Month: October 2012

Warrant Buffet’s MidAmerican purchases two wind-farms

Warrant Buffet’s MidAmerican purchases two wind-farms capable of generating 300 megawatts.

American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist better known as the “Wizard of Omaha”, Warren Buffet has now shown his greener side. The billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway’s subsidiary, MidAmerican, has recently purchased to massive wind farms in California.

Generating a total of 300 megawatts of electricity, these wind farms will be part of the Wind Energy Center located in Tehachapi. The energy generated will be sold to Southern California Edison as part of a long-term power purchase agreement.

That apart, the project is expected to generate just about enough energy to power up nearly 80,000 American homes.

Also, the move could help Warren Buffet offset the pollution his coal trains have been spewing in the environment!

Solar Cell Made of a Single Molecule

A method to measure the photocurrents of a ‘single functionalized photosynthetic protein system’ has now been developed by researchers.

The researchers are confident that they can show that such a system could be integrated and “selectively addressed” inside of an artificial photovoltaic device’s architecture while still being able to retain its “biomolecular functional properties.”

The researchers were investigating the photosystem-I reaction center — that’s a chlorophyll protein complex that is located in the membranes of chloroplasts from cyanobacteria. Photosynthesis is used by algae, plants, and some bacteria in order to convert the Sun’s energy into usable and storable chemical energy.

The primary challenge to the physicists was that they had to develop and master “a method to electrically contact single molecules in strong optical fields.

The research was the result of interdisciplinary cooperation between researchers, led by Joachim Reichert, Johannes Barth, and Alexander Holleitner (Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Clusters of Excellence MAP, and NIM), and Itai Carmeli (Tel Aviv University).

V3Solar Spin Cell vs conventional solar panels

As technology progresses, solar power harvesting systems are quickly receiving long-awaited upgrades.

Recently, we stumbled across this revolutionary new solar energy harvester called the V3Solar Spin Cell. Developed by V3Solar, this cone-shaped apparatus is capable of generating roughly about 20 times more energy than the traditional flat solar panel.

Using concentrating lenses, dynamic spin, a conical shape and advanced electronics, the V3Solar Spin Cell sports two cones, one of which uses hundreds of triangular PV cells. The outer cone works as a static hermetically-sealed outer lens concentrator.

V3Solar Spin Cell is capable of generating more energy from the rays of the sun than its peers, making it the next best way to power up the world today.

The European Union has passed the milestone of 100 GW

EU reaches 100 GW wind power milestone.

It took the European wind energy sector some twenty years to get the first 10 GW grid connected. It needed 13 years to add an additional 90 GW. And half of the actual total European wind power capacity has been installed over the past six years.

100 GW of wind power can generate electricity over a year to meet the total consumption of 57 million households, equivalent to the power production of 39 nuclear power plants, 52 gas power plants or 62 coal power plants. Or: “It would require burning 72 million tons of coal annually in coal fired power plants to match Europe’s annual wind energy production. Loading that amount of coal on trains would require 750,000 wagons with a combined length of 11,500 kilometres – the distance from Brussels to Buenos Aires, Argentina,” said Christian Kjaer, CEO of EWEA.

“Despite only utilising a tiny fraction of Europe’s vast domestic wind energy resources, wind power is having a substantial impact on Europe’s energy security and environment, and benefits us hugely in creating green jobs and technology exports”, he added.