Archive for the ‘Transportation’ Category

PlanetSolar's solar boat gets its power from SunPower's solar cells

March 1st, 2010 | Posted in Solar | No Comments

PlanetSolar unveiled the world's largest solar boat, which will be powered exclusively by SunPower's solar cells. The company's plan is to launch its catamaran for testing in late March and then embark on a round-the-world tour in early 2011.

The boat will get its power from approximately 38,000 of SunPower's next generation cells, with each cell offering an efficiency of at least 22%. The catamaran is expected to be the fastest solar boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the first to cross both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Stopovers include Hamburg, London and Paris in Europe, New York and San Francisco in the U.S., and Singapore and Abu Dhabi. The solar boat will be available for public display during each of its stops, offering an educational opportunity to all visitors…

[source: PlanetSolar]


DoE's Secretary Chu announces nearly $80 million investment for advanced biofuels research and fueling infrastructure

January 18th, 2010 | Posted in Biomass | No Comments

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the investment of nearly $80 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for advanced biofuels research and fueling infrastructure to help support the development of a clean sustainable transportation sector.

The two cross functional consortia were selected for funding, and they are:

  • National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) ($44 million).
    Led by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (St. Louis, MO), NAABB will develop a systems approach for sustainable commercialization of algal biofuel (such as renewable gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel) and bioproducts. The plan is to integrate resources from companies, universities, and national laboratories to overcome barriers of cost, resource use and efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and commercial viability. It will develop and demonstrate the science and technology necessary to significantly increase production of algal biomass and lipids, efficiently harvest and extract algae and algal products, and establish valuable certified co-products that scale with renewable fuel production. Co-products include animal feed, industrial feedstocks, and additional energy generation. Multiple test sites will cover diverse environmental regions to facilitate broad deployment.
  • National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC) (up to $33.8 million)
    Led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, NABC will conduct research to develop infrastructure compatible, biomass-based hydrocarbon fuels. The result is expected to be a sustainable, cost-effective production process that maximizes the use of existing refining and distribution infrastructure. NABC will investigate a variety of process strategies and down select to those closest to larger scale demonstration. Moreover, the plan is to further develop these strategies to deliver a pilot-ready process, with full lifecycle analysis to measure the environmental benefits.

Collectively, these consortia will be matched by private and non-federal cost-share funds of more than $19 million for total project investments of over $97 million.

Additionally, Secretary Chu also announced the selection of 8 infrastructure projects to receive up to $1.6 million to support expanded fueling infrastructure for ethanol blends. These projects will expand ethanol blends infrastructure (E85 pumps) at existing retail fueling locations in nine states: Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Collectively, the projects propose creating at least 45 E85 dispensers and 16 blender pumps along key driving corridors and areas with higher concentrations of flexible fuel vehicles.

The infrastructure projects will be matched with $3.9 million in non-federal cost-share funds, for total projects investments of $5.5 million.

Complete list with project descriptions if available from here. (PDF file)

[source: DoE]

Honeywell's UOP scores DoE's grant to make green fuel from biomass

January 18th, 2010 | Posted in Biomass | No Comments

UOPHoneywell-owned UOP announced that it has been selected for negotiation of a $25 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to build a demonstration unit in Hawaii to convert cellulosic biomass into green transportation fuels.

The plant, which will be built at the Tesoro's refinery in Kapolei, Hawaii, is expected to start up in 2014. If successful and fully implemented on a global scale, the new technology has the potential to supplement the existing supply of petroleum-based fuels, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70% (compared to petroleum-based fuels).

The demonstration unit will employ the Ensyn-developed RTP (rapid thermal processing) technology, which rapidly heats biomass at ambient pressure to generate high yields of pourable, liquid pyrolysis oil. The pyrolysis oil will then be upgraded to green transport fuels using technology developed by Honeywell's UOP, working with DOE, the DOE's National Renewable Energy Lab and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

A range of cellulosic feedstocks used in the demonstration unit, including selected waste agriculture products, pulp, paper, woody biomass, algae and dedicated energy crops like switchgrass and high-biomass sorghum will be provided by Ceres, Cargill, Grays Harbor Paper, HR BioPetroleum, Targeted Growth, Imperium Renewables and Mesa Engineering. The biofuel produced will be analyzed by a panel of petroleum refiners including Tesoro, CountryMark, Kern Oil and Refining and evaluated for end-use by Honeywell, General Motors and Boeing. Life Cycle Analysis will be performed by leading research university Michigan Tech University.

[source: UOP]

New York gets first solar-powered EV charging station

December 20th, 2009 | Posted in Solar | No Comments

New York gets first solar-powered EV charging station

New York-based Beautiful Earth Group unveiled solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging station in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The super-green, off-grid, modular station is constructed of recycled steel from shipping containers and powered solely by 235 watt PV panels.

Now that we have every single major auto maker announcing plans for electric vehicles, it's only logical to have such stations in one of the world's biggest cities. However, BE's station is not only for charging automobiles – it can also produce enough energy to power a small home, plus there's a battery bank which can store electricity 24/7 for on-demand usage.

