The companies like Solar Botanic are making great headway by combining piezovoltaic, nanophotovoltaic,and nanothermovoltaic receptors in the leaves of artificial trees that catch, heat, light, and wind to create electricity for communities in the United States and the world.

Stated simply: Rather than creating solar panels that are flat, only taking in light from one direction; developers feel that trees with leaves take in more light because trees have a spiral design aimed in more directions. Tree leaves are exposed to more light on every angle. The hard math supports this concept.

Trees also are more vulnerable to wind pressures due to there smallish size. The spiral shape of the tree follows the path of least resistance. The tree can take a glancing blow, rather than a direct blow. Just like a boxer rolling with a punch, just enough and not too much.

The shape of trees seems to be able to absorb more of the winds force than previous human models of wind turbines.

The motion of the trees petiole, twigs, and branches being moved about creates energy.

For the space taken up by current human design models for solar panels, and wind mills; biomimicry of trees can collect three sources of energy, much more efficiently in any of the categories in the same space than current human designs can alone.

We will get into Facilitated Transport a little further on. Briefly: It is an amazing aspect of biomimicry that is part of the nanoleaf synergistic model. Facilitated Transport does not produce electricity, it produces and puts out clean air; and removes carbon dioxide from the air.

Looking at the technology behind green energy biomimicry:

Clear of the inherent recurring theme of spirals in every aspect of nature; one fractal course of practical logic leads us to, for the sake of explanation of the next process in how this biomimicry is put to everyday use, is the ways in which nanoleaves acting together as a whole, true to shape energy tree, captures power.

The nanoleaf works with three types of energy conversion: Thermal, wind, and solar: Then air purification.

• Nanophotovoltaic: The only spectrumof light that is not absorbed according to the developers is the reflected green spectrum.

Absolutely every other spectrum, both visible and invisible is absorbed by the nanophotovoltaic receptors of the nanoleaf. Yes this means infrared radiation is completely converted.

• Nanothermovoltaic: Converting this warm radiation is where the nanothermalvoltaic receptors in the nanoleaf/ nanoleaves are the function of this technology. This infrared radiation permeates the air, warming it.

Hours after the sun has set, the nanothermovoltaic component of each nanoleaf is still absorbing radiation (heat) in the infrared spectrum. The rest of the radiating spectrum, not just this side shy of the duo tone can be plausibly utilized in the design of the tree.

Longwave radiation and shortwave radiation are also absorbed.

• Piezovoltaic: When hundreds or thousands of nanoleaves are blow by the wind. This moves piezo-electric elements built into the petioles that connect leaves to twigs and branches. In affect acting as a windfarm as the leaves flutter back and forth.

The developers of this concept say, on their website,that in the average biomimiced tree branch, piezo-electric system produces millions upon millions of Pico watts; when thousands of nanoleaves flutter blown in a small wind.

The amazing effects of stronger winds generating wattage (from greater flap frequency) in this system are exponentially quantifiable and accounted for.

• Facilitated Transport: This system uses a fixed agent that bonds with CO₂. This keeps CO₂ from being breathed back out of the leaves.

This process was created by creating a tangent process from a technology process developed and discovered originally by a Norwegian team of researchers.

The original Norwegian discovery modeled the breathing process after the human lung.

The model has room in the concept design for absorbing heat from evaporation and advection from the ground.

It is reasonable to picture how geothermal radiation reception can be added to absorb efficiently through a spiraling root system.

The current is transmitted from the petiole down to the base.

The base of the tree sends out all the DC current that had been created in different ways by converters located in the branches of the tree.

These trees are designed to beautify the landscape of Americas here and there: Through biomimicry by means of the nanoleaf, on through the piezovoltaic conversion of solar light, solar thermal, and wind energy. All this,while clearing the air of CO_2; sending electricity to our homes, businesses, and community resources both near and far.

Velomobile Electric Assist System – See it work.

Bicycles, even the recumbent tricycle (recumbents get the most efficiency out of our leg strokes), depend on the physical conditioning of the pilot to achieve maximum performance, be that performance speed, distance or both, making other modes of transportation more favorable for inner city transportation, such as the motorcycle or the car, especially when people enjoy doing as little as possible.

