Solar. Wind power. Wave power. Geothermal. Tidal power. If you’re a regular EcoGeek reader, you’re probably pretty familiar with the different major power generating alternatives to the burning of non-renewable fossil materials. But still, osmotic power generation is likely something you haven’t heard of before. Your first question is likely ‘How do you use osmosis to generate electricity?’

Osmosis is a process whereby water with two different concentrations of solution (in this case, salt) is separated by a semi-permeable membrane. Fresh water is able to pass through the membrane to the salt water side, but salt water cannot cross back in the other direction. This causes an increase in pressure on the salt water side, and this pressure difference is used to run a turbine which produces electricity.

Statkraft, a Norwegian renewable power company, has begun operations to use this process to generate electric power. The test facility, opened this week in Norway, is just a small demonstration plant which will produce only a few kilowatts of power. However, by 2015, Statkraft expects to be producing 25 megawatts of electricity by osmotic power.

Since the osmotic process requires a great deal of freshwater to function, we can forsee some serious problems for this system in the many parts of the word where the availability of fresh water is limited. The osmotic process also produces waste water that is saltier than freshwater, but not as salty as seawater, and the discharge of large quantities of this brackish water could be detrimental to local aquatic ecosystems.

via: Beyond the Beyond and Slashdot

Eco Factor: Energy- and water-saving concept shower.

We all love to have a hot shower after a hectic day at work. However, in doing so we do sometimes waste a lot of water and precious electricity. Industrial designer Paul Frigout has proposed a self-sufficient concept shower that minimizes the use of energy and water.

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Eco Gadgets: Self-powered ‘Eco Shower’ saves energy and water

The U.S. Military has recently expressed concern about Maryland offshore wind projects because radar could identify spinning turbine blades as low-flying aircraft, potentially disrupting its training missions in the area.  Turns out the UK Military is blocking wind projects for similar reasons.  If only there were a cool, high-tech solution to this?

Turbine company Vestas and technology consultants QinetiQ have developed what they’re calling Stealth Turbine technology – a way to hide turbines from radar by using radar absorbing materials in their construction.  During a test project using the materials on a Vestas V90 turbine, radar measurements were taken and the turbine’s radar signature was drastically reduced.  The small remaining signature would easily be eliminated by air traffic and air defense computers as insignificant.

If these invisible turbines were deployed, the UK’s Department of Energy & Climate Change beileves 5 GW worth of blocked wind projects could be given the go ahead.  Just in case the technology doesn’t make it out of the test phase, researchers in the UK are also working on updating the main air navigation system to differentiate between turbines and low-flying planes.

via Gizmag

Close to 60 percent of the energy produced by burning fuels or generated by power plants is lost as excess heat.  Computers, cars and cell phones all have to get rid of excess heat to run properly, creating a significant energy waste.  Researchers at MIT believe they’ve developed a way to reclaim a majority of that wasted energy and turn it into electricity.

Such an advancement in waste-energy harvesting could produce laptops and cell phones that run twice as long on a battery charge and highly efficient power plants, cars and planes.

The team carried out experiments to see how close to the Carnot Limit – the theoretical efficiency ceiling when converting heat to electricity – they could get.  Current devices only reach about a tenth of the limit, but using thermal diodes, the team was able to achieve 40 percent and they think as much as 90 percent is possible.

The secret to this new level of efficiency was reducing the amount of space between the hot surface and the conversion device, a quantom-dot semiconductor.

A company called MTPV Corp. is already working on commercializing this technology and sees great potential for its use in electronics and transportation.

via MIT News

I’m going on Fox Business tonight to talk about global warming, and it will be an interesting chance to talk about current events. We’re entering a critical period of climate negotiations, and the chances for serious discussions at the global COP15 forum next month in Copenhagen were probably set back this week by a skeptical computer hacker.

The politically minded raider penetrated the server security at the well-connected Climate Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia in England and dragged out a treasure trove of 160 megabytes of email and documents. Was there a smoking gun? Probably not, but I’m sure the hacker yelled “Eureka!” when he came across a piece of 1999 correspondence from Phil Jones, director of the unit.

In what some took as evidence that a scientist was jumping into the politics of global warming with both feet, Jones wrote that he used a “trick” to “hide the decline” in world temperatures. When that made headlines, Jones declared that any idea that he would manipulate data is “complete rubbish.”

The university was drawn in, and declared on its website, “There is nothing in the stolen material which indicates that peer-reviewed publications by CRU, and others, on the nature of global warming and related climate change are not of the highest-quality of scientific investigation and interpretation. CRU’s peer-reviewed publications are consistent with, and have contributed to, the overwhelming scientific consensus that the climate is being strongly influenced by human activity.”

