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 3 July '08
Israeli Sufa 2 Jeeps
(IsraelNN.com) For the last 18 months, the IDF has conducted the largest ever experiment on the correlation between driving habits and gas consumption. Electronic monitors were installed in over 500 vehicles used by the IDF Ground Forces Command and the Air Force, which monitored the vehicles for driving aberrations. Aberrations triggered an alarm, which then sent a message to the commander of the unit to which the vehicle belonged. Although some soldiers tried to tamper with the monitors, most chose instead to drive more carefully, according to the IDF.
Results indicate that this was not only safer, it also saved an average of 14% in fuel consumption, leading to enormous savings for the IDF. The 500 cars use about 2 million liters of fuel annually; a 14% decrease means a saving of 280,000 liters. This is increasingly important in view of rising fuel prices. The IDF plans to install the monitors in a few thousand more vehicles shortly.
June 5, '08 by Hillel Fendel (IsraelNN.com) Electricity Revolution: Beginning July 1, every Israeli will be able not only to manufacture his own electricity, but to sell what he doesn't need to the Electric Company. The Israel Electric Company (IEC) is hoping to encourage consumers to install solar panels, and is willing to pay them NIS 2.01 per kilowatt of "clean" electricity. This is approximately four times the amount that consumers pay the company for their electricity. Installing the solar panels is expensive, however, and begins at 60,000 shekels. Adequate roof space is also required. Experts say that those who are willing to make the investment will be able to make back their money in ten years. Dan Lavi of Yisrael HaYom reports that unlike Germany and Spain, Israel's government does not yet subsidize consumer solar panels. Preparing for the Summer Heat Waves
Meanwhile, the IEC is preparing for record demand this summer. Together with the Infrastructures Ministry, the company held a country-wide drill last week to prepare for such eventualities and to practice the regulation of kilowatt shortages. When demands exceeds available supply, the general practice is to cut back electricity in random neighborhoods until the situation stabilizes. The exercise left officials confident that the IEC is prepared to deal with the summer demands. Attention is now being turned to educating consumers regarding the need to cut back, and informing them that they might find themselves blacked-out for short periods. Supply Exceeds Demand - But Just Barely
Globes reports that the IEC is currently able to produce 11,400 megawatts, with available capacity at 10,877. Demand is expected to reach 10,300 megawatts - 100 more than the record set during the cold wave this past January - leaving a reserve of only 5%.
28 May 2008 Credit: IBM  IBM Research Could Lead to Reduced Costs in Solar Farm Technology New York, United States [ RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Last week, IBM announced a research breakthrough in photovoltaics (PV) technology that could significantly reduce the cost of harnessing the sun's power for electricity. By borrowing innovations from its own R&D in cooling computer chips, the team was able to cool the solar cell from greater than 1,600 degrees Celsius to just 85 degrees Celsius.
In the same way that children in science class use a magnifying glass to burn a leaf, IBM scientists are using a large lens to concentrate the sun's power, capturing a record 230 watts onto a centimeter square solar cell, in a technology known as concentrator photovoltaics, or CPV. That energy is then converted into 70 watts of usable electrical power, about five times the electrical power density generated by typical cells using CPV technology in solar farms. If it can overcome additional challenges to move this project out of the lab, IBM believes it can significantly reduce the cost of a typical CPV-based system. By using a much lower number of photovoltaic cells in a solar farm and concentrating more light onto each cell using larger lenses, IBM's system enables a significant cost advantage in terms of a lesser number of total components. For instance, by moving from a 200 sun system ("one sun" is a measurement equal to the solar power incident at noon on a clear summer day), where about 20 watts per square centimeter of power is concentrated onto the cell, to a 2,300 sun system, where approximately 230 watts per square centimeter are concentrated onto the cell system, the IBM system cuts the number of photovoltaic cells and other components by a factor of 10. "We believe IBM can bring unique skills from our vast experience in semiconductors and nanotechnology to the important field of alternative energy research," said Dr. Supratik Guha, the scientist leading photovoltaics activities at IBM Research. "This is one of many exploratory research projects incubating in our labs where we can drive big change for an entire industry while advancing the basic underlying science of solar cell technology." The trick lies in IBM's ability to cool the tiny solar cell. Concentrating the equivalent of 2,000 suns on such a small area generates enough heat to melt stainless steel, something the researchers experienced first hand in their experiments. But by borrowing innovations from its own R&D in cooling computer chips, the team was able to cool the solar cell from greater than 1,600 degrees Celsius to just 85 degrees Celsius. The initial results of this project were presented at the 33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists conference last week, where the IBM researchers explained in detail how their liquid metal cooling interface is able to transfer heat from the solar cell to a copper cooling plate much more efficiently than anything else available today. The IBM research team developed a system that achieved promising results by coupling a commercial solar cell to an advanced IBM liquid metal thermal cooling system using methods developed for the microprocessor industry. Specifically, the IBM team used a very thin layer of a liquid metal made of a gallium and indium compound that they applied between the chip and a cooling block. Such layers, called thermal interface layers, transfer the heat from the chip to the cooling block so that the chip temperature can be kept low. The company says that its liquid metal solution offers the best thermal performance available today, at low costs, and the technology was successfully developed by IBM to cool high power computer chips earlier. 
Credit: IBM
While concentrator-based photovoltaics technologies have been around since the 1970s, they have received renewed interest in recent times. With very high concentrations, they have the potential to offer the lowest-cost solar electricity for large-scale power generation, provided the temperature of the cells can be kept low, and cheap and efficient optics can be developed for concentrating the light to very high levels. IBM is exploring four main areas of photovoltaic research: using current technologies to develop cheaper and more efficient silicon solar cells, developing new solution-processed thin-film photovoltaic devices, concentrator photovoltaics and future generation photovoltaic architectures based upon nanostructures such as semiconductor quantum dots and nanowires. The goal of the projects is to develop efficient photovoltaic structures that would reduce the cost, minimize the complexity and improve the flexibility of producing solar electric power.
| Video: GreenFuel Uses Algae For Biofuel? Posted: 19 May 2008 03:30 PM CDT Dr. Isaac Berzin, an Israeli scientist in love with "all things algae" has discovered a unique way to extract fuel from the tiny creatures in order to help ease our world's dependence upon fossil fuels.
(Video Credit: Newfangler Productions, via GreenFuel Technologies) Video: http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=715992788 (Haaretz.com) When Berzin looks at algae, he sees a new world and a revolution. Dr. Berzin, 40, is wearing a blue suit, and his hair is held in place with glistening gel. Eight months ago he returned to Israel from the United States after generating a research breakthrough that changed his life. Berzin, the founder of GreenFuel Technologies - a U.S. company that produces green fuel from algae - discovered that "green slime" contains one of the keys to the alternative fuel the world is seeking. His company is the first ever to develop and produce biofuels from algae that are bred on gases emitted by power plants. [...]
