Just chill...

I haven't seen much on the blogfront in terms of HVAC and refrigeration since the Freeaire craze of last year (now installed in Killington, VT, where they estimate they're now saving more than 86,389 kilowatt hours of electricity, while eliminating an estimated 58 tons of global-warming CO2 emissions annually!!!), so I thought I might see what's on the horizon...

My search brought me to Ice Energy's Ice Bear, an amazingly simple concept with an equally simple installation procedure (off-the-shelf easy).

Similar to Freeaire, the Ice Bear utilizes cool air conditions to reduce power consumption. Whereas the Freeaire system requires frigid conditions to operate at maximum efficiency, the Ice Bear condenses and freezes water at night when energy consumption is less costly. It then holds the frozen water in an insulated storage tank until daytime when the weather warms.

As the warmer daytime temperatures engage the air conditioning, the refrigerant is forced through the coils in the stored ice and chilled before being pushed in to the building's HVAC ducts, thus providing a cool stream of efficiently refrigerated air.

The Ice Bear® 50 system has a capacity of 50 Ton hours of cooling, including 45 latent + sensible and an additional 5 sensible only. The unit provides 7.5 Tons of cooling capacity for 6 hours of continuous cooling.

Typical configurations:

-7.5 Ton for 6 hours
-5 Ton for 8 hours or more
-Offloading of 10 Ton rooftop unit, where 10 Ton unit is oversized due to high rooftop temperatures
-Offloading one stage of a 10, 15, or 20 Ton, 2-stage rooftop unit

There is also a residential unit capable of eliminating up to 95% of on-peak air conditioning demand. And as an added bonus:

Assists LEED certification

-Adds 3 or more points to the Energy and Atmosphere credits

-Contributes to Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) credits

-Brings Thermal Energy Storage (TES) enabling performance to refrigerant based air-conditioning projects

Now, since the Ice Bear claims to use an equal or lesser amount of energy --in addition to delivering a consistent capacity on 95+ degree days with no degradation in performance and no increase in power consumption-- I'm interested to see if this concept could be hacked to eliminate the majority of the power usage all together.

Consider a location like Kuwait that has an average January low of 45 degrees Fahrenheit and an average August high of 112 (the low for that month is a crisp 83 degrees)! With the exception of brown-outs caused by dust storms throughout June and July, I think it's safe to say that the area is drenched in sun.

So why not saturate the rooftop in solar, submerge the unit's storage containers underground to twice-insulate their exteriors from the harsh conditions,* and store the daytime energy in batteries for nightfall, using the saved energy to refreeze the cores at night?

*You're only depth-limited by accessibility...sink the parking 5-10 floors below the building and you could run the unit subterraneaously, making it even more efficient, but still accessible for repairs. Check some of the commercial case studies and decide for yourself. I think there are benefits that exceed the burden of peak consumption. I just don't have the book learnin' to prove it.

100% pure solar power from concentrate...

At the Zenith of Solar Energy
Israeli energy startup Zenith Solar is pioneering a "concentrated solar power" method that is up to five times more efficient than standard technology

by Neal Sandler
Busines Week: Energy & Environment March 26, 2008, 1:20PM EST

Rooftops all over Israel look strikingly similar: More than 1 million households in the nation of 7.1 million people have solar panels that produce hot water—a relatively simple technology that gained popularity after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, when oil prices shot up sharply. As of the early 1990s, all new residential buildings were required by the government to install solar water-heating systems.

Yet despite Israel's sunny climate and early lead in solar heating, it has been slow in adopting more sophisticated solar technologies that produce electricity from sunlight. Now, with oil hovering near $100 a barrel, a local startup hopes to build on the country's early embrace of sun power to carve out a new clean-energy business.

