Bacterial Breakthrough Could Lead to Cheap, Renewable Bio-Batteries May 24, 2011

Bacteria can 'breathe' many different substances, incluidng oxygen, minerals and human or animal waste -- which could be an alternate source of power. (Thomas Clarke)

You may not think twice about what goes down the drain in your toilet. But soon, what you’re flushing away could turn on the lights in your home.

This unique take on recycling comes from a substantial discovery concerning the way in which bacteria transfer electrical charges — and it could lead to the development of “bio-batteries” or bacteria-fueled electrodes. Eventually, these fuel cells could take human or animal waste and convert it into usable energy.

“The exciting thing is that we really never understood how the electrons were getting on the surface,” Dr. Tom Clarke, one of the lead researchers on the project from the University of East Anglia, told FoxNews.com. “What happens in this process is that bacteria take in organic carbon molecules and ‘chew’ them inside the cell, which then releases electrons.”

The project — funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the U.S. Department of Energy — has revealed how the microscopic molecular structure of bacteria proteins allows for energy transfer.

Multiple layers of proteins inside bacteria essentially act as the cell’s organic power lines, enabling electrons produced within the bacteria to be transferred to the bacteria’s surface. Now that scientists understand what’s happening on the surface, they will be able to produce a cell that can connect to the bacteria.

Then the bacteria can feed off the electrode, and in return, generate electrons.

The process is called iron respiration, but the researchers have colloquially dubbed it “breathing rocks.”

“Bacteria have a whole different arsenal of things to breathe other than just oxygen. They can breathe on mineral oxides, so this process of bacteria sitting on rocks and breathing rocks can be applied to electrodes. Bacteria can breathe on the electrodes and produce electrons.”

There have been attempts to harness electricity on the surface of bacteria before, but lacking the knowledge discovered in this project, only small amounts of energy were able to be obtained. Now sizable amounts of electricity can be put towards practical use.

“It offers a very nice method of getting ecologically sound energy,” Dr. Clarke told FoxNews.com. “You can build these electrodes into places such as waste treatment plants. The bacteria can digest waste material and produce energy.”

Along with running an everyday generator, the discovery could also aid in the cleanup of pollution caused by oil or uranium. And the overall benefit — the bacteria being used for the electrodes — is both plentiful and renewable.

“One of the advantages of the bacteria we’re looking at is they’re found everywhere already,” Dr. Clarke told FoxNews.com. “They actually live in the ground or in very common places. If you look at a lot of the names of what we’re considering, they’re in every single lake already.”

“All we would be doing is changing the surface that they live on,” he said.

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Car that runs on nothing but water unveiled in Japan. No gasoline, no battery recharging and no emissions. May 23, 2011

Japanese-made car that runs on NOTHING but water, and NO BATTERIES

Japanese company Genepax presents its eco-friendly car that runs on nothing but water. The car has an energy generator that extracts hydrogen from water that is poured into the car’s tank. The generator then releases electrons that produce electric power to run the car.  The electric powered car can run on any type of water (you can even use tea and soda…etc).  The car can run for an hour at about 50 miles per hour  on just a liter of water; about 2 cans of soda worth.  Genepax, the company that invented the technology, aims to collaborate with Japanese manufacturers to mass produce it.

Unlike other electric cars, the Genepax car does not require that batteries be recharged and has no emission. The water electrical generator is located in the back of the car and when water is poured it is then broken down in order to create electricity to power the car. Imagine what such a generator could do to the oil industry, the nuclear plants and the electrical grid.

That story broke in 2008.  Today Japan is producing hydrogen fueled cars – the Honda FCX Clarity.  Combine the technology of Genepax with the technology of the Honda FCX Clarity and you have a full production vehicle that uses no gasoline.  No gasoline combustion means zero emissions.

In 2010, it is reported that there are a total of 50 FCX Clarity available for lease in the U.S with a target to have 200 available world-wide.

The Honda FCX Clarity fuel cell-electric vehicle has been chosen to be the pace car for the opening race of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series, from 25-27 March 2011.  This is the first-time a hydrogen-powered vehicle will pace an IZOD IndyCar Series race in the United States.

Propelled by an electric motor that runs on electricity generated in a fuel cell, the FCX Clarity’s only emission is water and its fuel efficiency is three times that of a similar-sized petrol-powered automobile. The FCX Clarity’s performance and acceleration are comparable to a 2.4-litre, 4-cylinder engine with an EPA certified range of 240 miles. The compact and powerful Honda V Flow Fuel Cell Stack allows for unprecedented spaciousness and a futuristically stylish, low-slung design and spacious interior.

Since the vehicle’s unveiling there were nearly 80,000 people around the world who expressed interest in owning a FCX Calrity.  80,000 people who won’t be buying any more gasoline once they take possession.

