EEE - Economy, Energy, Environment

[bigvlada]

Kreće proizvodnja organskih svetlećih dioda
Sijalice budućnosti trajaće najmanje 10.000 sati
Autor: A. Rodić | 23.08.2009. - 00:02

Sijalice sa užarenim vlaknom uskoro bi mogle postati prošlost, a njihovo mesto bi mogle zauzeti organske svetleće diode. Pored brojnih prednosti vidljivih oku, odlikuje ih i daleko veća dugotrajnost, a „Filips“ je već krenuo s proizvodnjom.

Ove svetleće pločice bi jednoga dana mogle da se nađu na našim tavanicama. Kompanija „Filips“ naziva ih lumiblejds i proizvodi ih u beloj, crvenoj, zelenoj i plavoj boji. Cena im je za sada visoka i kompanija ih prodaje uglavnom dizajnerima i arhitektama kako bi ih podstakla da razmišljaju gde i kako bi sve mogle da se upotrebe.
Osnovna prednost organskih svetlećih dioda je u tome što ne emituju koncentrisano, već difuzno svetlo, vrlo prijatno za oči.
– OLED je jedini izvor direktno difuznog svetla. To nije tačkasti izvor, kome je potreban difuzor, već izvor koji celom svojom površinom emituje blago svetlo, pa je lako zamisliti velike površine – zid ili tavanicu – koje emituju uniformno, blago svetlo – kaže Kristin Knapstajn, menadžerka razvojnog odeljenja u „Filipsu“.
Šef operacija u „Filipsu“, Ditrih Bertram, objašnjava kako se one proizvode.
– Postoje funkcionalni molekuli u vidu praha koje stavljamo u vakuumsku peć, zajedno sa komadom stakla. Kada zagrejemo prah, na staklu se nataloži tanak sloj molekula. Posle nanošenja nekoliko slojeva dobijamo OLED – organsku svetleću diodu – kaže Bertram.
Kada su isključene, ove diode liče na ogledalo s alumunijumskom pozadinom između dva stakla. Po uključenju, organski materijal počne da svetli emitujući jedva primetnu toplotu.
Za sada, njihov vek trajanja pod optimalnom strujom je 10.000 sati, dokad njihova svetlost opadne za probližno polovinu. Sijalice s užarenim vlaknom traju oko hiljadu sati, a isto važi i za fluo-cevi.
Kompanija „Filips“ planira proizvodnju OLED prozora koji bi danju propuštali svetlo, a noću svetleli. Kompanija kaže da ove diode imaju potencijal da postanu energetski najefikasniji izvor svetlosti, a za proizvodnju se ne koristi nikakav ekološki opasan materijal.

Izvor:Blic
http://www.blic.rs/slobodnovreme.php?id=107388

 

[Steva]

Jeee, vratio se jutarnji program bigvlade

 

[bigvlada]

 

[bigvlada]

Panasonic’s New LED Bulbs Shine for 19 Years
by Ariel Schwartz, 09/15/09

Despite lasting longer and being more efficient than both incandescent and CFL bulbs, LEDs haven’t caught on because of their sky-high prices. But now Panasonic wants to bring LEDs to the mainstream — at least in Japan — with a 60-watt household bulb that the company claims can last up to 19 years, or 40 times longer than incandescent bulbs.

The EverLed series of lightbulbs, scheduled to be released in Japan on October 21, are the most efficient LEDs to ever be produced, with the E26 “daytime light” model using 85 lumens per watt for 40W bulbs and 82.6 lm/W for the 60W bulbs. The E26 bulbs are also lighter than other LEDs by approximately 40g.

Panasonic’s EverLed bulbs still aren’t cheap — they will retail in Japan for approximately $40 — but the new LEDs will shine a light on the technology since Panasonic manufactures 50% of all household bulbs in the country. And while the upfront cost for Panasonic’s LEDs are expensive, the bulbs actually only cost $2 per year to run when their 19-year lifespan is taken into account. Hopefully Panasonic’s EverLed line will help bring that knowledge to the masses.

Izvor: Inhabitat
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/09/15/led-bulb-with-19-year-lifespan-launches-in-japan/

 

[bigvlada]

Aquaquest Center Teaches Sustainable Living Through Design
by Danielle Rago, 09/17/09

Aquaquest is a beautiful addition to the Vancouver Aquarium that was conceived as an education center to teach the surrounding Canadian community the importance of eco-friendly living. True to its nature, the complex demonstrates these principles through an impressive set of sustainable building strategies including a leafy green wall, rainwater harvesting, and a highly efficient heating and cooling system.