Jones declared himself to be “a very apolitical person,” who is “happier doing the science and producing the papers.” Jones said he used the phrase “hiding the decline” in “an email written in haste.” He charged that the email disclosure “may be a concerted attempt to put a question mark over the science of climate change in the run-up to the Copenhagen talks.” But Jones didn’t say why he used the word “trick,” and his explanation didn’t quiet the calls for his resignation.

Guardian columnist Mark Lynas, author of Six Degrees, dismisses as “absurd” and “laughable” the idea of scientists colluding with government to foist an unworkable global warming theory on a gullible public. “None of this would matter if the public weren’t fooled,” he wrote. “But they are: Polls show climate ‘skepticism’ is rising, perhaps even to a majority position, on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Normally this organic mom steers clear of the vaccine debate. We skirted it in The Complete Organic Pregnancy on purpose – parents need to discuss the issues (real and less real) with their doctors and trusted advisers, and to make educated decisions that are right for their families. That’s what I do. But what’s right for me might not be right for you.

I cannot tell you how many emails I’ve gotten in the past few weeks asking me what to do about the H1N1 vaccine, and I don’t feel like I can ignore them all. These are from pregnant moms, parents, and even concerned grandparents from all walks of life. These are people who have never given their kids shots, people who have delayed vaccinations and never done flu shots, people who do give shots for deadly diseases but tend to think of flu shots as unnecessary. It’s a real conundrum. And it’s made that much worse by the media hype and misinformation. There’s even a pediatrician in my neighborhood telling parents there’s something in the H1N1 shot that has been linked to Gulf War Syndrome, and that we therefore don’t know what might show up years down the line. The parent spreading that story didn’t bother to ask what it was, or to see the studies her doctor was referring to, but was busily repeating it others, scaring/horrifying them. After a little independent research, I gather the doctor was referring to squalene, which isn’t, as of this moment, allowed in vaccines in the United States and so isn’t even an issue here….

Eco Factor: Mobility concept runs on zero emission electric motors.

The “NewRicksaw” project, a mobility concept, has been especially designed for the urban centers where the problems of space and pollution are growing rapidly. It’s a three-wheel mobility concept and each wheel includes a zero emission electric motor. The electric motors are supplied energy by lithium-ion batteries, which are positioned below the passenger seat. The system of battery charging is available at every station and the vehicle can be charged easily when parked at any station.

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Eco Rides: NewRicksaw – Electric ride for urban centers

It has been assumed that compressed air cars are cleaner than battery electric cars,  but the reality is they are quite inefficient.  A new study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters reveals that while in theory compressed air cars seem like a potential competitor to EVs, when it comes to lifecycle efficiency, they just don’t make the grade.

The problem lies in the electricity needed to compress the air – a lot of it is lost as heat.  The study concludes that even under ideal circumstances, the compressed air car is far less efficient than a battery-powered electric one and results in more GHG emissions than a conventional gas-powered car with our current coal-heavy energy mix.  Lifecycle analysis showed compressed air lagged far behind electric vehicles in energy required, emissions and costs.

Lastly, battery technology is advancing everyday and is already well-tested and reliable.  Compressed air technology is not likely to advance as quickly or as assuredly, meaning compressed air may still find a home in small urban vehicles, but its reach will be limited.

via Environmental Research Letters

Eco Factor: Pavilion for World Expo 2010 to be made from recycled materials.

Designed by Kay Ngee Tan Architects, Urban Symphony will be Singapore’s pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo 2010. The pavilion will be a tribute to the cultures of Singapore that will be merged with sustainable architecture.

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Eco Architecture: Singapore’s sustainable Urban Symphony pavilion for World Expo 2010

A perfect way of storing electricity generated by wind turbines has been elusive so far.  Ideas like super-sized batteries, compressed air and hydroelectric storage have all been floated.  One company though thinks the answer could be as simple as making ice.

Calmac has come up with a storage system called IceBank that uses the energy generated at off-peak night-time hours to make ice.  That stored ice is then used for cooling purposes during high-demand daytime hours.  The company claims that reducing electricity demand for cooling can cut energy costs by 20 – 40 percent.  That reduction also means fewer emissions from power plants.

This a great solution for harnessing wind power that might otherwise go to waste during night-time hours.  And it’s pretty low-tech – no need for lithium or rare earth minerals – just a souped up ice maker.

via Treehugger