This is the time of year when industry-wide events take place, and a new year's line of products is revealed and hyped. This week's news includes more from the Detroit Auto Show, as well as Greenpeace's annual rankings of the green-ness of 18 consumer electronics firms.
Solar Power Playing Major Role in Haiti Relief
The people of Haiti are facing a long and difficult road to recovery. Their power infrastructure has been demolished and fuel for generators and cooking is scarce, but they do have one thing on their side: abundant sunshine. Many solar power companies and non-profits are focusing on that resource and bringing solar-powered equipment capable of providing essential needs like drinkable water, cooking surfaces and mobile phones to the Haitian people.
Checking Up on 2009's Green Cars
Last year, Hank attended the NAIAS auto show in Detroit, and gave us a rundown on the various green cars he saw there. I thought it would be good to take a look at last year's list and see how things have lined up for these companies. This was already a year when the majority of manufacturers attending the show had electric vehicles on display. We've got details, and more photos in the full article.
Greenpeace Releases 2010 Green Electronics Rankings
This year's annual Greenpeace "Guide to Greener Electronics" has been released, and it is a mixed bag. The lowest scores are higher than they were last year, but the highest scores are lower. Nokia is still at the top. In 2009, they were at 7.45, but in 2010 they are down to 7.3.
Offshore Wind Turbines Help Sustain Marine Life
A study of offshore wind farms off Europe's coasts has revealed that the structures pose no threat to marine life, and in fact, they help sustain it. Scientists at Stockholm University's Zoology Department conducted the study and found that the turbine foundations acted as habitats for fish, crabs, mussels, lobsters and plants, creating a more diverse and dense population of marine life at wind farm sites than at control sites away from the farms.
Solar Beam-Down Plants For Cheaper Solar Thermal
Solar power towers have proven to be a fairly efficient way of converting solar energy into electricity. In a solar power tower, energy from a large array of mirrors focused onto a tower that captures the heat in some way, and then converts that heat to electricity using a boiler and turbine. It's a great system, but building that heat-resistant tower and pumping all of those fluids up and down can be pretty expensive. Which is why researchers at the Masdar Institute, the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Cosmo Oil are working together on "beam down" solar. Instead of having the heat-capturing system up on that big tower, a second set of mirrors directs the light back down at the ground where it can be captured by a system that doesn't have to be suspended many stories in the air.
Follow EcoGeek and some of our writers on Twitter (@EcoGeek, @cornellbox, @mtreacy) as well as on our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/theecogeek). If you are on Facebook, you can join the EcoGeek: Technology for the Environment group, as well.
If you have comments or questions about the Newsletter, you can contact us at Newsletter@ecogeek.org. And be sure to check in for more information about all the latest green technologies at EcoGeek.org
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.