Aquaquest was constructed as an addition to the Vancouver Aquarium located inside Stanley Park in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. Designed by the global design firm Stantec, the Center includes over 52,000-square-feet of office space, gallery and exhibition areas, as well as classrooms and supplementary spaces for the existing facilities.

One of the greenest additions to the complex is the Center’s 10-foot-by-50-foot living wall, the first of its kind in North America, designed by Vancouver-based landscape architecture firm Sharp & Diamond. The leafy green wall also incorporates Vancouver’s first rainwater harvesting and reuse system. The wall is composed of over 7,000 native plant species to the region including fern, bleedingheart, huckleberry, and wintergreen. The installation is complemented by 75-square-feet green roof planters made up of three trees and various groundcover plants that help reduce soil erosion.

The building was recently LEED Gold certified, and some of the building’s other eco-friendly features include: low-flush toilets, and an efficient system of pipes that heat and cool the building.

Izvor:Inhabitat
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/09/17/aquaquest-teaches-sustainable-living-through-design/#more-59954

Ovakav centar nam je preko potreban, da se na delu vidi šta znači održivi razvoj.

 

[bigvlada]

Blood-Powered Lamp Makes You Bleed for Your Light
by Ariel Schwartz, 09/22/09

We often just assume that energy to power our TVs, computers, cell phones, and other electronics will always be readily available. But the earth’s resources are scarce – a reality that designer Mike Thompson wants to illustrate (somewhat painfully) with his blood-powered lamp. The single-use lamp forces users to think about where every drop of their energy is coming from–literally.

In order to turn on the lamp, users have to break off its glass top, prick a finger until blood comes out, and mix the blood with a dissolved tablet (possibly made out of luminol) inside the lamp.

The lamp is more of an art piece than anything else–who is realistically going to sacrifice their lifeblood in the name of mood lighting?–but as Thompson explains, “By creating a lamp that can only be used once, the user must consider when light is needed the most, forcing them to rethink how wasteful they are with energy, and how precious it is.”

Izvor:Inhabitat
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/09/22/blood-powered-lamp-makes-you-bleed-for-your-light/

 

[bigvlada]

New Super Efficient Pharox 60 LED Bulbs Last for 25 Years
by Piper Kujac, 10/05/09

One of the most exciting new products we found at West Coast Green this past weekend is the latest innovation by Lemnis Lighting, the Pharox 60 LED Dimmable Lightbulb, that uses just 6 Watts and has the equivalent luminescence of the traditional 60 Watt incandescent bulb. The Pharox 60 fits a standard sized household light fixture, is made of recyclable material, and is the most energy efficient bulb of comparable light quality on the market today with a light output of 300 lumens and a warm white light of 3000K. A patented heat sink keeps the bulb temperature low (we think it’s the aluminum housing surround) and it is the most environmentally safe option on the market as well, containing NO lead, mercury, or wolfram, unlike it’s compact fluorescent competitors.

Compared to the incandescent bulb, which lasts an average 1,000 hours, the Pharox 60 is expected to last a 35,000 hour lifespan. According to Lemnis, if every American household switched just one 60W light bulb to a Pharox light, $1.4 Billion in electricity costs and 9 billion kilowatt hours would be saved annually. This would equate to a carbon emissions reduction of 5.2 billion kg annually. Though it may not be practical or economical to switch out all of a home’s light bulbs to the relatively expensive Pharox bulb, switching out a few (especially those in light-sensitive areas) is a more accessible energy savings strategy than investing in solar power, and it makes more sense to cut down on the energy load before finding alternative energy sources.

Lemnis claims the Pharox 60 will last 6 times longer than a CFL and 35 times longer than an incandescent bulb, with an estimated 25-year lifespan. In a line up with three other competitors currently on the market, the Zetalux EarthLED (retail $38.95); the Crane GeoBULB (retail $99.95); and the Philips EnduraLED (retail $40.00), the Pharox 60 beats them out in cost, weight, power factor, wattage, and most notably, its ability to be dimmed.

At West Coast Green, we were presented with the Pharox 60 by none other than Lemnis’ founder Warner Philips, the great grandson of Anton Philips, who founded Philips Electronics and brought the incandescent bulb to homes world wide in the last century. So it’s no surprise that the latest generation of Philips family should bring us the warm hue we are used to with the substantial energy savings that households need. The kicker, you might say, is the price tag, at $39.95 a bulb… but compared to the hefty price of lesser quality lighting debuting this time last year, we can only expect the price to go down as these bulbs reach mass market. Pharox 60 bulbs are currently available at mypharox.com and will be coming soon to Amazon.