As an alternative, the electric assist motors available on the market today far outweigh anything that has been around before in terms of sustainable modes of transportation, but the biggest innovation has only come in recent years with more powerful and potent rechargeable battery packs, that are not only a reasonable weight, but also have versatile speed control options at the touch of a finger.

Electrical power to charge the batteries on electric assist motors can come from the grid or off the grid, models such as the Nano Motor or the Bionx Motor come with the electromagnetic motor placed inside a standard 26 inch rear wheel and pedaling or downhill will also further charge such systems manually.

Those with off the grid systems at home usually use either wind, solar or a combination of the two to provide a central powering station for such electric assist motors.

Practically speaking, any electric charging system can be used, but what gives this system an edge in sustainable practices is the self-sufficient autonomy of renewable energy sources.

In recent years, solar power has been pointed as one of the major determining factors in making the most out of electric assist motors, and getting them marketed on a larger scale, the keywords being self-reliance and sustainability.

An electric assist motor system with onboard power generation becomes analogous to the Viking sailing ships of old that could row when there was no wind, use the wind as an assist or just use the winditself when it was present; allowing more freedom of travel.

Who even needs to stay to the roads or near a gas station if the electric assist motor is on a mountain bike and carries its own solar panel?

Aesthetics however are a deep concern among enthusiasts, as solar panels have traditionally looked so big, bulky and rather non-curvature in nature, where sports cars look like bullets ready to fly, these have looked rather box or fish like.

In this interest, it has been suggested, especially for velomobiles (imagine these by thinking of the Flintstones family car), that by using thin-film solar technologies, the curves and the natural beauty of models such as Go-One3, can not only remain, but also provide the necessary power generation as they are flexible and even semi-transparent.

When such sustainable power generators as thin-films, are made with sustainable practices at the factory itself in order to reduce their CO2 footprint, solar electric assist becomes even more sustainable!

The electric assist motor is readily becoming a more efficient alternative to gas guzzling motorcycles and cars, even the electric car, as it uses less energy, and can be absolutely free when used together with sustainable technologies like onboard thin-film solar power generators.

The electric assist motor is a more sustainable alternative to the world we live in, reducing traffic jams by reducing the space we take up as single passengers in a four seater (for example going to and from work or school), allowing awareness about the alternatives grow towards a more productive and pollution free tomorrow.

The same amount of light intensity is available with compact fluorescent lights of 15 watts as with regular mercury bulbs of 60 watts and CFLs have a life expectancy of around 12,000 hours, 15-20 times longer than our traditional incandescent bulbs.

Traditional bulbs contain mercury and while they themselves do not emit carbon dioxide, the fossil fuel powered energy plants and hydroelectric dams that we currently use to produce power are not sustainable with current growth in energy use.

Our society ends up burning a lot of fossil fuel just to keep those traditional incandescent lights glowing, a lot more than we would like to imagine

With the example of the 15 watt CFL glowing 12,000 hours from above that comes to a total of 564kWh; one third of a ton of carbon emissions saved by one single compact florescent light bulb throughout its lifetime compared to if it were a traditional incandescent light bulb of 60 watts.

It would be impossible to simply tell American consumers that compact fluorescent lights are better for our ecosystem, but if everyone in the US just up and started using them, the current supply of grid power would (at current energy consumption growth rates) be enough for the next twenty years.

If American consumers decided that what would really be good for our country is self-reliance and being independent from other countries as a member of a responsible global community; the growing area of alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and biofuels could potentially free us from the mangles of the current fossil fuel economy, within a few decades.

Using a compact fluorescent light today, for three hours a day throughout its life expectancy of eleven years, will save a total of 50U$ (4.63U$ yr).

The more electricity prices rise, the more will be saved and even though they have not been so trustworthy in the past, CFL technology improves every year and are already much better today.

Since compact fluorescent lights come with such a savings, its already a profitable idea to start replacing traditional incandescent light bulbs!

In some compact fluorescent lights, it is possible to release as much as 2mg of mercury into the atmosphere the minute they break in the trash, so recycling them is considered an ecologically responsible action, even though not yet law.