"I feel a bit like Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb," he says. "He tried thousands of materials until he arrived at the filament. My intuition, too, told me that it was possible to do something that people were only dreaming of - to build a device from algae to produce energy at market-compatible costs.
Even though other Israeli scientists are using seaweed as a means of alternative fuel, using algae may prove to be a lot more economical (not to mention easier to grow as well). Note: More info regarding GreenFuel Technologies can be found over here. |
May 20, '08 Gaza:‘Green’ Groups Oppose Use of Cooking Oil in Cars (IsraelNN.com) Environmentalist groups in Gaza have begun a campaign against the use of cooking oil in cars. Dozens protested on Sunday near the offices of the Al-Damir rights group, calling on residents of Gaza to avoid using cooking oil in vehicles. The oil creates toxic fumes that are extremely harmful to human health, protestors said. Many residents of Gaza have converted their engines to allow their cars to run on cooking oil due to a shortage of gasoline in the area. The supply of gasoline to Gaza is often cut off due to terrorist attacks on Israeli crossings, but cooking oil, which is considered a humanitarian need, continues to enter the area despite terror attacks.
 A prototype of an electric car is displayed in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 11, 2008. A Silicon Valley start-up company presented Sunday a prototype of the electric car it says will revolutionize transportation in Israel beginning in two years' time. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (Ariel Schalit - AP)
A charging plug of a prototype of an electric car is seen during a display of the car in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 11, 2008. A Silicon Valley start-up company presented Sunday a prototype of the electric car it says will revolutionize transportation in Israel beginning in two years' time. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (Ariel Schalit - AP)
Shai Agassi, an Israeli-American entrepreneur displays a prototype of his electric car in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 11, 2008. A Silicon Valley start-up company presented Sunday a prototype of the electric car it says will revolutionize transportation in Israel beginning in two years' time. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (Ariel Schalit - AP)
Shai Agassi, an Israeli-American entrepreneur displays a prototype of his electric car in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 11, 2008. A Silicon Valley start-up company presented Sunday a prototype of the electric car it says will revolutionize transportation in Israel beginning in two years' time. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (Ariel Schalit - AP)
 By MATTI FRIEDMAN The Associated Press
Sunday, May 11, 2008; 2:42 PM TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israelis got a first demonstration Sunday of the electric car that developers hope will revolutionize transportation in the country and serve as a pilot for the rest of the world. The silver car doing circles in a Tel Aviv parking lot looked like a regular sedan _ except it had no exhaust pipe and there was an electric socket where the mouth of the gas tank should have been. The Silicon Valley startup Project Better Place hopes the fully electric prototype will be on Israel's streets in large numbers beginning at the end of 2010. Backers of the project say the car will drastically reduce dependence on oil, cut emissions and put Israel at the forefront of international efforts to develop more environmentally friendly modes of transportation. Israel's government endorsed the project in January, and a Danish energy company also has joined as a partner. But experts say technical pitfalls, such as a limited battery range, remain before the car will be marketable, and other car manufacturers are gambling on gas-electric hybrids as the green cars of the immediate future. If the company's plan proceeds on schedule, Israel will be the first country to have electric cars on its highways in large numbers. On the dashboard of the Renault sedan presented Sunday, the gas gauge was replaced by a screen showing how much battery power remained. In a test drive, the car accelerated quickly _ the company says it can go from zero to 60 mph in eight seconds _ and the engine remained nearly inaudible even at high speed. The project is a joint venture between automotive giant Renault-Nissan, which is building the car, and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Project Better Place, which came up with the business model and is supposed to operate a recharging grid to be built across Israel beginning in 2009. Several hundred cars are scheduled to hit Israel's streets in a pilot run next year, the company says, with larger numbers to arrive in late 2010. The initiative is being led by Shai Agassi, an Israeli-American entrepreneur and high-tech wunderkind who raised $200 million to get the project off the ground. He also got Israel's government to endorse it earlier this year and promise tax incentives to promote the new vehicles when they go on the market. At the time, experts said there are still plenty of technical pitfalls that need to be surmounted before the car becomes available to the general public. Critics have pointed at the car battery's limited range _ 125 miles _ as a potentially major deterrent to consumers. For long drives, motorists will be able to replace the battery at about 150 swap stations expected to be built around the country. The battery swap is expected to take the same amount of time as filling a tank of gas. For shorter journeys, drivers will be able to recharge the batteries at home or at the office. Drivers will pay a monthly subscription for the batteries, with different plans like those of cell phone users. The company says the rates will come to less than the average monthly expenditure on gasoline. Following Israel's lead, the Danish energy company DONG Energy AS adopted the Better Place model in March with a plan to have thousands of cars running on electricity generated by wind turbines by 2011. If plans remain on schedule, Israeli consumers will be able to purchase an electric car by the end of 2010 for around the price of a regular sedan.
April 22, '08  (IsraelNN.com) The Infrastructure Ministry has announced a mammoth project that will supply Eilat with almost of its needed electricity by using a solar power station. Approximately 3,000 acres will be set aside for the project. Ministry officials said that there are very few cloudy days in Eilat that would require using electricity from the Israel Electric Corp. (IEC). The ministry also said that the Negev and Arava will be given first preference in other projects to promote solar energy. The generating capacity of IEC often is pressed to its limits, causing brownouts and blackouts in peak periods of demand during the hot summer months and during cold spells in the winter.
