Ed Ring

On April 22nd we had the pleasure of hearing a presentation by Ripu Malhotra, a researcher with the Stanford Research Institute, who was speaking at AlwaysOn's "Nordic Green" conference.  Mr. Malhotra has taken the unusual step of converting all forms of energy use into cubic mile of oil equivalents - a measure that is quite helpful if one is trying to really grasp the scope of fossil fuel compared to alternatives. Using Malhotra's figures, which he has garnered from the British Petroleum statistical database of global energy usage, among other sources, it is clear that today, at least, the world's economy is utterly dependent on fossil fuel. GLOBAL ENERGY PRODUCTION 2005 Global energy production expressed in "cubic miles of oil"...

A few months ago we toured the "Idea House," sponsored by Sunset Magazine, located in the lower Mission District of San Francisco.  The building was fascinating - two units, three stories - with one larger home taking up all three floors, and an apartment consuming part of the 2nd floor on the west side of the structure.  Everything about it was smart, from a wind generator to photovoltaics and solar water heating, to materials and energy efficiency - but the estimated cost was well over $500 per square foot. Sunset Magazine's "Idea House" in San Francisco. An excellent example of cutting-edge green home design. Along with everything else, the appeal of green design is...

Believe it or not, with hundreds upon hundreds of entries - most of them lengthy diatribes filled with quantitative factoids - we have never posted a press release.  Well everything comes in good time, and this is an interesting press release.  Heat transfer and heat storage fluid indeed!  This is the missing link, the central point, the integrative catalyst for a competitive alternative energy industry.  This is energy storage and management at a level where thermal and electric are equally managed on one system.  This is cheaper at macro and micro levels because systems are integrated and thermal-electric conversion is efficient.  This is PVs cooled with fluid that harvests heat and...

A wheel-motor series hybrid is indeed coming up from Volvo, but don't hold your breath.  Apparently something very big could be in the wings, some sort of next generation hybrid or e-flex technology, making the announcement of the "Recharge" concept car - a wheel-motor series hybrid - not the biggest story Volvo intends to break this year.  And with that titillating tidbit, back to Volvo's car of the future, the car that Science Officer Ichiro Sugioka, based at Volvo's think tank in Southern California, says "will be probably coming out in ten years at the earliest."  He said the series hybrid using in-wheel motors was "definitely not our next hybrid," and "we like to keep the...

Who will be first to deliver a full-sized, affordable all electric car to consumers? One company quietly emerging as a strong contender for this distinction is Miles Electric Vehicles, based in Santa Monica, California. The full-sized, freeway capable XS500, Available late 2009 from Miles Electric Vehicles. (Photo: Miles EV) Through 2007 this company, founded in 2004, has delivered over 500 low speed (25 MPH, range up to 50 miles), full size vehicles and trucks to fleets, primarily for use on campuses and bases. Customers include the University of California, the US Navy, the City of Chicago, Cal Poly, the US Air Force, and others. Their production, based in China, has expanded this year, and...

There is an inevitable conflict between economic growth and environmental protection, and balancing these necessities is never easy.  But as environmental regulations continue to increase in scope and degree, there are also new and improved tools for companies to use to monitor and report their performance. For 15 years, ESS (Environmental Support Solutions), based in Tempe, Arizona, with offices all over the US as well as in China and Canada, has pioneered offering automated and integrated solutions to, among other things, environmental compliance.  In recent years, as software has migrated online and become more powerful and affordable, ESS has attracted the attention of very large companies who are still using...

According to SolarBuzz.com, solar modules of 125 watts (peak) or higher are selling for about $4.80 per watt.  To make a long story short, that price is still way too expensive to compete with regular utility-produced electricity.  If you want to install a photovoltaic system on your home or business, expect a price tag, after labor and balance of plant is accounted for along with the modules, of at least $7.50 per watt. Making the complex process of evaluating a photovoltaic system a little easier. (Photo: Clean Power Finance) At prices like this, consumers will not widely adopt photovoltaic solutions without tax incentives and rebates.  And by the time you have finished calculating the...

On the U.K. based website The Independent, their science section published a report on March 19th entitled "Dams: Deep Trouble." Below this ominous title, the tag line read "Are vast dams around the world masking the full extent of sea level rise?" The story goes on to state "over the past 50 years, new dams and reservoirs have held back some 10,800 cubic kilometers of water, which would have been enough to raise global sea levels by about 30mm." We crunched the numbers and came in at 32mm, and while the 10,800 km3 of water in reservoirs seems a bit high, let's go with it. But the implication - that we've stopped building dams and therefore we'll see a sea level rise of somewhat more than an inch - is...

That is the relevant question, when you read alarmist stories about ice melt in Antarctica.  On March 25th, for example, the BBC dutifully reported "Antarctic Shelf Hangs by a Thread" in a report by science correspondant Helen Briggs.  Here is the tag line below the title:  "A chunk of ice the size of the Isle of Man has started to break away from Antarctica in what scientists say is further evidence of a warming climate."  A few paragraphs below that another tag line, also in boldface type, reads "Unprecedented Warming."  Similar alarming snippets characterize the entire report. What this report doesn't make terribly clear, however, is the fact that this breakup is in the Antarctic Peninsula, a finger of land...

Earlier this month, General Motors hosted about 90 journalists from around the world to provide an update on progress with the Chevy Volt, an extended range electric vehicle they announced as a concept in January 2007.  On third of the way between announcement and planned launch in November of 2010, the Volt appears to be on track to be the fastest launch of a production vehicle in GM's history, and the first time ever GM has managed a technology program (the EREV technology) and a vehicle program (the Volt) simultaneously. If you read our recently published feature "The Chevy Volt EREV" you can access a lengthy report on our trip to Detroit on April 2-4, including several photos.  One of the photos...