Compact Fluorescent Lights without mercury do exist and still offer the same savings on electricity.

A non-governmental organization called The Forest Foundation for example sells mercury-free compact fluorescent lights as a fund-raiser (15 and 25 watts) and they are just as good as incandescent bulbs of 60 and 100 watts.

Compact fluorescent lights are one more example of options that could lead our country to a more sustainable world, if only we choose to make the effort to change.

Compact Fluorescent Lights are a great way to meet the needs of our now while looking ahead 20 years in the future.

Other: Compact Fluorescent Lights FAQ.

Wave power is simply that; ocean wave motion transformed and harnessed into electrical current, providing power for off-shore platforms, and even near-shore cities with grids.

Living off the grid in the middle of the ocean on artificial islands or atols, military bases for test sites, research, oil drilling, anything that is in the middle of the ocean near constant wave motion.

Wave power beating offshore close to costal cities, offers around 15,000 tera-watts of extractable electricity every year, even more than the global demand.

The different methods of harnessing this clean energy from ocean waves can vary.

SyncWave Energy develops one of the simplest, most economic, robust wave energy conversion technologies in the world.

SyncWave Power Resonator for example transforms wave power into useful energy for the on going and growing market of off grid hybrid and continuous into-the-grid power alike.

Wave power could potentially solve our worlds energy crisis, and create dynamic solutions for a world that is overpopulating by the year.

Off-the-grid communities living on artificial islands just might be the future and are sure to use wave power as one of their main sources of energy.

Wave power is a clean and viable solution for the future.

SyncWave Energy Inc.
Box 459 1422 Collins Rd.
Pemberton, British Columbia
Canada V0N 2L0
Phone: 1-604-894-0116

Steam energy has been used forhundreds of years, perhaps even thousands if Alexandria really did have a steam engine on one of the vault doors as legend has it. But the sterling power plant uses steam in a way that is compliant to the needs of the now and far different than anythingused previously because it works off of low temperatures.

Low temperature thermal energy generation with the Sterling Power Plant uses elements such as butane and pentane to boil furiously at a mere 150 degrees and eliminates the traditional feed pump fora system of valves that heat and cool all the related elements of the system at once.

The problem with a traditional steam generator is that once the vapor has passed through the electrical turbine, the vapor must be cooled down into liquid form and returned to the broiler unit without loosing pressure. The feed pump would have the role of keeping that pressure constantly, while still injecting small quantities of liquid at regular intervals.

The traditional feed pump has been replaced in the Sterling Power Plant, which uses a valve that heats the liquid back up to the same temperature as the broiler, while building up pressure and after releasing, cools the remaining vapor to the temperature of the receiving liquid, then repeating the cycle again.

The same conduits that heat the broiler at low temperatures and cool the escaping vapor from the turbine are the same used to heat and cool the transition compartment also known as the heat exchanger.

The Sterling Power Plant can use any heat source that is being wasted or constantly renewable, such as solar, geothermal, wood or industrial waste from factories and such.

One other use of this technology is to reduce the cost of OTEC generators.

OTEC is a geothermal technology for deep sea and ocean electricity generators, with the use of this system which optimizes the structure of steam energy thermal dynamics in a way never before patented, it could be feasible and reliable for the long term of sustainable communities living out in the great expansive sea on artificial seasteading islands way off the grid, such as the ones proposed by René Kardol in his thesis Proposed Inhabited Artificial Islands in International Waters.

With sustainable, it is all about spending less amounts of energy and the Sterling Power Plant is a whole new way to look at generating electricity from solar water heaters and other renewable sources of low temperature energy, that meets that demand.

Company Information:
Matteran Energy
9061 SW 156th St., Suite A122
Village of Palmetto Bay, Florida 33157
Contact: Jeff Sterling, manager
Phone: 786-797-7007

A thermosiphon uses free convection, which means that the liquid being pumped suffers from an increase in temperature thereby becoming more buoyant rising upward.

As the temperature of the rising liquid begins to cool down, it gains density and will thus fall downward, influenced by gravity.