Zenith Solar, based in Nes Ziona near Tel Aviv, is a pioneer in a new type of solar energy that uses mirrors and lenses to focus and intensify the sun's light, producing far more electricity at lower cost. Compared with traditional flat photovoltaic panels made of silicon, this so-called "concentrated solar power" technology has proved in tests to be up to five times more efficient. That puts it on the verge of being competitive with oil and natural gas, even without government subsidies.

A Boost to Israel's Energy Supply
"Our goal is to utilize every suitable roof, backyard, and open space in Israel to turn households, hotels, and factories into net producers of electricity and thermal heat," says Roy Segev, the founder and chief executive of Zenith Solar. Founded in 2006, the startup has raised $5 million from a handful of private investors in Israel and the U.S. Now it's trying to raise an additional $10 million to $15 million to cover the cost of commercializing its technology.

The opportunity is compelling. Israel's National Infrastructure Ministry estimates solar panels for water-heating already satisfy 4% of the country's total energy demand. With technology like Zenith Solar's widely installed, the figure could jump to more than 16%—a big boost for a country now almost totally dependent on imported energy.

Zenith bought the rights to the solar technology from Ben-Gurion University and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute. A joint Israeli-German research team from the two organizations designed a working prototype, which consists of a 10-sq.-meter (107.6-sq.-ft.) dish lined with curved mirrors made from composite materials. The mirrors focus the sun's radiation onto a 100-sq.-centimeter (15.5-sq.-in.) "generator" that converts light to electricity. The generator also gives off intense heat, which is captured via a water-cooling system for residential or industry hot-water uses.

Tested over the past few years at Israel's National Solar Center in the Negev desert, the prototype achieved astounding results: A concentration of solar energy that was more than 1,000 times greater than standard flat panels.

Avoiding Costly Panels
One of the biggest advantages of Zenith Solar's approach, especially in today's market, is its limited use of polysilicon. Skyrocketing global demand for traditional photovoltaic panels has led to a worldwide shortage of the material and lifted prices tenfold in the past four years.
"Photovoltaic material accounts for 80% of the cost of standard systems," says David Faiman, chief scientific officer at Zenith, and a 30-year solar-energy veteran who was part of the development team. "Our technology succeeds in reducing this to less than 10%, while at the same time obtaining very high efficiency."

After further refining the technology, Zenith plans in the coming months to take its first major steps toward commercialization. Two large-scale test installations are planned for this summer at a kibbutz and a factory. The company will put 86 of its 7-meter-high dishes on an acre of land at Kibbutz Yavne to provide the community of 250 families with more than a quarter of their energy needs. The second project will replace fuel oil used to produce heat at a large chemical plant in central Israel.

Read the rest of the Business Week article HERE.
Read an older article from Reuters HERE.
Read a Next Energy News article HERE.

You'd work differently if you paid the bills at work...

With the recent surge in interest of household energy monitors, I wouldn’t be surprised to see their development and transition in to user-centered building automation monitoring devices/displays.*

Hydro One, Canada’s largest power utility, recently completed a 500-home pilot project in which homeowners in five different Ontario cities were given indoor displays that allow them to track their electricity consumption in real time (they used technology from Blue Line Innovations). The study, the largest ever conducted in Canada, found an average 7 to 10 per cent reduction in electricity use over the course of a year, when compared to the same months and seasons in the previous year. Their findings support similar conclusions, including a similar study out of Oxford University.

I think it would be interesting to work in a building where the power usage is publicly monitored. It wouldn’t even need to be a digital display, but could instead incorporate colors/ambient lighting in to a lobby or entrance. If a building is running at peak energy and output on any given day, the colors shift to reflect the gross output (while I admit that it would be slightly incongruous to install a large electricity-draining light feature to monitor power usage, that’s where the designers would do their design magic, installing the feature with some technobabble something-or-other that doesn’t drain from the existing grid).

Basically, I know I’d be more inclined to turn off a switch or think twice before I plug in my peripherals during peak energy hours. And while we all should be so inclined to do so on a daily basis, reminders don’t hurt.