jpost.com Making Waves vs. pollution from coal smoke stacks By SAM SER Apr 19, 2008 It doesn't look like much, this thing lying dormant in the grassy driveway of Shmuel Ovadia's exceedingly modest offices in south Tel Aviv. Still, Ovadia insists, this bunch of plywood and rusting engines, bolted together in an old shipping crate, could save the planet. The box of parts, and the large metal arm lying on top of it, is meant to be stationed a few kilometers away, just off the coast. There, in the surf that endlessly laps at the shore, a set of Ovadia's buoys would exploit one of the world's most reliable - and most potent - sources of energy. The idea is fairly simple: Every wave on the ocean represents a significant amount of force; if even some of that tremendous energy could be harnessed, it could be turned into electricity. "They say that just 1 percent of the energy in the oceans could power the entire world," Ovadia says, with a raise of the eyebrows and a nod of the head, as if to stave off any "no way" reaction. It is, he assures, a viable goal. The tricky part of realizing such potential is finding a way to capture as much of that energy as possible and turn it into electricity in a safe and cost-efficient manner. Until now, the dozens of contraptions that have been tried - although tantalizing and inspiring - have proven unable to meet that challenge. Part of the problem lies in the sheer brute force of the sea. One apparatus, a 750-metric-ton device, was torn to shreds off the coast of Scotland as it was being put in place. And that was in relatively shallow water. Attempts to harvest the even more powerful currents farther out to sea and deeper down require complicated feats of engineering that make such efforts impractical in the near future. The beauty of Ovadia's system, he says, lies in its simplicity. Rather than try to channel the ocean's power, Ovadia wants to go along for the ride. His buoys lie atop the water, at or just off the beach. As waves raise the buoys, attached hydraulic arms, contract - turning an alternator, creating electricity. The entire process is fully automatic, and requires not a drop of fuel. "I don't need smoke-belching towers, I don't need turbines, I don't need anything polluting," Ovadia says. What's more, he adds, his company's zero-emissions, quiet power plants could produce commercial amounts of electricity while taking up just a 10th of the space required by coal-burning or natural gas-burning power plants. The lower infrastructure costs, combined with lower per-kilowatt production costs, mean that the original investment in an ocean wave power plant manufactured by his firm SDE would be repaid in five years - a fourth of the time that most conventional power plants need to "earn their keep." WITH ALL these advantages, you'd think potential clients would be busting down Ovadia's door. According to him, they are - and they are hailing from some unusual places. In addition to some general interest from companies and governments in Chile, Argentina, Spain, Cyprus, Monaco and other countries, SDE is in very serious negotiations with the government of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim state. "We are very interested in this technology," Dr. Faizul Ishom of the State Ministry for Development of Disadvantaged Areas told The Jerusalem Post. "We are an island country with a lot of beaches, so it could be very good for us, and for our environment too. We want to apply this. I have already talked with power companies about it." Ishom and other Indonesian officials have visited SDE's offices here, and they hope to return soon to finalize a deal. Initially, Ishom said, his country is looking to buy an ocean wave power plant capable of producing 100 MW, at a cost of $650 million. If that plant is successful, Indonesia would be interested in another one on the scale of 500 MW. Pakistan - the world's only nuclear-armed Muslim state and, like Indonesia, a nation that has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel - is also eager to have Ovadia's company build a power plant for its citizens, an official confirmed to the Post. Count India and Sri Lanka among the countries in talks with SDE, as well. Ovadia is focusing on Africa as a potential market, too. The general manager of the Zanzibar Electricity Corporation confirmed talks over a power plant between 10 MW and 100 MW in capacity. Tanzania, whose severely unstable electricity supply has crippled its already fragile economy, is eager to see a 500 MW plant constructed as soon as possible. Gambia, in a similar situation, paid for Ovadia to make a presentation in the capital. "One of our country's biggest challenges is that we have no reliable source of energy," Ebrima Camara, of the Office of the President, told the Post. "If we had, we could increase our potential to attract investors for industry and manufacturing. We really want to be able to give our people the ability to be self-reliant and productive, so if we can get a technology like this, which would make electricity cheaply and reliably, it would mean a lot for Gambia." Following what Camara described as "a very fruitful meeting," Gambia and SDE are negotiating over a 70 MW power plant in a deal that would be worth millions of dollars. FOR ALL this attention from the rest of the world, though, Ovadia lacks recognition here at home. "I used to get research grants from the Industry and Trade Ministry," Ovadia says, noting that his funding was cut in 2000, following a severe leg injury that kept him out of work for two years and prevented him from meeting deadlines that would have qualified him for further support. "Now," he says bitterly, "I'm just a pest to the government." What Ovadia wants, he says, is not money, but recognition. "Israel has maybe 10,000 meters of breakwaters along its shores. Those breakwaters could produce 10% of the country's electricity needs. If we could put our buoys on the breakwaters, they would not only produce electricity, but also act as a kind of shock absorber and lengthen the life of the breakwaters," he says, getting excited. "I can build a plant here, for example, that will produce 100 MW of electricity. This is not meant to answer all the country's needs, but it can definitely provide a good chunk. And with oil selling for more than $100 per barrel, it's definitely worth considering." That there is very little consideration of the potential in SDE's system vexes Ovadia. The Israel Electric Corporation "pretends to be interested in my technology," he says, "but in reality it sees us as a threat." IEC did not respond to that claim, but acknowledged it had no interest in SDE or ocean wave energy. A spokesman for the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Industry and Trade Ministry said the body was continuing to invest in local research and development of alternative energy options, but had no particular interest in Ovadia's ideas at this time. Ovadia claims he is doomed by bureaucrats swayed by lobbyists for conventional energy firms offering kickbacks, payoffs and the promise of cushy "adviser" jobs in the power industry upon leaving office. "It's no wonder that, when you ask officials about my ideas, they come up with excuses like, 'This isn't the time for this sort of thing,' or 'It isn't convincing enough,' or 'The technology isn't ready yet.' They prefer to protect the interests of those who sell coal or who operate coal-powered plants," Ovadia says. "Why? Those are deals worth billions. You think someone would risk losing that by supporting my little buoys?" Ovadia doesn't name names. Is he paranoid? Making excuses for his failure to inspire his countrymen? Either is possible, or both. Or, it may just be that he is exhausted from the efforts of trying to infect bureaucrats with the exuberance of a dreamer. AT 56, with his hair dyed black and agitation exaggerating the lines that middle age and frustration have carved into his face, it is clear that it hasn't been easy for Ovadia, being told over and over again for decades that his idea wouldn't work. It was as a soldier on leave, waiting outside the old Yaron Cinema in South Tel Aviv, that he first considered the potential of ocean waves. Sitting on the railing as waves rolled toward his feet, Ovadia was mesmerized. There must be a way, he figured, to turn that hypnotic motion into something useful. It took Ovadia, who pulls out forms detailing his 17 different patents, more than a decade to develop his foggy notion into concrete reality. After completing his service in the Engineering Corps, he worked in a plant manufacturing motors, learning about pneumatics, hydraulics and electricity. Eventually he struck upon the idea of a way to put the waves' own energy to use. The theory behind wave energy exploitation goes back ages; bringing theory to practice often takes ages. As he brought SDE to life, Ovadia built and tested eight different models of his system, starting with one so small that it fit in his bathtub. He made each of the models larger, until they required a shipping container full of water, and eventually tested his current system in the Jaffa Port. Along the way there have been numerous disappointments, including what he calls obstruction from the Israeli establishment and what he vaguely refers to as "some troubles with unscrupulous partners." Then there are the nagging questions - about whether the relatively gentle waves licking at the country's Mediterranean coast are strong enough to make this technology worthwhile; about the ability of SDE's buoys to survive and operate in the brutal environment of seawater, and about the environmental damage that could result from installing a power plant of this type on the shore. Ovadia has heard these complaints, it seems, a thousand times before. Yet he patiently addresses each issue. No matter where an ocean wave power plant is, Ovadia explains, it would produce different levels of energy during different times of the year, as waves are higher during certain periods and lower during others. Likewise, waves are higher and more powerful in some parts of the world (coastal areas on the North Sea, for example) than others (such as the calmer beaches of the eastern Mediterranean, to our disadvantage). True, he notes, the potential benefit in relation to other methods of producing electricity would not be as great here as in Britain or Spain, but it would still be significant. And his power plants would be economical to run even in areas where weaker waves predominate. "But I'll tell you something," he says. "Even in the Kinneret, I can make energy." An SDE power plant, Ovadia continues, "can produce electricity at a fraction of the cost of coal, a fraction of the cost of solar and a fraction the cost of wind. Run one six months to eight months per year, and you still come out ahead." Further, he says, "When are waves the highest? In the summer and in the winter. And when is the demand for electricity highest? In the summer and in the winter. It's a perfect match." What about reliability? Compared to the other wave energy systems being developed around the world, Ovadia's invention seems downright flimsy. What his design has going for it, he says, is that the buoys actually see less exposure to seawater than the other systems. There is a built-in self-correcting mechanism whereby, should a large wave overwhelm the buoy, it would flip over and then "wait" for lower tide to flip back. Unlike other systems deployed far out to sea, the moving parts in his power plants are easily replaceable. Also, the plants can be maintained easily, and they can be run automatically. One person, he says, could run five plants at a time, if necessary. Lastly, what of the environmental impact? "Strictly speaking, the beach would be damaged slightly if we installed these," Ovadia says. "But on the other hand, people die from the pollution caused by power plants burning fossil fuels. Which would you prefer?" Besides, with such little interest here, he notes wryly, "It isn't as if we're going to take over Frishman Beach tomorrow."
