Tag: ENERGY

A new set of requirements handed down by the Federal Aviation Administration will overhaul the nation's air traffic control system within the next decade. According to an Associated Press report on CBS News, the FAA mandated that all aircraft and ground control must install and use GPS-tracking systems by 2020. It will cost $4 billion for the estimated 7,000 airliners and cargo planes plus more ...

Share Everyone's worried about energy, right? Whether it's the thought of a peak-oil catastrophe (while a zillion gallons fester in the Gulf), or just an ecological desire to go green, we've become a country that frets about our future power sources. And what about pacemakers, or artificial kidneys? We can't very well expect those to go solar, but it turns out that a sugary diet might be able to ...

When we mentioned the new, hyper-efficient bulbs from General Electric (GE) and Phillips, we suggested that, at $40 and $50 a pop, consumers wouldn't be eager to jump on board that lighting train. But according to Engadget, The Home Depot's new EcoSmart LED is cheaper and almost as powerful as the ones soon to be available from GE and Phillips. The EcoSmart LED, which is the equivalent of a ...

Share Rather than dodge bumps in the road, GenShock drivers could use them to power their cars. According to Technology Review, Massachusetts-based Levant Power has developed a shock technology that absorbs bumps and generates electricity. Much like a typical shock-absorber, a car hits a bump and a piston moves through oil to soften the jarring sensation. But the GenShock also has a small ...

In Austria, a telephone booth might soon be used for more than making a phone call. According to an AFP report hosted on Physorg, Telekom Austria proposed earlier this week that the country's phone booths be converted into charging stations for electric cars and other vehicles. The first car-charging phone booth was unveiled in front of Telekom Austria's headquarters earlier this week. By the end ...

According to NPR, scientists are using virtual models of nuclear power plants to better prepare nuclear inspectors and to make real-life plants safer. As part of a project called Virtual Simulation Baseline Experience (VISIBLE), scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico work with realistic, projected depictions of power plants. They're created using the same high end animation ...

When we talk about carbon capture we're usually talking about the act of isolating the CO2 emissions of a power plant and injecting them deep underground for long term storage. So far, the technique has not proven cost effective, and there are concerns about what would happen in the highly unlikely event that the integrity of one of these carbon dioxide reservoirs were compromised. A company ...

Researchers at Stanford University have found a way to harvest 'green' electricity from algae. WonHyoung Ryu and her team enveloped a gold electrode in an algae cell membrane, and used it to trap electrons created during photosynthesis. This is 'green' energy in its purest form (and color), since only protons and oxygen are released during this process. "This is potentially one of the cleanest ...

What would you do for a free meal? According to BBC News, the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen is giving guests a $36 meal voucher if they ride an exercise bicycle for 15-minutes -- or until they produce 10-watts of electricity. This program, which launches April 19th, will not only reduce the hotel's carbon footprint, but it will keep guests healthy. An iPhone that shows how much power your legs ...

On Thursday, General Electric (GE) revealed a new LED light bulb that could replace every incandescent 40-watt bulb in your house. According to CNET News, the Energy Smart LED bulb emits about 450 lumens, which is equal to the output of your average 40-watt bulb, but consumes only nine watts of power. If you used it for an average of four hours each day, the bulb could last 17 years. "This is a ...

You know the saying: everything's bigger in Texas. Apparently, that even holds true for batteries. According to DVICE, the border town of Presidio has constructed what it claims is the country's largest battery. Best of all, it's earned the local nickname 'BOB,' which is an acronym for 'big ol' battery.' The room-sized sodium sulfur (NaS) battery can supply the entire town with 4-megawatts of ...

The Climate Group, a group of tech companies including Google, AT&T, Intel, GE, HP and Verizon, has written a letter (.PDF) to President Obama urging him to explicitly support the building of a smart grid and the deployment of smart metering technologies to every home and business in the U.S. The use of smart grid technologies is believed to be an essential ingredient in creating more ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Gallup has been gauging the public's attitude about nuclear power since 1994, and the organization is claiming that support for the energy source is now at an all-time high. That's great news for Toshiba and TerraPower (which is partially funded by energy-vacuum Bill Gates), the two of which are reportedly discussing a plan to ...

We've lectured you before about unplugging chargers to conserve electricity. It's pretty much common knowledge at this point that, even when turned off, our gadgets consume energy. Design student Conor Klein's solution was the Outlet Regulator, which detects when a cell phone is fully charged and then physically jettisons it from the power source. AT&T has a less perfect, but slightly more ...

People are starting to look to the oceans to produce clean energy, and a couple of Korean researchers have come up with a unique way to harvest power from the high seas. According to Wired, Park Chul and Kim Jongchul recently wrote a proposal that envisions using a giant kite to tow a large ship with a hydroelectric turbine attached to its hull. Essentially, the system would create a floating ...