Here’s some ambient smart monitors for the home from Springwise to show you what I’m talking about:

Wattson, first of all, is a sleek, aesthetically pleasing device that shows homeowners through both numbers and colors how much energy they are using in their home. Consumers begin by attaching to their electricity meter or fuse box a transmitter device, which can measure both single and 3-phase systems. That, in turn, beams information directly to the freestanding Wattson device elsewhere in the house, where it instantly displays current usage. Wattson's LED display can represent energy use in euros, dollars, yen or pounds, while its pulsing, colored light also reflects the amount of electricity being used, ranging from cool blue for small amounts to red for high energy consumption. The wireless Wattson display is portable, and when appliances are switched on or off, it indicates how much energy they use. Homeowners can store up to 4 weeks of energy-use history on the device and download it for analysis on software that comes included; a forthcoming community feature will let Wattson owners compare their usage. Wattson was listed in Stuff Magazine's "Cool List" of the top 10 gadgets of 2007. It is priced at GBP 149.50 from UK-based DIY KYOTO.

The Home Joule, meanwhile, resembles a nightlight and plugs into any outlet in a home. The device displays not just energy usage, broadcast wirelessly by the consumer's energy meter, but also the real-time cost of energy, which comes wirelessly from the energy company. The colour of light emitted by the device represents the costs of the moment, with yellow and red light indicating expensive energy costs, while green means energy is cheaper. The idea is that consumers can then modify their consumption accordingly, switching off discretionary appliances at peak times of the day. The Home Joule is from Ambient Devices and is currently available only to customers of Consumer Powerline's demand-response program.

Finally, though not truly an energy monitor, we can't resist mentioning Ambient's beautiful Energy Orb, which also emits different colours of light to represent pricing information. This time, however, the device emitting the light is an egg-shaped orb that plugs into an outlet. The Energy Orb has been adopted by Pacific Gas & Electric and other US energy companies, and is priced at USD 149.99.

With energy prices heading nowhere but up, so, too, will demand for devices like these. One to get in on early, especially outside the US!

Websites: www.diykyoto.com — www.consumerpowerline.com — www.ambientdevices.com

*Keep in mind that I have zero planning/architectural experience, but what can I say? It’s fun to think out loud and predict grandiose changes in trends when working from the industry sidelines. I’m privy to my stupid ideas/thoughts/comments/all-office emails and nobody gets hurt.

It's official, Ohio blows...

It was inevitable...I poke a little fun at the diminutive scale of Ohio's brownfield (re)development, thus eluding to our slackeresque approach to renewable energies, and somebody sends me this:

Ohio development chief predicts area can be solar-energy capital

Ohio's top business booster predicted yesterday that northwest Ohio could one day be known as the solar-energy capital of the Midwest.

At the end of a year that saw more gloomy economic news locally, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who directs the Ohio Department of Development, offered a relatively rosy forecast for the region. "I'm very optimistic about the future of the northwest Ohio economy," he said.

Citing the presence of firms involved in development and production of more cost-efficient solar panels in metro Toledo, plans for a commercial wind farm south of Bowling Green, and construction of ethanol plants elsewhere in the region, Mr. Fisher said northwest Ohio leads the state in alternative energy ventures." More HERE.
Wow. Who knew that Cleveland was worth more than rock-and-roll and horrible football (I was born and raised a Bengal's fan, so feel free to insert your joke here)? I know that most don't think green when they think of Ohio, but it looks like the sun/wind tides are turning.

Seriously though, I couldn't be happier. If anybody/anywhere is in need of revitalization, it's the Great Lake region. Since 2001 --the end of the most recent recession-- there's been a significant (5%) increase in employment nationwide. While that might be great for the US, the Midwest has seen little (if not damaging) change. It's evident that the 5% productivity is not consistent for each state:

"...Michigan and Ohio have continued to lose jobs. The problem, not surprisingly, is in manufacturing. Michigan and Ohio have lost 159,000 and 136,000 manufacturing jobs, respectively, since November 2001 (see table below). Ohio's losses add up to just under 15% of the state's manufacturing jobs, while Michigan has lost about 20%—or one in five—of such jobs. Only California, a much bigger state, has lost a greater number of manufacturing jobs."