Izvor: Inhabitat
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/10/05...d-bulbs-last-for-25-years/lighting_facts6wlg/

 

[bigvlada]

Elithis Tower: The World’s First Energy Positive Office Building
by Ariel Schwartz, 10/07/09

For most sustainability-minded architects, a net zero energy building is the holy grail. But Elithis Tower, located in Dijon, France, has surpassed the net zero energy ideal to become the first energy positive office building, meaning it creates more power than it uses. The building, which was designed by Arte Charpentier Architects, also produces six times fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional office structures.

The tower, which was originally a theoretical challenge initiated by Thierry Bievre, General Director of Elithis Engineering, is made of wood and recycled insulation. Elithis Tower also houses 330 rooftop solar panels and a solar shield to remove excess heat while allowing natural light to filter in. At the same time, emissions from the office are recovered and reused within the Tower.

Elithis Engineering doesn’t want its energy efficiency feat to go unnoticed by workers in the building, so the company designed a public sign that shows off daily energy consumption, courtesy of 1,600 energy and emissions-analyzing sensors. Perhaps best of all, the 54,000 square foot, 10 story building was relatively cheap to construct, costing just $10 million. With a price comparable to that of a traditionally-built structure, Elithis Tower is leading the way in affordable green building.

Izvor:Inhabitat
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/10/07/elithis-tower-the-first-energy-positive-office-building/

Energetski efikasno ne mora da znači skupo. Grad bi mogao da donese propis da svaka nova zgrada mora da bude energetski efikasna, kao i da da rok od jedno 10 godina za konverziju starih zgrada, prvenstveno poslovnih.

 

[bigvlada]

Hoću sada da vam dam par ideja za mozganje.

Valuta zasnovana na zlatu nije praktična (taj koncept je propao početkom sedamdesetih jer jednostavno nije bilo dovoljno zlata za potrebe svetske ekonomije). Papirne valute (fiat money) su zasnovane na poverenju (zato SAD može da štampa dolare na tone a da ne završe kao mi 1993, za sada).

Jedina bolja alternativa je valuta zasnovana na energiji, jer je većina svetske ekonomije zasnovana na energiji.

Dok prve dve gorepomenute valute izdaju banke, energetsku valutu bi mogle da izdaju komunalne kompanije.

npr. sa novčanicom od 1 kilovatčasa, izdavalac se obavezuje da da 1kWh energije (isto kao što se banka obavezuje da da određenu količina zlata za izdatu novčanicu).

Pošto se energija može proizvoditi i iz obnovljivih izvora energije (sunce, vetar, voda), kompanijama će biti u interesu da razvijaju obnovljive izvore energije (u ovom kontekstu se naftna bušotina posmatra kao rudnik zlata, šta kada rudnik presuši?), što je posredno dobro i za čitavo društvo.

Pošto energija može biti obnovljivi resurs, i ne može se iscrrpsti poput zlata, mogućnost pojavljivanja inflacije i deflacije je mnogo manja.

 

[bigvlada]

jedna knjižica za početak

http://www.feasta.org/documents/shortcircuit/contents.html

 

[bigvlada]

Watt-backed money
Back the dollar with kilowatt-hours

The dollar can be a solid currency once again if we back it with America's industrial power. Promise that each dollar will be backed by a certain amount of energy do be provided, specifying location and form.

Create an energy exchange and allow people to create money in an electronic form by proving they can provide a certain amount of energy on demand. Create a dividend-driven oversite commitee to create rules for how such capicity must be proven; to meter out energy on demand; to void money turned in for energy; to ensure all exchanged energy is sustainable, to force accountability in the energy industry; and to police the whole energy market. The organization would be transparent and non-profit.

A killowatt-hour standard would bring several advantages:

Significantly strengthen America's economy.

End the world-wide energy crisis.

Stabilize the world, as oil-producing countries will lose their monopolies on energy.