FORTUNATELY, OVADIA says, beaches needn't be marred. In his preferred scenario, a breakwater would be built first, and the buoys attached to it. A place like the Ashdod Port, where a 3,350 meter-long main breakwater and a sea wall 800 meters long already exist, would be an ideal location for SDE to prove its technology. Just in the past few weeks - after years of fruitless lobbying all over the country - Ovadia has won over the Ashdod Municipality to the merits of such a plan. "The mayor and the city engineer have looked over this idea thoroughly, and it seems quite worthwhile to us," said David Hartum, deputy director-general of the Ashdod Municipality. "We are suggesting building on the breakwater in the port. We like the fact that it's ecological, as ocean waves do the job instead of oil, and that it involves a one-time cost to produce electricity. We are definitely interested." The only thing standing in the way of the country's first ocean wave power plant, then, is the Israel Ports Authority, whose approval for the project is required. A spokeswoman for Shlomo Breiman, director-general of the Israel Ports Authority, said he was looking into the idea, but would have to review thorough studies on the potential environmental impact on the port basin - and any potential impact on the port's operations, especially - before giving the project a green light. Should SDE win a contract to build a power plant in Ashdod, it would certainly mean vindication for Ovadia - proof that, where other concepts have failed, his, like his buoys, has stayed afloat. But for the most part he is looking to other markets, focusing on underdeveloped and energy-poor countries in Africa and Asia. It is there that he expects to see his first power plant built - he estimates - within two or three years. "When I was in Gambia," he recalls, "we went to visit a little village. At one point our meeting was interrupted by afternoon prayers... There I was, this Israeli Jew, surrounded by Muslims praying intensely. "These people," Ovadia says, leaning forward as if to reveal a secret, "are in desperate need of energy in order to improve their lives. Well," he says, leaning back in his chair again, "I will be their messiah. I will save them."
Project Better Place reflects a commendable vision "an oil-free future and a healthier, safer planet". The program projects fully electric automobiles - with a battery swapping program as well as numerous recharge outlets. However, to the surprise of almost everyone, batteries may soon be technologically obsolete. When that occurs, all new cars and vehicles, of every conceivable variety, are likely to feature all-electric propulsion.
Hans Coler, a German inventor, demonstrated an electronic alternative to batteries in 1926. His work was examined by two teams of university professors. A distinguished scientist found there to be “no fraud, hoax or fault” involved. The device, called the Magnetstromapparat (magnet current apparatus), was described in a Report by British Intelligence in 1946. In 1978, 34 pages of the Report were declassified. They are readily found on the internet. One of these devices is reported to have run for three months in a locked room in the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin. Coler stated that the magnet strength remained constant. He suggested the device was tapping a new source of energy. He called it "Raumenergie" (space-energy).
Space, since the time of Paul Dirac, is believed by eminent scientists to be chock full of energy. Converting some of this energy, seemingly from nowhere, is now the subject of revolutionary science and technology. This work does not violate thermodynamic laws. It opens a path to powering our planet without the need for fossil or uranium fuels. It can replace the need for batteries of all sizes with a power source, similar in size, which maintains constant output and never needs to be recharged.
The first application to automobiles will involve removing the plug and cord from a plug-in hybrid and substituting a two kW (2,000 watt) generator that converts this abundant, renewable, cost-effective, new energy source. With a bit of luck, this should happen within the next 12 months. It will be a harbinger of the end of the era of fossil and uranium fuels. Every automobile manufacturer will ignore the event only if they are ready to cede market share to competitors.
The next application to cars will involve replacement of the need for an engine or fuel-cell. On a prototype basis, this should be possible in no more than three years. It might even happen sooner. At that point, cars so equipped will never need gas or oil. Automobile manufacturers can expect to sell every such vehicle they make. Production volume will expand. Jobs will be created. The economy will experience new growth.
The ultimate application will turn parked cars into power plants. Equipped with fuel-free generators that produce perhaps an average of 100 kW - parking lots can be equipped so that power can be sold to the local electric power utility. No physical connection will be necessary, as technology already exists that can wirelessly transmit up to 150 kW to the power grid. Car owners can be paid. Cars will become a source of income. Many vehicles are likely to pay for themselves over a reasonable period of time.
Finally, when parked at home, the car can wirelessly transmit 10kW to the home. Imagine the advantages during storms or other emergencies.
People everywhere, who experience these changes, will be living in a far better place.
Attached File Magnetic Power, Inc. - MPI The MPI story begins in 1877, when Wesley Gary, a Pennsylvania inventor, received a patent on a mechanical, magnetic, device - which apparently tapped a previously unsuspected source of energy. According to an article that appeared in Harper’s Weekly during 1879, he showed his invention to Harvard and MIT professors, who were favorably impressed. The article, readily found on the internet, ends with a comment that one day, Gary’s invention might power a locomotive. The four wheeled automobile was invented six years later. We may never have needed oil to power vehicles.
The possibility of tapping this thus far uncommercialized source of energy, by means of electronic devices, became evident in 1937, when German inventor, Hans Coler, demonstrated a working 6 kW, solid-state, magnetic "space energy receiver”. A WWII Allied bomb destroyed his work. While Coler didn’t comprehend the source of energy generated, he understood its significance. In 1946 he cooperated with British Intelligence which published a classified report confirming his work. In 1979, 34 pages of what was likely a larger report were declassified and are now on the internet.
