Archive for the ‘Technology’ category

Regarding E-Waste: A Teen who is Changing the World

April 13th, 2010

Alex Lin was featured on TakePart.com recently:

He’s overseen the recycling of 300,000 pounds of e-waste. He’s successfully lobbied the Rhode Island state legislature to ban the dumping of electronics. He’s used refurbished computers to create media centers in developing countries like Cameroon and Sri Lanka to foster computer literacy.

He’s Alex Lin and he’s just 16 years old.

“I don’t see anything uncommon in it,” says Lin, a high school senior from Westerly, Rhode Island. “My friends and I have been doing this since fifth grade. It’s become part of our lifestyle.”

Lin’s catalytic moment came in 2004 when he chanced upon a Wall Street Journal article. “It first alerted me to the e-waste problem, and warned of an e-waste tsunami to come.”

E-waste, or electronics garbage, is the fastest growing section of the U.S. trash stream. In 2007, Americans discarded more than 112,000 computers daily, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Even worse, just 18 percent of discarded televisions and computer products were collected for recycling.

Read the rest of the story

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Posted in Innovation, Technology

Tags: change entrepreneur ewaste Innovation

A Challenge for Clean Tech: Monetizing e-Waste

March 18th, 2010

In an exploding digital economy it’s easy to forget that upgrading to the latest and greatest has an environmental cost. What happened to all those old Motorola Razor phones when the iPhone was launched? Where did your old TV go when you upgraded to flat screen? Consumer electronic waste, also known as e-waste, is one of the fastest growing problems facing our planet.

“In some countries, the amount of e-waste being produced – including mobile phones and computers – could rise by as much as 500 percent over the next decade, and growth on such a scale will create intractable problems for people’s health and the environment as waste, much of it containing toxic material, decays.” writes Daniel Christopher Jones in a article from Busmanagementme.com.

We have a big problem on our hands! Technology isn’t going away, and needs to be upgraded regularly. We can’t just bury our old cell phones in the dirt and hope for the best. There has to be a better way.

How can this be monetized? If a lucrative business can be set up around the recycling of electronic goods, then a sustainable “food chain” of consumer electronics can be established. Someone in the world may be able to generate massive value, and solve a major problem simultaneously. Computer and electronics companies typically have basic recycling programs associated with their products, however most gadgets fall through the cracks in the infrastructure, often ending up in landfills. Even so called environmentally conscious companies, like Apple with Al Gore on it’s board of directors, come up short [read Wired magazine's article Recycling: Not Apple's Core Value]. By making minor changes in the infrastructure, some genius entrepreneur could make a major impact on this growing problem.

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Posted in Advocacy, Climate Change, Innovation, Technology

Tags: apple e entrepreneur ewaste greenpeace monetize waste

Lasers Take Science One Step Toward Unlimited Clean Energy

February 8th, 2010

Radical technological advances, cold fusion being an example, seem to belong in Star Trek episodes rather than credible scientific discussion. Last month one of these “far out” technologies, specifically the availability of unlimited energy, received an unexpected step towards plausibility from the scientists in Lawrence Livermore Labs.

The scientists, headed by Siegfried H. Glenzer and L. Jeffrey Atherton, are using 192 high powered lasers to focus large amounts of energy on a very small particle. The goal is to achieve “ignition,” or to heat the small elemental speck to millions of degrees Fahrenheit nearly instantly, creating a small scale reaction of our own sun. Once perfected, this reaction could yield a virtually limitless supply of clean energy.

“We’re confident of our ability to start seeking ignition this summer,” Atherton said in an interview. “And we’re optimistic that at some point soon we’ll achieve it.”

A recent article published by SFGate.com states: “To achieve that thermonuclear reaction, the scientists will attempt to use the lasers’ immensely powerful beams to reach temperatures of more than 200 million degrees Fahrenheit and pressures millions of times greater than Earth’s atmosphere – conditions found only in the interior of the sun and stars…

“If those experiments succeed, the hydrogen isotopes would be crushed instantly and explode inward until they fuse and yield vastly more energy than the laser beams had pumped into them.”

One small step for lasers… one giant leap for Clean Tech.

