Cargo ships could start traveling through clouds of bubbles as a means for increasing their efficiency. Air lubrication consists of injecting air into the water underneath a ship to reduce the friction, which should allow the ship to travel faster while using less fuel.

Naval engineers are looking at the tradeoffs between the energy needed to blow air bubbles underneath ships and the benefits in increased efficiency this would provide. At present, they believe this could lead to increased fuel efficiency of 5 to 20 percent for freighters.

This technology is likely to make its first appearance on freighters on the Great Lakes, rather than on ocean-going cargo vessels. "Great Lakes ships tend to have large, flat bottoms – an ideal shape for the technology because air stays underneath the ship instead of bubbling to the surface." However, if it brings efficiency improvements, it can be expected that air lubrication will be adapted to new ocean freighters.

image: via Wikimedia Commons

via: Midwest Energy News

A Congressional spending deal made late last night includes a provision that prevents the Department of Energy from enforcing the incandescent light bulb ban set to go in effect in January for another nine months.

The first phase of the ban, which still remains on the books but just can't be enforced, includes higher efficiency standards for 100-watt bulbs.  By the end 2014, all incandescents will be phased out.  According to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, many American light bulb makers had already started investing money on making the change from incandescents to more efficient bulbs like halogen, CFLs and LEDs and this delay may now cause them to lose money to foreign competitors still selling the cheaper bulbs.

The delay in enforcement will end on September 30, 2012 at the end of the government's fiscal year when hopefully the legislation will be able to go into effect.

via Chicago Tribune