Bring a cultural change as people start to see capacity as value, as opposed to product.—

Voice, Jan 02 2006
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Watt-backed_20money

 

[bigvlada]

energy backed currency

by ezust on Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:15 am
Local Energy - Local Currency - Local Power
by Rob Hopkins

[ The current monetary system is dependent on constant economic growth. So how stable will national currencies be in a post-Peak Oil world? Instability and loss of faith in national currencies could lead to economic paralysis, potential resources and labour going to waste simply because of a lack of reliable trading systems. Local currencies can provide solutions while stimulating local trade and relocalisation efforts. Rob Hopkins recently explored some energy-backed local currency ideas on his transitionculture.org blog: -AF ]

​​​​I have an idea evolving in my head, and I want to put it out there for your feedback and thoughts. As the ‘Hands’ part of the Head, Heart and Hands approach I am developing towards the response to peak oil, I am exploring structures and mechanisms that we can develop for driving localisation. The one I am focusing on at the moment is the ESCO, or Energy Supply Company, which is designed to provide people with the services that energy does, rather than the energy itself. ESCOs are often the tool used to drive forward microgeneration initiatives, the only one I know of in the UK being Thameswey, which was set up and is owned and managed by Woking Borough Council in London. You can read a very detailed guide to microgeneration and ESCO’s in Greenpeace’s excellent ‘Decentralising Power’ report. The subtle shift in emphasis from providing energy to providing the services that energy does, means that it becomes more cost effective to insulate houses than to just sell energy to poorly insulated homes. This company could be owned by the community through a share launch, as have many of the community wind developments in the UK such as Baywind. There is a lot of data about community ownership in the Irish context in ‘To Catch the Wind’, a report edited by Richard Douthwaite.

The clever bit that came to me when listening to Bernard Lietaer last week, and then in discussion with David Boyle of the New Economics Foundation , is that once you have a company generating local energy, you have an asset that you can use to back up a local currency. The problem with many local currencies such as LETS is that they can’t be exchanged for things in shops, and are not much use to business. Lietaer said you have to start with the idea that the currency can be used by business, and then also by the community. A currency backed by energy achieves this. Then people can part pay their bills in the local money, which would liberate the workpower needed to start to implement localisation in other areas such as land use and community development. The currency would be of use to everyone, not just to people who want an aromatherapy massage, as can sometimes be the problem with LETS. It can be either a printed currency or an electronic one. The company could give favourable loans to business start-ups that are driving forward the Energy Descent Action Plan.

The idea of energy backed currencies is not new, they were promoted by Shann Turnbull in articles called Selecting a Community Currency andDemocratising the Wealth of Nations - from new money sources and profit motives, and also in a piece called “Notes on the World Kilowatt Dollar”, which I can’t find on the web anywhere, but which appears in David Boyle’s excellent book “The Money Changers”.

There is a very concise reference to the idea in an excellent article on the site of the Schumacher Society by Robert Swann, called “The Place of a Local Currency in a World Economy” in which he says;



If we are to begin to design a local money system that would work for development of a local economy, what are the elements or characteristics for such a system? It would have to be simple to understand, but consistent with our experience of the present money system. That is: it would have to consist of both cash (or paper currency) as well as a checking system–or some other form of bookkeeping which utilizes the computer to simplify accounting.

Unlike our present money system, it would have to be redeemable (i.e. exchangeable) in some real value–not necessarily gold or silver, but real needs of everyday use such as energy. Without redemption system it will be difficult to convince people of its value–after all isn’t that exactly why the dollar so devalued–because it is not redeemable for real value from the primary issuer, the Federal Reserve. Most importantly, we would need to establish a measurement of value which would be as universal as possible and not subject to swings in value up or down as our present money system is. In other words, it would have to remain as constant in value as possible in order to establish a sense of permanency and security as well as make it more practical for exchange to take place. Such a method of measurement would be the most revolutionary element in the design and would be the key factor in making it possible for a universal system of money and banking–without the need of central banks or central governments becoming involved in money issue.

Once this standard of value had been arrived at, it could be monitored by the state or federal government just as the Bureau of Standards maintains and monitors other standards of measurement such as weights and units of space. But it would not require state intervention into the economic sphere, as is now the case. And finally, it would have to be organized at the local level and controlled by the community as a whole (i.e. each community would elect members of the board of the issuing bank which would preferable be a non-profit institution). Under such a structure as I am suggesting, banking would become more truly a profession, and bankers would be paid for their services, but the community would decide how and where its currency would be invested”.
I really feel that this could be one of the keys to whether this whole thing works or not. Richard Douthwaite believes that although such an approach is viable and desirable, it is only effective when over 30% of the town are using the energy supply. I’m continuing to explore this and will post new information as I come across it.

bron: http://www.energybulletin.net/12504.html

 

[bigvlada]