A Grammy for Green Tech: The Clean Tech Open

February 4th, 2010

Did you watch the Grammy Awards this week? I did. It got me thinking: they should have awards like this for every profession, especially green tech! One web search later, I found they exist! The award ceremony is called the Clean Tech Open, and it was most recently held in San Fransisco, featuring the latest green thinkers from every section of the US. Recently Popular Mechanics did a feature article of a few prize winners:

Green Building Award: BottleStone

“…a combination of clay, cement, and old glass that looks uncannily like real granite, but takes much less energy to produce…”

Transportation Award: ElectraDrive

“…ElectraDrive aims to make electric conversion more accessible to the masses with its one-size-fits-all conversion kit. The kit’s designed to turn just about any car into an EV, whether it’s a sleek convertible or a hulking truck—you just take your car’s gas drivetrain out and put the company’s ElectraMount module in…”

Energy Efficiency Award: Viridis Earth

“…Viridis Earth manufactures $350 retrofit devices that can make your old a/c unit an energy-efficient wunderkind. One device cuts an air conditioner’s energy consumption by 20 to 30 percent, a reduction so substantial that the retrofit typically pays for itself in less than a year…”

Renewables Award: Focal Point Energy

“Lots of companies that use hot water or steam for manufacturing rely on gas or electricity to generate their heat. But it’s much more efficient to gather sunlight and use it to heat the water directly… “To collect the heat, we use a reflective membrane made out of a Mylar-like material,” says Howard Harrenstien… The reflector focuses incoming sunlight into a concentrated beam, which can then be aimed at water-filled containers to make the contents boil.”

Green Building Award runner-up: Solar Red

“…By devising a system that can be put up by the same guys who nail on your roof tiles (no professional solar installer required), Solar Red has succeeded in cutting the cost of home solar by 25 to 50 percent…”

Obama Pursuing Climate and Clean Energy Targets: Year 1

January 12th, 2010

6820_NpAdvHover President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition, the Center for American Progress proposed a 10-point clean-energy agenda for the president and Congress that would speed the economic transformation to a clean energy economy.

A review of these items today finds that all were adopted or are working their way through the process. This is a startling achievement amidst the worst economy in 70 years, two wars, and an opposition party disinterested in cooperation. President Obama did much of what he promised, and he can do more in 2010 by cajoling Congress to do its part.

Europe Shows the Way to Energy-Efficient Design

January 12th, 2010

From the Matter Network:

After the EU signed Kyoto, requiring it to reduce carbon emissions 8% below 1990 levels by 2012, many products and design changed there, diverging from US standards. Cars, for example, became smaller, lighter; and more fuel efficient. Even US automakers not known for efficiency make 62 MPG cars for Europe. Germany and Spain introduced Feed-in Tariffs that paid homeowners to make solar power on their roofs.But most interestingly, for Americans now considering energy efficient retrofits with a new “Cash for Caulkers” program being considered, a whole new industry was created by the need to supply new energy efficient building innovations. Energy efficient glass.

Energy From Thin Air

October 7th, 2009

In our pursuit of green, clean energy it seems that we are going back to basics. Over five thousand years ago sailors used wind for travel and millers harnessed it to crush grain into flour.

Wind power is growing exponentially in this country. Over the last five years wind power has quadrupled making the U.S. the leading producer of wind energy with 25,176 plants. Over the next five years 40,000 more turbines will be installed many of which will be replacing older with more efficient models.

Even in the face of a global economic crisis, wind companies are hopeful and intend to replace 45% of the outdated models by 2015. Wind companies are aiming to produce 20% of our nation’s energy by 2030 all of which will be nearly pollutant free. Although they are clearly planning long term they still bring gale force power to today’s world. Their growth in 2008 channeled some 17.7 billion dollars into the economy and in the first quarter of 2009 alone prevented 52 million tons of carbon dioxide from ever reaching the atmosphere. Wind power and its applications will certainly blow you over.

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Posted in Alternative Energy, Clean Tech, Home Energy, Innovation, Technology, Wind, renewable energy

Tags: clean energy economic growth wind power

Iceland is a Hot Spot for Clean Energy

October 7th, 2009

iceland-geothermal-to-thaw-frozen-economy_1 How much potential does geothermal energy, a cheap and renewable energy source, have to meet America’s clean energy needs?

