Clean coal power – for real this time!

The idea of ‘clean’ coal power has really been more of a marketing ploy and not something that environmentalists would agree with…until now, that is. Researchers at Ohio State University have proven a new clean coal technology in a 25kW facility ran for one week…far from the megawatt scale needed for industrial uses but no small feat and a great step towards that goal. The next step is a one megawatt demonstration plant already in the planning stages.

So how does it work? Burning coal is a messy process, producing lots of gaseous byproducts that are difficult to separate and manage. This new process (“chemical looping”) reacts with materials rich in oxygen, like iron oxide (ie, rust). The energy in the coal breaks the bond between the oxygen and iron, which produces nearly pure CO2 as a byproduct (the other being iron metal and a mineral known as wustite). So, it still produces the greenhouse gas CO2, but that CO2 is nearly pure, meaning it’s much easier to contain it (at which point it can be used for industrial purposes or stored underground to not contribute to global warming). The pure iron is then burned in a separate process, which produces heat to generate steam and drive turbines to generate electricity.

This is expected to result in only small increases in the cost of electricity…whether it can be scaled up to power plant levels quickly enough is the real question.

(via TechnologyReview)

February 7, 2013

Slow climate change by working less!

Now here’s an idea I think we could all accept. The Center for Economic and Policy Research has released a paper (PDF link) that looks at the impact that working fewer hours would have on climate change. It assumes that working less would also result in decreased consumption, which then decreased factory output, etc…and finds that reducing work hours by an annual average of only 0.5% over the rest of this century would eliminate 25-50% of the global warming that has not yet already been ‘locked in’ (or in other words, reduce the warming yet to be caused by future greenhouse gas emissions). The estimated impact to personal impact is a reduction of 10-25%, in exchange for increased leisure time.

Now, we just need a catchy slogan for this. Post any ideas in the comments below, let’s make this happen! 🙂

(via Inhabitat)

February 6, 2013

Vuzix Smart Glasses

This is going to be a fun year for geeks who have no fashion sense. Joining the Google Glasses this year will be the M100 Smart Glasses (maybe they’ll think of a cooler name?) from Vuzix. It’s essentially a head-mounted computer, with a 720p HD camera, bluetooth connectivity to your smart phone, and a WQVGA display (that’s a mere 240 lines of resolution, less than the original iPhone’s 320 lines if held horizontal) in your field of view. That display, while small, is comparable to a four inch smartphone viewed about 14″ away. Battery life is just so-so…8 hours when used as a handsfree headset for your phone, or two hours if the display is active (and only about half an hour if you’re also using the camera).

So, why would you want one? Well, like the Google Glasses, it’ll really come down to the software applications yet to be written for these devices. It’s a small step towards truly Augmented Reality, but a cool one, and I can’t wait to see what software developers create for these. Give it a couple years, and as software matures and battery life improves, I think you’ll see a lot of people wearing things like this.

(via Slashgear)

February 5, 2013

Water-wise farming technique

Researchers at Michigan State University designed some techniques using water retention membrane (a fancy word for plastic sheets, I think) buried under the soil to help retain water where the plants need it, without inhibiting their growth. It worked well, increasing yield to around 150% of normal. We’ll be needing more clever ideas like this in the coming years as global warming increases its impact on our way of life. Read more here.

February 1, 2013

Solar power news

The solar power industry continues to make some big advances, in the labs at least. First up, scientists were able to make silicon crystals at a much lower temperature using liquid metal (read more here)…this has the potential to substantially lower the cost of solar panels, eventually.

A study published in the Environmental Science and Technology journal attempted to answer the question, what is more efficient at transforming solar energy into miles driven in a car – solar (PV) panels, or biofuels? PV panels handily bested biofuels in this comparison. Considering future demands for food with a growing planetary population, and given this new information, it seems that we should be more focused on growing food to eat rather than to be converted into liquid fuel for cars.

Last but certainly not least is some cool technology from Wysips, a transparent solar panel! Well it’s 90% transparent, but really, at that point who’s going to notice. Sure, it doesn’t produce as much electricity as a conventional PV panel…but it DOES make otherwise unproductive surfaces a valuable part of a building’s energy supply, with no architectural or visible impact. Imagine a skyscraper using this on their windows, for example. Or, in the example at the link above, imagine the glass on your iPhone recharging the phone itself when outdoors.

January 30, 2013