The ecology of money

by Richard Douthwaite


Foreword

by Bernard Lietaer

Four main benefits can be derived from reading Douthwaite’s Ecology of Money:
He introduces much needed clarity in the domain of money. I like the simplicity of the six questions he uses to walk us through different money systems, a process which facilitates comparisons of the nature, advantages and disadvantages of each money system he describes.
He explores these different money systems using a terminology that lay people can understand. This is no minor achievement, as illustrated by economist John Kenneth Galbraith’s quip that “The study of money, above all fields in economics, is the one in which complexity is used to disguise truth, or evade truth, not to reveal it.”1
He forces us to think the unthinkable - the possibility that our familiar national currencies may actually be out-of-date in an age of globalization, information revolutions and planetary ecological hazards.
He presents some ideas for new money systems designed to help us with some of our biggest challenges of today.

In particular, two issues he addresses are highly relevant at this time:
The need for a new balance between the global and the local economies;
and the issue of carbon-energy efficiency.

Talking about small-scale local currencies in the middle of all the media buzz about globalization may sound parochial or marginal to some. It is not. Community rebuilding is not a contradiction with the trend towards a global civilization, but a necessary complement to it. Precisely because of the globalization trend, strengthening local community is becoming more important. Rather than argue from theory, I will contribute two case studies from Japan, clearly a globally oriented economy.

Japan has decided to introduce local currencies, complementary to the conventional national currency, to tackle two key problems which the West will be facing acutely soon - aging populations and the need for new regional development strategies. Both examples illustrate Douthwaite’s points.

Japan has one of the fastest aging populations of the developed world. By the year 2005, the population over 65 years of age will reach 18.5% of the total (a situation that Germany will face by 2006 the UK and France by 2016.)

A special currency called Hureai Kippu (literally “Caring Relationship Tickets”) has been created by a group of 300 non-profit organizations. The unit of account is an hour of service. The people providing the services can accumulate the credits in a “healthcare time savings account” from which they may draw when they need credits for themselves, for example if they get sick. These credits complement the normal healthcare insurance program payable in Yen, the conventional Japanese national currency. In addition, many prefer to transfer part or all of their Hureai Kippu credits to their parents who may live in another part of the country. Two private electronic clearing houses have sprung up to perform such transfers. One particularly important finding has emerged. Because they have experienced a higher quality of care in their relationships with care-givers, the elderly tend to prefer the services provided by people paid in Hureai Kippu over those paid with the conventional Yen.

The second application is potentially even more impressive. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Japan (MITI) has recently concluded that the future of Japan’s development strategy will be based on “Silicon Valley” type specialized regional economies. And that the best tool to stimulate such regional development clusters are local “eco-money” systems. Four pilot projects have already tested this approach, and the results are convincing to the point that by end 1999 no less than forty such systems will be launched. Some of Japan’s largest corporations (such as NTT and Oracle Japan) are involved in these experiments.

The point about these two examples is that theory is way behind practice in this domain. People are innovating in the monetary domain, and are obtaining demonstrably positive results from it, while the majority of the policy makers remain still unaware about the potential of monetary inventions to solve their problems. I would compare today’s non-conventional money domain to aeronautics when the Wright Brothers took their first flights. The first airplane builders didn’t know why their contraptions were flying, but fly they did. And it took the New York Times more than four years to even mention the event (and then only because the President of the US was witnessing a demonstration). Nevertheless, nobody questions that the aeronautical industry has changed forever our way of life on this planet.

Do I agree with all the ideas that are presented here? Even Douthwaite admits that he doesn’t “expect everyone to agree with the conclusions he has reached”. For instance, although I agree with him on the importance of linking monetary issues to energy sustainability, I question the viability of the means he proposes. (Why not include his “Energy-Backed Currency Units” (ebcu) as part of a basket of commodities and services backing the currency - rather than being the exclusive backing of currency? This would dampen the effects of price instabilities of the ebcu due among other things to technological innovations in the supply of energy.)

I am also concerned with his benign view on inflation. Inflation has the positive effects Douthwaite mentions only if it occurs by surprise, i.e. has not been discounted by inflationary expectations. In other words, building inflation into the system may just kill whatever usefulness it has.

However these disagreements pale in comparison with my wholehearted support of two of Douthwaite’s key conclusions:
Contrary to what most economists believe, money is not neutral, i.e. different money systems are now possible, and could make a dramatic difference in helping us with several of our most important challenges including ecological sustainability;
“Only a widespread debate on the issues, by a well-informed public, will ensure that when changes are made [to the money system] they are along the right lines.” To paraphrase the line about war and the military, money is too important to be left only to bankers and economists…

As the public is remarkably ill-informed about the nature of our money system, as even most experts seem to believe that there is no choice, starting a debate about the effects of different money systems on society is a vital task. In this sense, reading Douthwaite’s contribution may be particularly useful because it is a controversial one.