Additionally...

"Michigan and Ohio rank No. 1 and 2 on mortgage finance company Fannie Mae's list of states with the largest credit losses through Sept. 30. Fannie Mae listed losses --loans written off as having no chance of being recovered-- of $185 million for Michigan and $101M for Ohio."

But...

"Michigan...ranked No. 4 in a 2004 U.S. Department of Energy report on new job potential in the wind energy sector. The top spot on the list belonged to California; Ohio was second."

Like I said, who knew? They might be in bad shape, but it looks like they're only going up.

With Congress authorizing $125 million for green job training in the US and the struggling Midwest looking green with potential energy, I can only hope and pray that we jump into the forefront of the sustainable energy movement. Given the fact that green collar jobs transcend the traditional blue and white, consequently affecting all income classes in the public sector, this would be a HUGE boost for our struggling neighbors up north. Companies, manufacturers, individuals and communities could all profit greatly! The sky is (literally) the limit.

Curing sick buildings made for sick people...

I'm back but broken, so we're going to keep it pretty basic. I don't want to go and expose my immune system --or lack there of-- to all the viruses on teh interwebs (imagine Tommy Lee's .wmv file touching Tila Tequila's mySpace page...that's how germy I feel). So this is a simple, undemanding, clean post to bring me back.

Does your ICU need TLC?

With healthcare design beginning to crest at each and every green request, here's a wonderful report showcasing the various stages in which/on which/to which you can improve hospital performance. It seem pretty basic, but incorporates some case studies from UF, Emory, Kaiser Permanente and the Discovery Health Center, so it turns out to be an interesting read.

On a sidenote, isn't is funny how green tech no longer seems tech per se, but more "Hey, that's obvious"? I typed basic in the previous paragraph and paused for a moment.

I love looking back at the last two decades and seeing how far we've come. Now that the public is embracing sustainability, you'll read a report like the one featured below and wonder why they even need to point such obvious solutions, when only 15 years ago this report would have sounded like the operating instructions for an Excelsior NX-2000 Ship with experimental transwarp drive.

Likewise, I'm also amazed at how google can make you sound like a complete Star Trek junkie with one simple search, given the fact that my accumulated Star Trek watching amounts to paltry 2.34 seconds of my life.

It's the little things.

The report:

Building Healthy Hospitals:

The Pacific Southwest Regional Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has worked with architects, designers, engineers, healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals to identify the "Top 5 Green Building Strategies for Healthcare" that support the Joint Commission’s Environment of Care objectives and best combine: enhanced community reputation; benefits to the environment, patients and staff; and cost competitiveness. The overview summarizes the benefits and case study results for each of the five green building strategies.

Top 5 Green Building Strategies for Healthcare:

-Case Studies Overview (PDF)
-#1:Energy Efficiency—Integrated Design and HVAC Systems (PDF)
-#2:Process Water Efficiency (PDF)
-#3:Sustainable Flooring Material Selection (PDF)
-#4: Indoor Air Quality: Materials Selection (PDF)
-#5:Lighting Efficiency—Optimizing Artificial and Natural Lighting (PDF)

We can pollute in space...

Original Picture Credit
Photoshop by me

And suddenly, the Dyson Sphere doesn't seem so impossible...

The US Military has a small proposal: a space-based solar power station.

First and foremost, the question should be asked, "Why in the hell is this being done by the US Military? Why not NASA?" Well, the shot-callers in Arlington decided that energy independence is now an issue of national security.

So we're invading the moon? Wow, I didn't even know it had weapons of mass destruction.

