While we usually look at wind turbines chiefly as a cleaner, better source of electricity. But in many parts of the world, electricity is only one of several needs faced by much of the population. In answer to a broader set of needs, the Eole Water WMS1000 turbine uses some of the power that it produces to extract as much as 1200 liters (more than 315 gallons) of clean water per day by condensing it from the air.

The WMS 1000 produces up to 30 kW of electricity, in addition to the water it provides. That may not seem to be much compared to the grid scale turbines being installed throughout the developed world, but that can be significant to a community with more moderate energy needs. It is also designed to require little maintenance, since trained technicians may not be readily available where these turbines are deployed.

The turbine is a 13 meter (about 42.5 feet) diameter rotor with a 24 meter (78.75 feet) hub height. This makes it manageable and transportable, which are important considerations for deployment in remote locations. The WMS1000 is designed to be entirely self-sufficient, making it well suited to locations where there is no supply infrastructure for power or water. It also has very little environmental impact, emits no CO2, and does not impact surface water or underground water supplies.

Expected pricing for the turbine is around $600,000, but these units should have a lifespan of more than 20 years.

image via: Eole Water

via: Revmodo

Fire fighting could take on an entirely new character with the rediscovery of a principle first noticed more than 200 years ago: electricity can stop flames.

Scientists do not yet fully understand how electricity stops fire. "The process by which it does this is complex, the researchers say, and is actually not really well understood (there are a lot of different things happening at once, apparently). But critically, it seems the carbon particles (soot) generated during combustion are easily charged, and once charged they respond to electric fields in strange ways that affect the stability of the flame. Shake that stability hard enough, and the flame collapses."

If an electrical field can extinguish the flames, it offers an easily transportable method for extinguishing fires on jet fighters and submarines (and DARPA is backing research on the process). Building materials and their contents may be able to be saved from both the fire and from the water damage that often occurs from fire fighting. The system could also help reduce the use of fire retardant gasses such as Halon, which is a potent ozone-depletion causing gas.

Electrical fire suppression also has the potential to be a very fast-acting system, which could also be a benefit for locations with especially sensitive contents. The effect also seems to be generated from a manageable level of power, which suggests that, in a few years, backpack sized gear may be available to fire fighters as an alternative to the hoses and foam sprayers.

image: Georg Andreas Böckler via Wikimedia Commons

hat tip to: @JaymiHeimbuch

Aerogels are materials with amazingly good insulating properties. Images of a blowtorch heating the underside of a piece of aerogel with an unharmed ice cube or a pack of matches on top are familiar to many, and show how well the material insulates.

New ways of producing aerogels are being developed, and some aerogels are now hundreds of times stronger than earlier versions. Newer aerogels are also able to be made thinner and far more flexible than were previously available. Not only could there be better building insulation applications with this, but aerogel insulation could also be incorporated into sleeping bags or garments.

Two new methods for making aerogel are being used to create these improved aerogels. "One involved making changes in the innermost architecture of traditional silica aerogels. They used a polymer, a plastic-like material, to reinforce the networks of silica that extend throughout an aerogel's structure. Another involved making aerogels from polyimide, an incredibly strong and heat-resistant polymer, or plastic-like material, and then inserting brace-like cross-links to add further strength to the structure."

via: Buildings.com

With the polar icecap shrinking so dramatically this year, the opportunity for ships to go through the Northwest passage between the Atlantic and Pacific has been so great this year that even a small sailboat has been able to make the crossing.

The Belzebub 2 is a small boat, only 31 feet long. More notably, it is a sailboat with only a 30 HP diesel engine for added power when needed. But, with a crew of 3, this small boat successfully crossed through the McClure Strait earlier this week to become the first sailboat to accomplish this feat.

Although the unprecedented melting of the Arctic ice made the journey possible, this journey was also facilitated by satellite data and assistance from the Canadian Ice Service to locate an open lead of water through which the passage was able to be completed. Other adventurers have made this passage over the past few years, as late summer conditions have melted the ice, and we expect that this will be more frequently done in the coming years.