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Massive Energy-Generating Wind Tower Proposed for Japan May 17, 2011

When considering wind power as an energy source, it’s best to think big. Japan-based ZENA Systems is working on developing a new type of wind energy generator that will dwarf anything before it. Read more: Massive Energy-Generating Wind Tower Proposed for Japan | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

The 50 meter-tall hexagonal building essentially acts as a huge scoop that compresses wind from all directions and then runs the rushing air through a series of ground-based generators. The ambitious project is the first of its kind, and it includes a desalination plant, on-site energy storage, and a visitors center. Details are sketchy on the viability of the design, but if it works out this wind concept could someday reach high into the sky to power our grid.

The company explains the operation as a three-point compression technique that takes wind from any direction and compresses and accelerates it through a wind tunnel in the middle of the hexagonal tower. The air flows downward to a series of turbines, which convert the wind’s energy to electricity. The company claims that the system is not constrained by the Betz limit value theory, which states that the maximum theoretical harvestable energy from the wind is 59.3 percent.

To stir the industry up even more, the design calls for on-site energy storage, which ZENA explains on their website: “The E.A.S. is a new energy storage system used to stock the energy generated by the Wind Tower system. This system uses vanadium concentrated solution diluted with nano water and pure water.” They have picked a location in Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan for the massive project.

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Let There Be LEDs: Building a Better Lightbulb May 8, 2011

Boasting cooling fins like those found inside some computers, the LED-powered Switch bulb may be the lightbulb of the future. (James Wade)

If you thought mousetraps were tough, try building a better lightbulb.

Just in time for Earth Day, a team of American inventors have created a bizarre-looking new bulb that turns illumination on its ear, using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) clustered within a conventionally shaped bulb for illumination rather than filaments or fluorescent tubes.

It will never end up in a landfill. It will not poison anybody. It may be the light of the future, hopes Switch Lighting CFO Brett Sharenow.

“You’ll be saving energy, you’ll be saving the environment, and you’ll be saving money,” he told FoxNews.com.

Historically, LEDs have faced three challenges. They cast a bluish hue rather than the pleasing yellowish light of incandescent bulbs, they ran hot, and they were too expensive.

The new bulbs emit a more attractive light (around 2,700 Kelvin) and have space-age cooling fins reminiscent of those used to cool computer CPUs. The result is that the heat associated with LEDs, which can shorten their lifespan, is dissipated evenly, allowing them to be used in any standard fixture.

Switch’s bulbs, available in 60 and 75 watt equivalent models, last for 20,000 hours — roughly 10 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs.

Many energy-efficient lights are also too toxic and too expensive, say critics. Switch Lighting says its new light addresses these concerns as well: It’s 85 percent more more efficient than household incandescent bulbs, and it’s cheap enough that it will pay for itself in less than a year.

Better yet, unlike those twisty compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, it contains no mercury and is completely recyclable. It’s genesis, Sharenow told FoxNews.com, was remarkable.

“The first LED bulb with this cooling technology was made in a baby food jar,” Sharenow said. The inventors built a prototype and put the contraption, LEDs and all, inside the only thing available — infant food.

“It caused the jar to glow,” he said. They knew then they had something special.

The San Jose-based company plans to begin manufacturing in America later this year. The bulbs should cost less than $15 when they come out later this year, Sharenow told FoxNews.com.

Sure, it sounds expensive compared to incandescent bulbs, which cost less than a dollar, but the savings on your power bills could pay for the bulb within the first 12 months of use. And similar LED bulbs already on the market cost $30 or more.

“It has to be business-focused, and not just about the environment,” emphasized William McDonough, an architect and designer who has been working with Switch Lighting on the light bulb design to meet so-called “cradle-to-cradle” standards.

That approach means all the components of a device can be reused easily in other devices or put back into the environment to actually benefit the environment. McDonough explains that one could reuse all the glass and rare metals from a gadget and even have a byproduct, such as nitrogen, that could be used as fertilizer for growing food.

The race to more efficient lighting has, well, lit up in recent weeks, sparking competition.

Also this week, Pixi, which makes the LEDs used in television sets, said the company would introduce its own 40-watt equivalent LED bulb later this year. It hopes the cost will be less than $17 a bulb — much less than the $50 similar bulbs cost just over a year ago.

And Philips, which already sells LED replacement bulbs that cost $30 or more, introduced another cheaper alternative this week. Philips EcoVantage bulbs use halogen lighting elements rather than LEDs but only cost about $1.50 each. On the other hand, they don’t offer the same energy savings as LEDs, improving efficiency over incandescent bulbs by only 28 percent.

Even if Switch and other LED makers have managed to create better bulbs, there are still challenges. “No one is making a [satisfactory] 100-watt” equivalent LED bulb Sharenow admitted.

Furthermore, there are still skeptics who would rather fight than switch. South Carolina has introduced a bill to allow companies to continue to make and sell less efficient incandescent bulbs in the state, while congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and four other representatives have introduced a bill to repeal federal light bulb standards passed in 2007.

Still, with options aplenty on the horizon, the future is beginning to look bright indeed.

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