Nudging the Speed Limit on Solar Power

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Imagine driving through the desert with sundown approaching and the gas gauge teetering on empty. Wherever you are when the car runs out of gas or the clock reads 5:00 pm, you spend the night. Competitors in the Challenger Class of this year’s Bridgestone World Solar Challenge had to face this challenge to their comfort and peace of mind every evening for five days. Organizers of this international competition note, “It’s all about energy management!  Based on the original notion that a 1000 Watt car would complete the journey in 50 hours, solar cars are allowed a nominal 5 kilowatt hours of stored energy, which is 10% of that theoretical figure.  All other energy must come from the sun or be recovered from the kinetic energy of the vehicle. “The elite Challenger class is conducted in a single stage from Darwin to Adelaide. Once the teams have left Darwin they must travel as far as they can until 5 pm …

The Green Lantern Glows Again, and Again

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants Leave a Comment

A French biochemist, Pierre Calleja, has devised a lamp that absorbs CO2 for its energy source, and which could clean up city streets while throwing a verdant light on them. A few are in use, but the unit is not yet ready for widespread installation. The “big screen” lamp shown in the video, 1.5 cubic meters (53 cubic feet) in volume, could absorb as much as a ton of carbon from the air every year – the same amount absorbed by 150 to 200 trees. The large tank is filled with algae, more often used to create biofuels, but used directly here to make light. Calleja envisions using such lamps on streets, or as shown, in underground parking garages, where a green, but clean, glow would be a welcome relief from the smog-filled darkness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuWDex5mh5Y&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL87CA1B0B16E786D3 Mike Thompson, an arts graduate from Design Academy in Eindhoven has something similar, the Latro Algae Lamp, inspired by “research conducted by Yansei and Stanford …