Last month, the US Army carried out the first flight test of its Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV), a new generation of airship that uses motors as well as aerodynamic lift from the shape of the vehicle to fly. Though equiped with several motors, once in position, it relies primarily on helium buoyancy to remain aloft for missions as long as 3 weeks.

Video of the test flight take-off shows the airship rising into the air with very little runway space needed. But the primary benefit offered by airships is the ability to stay airborne for long periods of time. The LEMV can stay in the air at altitudes of 22,000 feet (about 6,700 meters) for up to 21 days. For the military, this allows long-persistence surveilance missions without needing to swap vehicles as often as needed by current fixed-wing drones. Only a small ground crew would be needed to maintain a number of these vehicles in the air. Although this first test flight was carried out with a crew on board, the LEMV is designed to be operated without a crew.

While this is military R&D, and has immediate applications in that realm, there are obvious civilian applications this technology could be put to, as well. Acting as a low-level satellite, an LEMV with sensors could carry out surveys and scientific observation of wildlands, or be used for monitoring croplands. It could serve as a communications relay in the aftermath of a disaster, for example, as a cell-phone tower replacement with line-of-sight to an entire city. For aiding in access to remote regions, "the LEMV has enough buoyancy to haul seven tons of cargo 2,400 miles at 30 miles per hour," according to the manufacturer.

The Army isn't the only group working to develop airships, however. According to a recent LA Times article, a number of companies, ranging from small startups to aerospace giants, are all working on a variety of new airship designs to fulfill a range of needs. Airships may not become a replacement for contemporary modes of transport, but can offer an alternative in some cases that is cleaner and more cost-effective than current methods.

via: Telegraph and LA Times

With global production and distribution of goods a reality of 21st Century life, cargo ships are ubiquitous.  They bring goods to consumers all over the world, and more and more ships are transporting goods and raw materials, all while burning some of the most polluting fuels. A recent article about the rise of wind-powered designs for cargo vessels notes that, "If the world’s shipping fleet were a country, it would be the world’s sixth leading emitter of greenhouse gases." So there is lots of good to be done with improving the efficiency of cargo ships. And a number of companies are taking steps in that direction.

At the University of Tokyo, researchers are working on a design for a ship that uses rigid framework and fiber-reinforced plastic instead of canvas for sails. These high-tech sails can be flown, much more like an airplane wing, increasing the efficiency with which they propel the ship. And, when the vessel reaches port, the sails telescope down upon themselves, to allow free access to the decks and cargo without the interference of masts and sail rigging lines getting in the way.

Among the companies working to commercialize wind-powered cargo, B9 Shipping has recently tested a model of their 3,000 ton vessel. Although this is far smaller than the largest cargo freighters, which can have more than 100 times the cargo capacity, it is a first step in developing the technology and proving its financial viability.

When we wrote about B9 in 2010, the expected cost of the prototype vessel was just under $25 million. The New York Times is now reporting that the company is seeking $45 million in financing to build their prototype. (This may not be an entirely equal comparison, since the financing the company is seeking may include more than just the capital construction costs for the ship.)

Many of these vessels will not be solely wind powered, even at sea. Not unlike automobiles, where gas-electric hybrids first broke down boundaries and showed the workability of alternative systems, these ships will also be hybrids. B9 plans to use engines that burn bio-methane instead of fossil fuel as a secondary propulsion system.

image via: University of Tokyo News

hat tip to: @paolobacigalupi

While new efficiency requirements for incandescent bulbs have gotten much of the recent attention, there are also requirements in place that will lead to the phasing-out of most older T-12 fluorescent tubes (and associated magnetic ballasts for these lamps), as well. Production of magnetic ballasts was to end as of July 1, 2012, and production of lamps using these older ballasts and the T-12 tubes was to end as of July 14.