Seriously though, why would the DoD be interested? Here's just a few reasons from this guy:

Immediate military tactical and operational needs:

1. Dramatically reduce the energy logistics train to forward operating bases and reduce the need to secure massive energy convoys and stores in:
-Disaster relief efforts
-Nation building efforts
-Combat zones

2. Beam power directly to vehicles in all operating media for the following reasons
-Reduce weight of carrying fuel
-Increase range and loiter time
-Eliminate need for refueling and reduce the need for refueling vehicles
-Reduce the need for consuming local energy supplies
-Reduce size and signature

3. Use SSP for liquifaction of carbon-neutral fuels for current generation of liquid-fueled systems
-Continue to exploit current liquid fuel infrastructure, using carbon neutral fuels
-Gain independence from foreign liquid fuel providers

Urgent national security strategic goals:

1. Assist in achieving national energy independence from current liquid fuel providers
-Reduce level of national interest in unstable regions
-Reduce national dependence on unfriendly foreign governments
-Reduce the risk of energy competition wars in the 21st Century

2. Assist allies in achieving their national energy independence
-Develop and strengthen broad international partnerships
-Participate in international energy consortia and alliances

3. Economic: Become an energy exporter
-Increase national ability to influence or avoid geopolitical events
-Increase GNP, wealth of the nation, and increase tax revenue
-Use energy earnings to pay off national debt

4. Environmental: Dramatically reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere
-Prevent food wars which might happen if global warming continues
-Enhance soft power and green credibility around the world
-Lead the international clean energy movement by example

OK, so the product has legitimate applications and is not, in fact, an invasion of the moon. I can see it now, like two big bug eyes circling the earth, harvesting solar rays in a "lock box" where they are converted into high-power density microwave beams back to earth. Like this:

Sound a little far-fetched? Well it needs to be, because whoever develops the technology will rule the world.

Lotttttttsssssss of money. Lotttttttsssssss of power. Lotttttttsssssss of women.

Brown hot women.

They estimate that just one of these bands will produce enough energy per annum to equal that of the entire oil reserve left on the planet (granted, this is an estimate from a bunch of guys that can't even get a missile shield working).

Still, I'm optimistic...not in my lifetime, but maybe when my one year-old son is on the verge of retirement.

From the website:

NSSO Backs Space Solar Power
Oct 11, 2007
Frank Morring, Jr./Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Collecting solar power in space and beaming it back to Earth is a relatively near-term possibility that could solve strategic and tactical security problems for the U.S. and its deployed forces, the Pentagon's National Security Space Office (NSSO) says in a report issued Oct. 10.

As a clean source of energy that would be independent of foreign supplies in the strife-torn Middle East and elsewhere, space solar power (SSP) could ease America's longstanding strategic energy vulnerability, according to the "interim assessment" released at a press conference...

And the U.S. military could meet tactical energy needs for forward-deployed forces with a demonstration system, eliminating the need for a long logistical tail to deliver fuel for terrestrial generators while reducing risk for eventual large-scale commercial development of the technology, the report says.

Read more HERE.

Money down the drain and back up again...

Keeping with this week's theme of getting clean, we're still in the bathroom (kind of). RenewABILITY Energy, Inc has an unfortunately named product that I desperately need to see in action.

I'm stoked if the Power-Pipe™ works as it claims, because the technology could be easily tweaked and retweaked over the next decade (I think it's still in version 1.0), pulling a ton of heat loss back into buildings and homes. However, I can't imagine that all the heat-conducive copper comes at a cheap price.

Here's the gist...basically, the warmer waste water in the drain pipe warms up the incoming cold water before it reaches your hot water heater...kind of like putting hot water in a tea kettle before you boil it. Might not work as efficiently down south, but it's obvious to see why it would help those in the frozen north.

From their Website:

Drain-water clings to the inside pipe wall and falls quickly creating a thin “falling-film” which quickly imparts its heat to the pipe wall. Copper is used for both the inner pipe and outer tube, and its conductivity has a heat transfer rate that is 4-6x greater than other classes of heat exchanger on a surface area basis...