Even earlier, Nikola Tesla had recognized the earth is immersed in an extremely dense sea of energy. He theorized that one day this energy would become a source of ubiquitous power usable by humanity. In 1891 he said – “Our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point in the universe. Throughout space there is energy.” The list of scientists and engineers who agree is growing.
Fast forward to today, with MPI seeking to supply the world with clean, abundant, and inexpensive electricity…no fuel…no pollution...no emissions. This is the future of GENIE™ (Generating Electricity by Nondestructive Interference of Energy), one of MPI’s proprietary, cost-effective, magnetic technologies that may capture this untapped energy source.
With applications throughout the $6 trillion worldwide energy market, as well as the automotive market and likely other, yet undefined applications for compact, powerful energy, revenues are projected to begin in 2008 with early license fees, and grow rapidly.
Products & Applications
MPI’s magnetic generator technology represents an unprecedented means of electrical generation achieved by converting a previously uncommercialized, renewable, abundant (but thus far little known) energy source. Expected electrical performance will be very similar to chemical batteries sourcing an electric current, except that the output voltage does not gradually decline with time, but remains indefinitely constant.
The firm is currently developing devices of advanced design capable of producing a few watts of electricity on a self-sustaining basis.
- When these demonstration devices are completed, MPI will be ready to begin the commercialization process for magnetic generators as a scalable power source, analogous to an inexhaustible electric battery.
- A Proof-of-Concept GENIE prototype was evaluated by Lee Felsenstein, EE. He concluded it to be analogous to the early work on the transistor, which eventually led to a Nobel Prize and the creation of Silicon Valley.
- Expect 10 Watt, 20 Watt and 250 Watt prototypes in 2008. 1 kW pre-production modules are a goal for year end.
- Further engineering can now apply this novel effect as a permanent, compact source of electricity in a wide variety of designs from toys to laptop computers, home heaters and other powered devices.
- Small scale generators will be an excellent fit for compact technologies such as laptop computers, cell phones and portable electronic devices. Larger ones will be able to run desktop computers, servers, and larger devices.
- GENIE and other MPI magnetic generators operate continuously, without fuel or emissions, converting an abundant, renewable, extremely dense, ever-present energy source.
- Cost of electricity generated using magnetic is projected to compete favorably with all existing power sources.
- The majority of cost is capital investment. Operating expense should be very low.
GENIE and other MPI generators are: - Clean. Both in manufacture and use, they pollute much less than other power generation systems.
- Reliable. While field data remains to be collected, solid state MPI generators are expected to need minimal maintenance and should have a long product lifespan.
- Scalable. Generators can be scaled to a wide range of applications, eliminating the need for batteries of all sizes.
- Modular. MPI generators can be combined or stacked, similar to linking solar cells.
- Straightforward. No exotic materials will mean rapid commercialization and ramp up stages adaptable to a range of existing electronics manufacturing facilities.
- Compact. A 1 kW self-sustaining generator design might fit into an 8” cube. Two such MPI generators could replace the plug otherwise required by a plug-in hybrid car.
- Revenue generating. Parked cars, wirelessly transferring 100-150 kW of power, will make parking lots multi-megawatt decentralized power plants, an extraordinary Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) solution. They can wirelessly provide 10 kW to a home or small business. Imagine the advantages, including power during storms, etc.
Business Strategy - Target applications that maximize customer value, once cost per unit of electricity output related to generator size is better understood.
- Identify and target ‘sweet spots’ with best potential return on investment and price accordingly.
- Solidify patent portfolio.
- Two energy generation patent applications are pending. Several more will follow.
- Build a foundation to support worldwide market adoption of MPI technology.
- License jointly developed products to strategic partners to facilitate large scale manufacturing ramp up and global sales and distribution.
- Revenues – 2008 - $25 mil, 2009 - $100 mil, 2010 - $300 mil, 2011 - $600 mil, 2012 - $1 billion.
- Absorb Room Temperature Superconductors, Inc., (RTS) presently a subsidiary, as a division of MPI.
- Provide an Initial Public Offering when market conditions are right.
Key People
 Mark Goldes - Chairman and CEO - Founded non-profit Aesop Institute in 1973. Chairman and CEO of the Aesop Company, a specialized financial consulting firm. Later, founded SunWind Ltd, a renewable energy company. MPI was the 2nd firm to be born from the Institute. Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of RTS, MPI’s subsidiary. (See website for bio).
Sue Engle - Corporate Secretary & Project Manager - Project Management & Product Development with The Children's Group - major children's toy catalogs. Compliance inspector for worker and environmental practices, and materials sourcing. Sue established her own company, Marble Hill, in 1999, focusing on product development & manufacturing in Asia, including all phases of product development.
Lee Felsenstein – Electrical Engineering Consultant - Earned his BSEE at UC Berkeley, then started career at Ampex. Moderated Homebrew Computer Club in Silicon Valley, for more than a decade. Members started 23 companies. They included Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who co-founded Apple. Senior Associate with Interval Research, from 1992 to 2000, a computer lab funded by Paul Allen, to help create and support future computing technologies. Designed two computers now residing in Smithsonian Institute. Received the Editor’s Choice ACE Award by Electronic Engineering Times magazine in April 2007. Discusses our breakthrough without citing MPI, which has permission to use this short interview. http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=379134&fr=yvmtf
Dr. Kevin Shambrook – Scientific Consultant – Senior Project Manager with Hughes Aircraft and Vice President at Doric Scientific Inc. 30 years experience includes management of diverse engineering and manufacturing projects, corporate planning, and new product introductions. Earned his Ph.D. at UCLA. Served as President, Chief Scientist, and co-founder of MPI’s subsidiary, RTS, for 14 years.
Funding Status
MPI and RTS can each utilize $100 million in new funding. $10 million is sought in the form of equity. $5 million can be new equity investment in MPI and $5 million new equity investment in RTS. Remainder of funds may be largely sought from revenues…including substantial advance license fees.
· Contact: magneticpower@gmail.com magneticpowerinc.com
Phone: 707 829-9391
· © 2008 Magnetic Power Inc. All rights reserved. Updated 3-26-08
Energy Study: Moving Clocks Forward a Waste March 27, '08
(IsraelNN.com) Israel moves it clocks forward at 2 a.m. Friday morning, but Daylight Savings Time ("summer time") wastes more energy than it saves, according to research in the state of Indiana. As recently as two years ago most of Indiana's counties refused to move their clocks forward in the spring. The resulting division of the population enabled researchers to compare energy use by those on summer time with those who did not change their clocks. Residential electricity usage actually increased between 1-4 percent, and social costs from increased emissions were estimated at between $1.6 million and $5.3 million per year, according the research by University of California economics professor Matthew Kotchen. The reduced cost of lighting in afternoons during daylight saving time was more than offset by the higher air conditioning costs on hot afternoons and increased heating costs on cool mornings.
