Electric vehicles, and global warming

Sure, electric cars don’t burn gas, but their electricity has to come from somewhere and in many parts of the country, that means coal. Surprisingly though, even accounting for that, an electric car still produces less global warming emissions than a gasoline powered car getting 27mpg, according to a new study. Of course, 100% coal-sourced electricity is a truly worst case scenario, as natural gas, nuclear, and renewable sources also come into play. Taking that into account, it turns out that about 45% of Americans live in places where the electric car emissions are equivalent to a 50mpg automobile! 37% have the equivalent of a 41-50mpg car, and 18% have a 31-40mpg equivalent.

The bottom line is, yes, electric cars still result in air pollution and global warming gas emissions, but they’re still far better than almost any car on the road today (the one exception I can think of being VW’s fantastic TDI diesel engine). More importantly, as more renewable energy is plugged in to the grid, electric cars will continue to improve, and quickly outpace even VW’s best diesel efforts.

Read more at SmartPlanet or the Union of Concerned Scientists.

April 16, 2012

Advances in Solar Panel Technology

Solar energy technology is advancing fast enough that I’ve decide to lump together several updates into single posts now and then.

To start with, the Frauenhofer Institute has showed off some highly flexible solar panels, placing them on a ski helmet. This may not sound like a big deal, flexible panels have been around for a while, right? Well, not really. Typically, when you see a flexible panel, it can only bend in one direction – around a cylinder, for example. This new technology allows the panel to conform to compound surfaces, like a sphere or, in this case, a ski helmet. For now, testing this on ski helmets is a good, extreme use environment (the solar cells become more efficient with cold, but batteries become less efficient). Just about ever helmet design could benefit the user with this – motorcyclists, construction workers, bicyclists, you name it. The first product, a ski helmet, is targeted for sale at the end of 2012.

Solar cell comparisons invariably come down to one key metric, the efficiency. Going along with this is measuring reflectance, or how much solar energy is reflected and thus unable to be converted into electric energy. Scientists at Natcore Technology have set a new record for this, producing wafers that absorb an incredible 99.7%! This promises to increase solar panel efficiency, which in turn will lower cost and increase adoption of solar energy worldwide.

There are two main types of solar energy devices on the market today – photovoltaic panels that covert visible wavelengths into electric power, and solar thermal that takes the abundant infrared radiation emitted by the sun and uses that heat energy to do the same (via turbines or other methods, or just using the heat directly to heat a house or water heater). Now, Naked Energy has designed a hybrid solar energy system which has solar panels to make electricity, but also pumps water through the tubes to make that heat available for other energy uses (heating a house being the most feasible). It’s not a utility-scale sort of system, but great for home or business users.

April 12, 2012

Volpe – miniature ‘car’

I use the word ‘car’ loosely here. This four wheeled contraption, the Volpe, is like no other car you’ve seen (well, apart from the Peel P50 with which is shares more than a passing resemblance!). It’s a two seat four wheeled car, powered by an electric motor with a natural gas or gasoline generator providing extended range capability.

The seating is tandem style, and if you look at the image you can see how this would be a great setup for a rear passenger that has no legs. So, let’s be realistic here and call it a single seat car.

Why would you want one? Well, efficiency for starters…being so small, electricity usage is small as well. Parking is a cinch. It’s even small enough to find some creative parking places, like inside (it’ll fit inside an elevator). It could actually make for a decent commute vehicle in large cities, as long as you can avoid freeways and other faster roads.

As mentioned previously, the Peel P50 was actually first with this ‘mini car’ idea, and my favorite TV show, Top Gear, had a great review that shows this car in real life, check it out below. I expect driving a Volpe around town would have similar advantages…and drawbacks (the Peel P50 is smaller, though).

April 11, 2012

Warmest March Ever

According to climate data from NOAA, our country just experienced its warmest March ever. The average temperature was 8.6F above the average for the last century. Precipitation was slightly above average nationwide, though concentrated in the northwest and the southern plains, with much of the rest of the country experiencing drier than average conditions and helping to contribute to ~37% of this country being in drought conditions. Alaska, not included in these results, experienced its 10th coolest winter on record (~5F below average).

What does this mean? Global warming is real, people. I don’t have complete confidence in any of the models that attempt to predict how weather patterns will change, I feel it’s still too complex a system for us to analyze, but there’s no escaping the FACT that our global climate IS changing due to global warming. In spite of that, we continue to not make serious efforts to reduce our CO2 emissions. There are those who continue to deny the link between CO2 and global warming, and I don’t see that ever changing, unfortunately. We’ll continue to march down this path and ruin this beautiful planet for future generations. They’ll adapt and survive, but will live in a much different world than what we enjoy.

What can we as individuals do? Educate those around you. Speak up. Reduce your own CO2 emissions and lead by example.

(via Treehugger)

April 10, 2012

Recycling – from bottles to sweatshirts

We’ve always taught my daughter to recycle, but for kids, it’s hard to picture just what that means. The bottles go into a different trash can, but so what? What happens then? Well, if it’s plastic bottles, they may end up recycled into clothing, and that’s what I loved about the video here – it allowed me to show my daughter what it means to recycle. She was a bit puzzled when I first told her that I was wearing a sweatshirt made from water bottles, but showing her this video really helped her visualize how that’s possible. If you have kids, or are just curious, it’s worth checking out:

April 10, 2012