The heat from this film is transferred easily and efficiently to the cold water circulating in the Power-Pipe™ around the outside of the drainpipe.

The incoming cold water is preheated before going into the water heater and plumbing fixtures, saving money and energy while increasing shower-capacity. A sixty inch Power-Pipe™ unit can bring the cold water temperature up from 10 degrees C to as much as 24 degrees C, under equal flow conditions. If it is connected to only the water heater or only the cold water fixtures, the savings is less but the temperature rises up to about 28 degrees C.

Power-Pipe™ raises the temperature of incoming cold water by recycling free heat from waste-water going down the drain. About 90% of all hot water energy goes down the drain, allowing the Power-Pipe™ to recycle as much as 60% of the wasted heat. The more hot water you use, the more energy you save.

Daddy never spanked us...

Partisan leanings notwithstanding, if you consider yourself to be any kind of environmentalist, you can not be happy with our current administration. Likewise the same can be said about the previous administration and their refusal of Kyoto. Moreover, the administrations prior to Clinton and their lack of prosecution for industrial polluters. And so on, and so on, and so on....

America's denial of the environment is a literal speed bump that impedes the correction of our problematic majority share in the environment (whew), and you know what? It's not a result of your party affiliation, but because you're the owner of the party.

Like it or not, these politicians/administration/agency/policy are yours.

I never really thought about it until I saw this headline: Bush's EPA Is Pursuing Fewer Polluters. While Bush might, in fact, be Commander in Chief, it needs to be said that he has tenure, not ownership! And while I understand these branches of the governmental tree are ultimately superintended under his supervision and guidance (and the headline did not actually intend to show ownership) I can't help but put that story's blame on us.

Under a democracy, the fault lies with the voter. Even after the votes have been cast, we are still in charge. When did this mountable fact go by the wayside?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s words to Western Illinois University could have been true under Bush, Clinton, Bush and Reagan. So what the hell are we doing, what the hell have we done, what the hell are we going to do?


If Obama is elected to office, will we hold his feet to the flame if he doesn't come through with his promise to comprehensively study climate change and its impact on low-income communities? If future president John McCain does not protect the clean air, safe and healthy water, sustainable land use, ample greenspace he claims to ensure, will we hold him responsible? If our fearless leader in chief Hillary fails to create a (successful) $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund for research and development, do we call for her resignation? If Rudy is elected, will we fight to oust him from office for his failure to even recognize the environment as issue?

Now is the time to jump.

The Skipper, toooooo....

Gilligan, Chuck Knowland, Richard, Dawson...just think how many island desertees could have been saved with a solar vending machine!

Unfortunately, they don't take Australian money. Why? Because it isn't green!

That one goes out to my Dad, inventor of the really, really bad joke.

Anyway, is it overly trendy on its green applications? Yes, but the idea is a good start.

Vending machines are essentially Sub Zero refrigerators on steroids, sucking a constant stream of energy from your from your breakrooms (or as pictured, your dream office on the coast of Spain).

My firm will usually try to step around this problem by powering down our snack-filled vending machines, but have no ability to do so with our frozen and refrigerated machines for obvious reasons (although Spring lightning storms will sometimes choose to do so on their own).

Hopefully we'll see more alternative power sources for seldom-used machines.

From their website:

Location has always been the key to selling products, this machine has no restriction. Wherever the customers, the machine can be placed, static or mobile. It has its own internal supply of DC energy. Should power cuts occur, it will carry on operating when conventional machine stop. No matter if the skies are grey, rain or even at night, 365 days a year.

Old school vs. new school....

Sometimes tech can be too tech.

Why do I have a strange feeling that Choice B is a tad bit cheaper than Choice A?

Choice A:

The Sun Lizard Heat Extractor

It uses solar energy, natural air movements, and heating and cooling dynamics to harmoniously moderate the comfort of your home or building. It can be retrofitted into existing building or installed on buildings under construction.