To replace the older tubes, two styles of newer fluorescent bulbs, T-8 and T-5, are available (and have been around for many years). These are thinner (1" diameter for the T-8 and 5/8" for the T-5) and more energy efficient than the older T-12s. The newer bulbs are not compatible with older lamps, so owners of older fixtures will need to replace their lamps or install retrofit kits.

In addition to the energy savings, switching from T-12 to T-5 fluorescents also drastically reduces the amount of mercury in circulation. A T-5 fluorescent tube contains "3 milligrams of mercury compared to T12, older technology fluorescent tubes with 27-30 milligrams of mercury. That's 89% less mercury."

Some others may opt to install linear LEDs that match the configuration of fluorescent tubes. These retrofits have had some problems, but the industry continues to improve.

image: CC BY-SA 2.5 by Wikimedia Commons/Leridant

via: Luxadd

New obstacles with the limits of electron flow through semiconductors are one of the many problems engineers face as they continue to push for increased speed and power for electronic devices. But a team of researchers is looking back at the technology of the vacuum tube to develop a means to increase circuit and computational speed.

Once it was invented in the late 1940s, the transistor began to replace the vacuum tube, and led to an amazing range of uses for solid-state devices and the variety of electronic gadgets we have today. Transistors offered savings in both size and energy. But one of the things that vacuum tubes provided was an obstacle free path for unhindered electron flow through the vacuum. "Electrons traveling inside a semiconductor device frequently experience collisions or scattering in the solid-state medium." The problem with vacuum tubes, besides their large size, is that they require high voltages to operate.

Researchers at University of Pittsburgh have developed a method for electrons to travel through a nanoscale vacuum which could lead to advances in electronics with improvements in speed and transistor density. According to the project leader, Hong Koo Kim, "The emission of this electron system into vacuum channels could enable a new class of low-power, high-speed transistors, and it’s also compatible with current silicon electronics, complementing those electronics by adding new functions that are faster and more energy efficient due to the low voltage."

image: CC-BY-SA-2.0-DE by Stefan Riepl (Quark48)

via: GigaOM

In mid-July, an astonishing, estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet covering Greenland was melting due to a high temperature dome of warm air. Scientists at NASA noticed this late in July, and were shocked at what they found.

Most of Greenland is a big ice sheet. In the summer, large areas of its surface melt, though much of the water quickly re-freezes. Under more normal conditions, 40 or 50 percent of the area can have melting, but virtually the entire ice sheet melting was unprecedented. The 97% area was so extraordinary that the scientists who first discovered this initially thought that there was a problem with the satellites providing the data, and they didn't release the information until they had checked their findings with two other instruments.

The melting took place exceptionally rapidly, as well. "The melting spread quickly. Melt maps derived from the three satellites showed that on July 8, about 40 percent of the ice sheet's surface had melted. By July 12, 97 percent had melted."

Scientists are not yet sure how much of an impact this event will have on sea level rise or how the ice sheet will be affected long term. But it is another unusual event that further shows evidence that the climate is not behaving in the ways it has in the past.

via: NASA

A couple weeks ago, Apple announced that it would no longer have its laptops certified under EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Asessment Tool), a voluntary industry standard that has been used to advance recyclability and reduce the use of toxic materials in electronic devices. But now, after enormous outcry against Apple's decision, the company has realized its mistake.  On Friday, the company announced "all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT."

EPEAT was developed in the early 2000s with a consortium of representatives from manufacturers, trade associations, government agencies, and other groups seeking to promote a more environmentally conscious lifecycle for electronic products. Apple was part of the EPEAT Development and Implementation Team, and 40 of its desktops, notebooks and displays have received EPEAT Gold certification.

Speculation has been that withdrawing from EPEAT was because the company's new latops were using glue instead of screws (which would prevent easy disassembly for repair or recycling) to attach batteries inside the case. The reversal may also be due to the requirement that 95% of federal electronics purchases be EPEAT certified.