Bernard Lietaer is a former Professor of International Finance at the University of Louvain in Belgium. He spent five years as head of the Organisation and Planning Department at the Central Bank of Belgium where he was concerned with the electronic payment systems and the design and implementation of the Ecu. He is currently developing inter-trading systems for community currencies. His book The Future of Money was published by Century in 2001.

link ka ostatku knjige
http://www.feasta.org/documents/moneyecology/foreword.htm

 

[bigvlada]

Sustaining Society with Renewable Energy Dollars and Ecological Property Rights

Shann Turnbull
International Institute for Self-Governance


April 15, 2007


Abstract:
Renewable energy can become a fraction of the cost of burning carbon to generate electricity in communities that use money that has a usage charge described as "demurrage". As with Islamic banking, demurrage money eliminates discounting future values from the ability of earning interest today. Investments to sustain humanity on the planet are not disadvantaged. A demurrage charge limits the life of money not used to terminate its existence like all living things to acquire an ecological characteristic. As interest charges typically double the cost of urban infrastructure, ecological money could half the cost of water, housing, education, health and transport facilities. Ecological money facilitates the ability of towns and city precincts to become self-financing self-governing political units. Electricity generated from sun, wind, waves, tide, geothermal; bacteria produced hydrogen provide ways for urban precincts to create a global unit of value but whose value is defined in terms of the local cost of renewable energy. As over 80% of the costs of sustainable energy are interests charges compared with around 20% for carbon fueled generators, ecological energy dollars make renewable energy around four times more competitive. The paper describes how ecological property rights to money, land, buildings and firms maximises the ability of urban precincts to become self-financing on a sustainable basis. Ecological capitalism increases the efficiency, equity, and the richness of democracy in market economies. It also improves the ability of the environment to govern society to assist in making both sustainable.


Keywords: capitalism, community banking, ecology, energy dollars, demurrage, governance, property rights, renewable energy, self-financing, urban precincts

JEL Classifications: E42, E51, O18, P13, Q24, Q42, R51
Working Paper Series

link ka stranici za download celog rada
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=980027

 

[hazard]

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23754/

Potpuno elektricni autobusi koji umesto baterija koriste ultrakondenzatore. Mana: kondenzatori imaju samo 5% kapaciteta baterije. Prednost: mogu se potpuno napuniti za koji minut. Koncept: elektricni autobus koji se prikljuci na mrezu na svakoj 3., 4. stanici i napuni svoje kondenzatore, i nastavi dalje.

Next Stop: Ultracapacitor Buses

A U.S.-Chinese venture is out to prove the benefits of quick-charge buses.

By Tyler Hamilton


Monday, October 19, 2009

Municipal transit agencies have tried to reduce the carbon footprint of their bus fleets using a range of options over the years, from biofuels and hydrogen to batteries and hybrid-electric diesel. Now a Chinese company and its U.S. partner say that ultracapacitors could offer the greenest and most economical way of powering inner-city buses.
Fast charger: A bus that runs entirely on ultracapacitors charges up at a bus stop in Shanghai. The buses can only travel three to five miles between charges, but the ultracapacitors allow for fast recharging at designated bus stops.
Credit: Sinautec Automobile Technologies

There's just one catch: the best ultracapacitors can only store about 5 percent of the energy that lithium-ion batteries hold, limiting them to a couple of miles per charge. This makes them ineffective as an energy storage medium for passenger vehicles. But what ultracapacitors lack in range they make up in their ability to rapidly charge and discharge. So in vehicles that have to stop frequently and predictably as part of normal operation, energy storage based exclusively on ultracapacitors begins to make sense.

Sinautec Automobile Technologies, based in Arlington, VA, and its Chinese partner, Shanghai Aowei Technology Development Company, have spent the past three years demonstrating the approach with 17 forty-one seat municipal buses on the outskirts of Shanghai. On October 21, the two companies will offer a one-day demonstration at American University in Washington, DC, where an 11-seat minibus running on ultracapacitors will spend the day shuttling people around campus.

