Creative Alternative Energy Solutions

Wind Energy I: Giant Kites (1/8)

German company Nature Technology Systems (NTS) develops unconventional wind energy systems. Instead of towers and turbines, they use giant kites flying at an altitude of 500 meters. Compared to conventional wind power generators, the increased height and wind speeds lead to increased energy output, the company says.

The kites automatically fly in circles and are attached to a vehicle on tracks which in turn powers an electricity generator as it is being pulled. NTS’s technology is still in the early stages of development and there is still uncertainty about how exactly the wind power is transformed to produce energy. (Source: Nature Technology Systems)

Wind Energy II: Floating Offshore Turbines (2/8)

In 2009, StatoilHydro installed the world's first large-scale floating wind turbine in water depths of 220 metres off the coast of Norway. The wind turbine is mounted on a steel element which is filled with ballast onshore and then towed out and anchored to the seabed.

The floating element extends 100 metres beneath the surface and held by three anchor piles. This method allows the turbines to be used in water depths of between 120 and 700 metres. Conventional turbine foundations are suitable for depths of 30 to 50 meters and therefore limited to near-coast waters. The floating turbine can be placed more freely than before. (Source: StatoilHydro)

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Bioenergy: Organic Waste Reactors (3/8)

Organic waste like dead plant material, manure, or kitchen waste can be turned into a gaseous fuel. It’s produced by fermentation of these biodegradable materials. Biogas can be used as fuel for cooking, for example, or in a gas engine, converting energy into electricity or heat.

Sarah Ervinda Rudianto, a student from Indonesia, developed a small, individual bioreactor that converts organic waste into biogas with the help of fermentation. To start the process, the waste is mixed with cow dung and water. After two weeks, gas starts to develop which is used to fuel cooking stoves. Cooking using biogas reduces the need to cut down of trees for firewood, thus reducing deforestation and the risk of landslides. Read Sarah’s story here. (Source: Sarah Ervinda Rudianto)

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Coal: Organic Alternative (4/8)

Coal is still the world’s number one source of electricity – and also the number one source of greenhouse gases. An alternative is ‘organic’ coal: pellets made of plant waste like grass, leaves or organic waste. These ingredients are compressed and dehydrated at a temperature of 200 degrees Celsius and under extreme pressure. What would take millions of years in nature is done in a couple of hours.

Organic coal is also carbon-neutral because it emits only as much CO2 into the atmosphere as its plant base produced before. However, the making of organic coal is rather energy intensive; around 20 percent of the final energy output is used for production. (Source: SunCoal Industries)

Solar Energy: Plastic Bottles Light Up Slums (5/8)

Social entrepreneur Illac Diaz uses little more than waste plastic bottles, water, and bleach to light up the slums of the Philippines. Here, the shacks are built so close together that people in the houses don’t get any light, not even during daytime. The smart solution: punch a hole in the roof of a hut, insert a plastic bottle filled with water and bleach to avoid diffusion and the sunlight’s refraction will turn the bottle into a natural light bulb. Read all about the ‘solar bottles’ here. (Source: via YouTube)

Solar Energy II: Heated By Leafs (6/8)

MIT scientists created an artificial, leaf-like device that imitates the process of photosynthesis. The idea of a cell that can reproduce photosynthesis is about ten years old but required expensive and rare metals that made it unattractive for individual consumers. However, the latest model uses nickel and cobalt, inexpensive alternatives, that are able to split hydrogen and oxygen about ten times faster than mother nature.

The leaves are the size of playing cards and can produce electricity for personal and household use. The prototype can produce energy for 45 hours. The leaf should help individual homes to become capable of becoming their own self-sufficient power stations. (Source: Dominick Reuter / MIT)

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Mechanical Energy: Virus Surges (7/8)

How about charging your phone with the help of viruses? Berkeley Lab scientists made the pesky little blighters harvest mechanical energy and turn it into an electric charge.

They developed a generator that collects energy when the user taps a finger on a small electrode. The electrode is coated with specially-engineered harmless viruses that are able to convert the force of the tap into electricity. The pressure on the generator can generate about a quarter of a voltage of a triple-A battery. “More research is needed, but our work is a promising first step towards personal power generators,” said Berkeley Lab project staff Seung-Wuk in an online publication of Nature Nanotechnology Journal. (Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

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Biofuel: Algae Power (8/8)

Agronomist Marcelo De Coud shows a type of algae used to make biodiesel in a biofuel factory in northeast Buenos Aires, Argentina. While conventional biofuels might be greener alternatives to fossil fuels, they have also been attacked for straining the world’s food supply, undermining farmers livelihoods, and contributing to global warming.