The Pros and Cons of Daylight Savings Time in Israel March 27, '08
by Hillel Fendel (IsraelNN.com) The Manufacturers Association says the upcoming changeover to Daylight Saving Time (DST) will save the economy 120 million shekels ($35 million). Others say that most of these savings will be canceled out in other ways, and that the twice-yearly change of clocks is a waste of effort. The clocks will change this Friday morning, March 29, when 2:00 becomes 3:00. The change will be in effect for 191 days, as stipulated by law in an interesting combination of the secular and Jewish calendars: from the Friday before April 2 until the Sunday before Yom Kippur. Moshe Cohen, Chairman of the Energy Committee of the Manufacturers Association, claims that the extra hour of overlapping waking and sunlight time will result in a drop of electricity consumption by a daily average of 0.6%. This drop, which translates into 73 million shekels, is due to decreased use of lighting and air conditioning. In addition, Cohen says, nationwide production and sales will increase, and traffic accidents will decrease. Others Say...
This is only one side of the story, however. As in most of the world, the introduction of Daylight Saving Time in Israel has not been without controversy. Detractors say that though the increased daylight may render driving safer, it also increases the amount of driving, thus largely canceling out the gain in safety. Business interests have traditionally supported DST, as it increases shopping - and trips to the store. In addition, the amount of energy saving in the United States has been estimated at only $3 per household, leaving many to wonder if it is worth the bother. In Israel, however, the largest point of contention has concerned religious observance. Daylight saving time during the late summer and autumn means that the Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur fasts end later, and that the midnight penitential prayers (Selichot) recited before the High Holidays begin earlier. More significantly, extra months of daylight saving time mean that often, worshipers cannot recite post-dawn morning prayers in a timely fashion before they have to go to work. Up to the Interior Minister
The issue came to a head in the late 1990s, when the hareidi-religious Shas party ran the Interior Ministry; one year, then-Minister Eli Suissa made a unilateral decision to end DST a month early for the above reasons, bringing public secular wrath upon him. Then-MK Yossi Sarid, head of the anti-religious Meretz party at the time, said, ''Minister Suissa thinks he is G-d. G-d says: 'Let there be light,' and there is light... It's not enough that [Suissa] represents G-d, he is G-d himself. He says: 'Let there be darkness' in the middle of the summer, and he wants us to live in darkness.'' In 2004, when the anti-religious Shinui party controlled the Interior Ministry, Minister Avraham Poraz got back at the religious public. Just before his firing by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon [together with the other Shinui ministers, for voting against the budget] took effect, Poraz ordered the instatement of DST from March until the end of October, without regard for Jewish holidays. The issue was finally resolved legally in 2005, when a law was passed determining the exact duration of DST, and removing the decision from the hands of the Interior Minister.
Israel Expands Daylight Time, and a Religious Dispute Erupts By DEBORAH SONTAG Published: February 17, 2000 Daring single-handedly to alter a calendar that is as politically sensitive as everything else here, Interior Minister Natan Sharansky decreed today that ''summer time'' will be longer this year by 34 days. In a country where even the issue of daylight saving time is contentious, that was a provocative decision, playing into a long-running battle between secular Israelis and some religious Jews. Daylight time, what Israelis refer to as summer time, will start earlier in the spring and extend almost a month further into the fall, Mr. Sharansky said. That rescinds a tradition of accommodating the prayer schedules of some religious Jews that lead up to the High Holy Days in September, a tradition that secular Israelis have long resented as subordinating the routines of the majority to the special rituals of a minority. But religious politicians did not immediately react. They were too busy confronting Mr. Sharansky, a Russian immigrant leader, on another decision. Earlier this week, Mr. Sharansky said his ministry would begin recognizing and registering civil marriages performed at foreign consulates in Israel. Such marriages, which only some consulates perform, make it possible for immigrants here who are not recognized as Jewish to marry Israelis. Under Israeli law, only religious weddings are permitted, and what the rabbis see as intermarriages are forbidden. Mr. Sharansky took over the Interior Ministry from Shas, an ultra-Orthodox Sephardic party, after years of friction between the Russian immigrants whom he represents and the Shas bureaucrats who had the power to grant and deny them citizenship and marriage licenses. Wresting the ministry from Shas was part of Prime Minister Ehud Barak's election platform, and taking control of it was Mr. Sharansky's main plank. Although Mr. Sharansky's dealings with Shas have been strained, his relations with other religious political groups have been based on mutual respect. Mr. Sharansky is an observant Jew, and many of the religious politicians believed that he respected them. But his recommendation on consular marriages took them by surprise. Orthodox politicians accused Mr. Sharansky of trying to upset the status quo relationship between religion and state. ''I ask you to declare here, in this dignified forum, that you have reconsidered this issue and that you are canceling this guideline,'' Moshe Gafney, a member of Parliament from the United Torah Judaism faction, asked Mr. Sharansky in a meeting today. ''Aren't you willing to invest any effort in finding some sort of solution for people who presently have no solution?'' Mr. Sharansky responded, referring to Russian immigrants who are prohibited from marrying other Israelis because they are not Jewish. Defending his decision on changing the daylight-time calendar, Mr. Sharansky said that the ''preservation of life was the guiding principle'' that pushed him to make the change, even if it upset religious Jews. Last year, daylight time ended on Sept. 3, and Israel moved into ''winter time.'' That meant that in the dog days of early September, the Sun rose before the workday started and set during the afternoon rush hour. A study by the Technion Institute proved to him, Mr. Sharansky said, that an additional hour of late-afternoon light would lower traffic accidents 9 percent and fatal ones 13 percent.