Choice B:

Ecovent

Works by utilising the velocity energy of the wind to induce air flow by centrifugal action.

The only Mariah I can stand...

Sleek vertical axis small wind...is there anything sexier?

At 30 feet tall and 2 feet wide, and only $4000 - I don't think so.

Nevada based company Mariah Power has developed the Windspire, the smallest behemoth (huh?) I've ever seen. With numerous applications, residential/small business/kinetic sculpture, I still can't get over the shape. It's pretty.

See for yourself...

If that doesn't get your eco-blood moving, try this...

Kind of like your looking up nature's skirt.

Anywhoo...I've exclaimed my love for vertical axis technology before, but this Savonius design actually knocked the patchouli right out of me. It's mounted on a cement foundation so you don't need to secure it to the ground with hundreds of guy wires, and you can even plug it directly into your house because it doesn't need to be hardwired (a plus for any affluent renter!).

From their website:

Mariah Power’s patented technology includes a rotor, generator, and inverter designed as a complete system to optimize the conversion of wind energy into electricity. The 1kW (1 kilowatt, or 1,000 watts) Windspire will produce approximately 1900* kilowatt hours per year in 12 mile per hour average winds. The Windspire also includes an internal wireless modem that can continuously transmit power production information directly to your computer so you can check your power production at any time.

The rotor is a Modified Savonius design. Our high efficiency rotor was...combined with an innovative high-strength yet cost-effective construction, using a steel frame with low cost insertable plastic panels. The extruded plastic panels come on rolls and are simply inserted into the rotor frame. These breakthroughs in design and construction provide high efficiency with low cost and an extremely safe blade-free design.

Don't know if you have wind? Check out their wind maps.

Have 8 mph breezes? That's enough to start generating energy.

Worried about too much wind? No problem...it's rated up to 100 mph gusts.

I love it that there are so many new prototypes hitting the market. I can't figure out which I like more. Is a vertical axis turbine sexier when it's laying on its back?

What about on the road?

THREESOME!!!!!!

I need a clove.

I'm addicted to crank...

While stranded in the South Pacific on a thin coral atoll, moon hidden by the clouds, walking down dirt roads with only a a three dollar flashlight in hand, I oft wished I padded my rucksack a little bit better BEFORE I left the states.

The batteries we would buy in Kiribati worked, so that wasn't necessarily the root of my lighting problem, but the lifespan of said batteries was a definite issue. Their operational efficiency depended HEAVILY on the device being used. A Kasio [sic] keyboard, for instance, blasted at full volume by a neighbor practicing for an Independence Day botaki might need to be changed out every two songs or so, unless, of course, the neighbor is practicing at 3:00am...then the batteries had uncanny staying power. There was also the case of the "inconvenient crap-out" where a low-wattage item would die when most needed, say, during an aforementioned stroll down a rock cluttered dirt road...barefoot...three miles from your home...during the rainy season.

Batteries are, and will continue to be, a MAJOR issue in developing nations as more and more technology and goods continue to be introduced without a proper means to maintain and dispose of them after life has ended. So you can imagine my elation when I stumbled upon this website (while the technology is by no means new, continue reading to see why Freeplay is nevertheless a modernistic company):

Freeplay Energy is a damn cool website devoted to all products "crank." From weather band radios to eye-blinding LED flashlights, freeplay has it all.

From their site:

At Freeplay Energy, we believe in developing environmentally-responsible products to empower the global village. As the original creators of the famous wind up radio, we now develop and manufacture a wide range of electronic products distributed throughout the world. Freeplay’s award winning self-sufficient products harness human, solar, and rechargeable energy to power durable portable devices from radios to lanterns to mobile phone chargers. Forget disposable batteries. Our self-sustainable power solutions provide energy for life, while respecting the social and environmental impact on our planet. You can rely on Freeplay Energy products to work anytime and anywhere.