According to NPR.org, geothermal energy could bring clean power hundreds of millions of homes and factories worldwide.

Oil sources are lessening and are growing increasingly more expensive. The people are pushing for greener alternatives. With all this brouhaha about going green a few scientists peeped up about going “red”. Their “red” solution is harnessing red hot magma for geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is renewable and its factories produce almost zero greenhouse gas emissions and scientists in Iceland have successfully harnessed the power mother nature herself. Iceland sits on top of the schism of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates along what is known as the Mid-Atlantic ridge. This ridge feeds some thirty volcanoes magma as the two plates rip apart. Icelandic scientist use the old adage, “where there is smoke there is fire,” with respect to how they harness this awesome, primal energy source. Surface volcanoes are like beacons indicating a “hot spot” or source of magma for the volcano. Geologists then carefully drill deep wells over these hot spots. Water and steam are launched forth, although not instantaneously, from the wells like man-made geysers. The steam is then stripped of impurities and pumped into turbines that power generators that create electricity. The hot water can be guided through pipes into radiators to heat homes and businesses.

95 percent of the homes in Iceland are already heated with geothermal energy, which is 5 times less expensive than oil heat. Where might we see geothermal energy used in the US? Perhaps in Northern California, which has the world’s largest hot spots with their natural geysers. Beyond that, there are not enough hot spots in America to power the entire country as Iceland does. Hippies need not break out their protest poster boards just yet although scientists at MIT estimate that geothermal energy could power up to 10 percent of the country.

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Posted in Alternative Energy, Clean Tech, Geothermal, Home Energy, Innovation, Technology, Water, renewable energy

Tags: Alternative Energy clean energy Geothermal heating iceland npr

Human Waste is Underrated

September 18th, 2009

: Learn from Elmo, and turn your human waste into renewable energy.

What do you do with your human waste? Well, if you’re no fun you probably just flush it down the toilet, re-enacting what you think is “normal” from what you’ve learned from the rest of society. But now, Frank Sinton, a tech entrepreneur and founder of PMC BioTec, says it’s time to break this silly social norm, stick it to the man, and save some money.

America spends $5 billion a year dealing with sludge. Biosolids producers pay hundreds of dollars a ton to remove it, quickly filling landfills or other means of disposal, Sinton said on Sept. 15 at the AlwaysOn Going Green Conference in Sausalito, California. The scope of the globe’s sludge problem is mindboggling. Every year, cattle feedlots produce more than 150 million tons of animal waste; the U.S. and Europe together generate 40 million tons of sludge from sewage treatment; and food production waste weighs in at a staggering billion tons per year.

So what is Sinton going to do about it? He and PMC have invented a $2 million machine similar to a giant port-a-potty that takes in sludge, mixes it with bacteria, or renders the organic matter into methane gas, an energy source that can offset the high power requirements of many biosolid treatment facilities.

Raise Your Hand If You Like Clean Water

August 11th, 2009

watcleaner-435x3001 Oil spills, soda cans, and food wrappers constantly pollute our waters. So much so, that it makes me wonder if all those “No Dumping” signs have surreptitiously been changed to “Water: Your New Landfill.”

So how can we combat the growing problem of contaminated oceans, rivers and lakes? With robots, of course. Thanks to a new invention from Chinese industrial designer, Ye Yao, comes the WatCleaner, a device designed to automatically clean water.

The WatCleaner has detectors on the bottom that monitor water for pollution, everything from basic garbage to oil, and clean the water. Absorbent socks on the top of the WatCleaner absorb oil and cleanse it. Additionally, garbage is taken in and directed to a disintegrator- clean water is then sprayed through the top of the WatCleaner and returned to the water system.

And for those of you animal rights activists, don’t worry, the WatCleaner also detects fish in order to clean the water in their area.

Beyond just cleaning the water of contaminants, the WatCleaner is also set up to transmit water condition information to land based controllers and ask for help if it encounters conditions too polluted to handle alone.

The WatCleaner won an “Excellent Works” designation in the 2007 Japan Design Foundation International Design Competition.