Category: MARKETING

How to convert a pizza box into a solar-powered oven?

A good way to beat global warming is to give free rein to imagination and create ecological things.

Can you imagine combining a free pizza party with solar cooking?

A group of students from New York City have found an environmentally friendly way of cooking.

The group of students from Brooklyn’s James Madison and Edward R. Murrow high schools have designed a greener mode of making your own pizza not in an electric oven but in solar-powered pizza boxes.

These green ovens can heat up to 200-degrees on a hot day which is more than required to cook a pizza.

These pizza boxes are covered with tin foil and are completely safe for the food to get cooked evenly with no fear of getting burnt.

It is generally observed that young minds with their purchasing patterns, life-style choices and networks with schools, universities, clubs, and sports can influence a wider world and influence communities, companies and countries to a greater cause that needs immediate attention and significance.

A new record efficiency for solar cells

Always scientists around the world have been trying to create a low cost solar cell that is both efficient and easy to manufacture.

The purpose is to make solar energy affordable for the common people.

Swiss researchers from Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology’s (EMPA) Laboratory for Thin Film and Photovoltaics have established a new world record efficiency of 18.7% for flexible copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGGS) solar cells on plastics.

This new discovery has the potential to lower the cost of solar energy drastically because they are cheaper to produce and this latest breakthrough brings them closer to the highest efficiency levels achieved by crystalline silicon and rigid CIGS cells.

These highly efficient solar cells will drop the cost of solar energy and make them ideal for use in demanding applications such as solar facades and portable electronic devices.

Google invest $55 million in Mojave Desert

The wind power industry of California received a boost when Google Inc. announced its decision to invest $55 million in a large Mojave Desert wind farm.

By this investment the state made an important step to regain its number one position in the world in field of wind power energy production.

Google is involved in many projects related to renewable energy because it needs huge amount of electricity to run its vast datacenters.

The internet search giant has taken up the above mentioned project in partnership with Citibank which is also investing an equal amount, i.e. $55 million.

The wind farm will produce 1.5 gigawatts which will power 450.000 homes.

This initiative will create green jobs in Kern County which is struggling with 17.5 percent unemployment.

Wind power could be stored in water under Germany’s mountains

Germany hopes to meet the country’s electricity demands only with renewable sources by 2050.

This ambitious dream reflects on their green investment particularly in the fields of solar and wind energy.

Germany plans to store energy generated by wind turbines in water pump storage facilities under the mountains.

This first project in the world is made after a Marko Schmidt study.

The study was to build a plant in the abandoned Wiemannsbucht mine shaft in Bad Grund, a town in the western Harz Mountains.

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity plants work by using power from solar or wind turbine sources to pump water from one tank to another above it.

When the sun goes in or the wind stops blowing and electricity is needed, the water from the top is released to the bottom tank – pushing through turbines as it goes and generating power.

Six of such large scale projects have been proposed for the West Harz region.

The first one will be in Bad Grund and will have the storage capacity of 400 megawatt hours, which is sufficient to allocate power to over 40,000 households per day.

This project has a lot of advantages because such plants can be constructed in abandoned mine-shafts and also the provision of additional green jobs.

Top 10 clean energy states in U.S.

Promoting green technology is on the rise.

An extensive study released Wednesday by consulting firm Clean Edge offers some results.

The survey used more than 3,500 data points to evaluate all 50 states in the U.S.

Factors for evaluating each state included: the amount of green-tech related patent activity; the amount of green-tech venture capital being invested; the number of alternative fuel, electric, and hybrid vehicles registered in the state; and the percentage of electricity produced from clean sources.

The following states are ranked in the Top 10 for leading in green tech:

1.     California
2.    Oregon
3.    Massachusetts
4.    New York
5.    Colorado
6.    Washington
7.    New Mexico
8.    Minnesota
9.    Connecticut
10.  Vermont

California has the most money for backing up all those green-tech projects and has some of the most progressive environmental policies.

The state attracts more green-tech venture capital than all the other states in the U.S. combined.
California is also leading in clean-energy:

1.    California
2.    Massachusetts
3.    Oregon
4.    Colorado
5.    New Jersey
6.    Connecticut
7.    New York
8.    Maryland
9.    Washington
10.  Minnesota

The new generation of green rocket

U.S. military researchers have developed a new generation of green rocket fuel.

The new green rocket fuel emits less corrosive and toxic chemicals than the conventional rocket propellants.