 March 13, 2008 Five Trends to Watch in the Renewable Energy Industry New Hampshire, United States [ RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Growth in the renewable energy industry is set to reach more than US $250 billion by the year 2017 with the electric car, sustainable cities, non-U.S.-based energy firms, geothermal energy and the greening of the shipping industry helping to lead the way. That's the prediction made by Clean Edge in its Clean Energy Trends 2008 report released on Wednesday. The report's co-authors Joel Makower, Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder spotlighted the biofuels, wind power, solar photovoltaic (PV) and fuel cell markets as the benchmark segments for the renewable energy industry as a whole. Worldwide in 2007 the biofuels market reached US $25.4 billion, 40 percent of which came from the U.S., the wind market rose to US $30.1 billion. The market for solar PV grew to US $20.3 billion and the emerging fuel cell market, still dominated by R&D, totaled US $1.5 billion in revenue in 2007. Watch for more on the report from Ron Pernick on RenewableEnergyWorld.com in two weeks. The report put the spotlight on five trends to watch as renewable energy industry surges ahead. The first was the new structure taking shape in the electric vehicle market where startups are taking center stage. In a presentation about the trends, Joel Makeower said that there are currently 200 U.S. companies working, in some way, shape or form, on bringing the electric car to market. According to the report, "the new generation of green vehicles may not be driven by Detroit or its Euro or Asian counterparts. A growing line of start-ups is rendering moot the question of 'Who killed the electric car?' While the global car companies go through years-long retooling to create plug-in hybrids, electric cars, and other alt-fuel vehicles, these start-ups are beating the big guys to market, delivering greener cars to a waiting public." These startups include Scandanavian company Think, Tesla, Project Better Place/Renault-Nissan in Israel, Eliica from Japan, Miles and ZAP in the U.S., REVA in India, ZENN in Canda, Spark in China and Venturi in France. The second trend to watch according to Clean Edge is the movement toward sustainable cities, including the new Masdar City in Abu Dhabi a city that plans, by 2016, to serve a population 50,000 individuals and 1,500 businesses all powered by solar energy. Another emerging eco-city is Dongtan, on Chongming Island near Shanghai, which plans to serve 20,000 people by 2010 and be powered completely by renewables, mostly wind and biomass. The report also points to major efforts being made around the world to "green" established cities. Third in the series of trends is the growing presence of overseas companies in the U.S. wind energy market, a trend that will continue to grow according to the Clean Edge report as the dollar remains relatively weak and the demand for wind in the U.S. continues to grow. Geothermal energy's return to the main stage is the fourth trend to watch. According to the report, "geothermal is the only clean-energy resource besides hydroelectric that provides baseload power 24 hours a day, and with average plant uptime of 98 percent, it does so even more reliably than nuclear or coal-fired power plants, both of which require more downtime for maintenance." The co-authors noted that three of California's largest investor-owned utilities, PG&E, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric, within the past year have announced new geothermal plans. This comes as no surprise as average geothermal electric costs are between 4-7 cents per kilowatt-hour. And finally, the fifth trend is a building movement to make shipping by sea more environmentally friendly. Driven more by the major shippers worldwide (the presenters mentioned IKEA, Home Depot, and Toyota), than the shipping companies themselves, the idea is to lessen the negative impact that cargo ships currently put on the environment. In the report, the co-authors point out that cargo ships account for more than 4 percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions, double the emissions of aviation, according to a study commissioned by the UN's International Maritime Organization. Companies that are developing technologies to propel ships without greenhouse gas emissions are gaining ground. Kite for Sail, KiteShip and Sky Sails, all of whom are working on designing kites that, when combined with better navigation tools and software will allow large ships to use the wind for propulsion. Sky Sails kite technology is one of Clean Edge's
five renewable energy trends to watch
The report said that "given that shipping emissions, left unchecked, are forecast to grow 30 percent from current levels by 2020, such technologies could be a breath of fresh air."
One Dam Thing After Another For The Hydropower Industry According to Bourne Energy, while the major renewables, solar and wind power, are growing at double digits they still make up less than 1% of the country’s total energy output. The world must find clean sources of power that can be developed on a fast track. Bourne Energy has developed just such a renewable energy system which is described on their new website: http://www.bourneenergy.com/. After extensive research, Bourne Energy has targeted hydropower as the most likely clean energy source to develop on a global scale. Hydropower is as cheap as coal, which is a major source of global warming emissions. Today, while coal is producing 40% of the world’s electricity; hydropower is quietly producing 20% of the world’s electricity with zero emissions. And many energy analysts now believe coal resources are far less than originally projected while only 4% of the world’s estimated potential hydropower resources have been harnessed. Through the centuries hydropower has been dominated by the dam and reservoir configuration. But these large dam and reservoir projects, many built fifty or more years ago, are land intensive, environmentally unfriendly and are no longer cost-competitive to replicate today. Bourne’s solution is its RiverStar (Patent Pending) Kinetic Energy System, a “Power Company in a Box.” Place the self-contained energy module in river currents and it produces electricity from the harnessing of moving water in the river rather than the potential energy of water stored behind large dams. This technology has come about from the development of new materials, micro-power generation systems, hydrodynamic breakthroughs, improved structures and new power transmission, communication and control technologies. Bourne’s RiverStar System is designed to tap the energy in thousands of miles of rivers that stretch across the globe. Over a million cubic meters per second discharge of water flow down the world’s major rivers every hour, every day, every year. Many stretches of these rivers are virtually unpopulated and undeveloped. The energy locked up in this enormous volume of moving fluid can be harnessed again and again. Bourne’s novel approach does not require construction on the river bottom, which is both expensive and time-consuming. Construction, especially in industrialized countries, may also expose toxic materials, long hidden in the river sediments. Bourne’s proprietary low RPM turbines are specially designed to be safe for aquaculture. And the RiverStar power modules can access and tap the difficult areas where much of the world’s unharnessed hydropower is located. These kinetic energy modules are designed to be mass-produced in order to rapidly scale up this technology worldwide. Bourne has also adapted its Kinetic Energy Systems to harness the world’s potential ocean power and tidal power resources in the form of its OceanStar (Patent Pending) and TidalStar (Patent Pending) systems. Bourne plans to have small demonstration power arrays operating in Asia, US and Europe within the next 12 months.
