Archives for May 2010
Researchers Developed the Shark Paint to save Million Tonnes of Fuel Annually
23 May 2010 | Green Technology | 1 Comment
Always inspired by nature, researchers have found a new way to improve the efficiency of wind turbines, airplanes and Ships. They developed a new paint system, a shark-line skin, which could be applied to wind turbines, airplanes and ships, to reduce flow resistance. Yvonne Wilke, Volkmar Stenzel and Manfred Peschka of the Fraunhofer Institute, the leading organization for applied research in Europe, were inspired by real shark skin, which allows these creatures to reach impressive speeds in water.
Germans Get Paid To Consume Surplus Energy From Wind Farms
8 May 2010 | Wind Power | 1 Comment
A rather strange consequence of the inability of electricity providers to store the surplus energy gained from wind power occurs in northern Germany, where local inhabitants are getting paid for “forgetting” the lights on. The country’s 21,000 wind turbines produces so much power that the providers were “forced” to lower the bills in order to use this “extra” energy.
At times, windmills were even temporarily turned off, which sounds pretty unreasonable for a energy operator. It seems these companies have alone done them self harm, as total spending money for electricity in Germany will be shortened by 5 billion euros in a few years.
Researchers Develop Inexpensive Catalyst to Generate Hydrogen from Water
6 May 2010 | Green Technology | No Comments
Until now, scientists have found several ways to generate hydrogen from water, but most of them requires to use organic additives in catalysts. The old methods were somehow effective but the cost of materials used in this process was too high. So, Researchers at University of California, Berkeley and the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have found a new type of catalyst, seventy times cheaper than platinum. This new catalyst works well in neutral water, even if it’s dirty.