The trick is to turn some bus stops along the route into charge stations, says Dan Ye, executive director of Sinautec. Unlike a conventional trolley bus that has to continually touch an overhead power line, Sinautec's ultracapacitor buses take big sips of electricity every two or three miles at designated charging stations, which double as bus stops. When at these stations, a collector on the top of the bus rises a few feet and touches an overhead charging line. Within a couple of minutes, the ultracapacitor banks stored under the bus seats are fully charged.

"It's a brilliant concept," says ultracapacitor expert Joel Schindall, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. "It's not well suited for electric-only cars, but it is practical to stop a bus every few city blocks."

Story continues below

The buses can also capture energy from braking, and the company says that recharging stations can be equipped with solar panels (although this is mainly to further the perception that the vehicles have a lower carbon footprint). Ye says the buses use 40 percent less electricity compared to an electric trolley bus, mainly because they're lighter and have the regenerative braking benefits. They're also competitive with conventional buses based on fuel savings over the vehicle's 12-year life, based on current oil and electricity prices. Sinautec estimates that one of its buses has one-tenth the energy cost of a diesel bus and can achieve lifetime fuel savings of $200,000.

"The ultracapacitor bus is also cheaper than lithium-ion battery buses," says Ye. "We used the Olympics (lithium-ion) bus as a model and found ours about 40 percent less expensive with a far superior reliability rating." Ye adds that the environmental benefits are compelling. "Even if you use the dirtiest coal plant on the planet, it generates a third of the carbon dioxide of diesel when used to charge an ultracapacitor."

 

[Nikola]

Secam se da sam i ja postavio pre godinu-dve slicnu vest (isto Kinezi) u saradnji sa nekim. Bilo je nesto tipa dodas 60K eura/dolara na postojeci bus tog partnera za neku bateriju koja se brzo puni(10 min) i sa njom moze da se ide npr 10-20 km. Taman dovoljno da dodje od jednog do drugog terminala da se dopuni. Secam se da sam racunao kako se taj dodatni trosak brzo isplati, posto je jeftinije ici na struju nego na dizel i sto je odrzavanje takvog vozila manje, plus sto nema zagadjena u gradu od autobusa.
Ne znam zasto ali sam tada bio prilicno ismejan od nekih clanova ovde.

Ova tehnologija je bitna ne samo sto gore u boldovanom pise da i najgora termoeltrana pravi trecinu zagadjenja od onog koji prave dizel autobusi, vec i ta sto ugalj ne uvozimo i tako se smanjuje deficit i odliv deviza. Takodje, cesto se navodi kako je prozvodnja struje preko vetrogeneratora, mini hidroelektrana i sunceve energije skupa i da onda cena struje treba biti od 10-15 centi po kilovatu da bi se takva proizvodnja isplatila. I sa takvom cenom jedan autobus trosi 2 puta manje novca na 100 km, pa bi na taj nacin ovaj vid prevoza bio potpuno cist, a kod nas bi privredna grana dobijanja elek. struje iz obnovljivih izvora masovnije zazivela i takodje donela neka nova radna mesta.

 

[hazard]

Nije u pitanju baterija u svakom slucaju, nego kondenzatori (velika razlika), ali ne znam zasto si bio ismejan? No dobro, ne poznaje svako elektrotehniku i tako te stvari

 

[Nikola]

Znam da je kondezator, mada oni ovde nude i bateriju, doduse zasnovanu na olovu u onom svom hibridnom modelu.
Fora kod kondezatora je sto se on brzo puni i takodje moze da isporuci mnogo vise snage ako zatreba.
Litijum jonske baterije se duze pune, imaju veci kapacitet ali su i mnogo skuplje.

Ovo sto sam ja naveo, ne mogu vise da se setim je ili bila neka nova tehnologija kod baterija koje se brze pune ili je samo kondezator bio veci.
U svakom slucaju poenta je ista, a i ekonomska racunica slicna.


Link za ovu tvoju firmu:http://www.sinautecus.com/products.html#hybrid

Imaju i one male modele, polu otvorene sa 11 mesta. Idealne za Adu ili neko drugo izletiste.

 

[bigvlada]

‘Tio’ Light Switch System Teaches Kids to Conserve Household Energy
by Yuka Yoneda, 11/10/09

Kids will be the world’s key decision-makers in the next 30 years, which is why it is crucial that we empower them now with the education and the tools to help reduce energy consumption. Designer Tim Holley’s Tio ghost is a wall-mounted light switch system which enables children to demonstrate their knowledge of energy conservation to their families, while encouraging their role as ‘energy champions’ of the home. Tio shows he is happy and green when household lights have only been on for a short period of time — but the longer the lights are left on, the angrier and redder he becomes — showing he is truly lighthearted and all business at the same time!