Typical rocket fuel is very toxic and creates environmental pollution because the fuel has a structure of propellant which contains high grade kerosene, rubber and chemicals like hydrazine, nitrogen tetroxide and nitrous oxide.

‘One of the important requirements in the development of less hazardous liquid bipropellants for rocket propulsion is reduced vapor toxicity of oxidizer and fuel,’ says propellants expert John Bellerby of Cranfield University, UK.

Also Bellerby adds that hydrogen peroxide is an attractive low-hazard alternative oxidizer and finding a fuel with low vapor toxicity that is hypergolic with this oxidizer and also produces a high performance has proved difficult.

Repeated tests have proved the hypergolicity of the hydrogen rich ionic-liquid fuels with hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizing agent, which can be considered as green bipropellants for the future.

This type of ionic liquids as the pioneer in liquid bi propellants and in the future and will bring out better and green performances.

Floating stadium in Qatar

The German architectural firm Stadium Concept has developed a new prototype for the FIFA World Cup 2022 the Floating Stadium.

This amazing construction was developed keeping in view the importance of maximizing the use of financial resources, and also it has an ecological balance.

This floating stadium can be relocated to seaside venues across the oceans.

Unlike traditional stadiums this one comes with highly efficient mechanism of renewable energy systems like the hydro-power, wind and solar energy systems, making it dependent on nature friendly processes to meet its energy requirements.

The floating stadium is structured on multi-levels and it has the base comprises of a floating disk.

The level above would have the stadium access, and will serve as the level of the sports pitch. Around the pitch level, would be the main structure of the stadium bowl, meant for housing the audience.

Above the stadium bowl, would be the stadium roof, which would act as the main cover for the whole structure.

This concept can be transported around the globe, which is a good choice for investors.

Solar Impulse completes world’s first solar powered flight

Solar Impulse, first solar energy plane made the world’s first international flight powered by the sun.

The solar plane took off from an airfield at Payerne in western Switzerland on Friday morning, the Solar Impulse completed its solar powered trip to Brussels airport after 13 hours of flying.

The 10 year project worth 90 million Euros and was demonstrate what the technology can do in terms of renewable energy.

The Solar Impulse project has involved engineers from Swiss lift maker Schindler and research aid from Belgian chemicals group Solvay.

The solar plane which requires 12,000 solar cells embarked on its first flight in April 2010 and completed a 26-hour flight, a record flying time for a solar powered aircraft, three months later.

The Solar Impulse has an average flying speed of 70 km/h (44 mph) which can not be compared with existing jets velocity which is much higher.

A larger prototype is scheduled to fly around the world in 2013.

Audi engines will use wind power

Audi wants to build vehicles with clean power and zero- and low-emissions.

The manufacturer plans to use wind power for its upcoming electric and natural gas vehicles.

Like other large companies, Audi is financing the construction of four wind turbines off the North Sea that will generate annually up to 53 GWh of electricity and from this electricity, the manufacturer plans to use a portion of the wind power to charge its electric e-tron vehicles.

Audi can power fuel cell vehicles, including the Audi Q5 HFC by harnessing the power of wind to produce hydrogen through electrolysis.

Audi currently uses e-gas to power a CNG version of the A3.

The A3 TCNG will be even more environmentally friendly; Audi plans to break ground on its own synthetic methane facility in July. Using CO2 from a connected waste-biogas plant, Audi’s facility will produce annually 1,000 metric tons of e-gas.

This fuel will be added to Germany’s natural gas network, which serves 900 CNG stations.

Google unveils Android LED Light Bulb

In a few months Google has made many investments in renewable energy, the last one we read being a wind farm.

Now, search engine major Google hits again with a new investment in bulb manufacturing.

People will be able to buy an LED light bulb controllable from an Android device by the end of this year.

The new LED bulb can be controlled by any Android device using the company’s new open-source wireless networking protocol.

Google partnered with Lighting Science Group to bring out this 60-watt equivalent LED bulb that works with any android equipped laptop, tablet pc or a smart phone.

The smart bulb is the perfect test bed for Google’s new protocol, which stands to open the door to a new wave of energy-efficient home systems.

This A19 bulb was created to ensure low energy consumption and it features a built-in radio that interfaces with Google’s new open-source wireless protocol.

The price of the android LED lights will vary between 20 USD and 35 USD for 60-watt equivalent.

The A19 LED bulb was unveiled at I/O developer in San Francisco and caught the attention of the people.