Freeplay Energy’s commitment to the planet goes well beyond the environment. Our products are engineered with every nation in mind. In developing countries – which have little or no access to reliable energy – we are pioneering, durable, innovative, rechargeable products that withstand the harshest climate and use. Our products offer convenience and security to some, and to others, enable critical communication, access to education and basic lighting at night to improve their quality of life.

What's more is that they provide a great product AND a great message. Established in 1998, the Freeplay Foundation "is committed to providing innovative and practical energy solutions and to ensuring sustained access to information and education via radio." More from their site:

The Freeplay Foundation aims to:

-facilitate sustained access to information and education for the poorest of the poor, especially children, women, refugees and the disabled.

-raise awareness of the role of radio broadcasting and communication in developing countries, disaster areas and regions of conflict.

-research opportunities where appropriate and alternative sources of energy can be applied to improve the lives of people in developing communities, especially children living on their own.

-seek sponsorship to initiate and support humanitarian communication initiatives.

My time on the islands might be over, but I might still buy crankable flashlight...not because I need it, but because this company actually "gets it."

The Sustainable Times also has a really wonderful article.

Ireland's Tidal Turbine Delayed...

*Collective sad sigh*

The world's first tidal turbine was set to create electricity from tidal energy, but installation dates have been pushed back. Originally planned for drop-down in Northern Ireland this summer, an unfortunate August 3rd press release announced that Marine Current Turbines would be delaying installation due to prior commitments of the installation vessel (shown below).


A2Sea, the owners and operators of the machine, are currently in discussion with Marine Current Turbines to decide on a new date. Apparently A2Sea is behind schedule on another project, with the irony being that the top of their homepage states, "We deliver...based on the experience of more than 200 offshore wind turbines successfully installed." They did say when they deliver...just that they did, in fact, deliver.

From the website:

SeaGen is the name given to the 1.2MW tidal energy converter that will be installed in Strangford Lough during 2007. Sea Generation Ltd is the project company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marine Current Turbines Ltd. SeaGen has been has been licensed for a maximum installed duration of 5 years.

Marine Current Turbines Ltd have been operating the 300kW Seaflow tidal energy system at Lynmouth, Devon since May 2003 and are recognised as being one of the worlds leading tidal energy system developers.

The proposal to install SeaGen in Strangford Lough was initiated in November 2003. The environmental consultancy, Royal Haskoning Ltd was appointed in 2004 to scope the environmental considerations and conduct the environmental impact assessment.



For addition research in the field of tidal energy:
Electric Power Research Institutes's Tidal in Stream Energy Conversion Project (TISEC)

Green is made of people...

Stomp the yard? No.

Step by Step with a New Design On the Block? No.

Walkin' on Sunshine? No.

So many punarific ways I could go here, but I'm not going to do it...


Ever live underneath a dance studio? Ever had bad enough neighbors that it felt like it?

People-powered "Crowd Farms" are growing more and more popular, harnessing the power of movement and motion created in every day situations. If you've ever experienced the aforementioned stomping, imagine the energy generated by 1000 commuters in a subway station.


Two graduate students from MIT’s Department of Architecture have figured out a way to harness all that movement and use it as a source of sustainable energy. James Graham and Thaddeus Jusczyk proposed that energy micro-generation is the wave of the future, soon surpassing large power plants in energy production, by creating a chair that exploits the passive act of sitting for power generation. The weight of the body on the chair spins a flywheel, powering a dynamo that lights four LEDs, putting to use some of the energy that is usually dissipated into the surrounding architecture.

I have a Liberal Arts degree. Would you like fries with that?

Although the article states the application would not work in residential situations since, "a single human step can only power two 60W light bulbs for one flickering second," it does state that if you "get a crowd in motion, multiply that single step by 28,527 steps...the result is enough energy to power a moving train for one second."

Think Vegas strip. Grand Central Station. Mall of America. Fried Twinkie line at the Ohio State Fair.

Somebody get these boys some seed money.