Artificial Trees That Harvest Sun and Wind to Generate Electricity

Place thousands of these units, dubbed nanoleaves, on a natural-looking, though fake plastic tree—and one could have electricity production without spoiling natural landscapes.

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Solar Botanic

Dynamic Lamp

It has a dynamo on the inside of the globe that converts kinetic energy and gets its glow going.

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Mud as an energy source

The soil lamp uses the chemical reaction between copper, zinc, and slightly moistened mud to create enough electrical current to power an LED lamp.

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Spin Battery

Researchers at the University of Miami and at the Universities of Tokyo and Tohoku, Japan, have been able to prove the existence of a "spin battery," a battery that is "charged" by applying a large magnetic field to nano-magnets in a device called a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ).

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A phase-change material

A phase-change material changes from a solid to a liquid as the temperature in the environment changes from cold to warm.

NASA used changes in ocean temperature to make a phase-change liquid that turns sloid and then melts and thus generates electricity.

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Batteries Charge In 10 Seconds

Developed by Gerbrand Ceder, a professor of materials science at MIT, it could be particularly useful where rapid power bursts are needed, such as for hybrid cars, but also for portable electronic devices. In testing, batteries incorporating the electrodes discharged in just 10 seconds.

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GreenWheel

Scientists at MIT are testing a new power generation, storage and propulsion system known as the GreenWheel. Greenwheel is a wheel with a storage battery and motor that will turn any pedal bicycle into an electric bike.

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Solar Thermal Waste Heat Engine works at low temperature, low pressure

The compact, lightweight 18 lb (8 kg) Waste Heat Engine is a six-cylinder radial steam engine capable of running on waste heat as low as 225 °F (107 °C) and pressure as low as 25 psi (172 kPa). The engine achieves maximum efficiencies at 600 °F (316 °C) and steam pressure of 200 psi (1.4 MPa), at which point one Waste Heat Engine can generate 16 hp (12 kW), 30 lb-ft (41 Nm) of torque, and a little over 10 kW of electrical output. The only drawback is the typically low 12% energy efficiency common with most reciprocating steam engines. On the plus side the piston-based steam engine operates at a maximum of 3000 rpm which means it is well suited to drive any standard generator.

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Laser to Light to Electricity

Photonic Power Systems Inc. has developed a system that uses a laser to inject power in the form of light into a fiber-optic cable and a photovoltaic (PV) array to convert the light back into electricity for powering devices. This method of transferring power has advantages in situations where sparks or shorts can be a fatal problem, where electromagnetic interference is more than just an inconvenience—in cellphone base stations, for example, or in pacemakers—and where conventional methods are bulky and cumbersome.

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Linking Green with Economic Growth

A number of initiatives related to clean-energy, such as retrofitting government buildings to be energy-efficient, can create jobs and lay the foundation for longer-term economic growth, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

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WEF Report

The Playpump

The Playpump is a playground merry-go-round that uses the boundless energy of children to pump water out of the ground. More than 1000 such pumps have been installed in schools in South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia and apart from bringing joy to children, and providing easy access to clean drinking water for the local community.

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Intel's RF energy harvester

Intel set up a TV antenna on a balcony with line of sight to the KING-TV tower 4.1 km away. The TV station broadcasts on channel 48 between 674 and 680 MHz with an effective radiation power (ERP) of 960 Kw. The TV antenna used was a UHF log periodic with 5 dBi gain connected to a 4 stage charge pump power harvesting circuit of the same design as that found in an RFID tag. Across an 8 KOhm load the team measured 0.7V, corresponding to 60 microwatts of power harvested. That was enough to drive a thermometer/hygrometer and its LCD display, which is normally powered, by a 1.5 volt AAA battery.

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Technical papers here

Scientists find clean method of making fuel from manure

A university professor and a corporate research group have jointly developed technology to produce hydrogen for use in fuel cells from cattle dung and urine for the first time in the world.

The new technology used by Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Prof. Junichi Takahashi and Sumitomo Corp.'s research group also can be applied to human waste and allows the production of hydrogen without producing unwanted carbon dioxide.

The research may pave the way for the eventual development of household "toilet generators."

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Solar Powerd Car

After completing 32,000 miles, passing through 38 different countries and 17 months after he left home, the Swiss teacher, Louis Palmer, has become the first person to travel around the world in a car completely powered by the rays of the sun.

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Jatropha Oil

The atropha is a succulent plant commonly grown in the semi-arid areas of India that produces seeds containing an oil that can be harvested and processed into a biofuel.

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