Largest solar plant in the world – on the brink of construction
The small city of Cle Elum, situated in Central Washington, could be the area where the largest solar photovoltaic power plant yet to be designed will find it’s place. The only thing standing in the way of the construction is the approval of the Kittitas County, to whom the city belongs to. Teanaway Solar Reserve, the company hoping to get “green lights” for starting the project, has in plan building a 75 megawatt plant, using a total of over 400,000 photovoltaic cells on an area of about 400 acres. That will be enough to ensure electrical power to more then 45,000 houses and homes. If all works according to plan, the plant could be put in action in less then three years, said the officials. With an investment of about $100 million, the company is optimistic that this will spark the interest of others to envision other large solar projects all over the US and the world.
Solar Impulse present a Zero Fuel Solar Airplane
Yesterday, the 26 of June, represented a milestone in solar and renewable energy developments. It was the day Solar Impulse presented the first solar powered plane to fly both day and night without producing any pollution at all. At the Dübendorf airfield in Switzerland, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the main characters revolving the project, unveiled the HB-SIA, a prototype airplane, a marvellous piece of engineering, to the public.
Natural Ventilation in Urban Areas
Traditional architecture shows how people carefully designed passive cooling systems that did not make use of any mechanical energy to operate(ground cooling, wind towers, fountains and whitewash). A major change occured at the turn of the twentieth century, when W.H. Carrier invented the refrigeration chiller, which was developed on a large scale after Second World War.Air-conditioning technology and the aviability of cheap energy allowed architects and engineers to keep buildings at a confortable temperature whatever their orientation, insulation level, shading and thermal mass.Thus, in many parts of the world, passive cooling design and techniques were abandoned until they gained renewed interest in the last couple of decades encouraged by energy and environment concerns. Read more
Super-Fast Charging Batteries from Japan
Japan takes a big leap into making the world of transport cleaner, less fuel-powered and more environmental-friendly. With the help from Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Kawasaki Heavy Industries has announced the production of a battery that charges in matters of minutes, 10, to be more exact.
NASA presents new Eco-friendly building
The George Marshall Space Flight Center from NASA, located in Huntsville, Alabama, opens it’s new environmental-friendly building, one of three designed and the second one to be ready.
Coming after Building 4600 (shown in the picture to the left) , being the first energy efficient structure from the facility and rated with “Silver” by the Green Building Rating System™ LEED, Building 4601 is designed to rely more on solar power and alternative Read more
Zero-emission buses from Mercedes
Companies seem to care more about the environment. Following the rising trend of hybrid vehicles, the German car manufacturer, Mercedes, announced the new Citaro G Blue Tec Hybrid. The new model will be more environmental-friendly and brings improvement to fuel efficiency, thus reducing the energy consumption up to 30 percent. Coming after the great success of the Citaro series, the new model promises to bring hybrid technology to a whole new level, never before seen in the European arena.