Energy, Other Costs a Major Concern for Manufacturers December 14, 2008
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in green business, manufacturing.Tags: energy, green, manufacturing
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TBM Consulting Group’s annual “Multinational Manufacturing Pulse” reveals that manufacturers’ level of anxiety over rising energy costs has more than doubled since last year, resulting in an increased commitment to eliminate waste. The majority of respondents (53%) ranked ‘cost pressures’ as the biggest hurdle to success in the year ahead. Nevertheless, 33% identified ‘rising energy costs’ as a source of angst, a dramatic increase from last year’s responses at 11%.
Read a fuller description of the results in IndustryWeek here.
New Technology Uses Slow Currents To Generate Energy December 14, 2008
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in green business.Tags: energy, green
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The UK’s Telegraph reported that ”A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world, scientists claim.” The device “can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less than one knot — about one mile an hour — meaning it could operate on most waterways and sea beds around the globe. Existing technologies which use water power, relying on the action of waves, tides or faster currents created by dams, are far more limited in where they can be used, and also cause greater obstructions when they are built in rivers or the sea.” The new technology, “which has been inspired by the way fish swim, consists of a system of cylinders positioned horizontal to the water flow and attached to springs. As water flows past, the cylinder creates vortices, which push and pull the cylinder up and down. The mechanical energy in the vibrations is then converted into electricity.” The Telegraph noted, “The system, conceived by scientists at the University of Michigan, is called Vivace, or ‘vortex-induced vibrations for aquatic clean energy.’”
Read the full article here.
Miniature Solar Cells Much Smaller Than This: o November 25, 2008
Posted by Jeff Fuchs in green business.Tags: energy, green business
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Wired Science reports that engineers have constructed a solar array smaller than a dime out of 20 solar cells, each cell tinier than a quarter of this lowercase “o.”
The mini photoelectric device only generates seven volts of electricity. But that could be enough to power the kind of microsensors military planners imagine will provide the soldier of the future with first-person-shooter-like battlefield intelligence. That’s why the Army is a major sponsor of the project, which is described in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.
Unlike conventional silicon solar cells, the new device is created from carbon-based, organic polymers. The study’s authors argue the array could transform electronics, even though right now it is far less efficient than silicon cells.
Read the full article here.