A handful of companies are creating biodiesel out of algae instead. Although algae fuel still releases CO2 into the air when burned, growing algae will also take CO2 out of the atmosphere. The algae farms can use land that is not suitable for agriculture, they grow on salt and waste water, and are biodegradable. The algae need abundant sunlight and additional special enzymes to boost their ability to convert plant sugars into organic ethanol. (Source: Reuters)

Bioenergy: Organic Waste Reactors (3/8)

Organic waste like dead plant material, manure, or kitchen waste can be turned into a gaseous fuel. It’s produced by fermentation of these biodegradable materials. Biogas can be used as fuel for cooking, for example, or in a gas engine, converting energy into electricity or heat.

Sarah Ervinda Rudianto, a student from Indonesia, developed a small, individual bioreactor that converts organic waste into biogas with the help of fermentation. To start the process, the waste is mixed with cow dung and water. After two weeks, gas starts to develop which is used to fuel cooking stoves. Cooking using biogas reduces the need to cut down of trees for firewood, thus reducing deforestation and the risk of landslides. Read Sarah’s story here. (Source: Sarah Ervinda Rudianto)

Coal: Organic Alternative (4/8)

Coal is still the world’s number one source of electricity – and also the number one source of greenhouse gases. An alternative is ‘organic’ coal: pellets made of plant waste like grass, leaves or organic waste. These ingredients are compressed and dehydrated at a temperature of 200 degrees Celsius and under extreme pressure. What would take millions of years in nature is done in a couple of hours.

Organic coal is also carbon-neutral because it emits only as much CO2 into the atmosphere as its plant base produced before. However, the making of organic coal is rather energy intensive; around 20 percent of the final energy output is used for production. (Source: SunCoal Industries)

Solar Energy: Plastic Bottles Light Up Slums (5/8)

Social entrepreneur Illac Diaz uses little more than waste plastic bottles, water, and bleach to light up the slums of the Philippines. Here, the shacks are built so close together that people in the houses don’t get any light, not even during daytime. The smart solution: punch a hole in the roof of a hut, insert a plastic bottle filled with water and bleach to avoid diffusion and the sunlight’s refraction will turn the bottle into a natural light bulb. Read all about the ‘solar bottles’ here. (Source: via YouTube)

Solar Energy II: Heated By Leafs (6/8)

MIT scientists created an artificial, leaf-like device that imitates the process of photosynthesis. The idea of a cell that can reproduce photosynthesis is about ten years old but required expensive and rare metals that made it unattractive for individual consumers. However, the latest model uses nickel and cobalt, inexpensive alternatives, that are able to split hydrogen and oxygen about ten times faster than mother nature.

The leaves are the size of playing cards and can produce electricity for personal and household use. The prototype can produce energy for 45 hours. The leaf should help individual homes to become capable of becoming their own self-sufficient power stations. (Source: Dominick Reuter / MIT)

Mechanical Energy: Virus Surges (7/8)

How about charging your phone with the help of viruses? Berkeley Lab scientists made the pesky little blighters harvest mechanical energy and turn it into an electric charge.

They developed a generator that collects energy when the user taps a finger on a small electrode. The electrode is coated with specially-engineered harmless viruses that are able to convert the force of the tap into electricity. The pressure on the generator can generate about a quarter of a voltage of a triple-A battery. “More research is needed, but our work is a promising first step towards personal power generators,” said Berkeley Lab project staff Seung-Wuk in an online publication of Nature Nanotechnology Journal. (Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

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Biofuel: Algae Power (8/8)

Agronomist Marcelo De Coud shows a type of algae used to make biodiesel in a biofuel factory in northeast Buenos Aires, Argentina. While conventional biofuels might be greener alternatives to fossil fuels, they have also been attacked for straining the world’s food supply, undermining farmers livelihoods, and contributing to global warming.

A handful of companies are creating biodiesel out of algae instead. Although algae fuel still releases CO2 into the air when burned, growing algae will also take CO2 out of the atmosphere. The algae farms can use land that is not suitable for agriculture, they grow on salt and waste water, and are biodegradable. The algae need abundant sunlight and additional special enzymes to boost their ability to convert plant sugars into organic ethanol. (Source: Reuters)

Biofuel: Algae Power (8/8)

Agronomist Marcelo De Coud shows a type of algae used to make biodiesel in a biofuel factory in northeast Buenos Aires, Argentina. While conventional biofuels might be greener alternatives to fossil fuels, they have also been attacked for straining the world’s food supply, undermining farmers livelihoods, and contributing to global warming.

A handful of companies are creating biodiesel out of algae instead. Although algae fuel still releases CO2 into the air when burned, growing algae will also take CO2 out of the atmosphere. The algae farms can use land that is not suitable for agriculture, they grow on salt and waste water, and are biodegradable. The algae need abundant sunlight and additional special enzymes to boost their ability to convert plant sugars into organic ethanol. (Source: Reuters)