To hear proponents talk about Thorium reactors, you would think that Thorium is the energy panacea for which we have been searching. This readily found element can be used to create nuclear reactors that are walk-away safe, with waste that has a much shorter half life and should be easier to dispose of. Current, nuclear reactors need multiple redundant systems and can blow up as we’ve seen with Fukishima. Thorium reactors won’t blow up and don’t need the multiple redundant systems. If they are so great why are we still using Uranium reactors?
Technology for a greener future
Archive for the ‘pollution’ Category
Rather than a tax credit, Obama proposes a $10,000 rebate on the sale of EVs
President Obama’s latest budget holds a welcome nugget for people thinking about purchasing a green tech vehicle like an electric vehicle (EV). Rather than the current $7,500 tax credit currently in place for purchasers of environmentally friendly cars, you would get $10,000 knocked off the price of an electric vehicle when you actually purchase it, not when you file your taxes. This is good news for EV manufacturers as well as consumers.
UK’s easyJet will be the first airline to test electric taxiing system
Safran and Honeywell have designed an electric green taxiing system or EGTS that allows jets to taxi on the ground without having to use their engines. Instead the planes would use electric motors attached to each wheel and run by the plane’s auxiliary power unit. The electrical system should provide better maneuvering control to pilots when docking at a gate and should save four percent of energy costs.
NASA is looking for greener fuel
NASA has put out a proposal for a greener fuel source for launching satellites, rockets and eventually space taxis. Space launches add “several kilotons” of carbon dioxide into the air each year. So far it isn’t a large percentage of the CO2 that gets spewed from cars, trains, planes and ships, but over the next several decades that could change. Because more governments and private enterprises are looking at space for new ventures, less harmful fuel is needed.
California’s new efficiency standards would do away with battery charger vampire draw
The California Energy Commission has created new standards for battery chargers that would go into effect in February of 2013. The new chargers would contain technology that would shut the charger off once a gadget was fully charged, reducing wasted energy. That wasted energy is sometimes referred to as vampire draw.
Tata Motors will present a new vaporware car at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show
Many automakers unveil concept cars at the various auto shows around the world and every now and then they actually make it into production. Mostly they showcase new technology and design ideas. Tata Motors will be showcasing the eMO at this years Detroit Auto Show in the Michelin Challenge Design. Unlike many concept cars, Tata has basically said that this car won’t ever see a production line but the company has built a nice little imaginary retail experience around the car.
A French company proposes turning the Eiffel Tower into a vertical garden
Built in 1889 for the World Exhibition, the Eiffel Tower is one of the most recognizable structures of Paris, France. It is frequently used in movies to let audiences know that particular scene takes place in Paris. It is a 984 foot tall iron structure that could become a green vertical garden if one French firm has its way.
Used cell phones make a darn good Christmas tree
A store in Vietnam came up with a great way to use old cell phones this holiday season. It created a Christmas tree out of old used phones. It took 10 workers two weeks to create the tree.
Surfers Against Sewage come up with creative Christmas ideas
You wouldn’t go swimming in a cesspool and surfers don’t like surfing among trash. Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), located in the UK, decided to make the point during Christmas to venders who were leaving trash behind on beaches. So they carefully constructed a couple of Christmas plans to get their point across.
Congress stops enforcement of new light bulb standards hurting American manufacturers
You have to love it. Congress in all of its wisdom decided to postpone the enforcement of the new 100 W light bulb standards until next September. The legislation was passed in 2007 and signed into law by President George W. Bush. American light bulb manufacturers supported the legislation and have spent millions on new equipment to produce light bulbs that will meet the new standards. Congresses ban on enforcement opens the door for inferior foreign light bulbs to make a huge killing over the next nine months.