THIN FILM SOLAR PANELS

Archive for August, 2009

Joining the ranks of such green notables as San Francisco and Portland Oregon, the U.S. Air Force has made the top 20 List of On-Site Green Power Purchasers.  The quarterly list is a subset of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership program.  It includes organizations, businesses or government entities that purchase sustainable power from sources based in the U.S.A., either directly or through the use of Renewable Energy Certificates.

Read more of this story »

The workhorse of the microbe world could turn out to be Geobacter, a hairy looking organism that is actually capable of generating an electric current from mud or wastewater.  Professor Derek Lovley and a team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have announced that they successfully evolved a strain of Geobacter into a superbug that is eight times more powerful than other strains.  The breakthrough could lead to the development of a microbial fuel cell system scaled to individual homes, capable of producing electricity from the occupants’ household wastewater.  Geobacter-powered microbial fuel cells for vehicles, portable electronics, and even medical implants are among many other potential applications.

Read more of this story »

For those of you who follow our blog, you know we’re big fans of what the folks at Aptera are up to.  Aptera is building an all-electric, three-wheeled car that has a small fraction as much aerodynamic drag as a Prius.  The Aptera 2e goes 100-120 miles with a top speed of 85-90mph, and boasts normal [...]

Have you noticed how all sorts of high end resorts and hotels have started converting their chlorine pools to salt water? And it’s not just the health and hospitality industry that wants to figure out a way to purify their water without resorting to chemicals. Other industries, including the food and beverage, dairy, aquaculture and municipal drinking water providers need to ensure that the water they use contain no micro-organisms or pathogens of any kind. A company based in Israel, Atlantium has developed what may be one of the first industrial-grade solutions to water micro-organism purification without chemicals.

Read more of this story »

Sewage treatment plant effluent may finally get its Cinderella moment, thanks to a new process called HYBACS developed by Bluewater Bio International. Up to now, the waste water from sewage plants has been shunted aside for disposal, typically into a nearby waterway.  HYBACS transforms it into a reusable water resource, by improving the removal of nitrogen, phosphorus and other pollutants.  Bluewater Bio has won a grant from the Spanish Environment Ministry to conduct a pilot test of the technology at a treatment plant near Madrid.  If it proves successful, sewage treatment plant effluent could get a new life - and new respect for its role in a sustainable future.

Read more of this story »