Izvor: inhabitots
http://www.inhabitots.com/2009/11/1...y-when-kids-save-energy-angry-when-they-dont/

 

[shmeksi]

Baš sam ovo sinoć video na nekoj drugoj stranici i oduševio se. super stvar za klince. Meni u poseti bio rođak od 18 godina pre par nedelja i živeo kod nas u stanu nedelju dana i uporno sam išao za njim i isključivao svetlo u praznoj sebi i televizor, ali džabe on nikako da skonta, popizdeo sam. Ajde da razumem da je samo otišao u drugu sobu da uzme neku stvar i domah se vraća, ali on ode na 2 sata iz jedne sobe, a ostavi uključen i televizor i uključeno svetlo. Džaba je bilo i mojih nedelju dana edukacije, kad i on i dalje fura svoj fazon.

 

[Archangel]

pa dobro on se baš i ne ubraja u "kids"

 

[shmeksi]

pričam o svesti mlađe generacije

 

[Archangel]

kojoj svesti xD

 

[bigvlada]

‘Mons Lavabo’ Eco-Friendly Sink Helps Kids Save Water While Washing Hands
by Jasmin Malik Chua, 11/19/09

It’s tough being a little person in a grown-up world. To make life less of an obstacle course for the vertically challenged, Teng Chuan Tey and Romualdo Faura Bernabe from Spain have designed a wash basin that not only takes a child’s diminutive stature into account, but it also makes observing basic hygiene less of a chore. Their Mons Lavabo, a short-listed entry in Designboom’s Green Life contest, is shaped like a friendly monster that easily accommodates younger children with its sized-down proportions. Read on to see how Mons Lavabo helps kids conserve water while washing their hands!

Made from Duralmond, a mixture of crushed almond husks that is completely biodegradable and recyclable, Mons prevents a broad, molded surface that avoids the bumping hazard that the bottoms of traditional sinks pose. To sidestep the problem of children who cannot reach the faucet — and to prevent water wastage from forgetful or lingering tots — Tey and Barnabe propose motion-detecting water controls.

Besides a wraparound design that cleverly keeps splashing to a minimum, Mons features another fun touch: its lone tooth is actually a built-in soap dispenser. Other designs include an expanded Mons that accommodates several kids at a time, as well as a model you can grow plants on top of.

Izvor:inhabitots
http://www.inhabitots.com/2009/11/19/mons-lavabo-an-adorable-child-friendly-sink/

 

[bigvlada]

Energy Positive House to Supply Power to Grid in Sweden
by Sarah Parsons, 11/17/09

We’ve seen some pretty energy efficient homes here at Inhabitat, but houses that actually give back to the grid seemed to be a thing of the future — until now. Swedish designers are currently constructing Villa Akarp, a residence that aims to combine energy conservation, energy recovery and energy generation technologies. If all goes as planned, the home will actually produce more energy than it uses and provide the excess to the grid.

Karin Adalberth, a doctor of building physics, partnered with local green utility company E. ON when she designed the plans for Villa Akarp, which is being built outside the Swedish city of Malmo. Together, the two worked out a plan where the residence would purchase energy from the utility during Sweden’s dark winter months and sell electricity back to the grid during sunny summer months. If calculations are correct, the house will sell back about 4,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually while only purchasing 2,600 kilowatt-hours, creating a positive net energy ratio.

To achieve such lofty green goals, designers plan to implement a ton of energy efficient technologies into Villa Akarp. For one, wool fiber insulation 5.5 decimeters thick will line the home’s walls–compared to a home with insulation one decimeter thick, the extra lining would save the average family about 75 percent in energy costs. Foam insulation will line the building’s foundation, and triple-glazed windows will prevent air from escaping while also letting in lots of natural light. In terms of heat and hot water, the home will use a combination of Passiv Haus heating concepts (using energy already being generated by appliances and other household items to warm the interior), a solar thermal system, and traditional radiators. During the sunny months, 32 square meters of solar panels will produce power.

While the residence is certainly a huge step forward in terms of green home design, it also comes with a significantly larger price tag. Designers estimate that it will cost about $100,000 more to build Villa Akarp than to build a traditional home. But despite the extra dough required to build it, Villa Akarp certainly deserves some heavy praise for its innovation and forward-thinking green design principles.

Izvor:Inhabitat
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/11/17/positive-net-energy-house-rising-in-sweden/