renewable energy

If it looks like a jet engine that's because it uses the same principles. However, this turbine is not expending energy, it's generating energy. Most wind turbines max out at 60 percent efficiency.

The problem is that 40 percent of the wind passes around the blades of the windmill without actually turning the generator and making power. Here comes the FloDesign Wind Turbine to change all of that. By focusing the wind over the blades, it improves efficiency dramatically.

The Texas city of San Antonio today announced that it would become the first major U.S. city to harvest methane gas from human waste and produce a clean burning fuel from it.

The city of 1.3 million people produces about 140,000 tons of a substance euphemistically called "biosolids" per year. The main byproduct of this substance is methane, which can easily be converted into natural gas to burn in power plants. The city made a deal in which Massachusetts based Ameresco Inc. will convert

$115 million to build 50 acres of sustainable, productive greenhouses growing food in the middle of the Sahara Desert? According to Charlie Paton, Michael Pawlyn, and Bill Watts of the Sahara Forest Project, this is just the tip of the iceberg. As currently envisioned, these technologies could also produce electric power for cities in Africa and Europe, renewable bio-fuel, and ample fresh water in the process.

The concept combines multiple already-proven technologies into one system to transform the desert into a productive landscape. Concentrated solar power (CSP) focuses the sun's rays with mirrors to heat water into steam and spin turbines to generate power. Seawater greenhouses convert ocean water to fresh water using condensation, providing fresh water and nutrients for crop growth and lowering the temperature inside.

Fresh from Sweden comes a new idea in home energy generation. A unique-looking, quiet windmill called the Energy Ball. The company HomeEnergy has developed the aerodynamics of the Energy Ball to accelerate wind through the rotor and achieve high efficiency renewable power generation.

The device will install with limited space and operate silently at wind speeds as low as 4.5 miles per hour. Perfect for the roof of a private home, the Energy Ball plugs directly into an electrical outlet to contribute power to the household.

The Magenn Power Air Rotor System (MARS) uses helium to float at 400-1000 feet altitude, where the winds have potential to produce double the electrical output over ground based systems. The MARS is portable and generates power as the stationary rotor spins facing the wind.

Prototypes have already flown and a 10-25 kW version is planned for production by 2010. Advantages of the MARS include competitive electricity prices at under 15 cents per kWh. The units are not a threat to birds or bats, and operate extremely quietly. Magenn plans to initially target markets where infrastructure

Envision Solar has developed the first-generation Solar Grove for use in parking lots. This "grove" of Solar Trees not only generates power, it transforms otherwise barren parking lots into modern-looking, shaded areas. Everyone knows how much time and gas it takes to cool down

your car when it's been sitting in the sun all day. Not only do the Kyocera-manufactured solar panels keep the sun off of cars parked underneath, they prevent the asphalt from absorbing and later releasing wasted heat energy. All this while generating enough electricity to pay for the investment

Solar Electric Vehicles (SEV) has developed a solar module for the 2004 - 2006 Toyota Prius that increases its already great fuel economy. Manufactured with mono-crystalline photovoltaic cells, the module is durable, has no moving parts and is basically maintenance free.

The SEV solar system generates 215 watts of renewable energy and uses a 3kW supplemental battery pack for additional energy storage and increased HV battery performance. The system is capable of adding up to 20 additional miles per day of electric mode driving, increasing the car's fuel economy by up

Indian plastics and textiles manufacturer, Sintex Industries is experimenting with human waste as a source of energy. Its new biogas digester may help satisfy two of India's major needs: energy and sanitation.

The biogas digester can turn human or cow (or any, really) excrement and kitchen garbage into fuel that can be used for cooking or generating electricity. The digester uses bacteria to break the waste down into sludge which can be used as fertilizer. In the process the bacteria emit methane that is stored in a canister rather than pumped into the atmosphere. A one cubic meter digester can convert the waste

Get your hands behind the controller of the latest H2Go fuel-cell electric vehicle. The solar panel generates electricity to recharge the controller and electrolyze water into hydrogen and oxygen at the refueling station. With a little sunlight and water, this car has a range of five minutes between fill-ups.

The manufacturer, Corgi International, won the 2008 ToyAward at the Nuremberg Toy Fair. The technology for this product and others is made by Singapore's Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies. Other hydrogen gadgets they have powered include

The Viridis Septage Bioreactor Landfill is proprietary technology that speeds up the decomposition of solid waste by combining it with sewage. The resulting methane gas can be used as fuel to generate electricity, or to enhance natural gas supplies.

The system makes available a constant supply of renewable energy, increases landfill space, and provides an opportunity for revenue from fuel sales. Other benefits include