract and absorb dirt under humid conditions."

"This technology requires a small amount of water and detergent to dampen the clothes and loosen stains. This device also creates the water vapor that allows the beads to work. Once washing is finished, the beads fall through a mesh in the machine’s drum. These beads are reusable. One can reuse them up to a hundred times. One needs 20kg of the beads along with a cup of water and detergent. The chips can be used up to 100 times, the equivalent of six months’ washing."

Sounds like a good option for washing clothes in outer space and the desert, anyway. In both of those places it could be powered by solar rays, further reducing the environmental impact.

Electric airplane hits 155 MPH

An electric airplane at a demonstration in Italy hit 155 miles per hour in an eight minute flight. See here for more.

The SkySpark is powered by a 75kW brushless electric motor and lithium polymer batteries. The project was coordinated by Italy's own DigiSky, an engineering company specializing in aeronautics, in conjunction with Turin Polytechnic University.

How sweet would that be to fly in a plane that makes so little noise?

Low-MPH wind turbine designed with the home in mind

Here's an interesting wind turbine designed for the residential market.

One of the knocks on residential wind power is that it doesn't work at low speeds. Well, this one is said to work at speeds as low as 2 miles per hour.

It costs about $4,500 and delivers up to 2,000 kilowatt hours a year for locations with Class 4 - or very good - breezes. It's made by WindTronics, based in Muskegon, Mich. Learn more here.

Of course it's hard to find exactly how much electricity the wind turbine will produce at low winds.

The device, which weighs 95 pounds and is six feet in diameter, can be mounted on rooftops, attached to chimneys, or put on a pole. WindTronics says it hopes to sell the turbines through Ace Hardware stores.

How about Costco? That's where I do my shopping.

Electric motorcycle that can actually get up to speed

A few years ago, some electric motorcycles came out. They were very slow, in comparison to their gas counterparts.

Now, researchers at Kingston University in the UK have come up with an electric model that can get up to 102 miles an hour and run for up to 38 miles. While that's still not up to the speed of Ducatis and other high-end bikes, it still offers some fun for riders who want to take short jaunts.

The new bike can be charged from a standard outlet. It runs on two custom-built 72-volt batteries, according to Alternative Energy News.

The Kingston University team is taking its bike to the world’s first zero-emissions Grand Prix later this summer, competing against 24 other eco-bikes from America, India, Italy, Germany and Austria. The race is the 2009 Isle of Man TTXGP.

Helping save bats from wind turbines

One of the negative aspects of generating electricity from wind is the unfortunate death of birds and bats.

A new study shows that turning off the blades during periods of low winds reduces bat deaths by 70 percent. It makes sense, because bats don't like to fly in heavy winds. At least around here, they like still nights.

The study, performed by Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative and the Pennsylvania Game Commission at Pennsylvania's Casselman wind farm, found that turbines that were not curtailed on low wind nights were as much as four times as likely to result in bat deaths.


Curtailing the turbines did not even result in a great loss of electricity generation. The full study (PDF) showed that if all 23 turbines had been shut down, it would have resulted in a 3 percent annual loss of electricity generation.


Of course, in a low-margin business like electricity generation, every percentage point counts. But it is important for renewable energy sources to show that they can be friendly to nature.

I would like to see a related study on how to reduce bird deaths from wind turbines.

H-car Gets nearly 3,000 miles per gallon equivalent

Yes, you read that correctly.

In a competition to build the world's most efficient car, some Norwegian students constructed a tiny, aerodynamic car that runs on hydrogen. Teams that enter the Shell Eco-Marathon try to see whose car will go the farthest on the equivalent of one liter of gasoline.

The DNV Fuel Fighter team designed a car that went 1,246 kilometers, beating the world record of 848 kilometers. Doing the math, the little car got about 4,600 kilometers a gallon, or about 2,950 miles a gallon.

The car was built by ten students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway.

What a great accomplishment. Learn more here.

Now, if we can just get these kids to come work for General Motors ...

Here are some more pictures from the event.

Mongo power lines for Kansas?

Under a proposed compromise to bring both more wind power and more coal plants to Kansas, a giant power line could be constructed.

The set of three power lines have to be big enough to send massive amounts of electricity to power-hungry folks back East. Each cable would measure 30 inches in diameter. All three cables would carry 765 kilovolts in total, or more than double the 345 kilovolts of the largest existing power line in Kansas.

I would not want to live near that power line. I've stood under much smaller power lines and felt the buzz and had my skin crawl.

Still, the prospect for making Kansas a real power in the wind energy world is tempting. It would bring lots of jobs and hopefully less expensive energy for residents of the state.

On the other hand, the notion of sending electricity many, many states away is not at all in line with the think-local ethos that America needs to adopt regarding its consumption patterns.

Plus, we don't really need more coal plants in this state. Former Governor Kathleen Sebelius spent parts of two terms fighting this, and now that she's gone Sunflower Electric is finding a sneaky - and smart - way to get this done. Yet, the compromise would require state utilities to generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2020.

Much to think about.

Doughnuts for (wind) dollars

Wind turbines should be able to spin a little faster and a little longer if new research by Leviathan Energy plays out.

The company came up with a method to direct the winds around a wind turbine more efficiently into the path of the blades. A doughnut-shaped plastic and metal skirt is placed at the base of the turbine, directing windflow more efficiently.

Supposedly it will increase efficiency by 15-30 percent.

We're just at the beginning stages of real advances in wind power. I can't wait until the price comes down -- and the technology improves -- to the point where I can cost-effectively add one to my home.