What is clear in this process is that a common thermosiphon does not push hot liquid up and cool liquid down, but rather the force of gravity pulls cool (or far denser) liquids down (toward the center of the earth).

While the consequent vacuum is what creates the siphon effect pulling hot liquids up (or in whatever direction the piping points, generally away from the center of the earth).

The upward movement of heated liquids such as water is one of the most common uses for a thermosiphon, usually in the design of a solar water heater box panel with the reservoir located directly above the solar collector.

Solartrope Supply Corporation makes an interesting passive design that fits the average home-owners needs, providing both hot water and water pressure.

But a thermosiphon can be used anywhere there is a lot of heat being generated, such as on the computer processor of a CPU, where the cold liquid is used as a coolant for the whole casing.

Anything called noiseless usually follows the thermosiphon profile and the simpler designs just cool the insides of any CPU, usually blowing a fan through a thermosiphon radiator.

Being creative with this process is a tradition in the field of thermosiphoning. One such variant on the thermosiphon design are the variothermal wall and floor heating/cooling modules.

As the world of sustainable and passive solar products start to get more and more recognition from the new world economy, thermosiphons get more and more credit from the investing community.

Thermosiphons create whole new realms of products and designs that make the future look ever brighter.

Related:
Themosiphon Systems Diagram

So you have decided to take the wise step and invest in Alternative Energy. We know we need a wind, water or solar energy source. For this example we will use solar the sun and our solar panels will supply the DC current. All of the alternative energy options need an Inverter.

We have the free renewable energy so how do we change it to alternating current that our house uses? That is where the inverter comes in.

There are three types of inverters.

Multi Function Inverter – With this inverter you will still be connected to the utility lines, a set of batteries and if desired a generator. If traditional power fails the batteries and generator kick in. The advantage of the multi function is that you can charge your batteries either via solar panel or the utility lines. Our goal is to live totally off the grid so we will pass on the multi function.

Synchronous Inverter – This is a great inverter for people who are connected to the grid and want to sell back excess electricity to the power company. Another interesting feature is you need no battery storage setup. For example in week one you produced fifty dollars in electricity but only used twenty-five worth. In this case you would have a twenty-five dollar credit towards power when the Solar panels were not producing enough DC current to power your house. There is a downside tothe Synchronous Inverter and that is a long payback period.

Standalone Inverter – With the standalone inverter you run the house off a battery pack. With recent major advancements in battery storage technology this is a very viable option. Basically you calculate the total wattage of all appliances in the house. This is an important step and must be done correctly. Look at each item run by electric, usually you can find the wattage listed near the plug. Add each wattage for a total wattage at peak usage figure. Your standalone inverter must have an output that exceeds this peak usage figure. For safety sake we suggest you get an inverter with at least a fifteen percent higher output then your peak wattage usage figure.

Recent increase in Inverter technology has raised the efficiency of Inverters to 97%. This will help spread the Alternative energy message to the masses. Are you ready to hear it?

Related:
A good basic example of an inverter

There have been dramatic increases in use of alternative energy such as solar, hydro and wind power. Between the years of 2004 and 2005 alone there was a fifty percent increase in alternative energy usage.

One of the key components in an alternative energy system is the inverter. Simply put the inverter turns the alternative energy solar for example from DC Direct Current to AC Alternating Current. Alternating Current is what we use in our homes. DC current can be gathered either directly from a solar panel of set of batteries.

In either situation you need an inverter. For the last decade the efficiency of inverters has been a major roadblock to wide scale adoption of alternative energy.

This roadblock has been busted and blown away by a company called Magnetek Inc. Magnetek Aurora™ has produced a non-transistor based inverter, which has an efficiency rating of 97%. This level of efficiency is an important breakthrough towards wide scale adoption because it lowers overall installation costs.

Magnetek developed the inverter called the Aurora, which has a very wide DC input range. This wide range allows DC input from ninety to six hundred volts. Along with this large range the Aurora can pull from multiple alternative energy sources.

Could this be the missing piece to the alternative energy puzzle? Initial indications and adoption growth rates say it might just be.

