energy

Biomass gasification plant set for Massachusetts

Update: This article has been update to clarify that the Massachusetts plant will use biomass as well as coal and petroleum coke as feedstocks to make natural gas.

GreatPoint Energy announced plans Thursday to build a plant to produce natural gas from biomass, coal and petroleum coke in its home state of Massachusetts.

The facility, which is expected to be finished in one year, will be located in Brayton Point at the research and development center of energy utility Dominion.

Massachusetts Gov. Duval Patrick was set to speak at a ceremony to announce the $25 million investment, which is benefiting … Read more

Thinking small with tidal power

A lot of wave and tidal power systems being proposed these days will be capable of generating megawatts of power.

Puget Sound Tidal Power is aiming for 10 to 15 kilowatts with its turbine--barely enough for five homes--but the lower power output also means a lower price tag, according to company President Burton Hamner. The total cost of a single turbine from Puget Sound in mass manufacturing will come to around $10,000 or so, he said. The budget on larger turbines often runs into the millions of dollars.

"We think you could get payback in five to eight … Read more

Wider variety of ethanol blends on the way, DOE official says

There's a lot of room between E10 and E85, says Alexander Karsner.

Karsner, the assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy at the Department of Energy, says that there needs to be a greater variety of gas-ethanol blends. E10 has only 10 percent ethanol, and in some states E10 contains only 2 percent to 3 percent ethanol, he said during a meeting with reporters at the Dow Jones Alternative Energy Innovations conference taking place in Redwood City, Calif.

On the other end of the spectrum there is E85. E85, however, is sold in only one-third of 1 percent … Read more

Good use for hot cars

Since you're using the gas anyway, why not convert the heat from your car engine into useful electricity?

That's the basic premise behind the work of Terry Tritt, professor and director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Center of Excellence in Thermoelectric Materials Research at Clemson University.

Thermoelectric generators are currently used to convent radioactive heat into electricity by NASA for deep space probes. The same technology could be applied to the automotive combustion cycle, which wastes more than 60 percent of its energy through heat, according to a paper Tritt delivered at the Alan MacDairmid … Read more

A very Tesla Christmas: The tree that lights itself

I know, I know, it's not even Halloween yet, but this wireless LED-powered tree is too Crave-worthy to wait until 12:01 a.m. Nov. 1 (or whenever Starbucks deems it appropriate to start slinging gingerbread lattes) to blog.

The Wireless Christmas Tree from Front Gate nixes wires and uses radio frequencies to transmit energy from a power source to the LED (light-emitting diodes) bulbs on the tree. The tree comes in a golden urn and stands 4.5 feet high. It's available starting today for $395.

For several reasons, this tree is an excellent candidate for something … Read more

For disruptive technologies, look to material sciences

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Society-impacting technological change will increasingly come from physical sciences, such as chemistry, physics and mechanical engineering, rather than information technologies, said Matthew Nordan, the president of nanotechnology research firm Lux Research.

Nordan on Monday provided an overview of nanotechnology at the firm's annual conference here, arguing that material sciences will fuel technological development and economic growth in the coming years in much the way that information sciences did in the last 20 years.

These hard sciences are also critical to addressing the global problems of providing fresh water to billions of people worldwide, as well as energy … Read more

Make green tech, not green legislation

This may be a non sequitur for the Train Wreck blog, but this stuff drives me nuts, and I can't resist ranting about it.

Check out Title 24, Part 6, of the California Code of Regulations: California's Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings. On second thought, don't bother. Reading that garbage will fry your brain.

I don't know how many zillions of pages this building code is, but the latest hundred pages or so have strict requirements for new home lighting. Every room in the house, and outdoors as well, has been blessed with specific requirements for high-efficiency lighting and motion sensors.

That's not all, mind you. There are also requirements for HVAC (heating ventilating air conditioning), water heating, insulation, and believe it or not, how much window area a house can have.

And all this stuff adds cost. No big deal, right? It's not as if building a house in California is expensive or anything.

OK, fine, whatever. So legislatures and lawyers have to do something with their time, right? Well, it's not that simple. You know what really happens? Get this. The electrician installs this stuff, the inspector signs off on it, and then the electrician swaps it all out for the stuff the homeowner wanted to begin with.… Read more

Headset worships the sun even after summer

Iqua is an interesting company, and not just because of its unusual name. The Finnish company always seems to come up with noteworthy products, whether it's a wireless "miniUFO" car speakerphone or an L-shaped Bluetooth phone that attaches to the back of the headrest.

Its latest invention has gone green, a wireless headset powered by solar energy. The Iqua "Sun," developed with partner Suntrica, is based on the previous "Vogue" model (pictured here) that was a hit on the French market with conventional batteries, according to OhGizmo. It beats having to wear a … Read more

Ford sponsors MIT energy fellows

Ford Motor is sponsoring two fellowships to study energy technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as part of a five-year initiative, both organizations have announced.

Two Ford Alliance Energy fellows will study technology to improve power-train and fuel-efficiency technology for vehicles.

Ford is the first "Sustaining Member" to become part of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), a group established in November 2006 for the purpose of studying global energy problems.

"As the first mover for the automotive technologies of the 20th century, Ford Motor Company transformed the world. This research collaboration is designed to support Ford'… Read more