[via: inhabitat]

Solar powered jet takes a first test flight

December 11th, 2009 | Posted in Solar | No Comments

Solar powered jet takes flight

We've almost missed this, but it's a super-cool story and we're going with it a few days later, nonetheless. After successfully trialing its eco-friendly vehicle on the ground, Bertrand Piccard has decided to push the trigger and reach for the skies. Yap, his solar-powered jet Solar Impulse HB-SIA has took of the group. It's still not a full blown flight, as he only flew for 1,150 feet at a meter above ground level, but it's a solid start. Actually, it sounds like a final test phase and it's about time we see the Impulse flying across the continents. Good luck captain Piccard! ;)

[Via: Engadget]

World's top solar racer SolarWorld No. 1 on track across Australia

October 28th, 2009 | Posted in Solar | No Comments

SolarWorld No. 1 - solar car

The acclaimed solar racer SolarWorld No. 1 can cross the 3,000 km without needing a filling station, and this coming weekend it will be proving its competence at the "Global Green Challenge in Australia." This vehicle, powered only by the energy of the Sun, will cross the deserts of Australia in silence at speeds of 120 km/h. The race will last 7 days, and the engineers of the Bochum University of Applied Sciences will be driving their creation from Darwin to Adelaide.

The Chairman and CEO of SolarWorld, Frank H. Asbeck says, "Our solar racer is a symbol for the diversity of solar energy applications. I am convinced that the future of sustainable mobility lies in electric vehicles that can fill up with CO2-free electricity from the sun at home."

This motor-vehicle is a prime example of the climate-friendly mobility of the future – it is powered directly by energy from the sun and no fossil fuels are burned in the process. The SolarWorld No. 1 has gotten its support from SolarWorld, the students of the faculties of mechatronics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science at the Bochum University of Applied Sciences, and it has become a pioneer solar racer in the field.

Wind powered car breaks new record

August 30th, 2009 | Posted in Wind | No Comments
Ecotricity Greenbird

Ecotricity Greenbird

A wind powered vehicle, the Ecotricity Greenbird, was recently tested on the California/Nevada border, where the Greenbird broke the record for wind-powered vehicles.

The previous record for this vehicle was 116 mph, and now it clocked in at 126.4 mph and even managed to maintain a speed of 126.2 mph for three seconds.

Ecotricity is a company based in the UK, owned by entrepreneur Dale Vince. Richard Jenkins, who also participated in the venture, has a wide range of experience in engineering, design, piloting and construction and is the founder of the Windjet project.

Both sides of the collaboration are innovative, experienced and passionate about wind energy, especially as an alternative solutions for transportation and utilities.

[Via: CleanTechnica]

Solar powered bus stations in San Francisco

June 2nd, 2009 | Posted in Solar | No Comments

Switching buses in San Francisco? You may find comfort in the fact that you'll be standing under solar power enabled roof at the rest shelter. The city authorities have inaugurated the first of many bus stop shelters that will feature lighting powered by solar cells embedded in the semi-transparent roof. The photovoltaic solar cells will produce electricity for power ing the LED lighting system, and will export any excess energy back into the grid.

sf-shelter_roof

Another interesting feature of the new bus stops is free WiFi access, which basically means that once the planned 1100 new bus stop shelters are completed, there will be a virtual WiFi blanket across the city. This will definitely help commuters kill time while waiting for the next bus ride.

These are not cheap though – at about USD 25,000 they represent a significant expense that will burden the city's budget, but city officials expect to recoup costs eventually.

The new Prius uses solar energy for internal/external temperature balancing

May 19th, 2009 | Posted in Solar | Comments (1)
Signed and delivered - solar cells on the the Prius' roof. (Image credit: Kyocera)

Signed and delivered - solar cells on the the Prius' roof. (Image credit: Kyocera)

Toyota's latest Prius line (generation 3) will use solar energy to power the system dedicated to balancing the internal temperature of the car with the temperature of the surrounding environment. Basically, if your car is parked out in direct sunlight, you won't have to open the doors and wait a couple of minutues before entering what would otherwise be a very comfortable oven. The ventialtion system is an option in the offered models of the new Prius.

The solar panels used to power fans for the ventilation system will be supplied by Kyocera, which has done rigorous testing to ensure the solar cells will withstand all the stress associated with operating a vehicle in real-world usage conditions (vibrations, bumps, torsion, etc). The company has set up a separate production line with dedicated manufacturing engineers to ensure high quality of the cells.

Around the world in a solar powered aircraft

April 15th, 2009 | Posted in Solar | Comments (1)

Circumnavigation is the mother of all "proof of concept" projects in nautics and aeronautics. We've just published about Planet Solar, the solar powered boat designed to circumnavigate the globe using only solar power, and there is already talk of another project only this time it's going to be an aircraft, powered by solar energy.

The solar aircraft is called Solar Impulse, and it's currently in testing phase, before the big finale of flying around the world using only solar energy as the source of power for all systems onboard the aircraft, including propulsion. Basically, the airplane's top wing surface is covered with solar cells, that generate electricity, stored in batteries, for flying during the night. It has an 80 meter wingspan and a 12 hp electric motors, and severe weight restrictions, which is really putting the strain on developers in pretty much all areas of the project. One of the main challenges is energy management. Reduction of energy consumption is crucial, but so are efficiency improvements in generating, storing and converting of solar energy. Restrictions are present in all aspects of the project. Another significant factor is the pilot, whose weight, but also the need for a pressurized cabin, pose a formidable challenge as well. There is also a need for additional instrumentation, although certain trade offs are going to be made.

Image credit: Solar Impulse

The airplane may not be the prettiest of them out there, but in this case form is subject to function. (Image credit: Solar Impulse)

The individual behind the project, Bertrand Piccard, believes this to be a challenge in many ways. He's not trying to break any records, but rather trying to break preconceptions. This project would not be achievable without pushing the boundaries of modern technology.

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