Related:
Magnetek Press
Google Finance Data

Company Info:
Magnetek, Inc.
8966 Mason Avenue
Chatsworth, CA 91311
818/727-2216
818/727-2219 (fax)

As the search for fuel cells goes on, many environmentalists give all their attention to solar energy, the possibilities involving photosynthesis and the microbial world. What about where there is no solar energy directly available, such as below the sea?

For more than 30 years, research has tried to develop a microbial fuel cell that digests wastes, instantly producing electricity. Just take a look at Dr. Emitt Browns Time Machine in Back to the Future with Michael J. Fox; just after he comes back from his trip 30 years into the future; he just drops a banana peel out of the garbage into the Delorians microbial fuel cell chamber, and voom… into the sky.

That is the kind of energy conversion researchers desire from microbial fuel cells, but it is still far away in the distant (evolutionary and genetic) future. At present this conversion takes about a week at its fastest rate.

The biggest challenge is getting what are being called Geobacters, to be far more aggressive in their microbial digestion in anaerobic environments such as underground and undersea waste products, which means genetic engineering on a nanite-scale of 2 to 3 microns at most.

More than 30 species of these iron breathers used in Microbial Fuel Cells are being tested and developed at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst by Dr. Derek R. Lovley (American) and Dr. Swades Chaudhuri (Indian).

Their Microbial Fuel Cells are so far removed from the direct line of Solar Energy that it actually makes one wonder about the implications on our future methods of harnessing energy.

In recent years UMASS Environmental Biotechnology Center has put in a lot of research into the Geobacter Project. The word Geobacter (geological bacteria) refers to anaerobic micro-organisms that in most cases thrive under extremely high temperatures, far above those temperatures commonly inhabited by more complex organisms.

We have found that dissimilatory metal-reducing microorganisms, such as Geobacter and Rhodoferax species, have the novel ability to directly transfer electrons to the surface of electrodes.

The word Geobacter seems more for quick thirty-second media bites rather than for scientific researchers accustomed to big language, because the concept is so easy to grasp.

When regular folks hear the word Geobacter nowadays, it indicates to their minds eye a battery that generates electricity from deep sea composting micro-organisms that just love to break down sugars, producing needed CO2 for underwater plants. It has this resilient ecological tone while it cleans up oil spills over time and can even reduce radioactivity in uranium-polluted ground water to regulation levels within a week according to Dr. Lovley in a recent interview done on Massachusetts Commonwealth Journal radio show.

The word Geobacter also gives the futurist gist of being able to deposit a sugar cube into the microbial fuel cell of a cellular phone and for those who are addicted to old reruns of Star Trek the Next Generation; it conjures up images of Wesley Crusher accidentally letting loose his artificially intelligent nanite medical-robots that end up taking over the Enterprise.

Geobacters guarantee bigger concepts for those delving in renewable energies and solar power is only the tip of the proverbial flame. Heat is energy, and Geobacters give off the kind of energy that we as a civilization need to charge and propel ever-SMALLER batteries.

That word smaller, is the important end of the renewable energy spectrum. When most people think electricity, especially solar electricity, they think outward and upward to larger scales, Geobacters at present however are going smaller and smaller into the future of nanotechnology rather than in the direction of powering the grid.

While some patents do exist on Microbial Fuel Cells for such things as large as electric lawn mowers or even maybe the size of say a Delorian; at present researchers think smaller every day devices like cell phones or even delicate military and medical technologies are going to be far more efficient with the development of Microbial Fuel Cells for the next century of sustainable energies.

Vulgarly speaking, anywhere the sun doesn’t reach, Geobacters generally can. Mainly this is simply because they are natures way of breaking down organic material in anaerobic environments, originally produced either by direct solar energy, along that chain indirectly or simply never even exposed to it as in the case of the deep ocean floor where sunlight is totally absent.

Microbial fuel cells are not merely the micro aspect of renewable and solar the macro, they are naturally the composting and cleaning end of renewable while solar energy is the non-polluting and preventive end.

Hopefully this research will prove worthwhile within the next ten years for consumers. Solar Energy for off the grid living and Microbial Fuel Cells for off the grid comfort and an ever better quality of life. Two sides of one human coin.