 Free Power from the Earth 24/7
by Thomas R. Blakeslee. February 19, 2008 (renewableenergyworld.com) From our home on the earth's thin crust, it's hard to believe that 99.9% of the earth's volume is hot enough to boil water. Atomic decay inside of the earth heats its molten core to a temperature that is hotter than the surface of the sun! To harness this geothermal power, we need only drill through the crust and use that heat to boil water to drive turbine generators. This water can be reinjected into the earth in a closed loop. The world's first geothermal power plant was built in Larderello, Italy in 1911. It is still producing enough power for a million homes today. Geothermal power already supplies 26% of electrical power in Iceland and the Philippines and 5% of California's at prices that are competitive with coal power. Geothermal power plants run 24 hours a day with an uptime of over 90%. They require no fuel and produce no pollution. Coal and atomic power plants need much more maintenance downtime, so they only operate an average of 75% and 65% of the time. Wind and solar power are even worse, producing an average of only 30% and 24% of their rated power. Why then, do we use coal to produce most of our power? We dig thousands of miles of tunnels or blast the tops off of mountains and ship the coal thousands of miles just to burn it to make steam. Every step of this process is an environmental nightmare so bad that we have ruined the earth and upset the entire climate balance of our planet. Acid rain has killed our forests and coral reefs and mercury emissions have made it dangerous to eat most fish. We started burning coal because it was easy at first. The environmental problems didn't become apparent until the scale of coal burning became massive. Coal became big business with lots of political clout that squeezed out all competitors including geothermal. Energy policy today spends billions to subsidize coal and develop "clean coal" technology but nothing at all on geothermal development. The fossil fuel Juggernaut tramples all alternatives that threaten the status quo. Geothermal power today is mostly done in natural geyser or hot spring areas where underground water in contact with hot rocks below produces steam near the surface. However, deep drilling methods developed by the oil industry make is theoretically possible to build geothermal plants in places where the earth's crust is deeper, like the eastern United States. Old oil wells are often rehabilitated by drilling another hole nearby and injecting water to push the oil out. The mixture of oil and water that comes out is very hot. This hot water is now considered a nuisance but if it's heat were used to generate power, tens of thousands of megawatts (MW) could be generated in Texas alone with a cost payoff of only three years. A recent MIT report studies the potential of similarly injecting water into hot rocks purely for the purpose of generating power in non-thermal areas like the Eastern U.S. The report concludes that hot rocks are a rich resource that should be developed now. The research cost of such a development would be much less than the billions already being spent on "clean coal" and nuclear power. Since the water used is recirculated back into the ground, geothermal power consumes a tiny fraction of the massive water consumption of a coal or atomic power plant. Atlantic Geothermal has a very ambitious plan using tunneling technology similar to that used to construct the tunnel under Mont Blanc to build a 50 foot wide tunnel 80 miles long and three deep. Using 1500 ft. boreholes laterally to expand the heat extraction field, the system could generate 1600 MW of power, nearly matching the output of Hoover dam. Since the entire system except for input and output facilities is underground and maintained by hydrostatic pressure, the visual impact above ground would be insignificant. While this project sounds grandiose, it is no more so than Hoover Dam itself. It is a much better use for government money, which is now being wasted on hydrogen and "clean coal" projects. Early in this century energy technology took a wrong turn when geothermal power was overshadowed by cheap coal and oil. Now the oil is running out and the unintended consequences of coal are killing people and ruining the planet. The problem now is a political one. Energy policy is determined by experts and lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry. We must derail the fossil energy juggernaut before it is too late. Thomas R. Blakeslee is president of The Clearlight Foundation, a non-profit organization that invests in renewable energy and other socially useful companies and issues cash grants to individuals who are working effectively for change. For Further Information
February 14, 2008 Going Off Grid with Chris Anderson and Borrego Solar Peterborough, New Hampshire [ RenewableEnergyAccess.com]  When Chris Anderson, COO of Borrego Solar, moved across the country in 2007 to open Borrego Solar East, he needed a place to live and he chose Peterborough, NH. Anderson decided to build his own, entirely off-grid, home. The house is powered completely by solar photovoltaics, a solar thermal system, a wood pellet boiler and a few other unique features. Anderson says the home blends the traditional colonial style of New England with the modern style of the San Francisco Bay area. The 3,000 square foot home took more than two years and approximately $510,000 to complete from start to finish and involved everything from getting a conservation easement put on the land to powering a construction site without grid electricity. The Home Features
Solar PV: A 6.75 kilowatt roof mounted Borrego Solar system with an estimated monthly production of 550 kilowatt hours. The system uses 27 Sharp 160W modules, 15 Sharp 162W modules, mounted east of south on a 45 degree pitched standing seam metal roof and one SMA SB7000 Inverter. The system also uses two SMA 4248 Sunny Islands that charge a bank of 24 Rolls Surrette S460 batteries to run the house on cloudy days.
Heating Systems: Seven Heliodyne flat-plate collectors using glycol. One 800 gallon and one 1200 gallon storage tank from STSS Co., Inc. One Harman PB105 113k BTUh wood pellet boiler using wood pellets from New England Wood Pellet. Heat systems were designed by Henry Spindler from Optimal Energy Solutions LLC.
Other Features: A hot water recirculation loop, radiant floors, thermal glazed windows, thermostat controls for each zone of the home and energy efficient appliances.
To see an interview with Chris Anderson and to get a look at his one-of-a-kind off-grid home, watch the video below.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1416570629/bctid1416887693
Lofty Plans For Energy Conservation 
14th February 2008 Following the release last week of the "Heat Call for Evidence" document issued by the Office of Climate Change (OCC), The Renewable Energy Centre.co.uk issued a statement calling for the government to take a proactive stance to reduce heating demands throughout the UK. Issued by the Right Honourable John Hutton MP, Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), the report said that currently 49% of the UK�s total energy demands are for heating. Domestic heating in particular was cited as one of the main areas where demand was high with 69% of heat produced in homes being for space and the remainder for cooking and hot water. As a result household demand for heat is now approaching 500 Terawatts per year. The Renewable Energy Centre stated that these figures could easily be reduced by introducing simple energy saving measures in the home. Loft and cavity wall insulation were referenced as solutions which could not only save the house owner over �100 per year in bills but serve to reduce the energy consumption needed. The Energy Saving Trust has estimated that from 26 million homes in the UK 9 million do not have adequate cavity wall insulation and a staggering 11 million homes do not have sufficient loft insulation. The Renewable Energy Centre commented that these solutions are two of the easiest and most cost effective to install in domestic homes and that the government should either legislate or create a task force to ensure every home in the UK is catered for. This could result in a reduction of �380million to the national energy bill every year, reduce the carbon footprint and help meet the fuel poverty targets of 2016. There are currently grants available and local government schemes to encourage people to take steps to install loft or cavity wall insulation however The Renewable Energy Centre stated this does not go far enough. Richard Simmons Managing Director at The Renewable Energy Centre said "It is clear that changing people's hearts and minds is not going to work as the issue of loft insulation has been going on for over 20 years despite changes in building regulations. The government needs to take decisive action either through legislation or tax incentives to make a difference. Cavity wall and loft insulation can be fitted and installed quickly and easily and make a tangible difference in reducing the heating requirements of a house. There is no reason why every home in the UK could have adequate loft or cavity wall insulation within 2 or 3 years. Our website has a section for both of these solutions with suppliers across the country, ready to do this work today and Local Authorities should be made responsible for delivering these solutions within a fixed timescale." The Renewable Energy Centre reiterated its position that although the large scale and costly measures being undertaken to produce renewable energy are commendable, action also must be taken in the domestic arena if the UK are to meet its targets and have a successful impact on climate change.
Greenpeace Unveils Its Eco City Concept
carbonfree.co.uk 14th February 2008 Greenpeace has launched an interactive virtual city showcasing how towns and cities across the UK are fighting climate change and enjoying a cleaner and more secure energy future - without relying on new coal or nuclear power stations. The new online town, called EfficienCity, uses interactive case studies and animation to demonstrate how the UK could slash its greenhouse gas emissions, cut electricity bills and beef up the security of its energy supply. The town is powered by "decentralised energy", a clean and efficient energy system that provides heating, cooling and electricity to the community. Greenpeace is asking visitors to the virtual town to "reclaim the power" from central government and instead engage with their local councils, encouraging them to implement their own local energy schemes based on efficiency, renewables and combined heat and power. Through interacting with virtual football stadiums, supermarkets, hospitals and breweries based on real world examples, visitors can see how their own communities can join the fight against climate change by generating their own energy. Greenpeace has developed the project in response to the official energy policy of the UK government, which currently favours large, centralised power generation and nuclear reactors as the solution to keeping the lights on and tackling climate change. |
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