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Lithium build up in car battery impacts its performance – Ohio...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:00:27 +0800

Lithium build up in car battery impacts its performance – Ohio State

Lithium build up in the anodes of a lithium-ion battery is known to have a negative effect on its charge capacity, now a study from Ohio State University has found that lithium also accumulates on the battery’s copper current collector. Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable batteries that are used in hybrid and electric vehicles. Read more…

World Bank approves $50 million forest investment for Ghana The...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 10:30:38 +0800

World Bank approves $50 million forest investment for Ghana

The World Bank has approved a $50 million climate fund for Ghana to help the country reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The Forest Investment Programme will give way to the implementation of projects aimed at reducing pressure on the natural forest through integrated landscape approach, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. Read more…

India’s first green township to rise in Bangalore India is...

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 09:39:00 +0800

India’s first green township to rise in Bangalore

India is developing its first “green township” in Electronic City in Bangalore. Being developed by Patel Realty India Ltd., an infrastructure developer, Neotown, spread across 120 acres, features an integrated rainwater harvesting system, a sewage treatment plant, solid waste management, solar water heating, an in-house nursery and long-term tree planning. Read more…

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

Red dye plant could lead to green battery An organic coloring...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:30:20 +0800

Red dye plant could lead to green battery

An organic coloring from a plant used to create dye for textiles can be turned into a highly effective, natural cathode for lithium-ion batteries. Scientists at Rice University and the City College of New York have found that the madder plant or Rubia tinctorum can produce purpurin, an organic molecule that can electrochemically interact with lithium and bind lithium ions. Read more…

Blue Sphere gets approval for Ghanaian waste-to-energy...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:44:36 +0800

Blue Sphere gets approval for Ghanaian waste-to-energy project

Ghana is getting a landfill gas-to-energy project in a major landfill. Cleantech project integrator Blue Sphere Corp’s project at the Oti Sanitary Landfill has received government approval. The project will generate clean electricity as well as carbon credits, for around 200,000 to 800,000 euros in annual revenue for the next 21 years. Read more…

JinkoSolar gets $1 billion in financing to expand European...

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:30:40 +0800

JinkoSolar gets $1 billion in financing to expand European operations

The China Development Bank is going to be financing the activities of JinkoSolar Holding Co. to the tune of up to $1 billion for a five-year period. JinkoSolar, a manufacturer and distributor of solar photovoltaic products based in China, announced that its Swiss subsidiary JinkoSolar (Switzerland) AG has entered a strategic cooperation agreement with the Guangdong Branch of China Development Bank. Read more…

India to invest in Iran’s renewable energy sector India will...

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:00:48 +0800

India to invest in Iran’s renewable energy sector

India will invest in Iran’s renewable energy sector through the construction of wind and solar projects in the Islamic republic, said Yousef Armodeli, chief of the Iranian Renewable Energy Organization (S.U.N.A.). In an agreement signed by the two countries, India will provide “technical know-how” to Iran and invest in the design, construction, installation and launch of power plants, reported Press TV. Read more…

Queen Creek Solar Farm providing solar power for...

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:39:45 +0800

Queen Creek Solar Farm providing solar power for Phoenix

China’s Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited has supplied solar photovoltaic modules to one of America’s largest operational solar power projects, the Queen Creek Solar Farm in Arizona. The 25-megawatt Queen Creek solar Farm is owned by PSEG Solar Source and is located on 148 acres of land southeast of Phoenix. Read more…

Study shows renewables can supply power ‘99.9% of the time by...

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:50:56 +0800

Study shows renewables can supply power ‘99.9% of the time by 2030’

Renewable energy could supply power to an entire large electric grid, according to a new research by the University of Delaware and Delaware Technical Community College. “These results break the conventional wisdom that renewable energy is too unreliable and expensive,” said co-author Willett Kempton, professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy in U.D.’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment. Read more…

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most...

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:19:06 +0800

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.”

― Disney’s Mulan

ministryofdone: Done with batteries and the environment in...

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:53:16 +0800

ministryofdone:

Done with batteries and the environment in mind

We all know alkaline batteries are really bad for the environment if you don’t dispose of them properly. The right thing to do is send them to special recycling centers but hundreds of tons end up in landfills where their toxic innards seep into the earth. Perhaps a good solution is the Energy Seed, an LED lamp post powered by trashed alkaline batteries.

The idea is to encourage people to throw their batteries away into the Energy Seed. There’s a slot for nearly every size battery. The unit combines any left over juice from all the batteries to power a super efficient LED ring.

Kyoto Protocol extended; Green groups skeptical The United...

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 11:50:53 +0800

Kyoto Protocol extended; Green groups skeptical

The United Nations climate talks in Doha have reached its end and over 190 countries have reaffirmed their commitment to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by extending the Kyoto Protocol.The second round of Kyoto Protocol will begin shortly on January 1, 2013 and will take effect until 2020. Read more…

Researchers triple efficiency of organic solar cells A...

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:49:16 +0800

Researchers triple efficiency of organic solar cells

A nanostructured “sandwich” of semiconductor material has allowed a team of researchers from Princeton University to triple the efficiency of organic solar cells. Organic solar cells use conductive organic polymers to convert sunlight to an electric charge. Flexible and lightweight, they open themselves up to a variety of possible applications including building integrated photovoltaics. Read more…

“Mountains are earth’s undecaying...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:30:39 +0800

“Mountains are earth’s undecaying monuments.”

—Nathaniel Hawthorne

Flexible semiconductor woven together to make ‘solar fabric’

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:00:46 +0800

Flexible semiconductor woven together to make ‘solar fabric’:

In the near future, fashion might not just involve eye-catching ways to display your personal sense of style but to provide a personal supply of clean energy. Solar powered fabric, which could catch the rays of the sun and convert it into power, would allow for a wide array of solar power techniques – such as solar clothing. The trick would be to somehow make solar cells that are extremely flexible and light-weight. Read more…

Climate Finance vs Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:48:34 +0800

Climate Finance vs Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Malaysia: On its way to clean technology Malaysian Prime...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:35:18 +0800

Malaysia: On its way to clean technology

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak recently highlighted the country’s accomplishments and activities in the low-carbon sector, saying they are on the way to developing clean technology. Read more…

“But more wonderful than the lore of old men and the...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:00:00 +0800

“But more wonderful than the lore of old men and the lore of books is the secret lore of ocean.”

- H.P. Lovecraft

India releases draft of Phase II of solar mission The draft...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 11:50:28 +0800

India releases draft of Phase II of solar mission

The draft document of Phase 2 of India’s ambitious solar plan has been released by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission seeks to establish India as a global leader in solar energy by creating policy conditions to support the spread of solar power projects in the country. The goal is to add 20 gigawatts of grid connected and 2 GW of off-grid solar capacity by 2022. Read more…

G.E. closes deals for wind projects in Brazil, Kansas General...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 11:20:17 +0800

G.E. closes deals for wind projects in Brazil, Kansas

General Electric Company’s wind energy branch and energy investing business closed major deals for wind developments in Brazil and Kansas, respectively. G.E. and Brazilian wind developer Renova Energy signed a contract worth $394 million for wind turbines. Renova, which has around 1 gigawatt’s worth of wind installed in Brazil, is constructing a 386-MW facility in the southeast of Bahia state. Read more…