Archive for February, 2008

EnviroGLAS-Walking on Glass

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

You look through it, drink out of it, watch television with its reflection-glass is everywhere. The uses are almost endless. Glass has existed since the beginning of time, where natural intense heat created by volcanic eruptions, meteors and lightning strikes transformed certain rock into this shiny smooth material. The earliest glass (non-translucent) dates back to around 3000BC. It is thought that Egyptians accidentally came across the craft when calciferous sand found its way into kilns and formed a glass glaze on the ceramics fired inside.

Glass was mainly used for decorative purposes at first, but it has come a long way since then. Every home and office is going to contain glass in one form or another - lamps, televisions and mirrors are all nonfunctional without the material. With so many items made from glass, however, it makes one wonder what happens to these things when they are no longer useful? 7% of household waste is glass and not all of it gets recycled. In 2001, over 2.5 million tonnes of glass was land-filled. This is unfortunate, as glass can be recycled indefinitely - its simple structure is not damaged when reprocessed.

Certain eco-friendly companies have invested in excess glass, taking advantage of its beauty and various functionalities. EnviroGLAS converts glass destined to be land-filled into gorgeous flooring, kitchen slabs and even incorporates the glass into landscapes.

“It was in 2002 that a glut of old glass bottles, mirrors and windows became the source for this chic green twist to the classic flooring concept. Publicity in July about the Texas city of Plano’s overabundance of crushed recycled glass inspired the creative solution of combining the multi-colored crystals with epoxy resin to create recycled glass Terrazzo.” (http://www.enviroglasproducts.com/about.asp)

Walking on floors designed by EnviroGLAS is a mesmerizing process, as bits of mirrors and colorful glass shimmer underneath your feet. There are dozens of colors to choose from and interested buyers can customize the mixture of glass to suit their taste. These color combinations are endless.

One concern is that these glass floors are fragile. This is definitely not the case. The website explains that “EnviroTRAZ recycled glass [and porcelain Terrazzo] will last the lifetime of your building, and most terrazzo floors last at least 40 years without needing refinishing. DFW Airport, Parkland Hospital, Dallas Baptist University and the City of Dallas’ Hensley Field Operations Center are four of the latest North Texas community landmarks to install this environmentally friendly flooring.”

Another benefit is that the seamless quality of the finished product is easy to keep clean. There are no nooks and crannies for mold or mildew to grow while the inert properties of the glass provide excellent air quality.

With maintenance costs almost nonexistent and endless pattern and color options - who wouldn’t want to walk on glass?

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Posted in Buildings, CleanTech | 3 Comments »

Wave Energy Technologies

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

Nothing compares to the power of the ocean. It is no wonder that the frothing waters of the seas slamming against cliffs invoke nothing but respect. Anyone who has swum amongst the waves only to be thrown back onto the shore knows how useless it is to fight against a current. Enormous waves have battled ships and won, while tsunamis have sucked countless homes out to sea. Even stones succumb to the torment of the ocean, taking on the shape pounded into them by the repetitive force of the waters. It is hard to imagine anything with more force than the sea.

It was only a matter of time before innovators such as the company “Wave Energy Technologies (WET)” discovered a way to harness the constant energy provided by the perpetually fluctuating waves of the sea. This is especially important since fossil fuels will not be an option forever. Since establishing itself in 2004, Wave Energy Technologies, has moved toward the goal of developing a fully functional “wave energy conversion device.” The Wet EnGen design was developed within that year and has undergone intense testing since then.

As illustrated in their website, “The main feature of the WET EnGen is its Smart Float which travels along a rigid spar at an incline of 45 degrees. The spar is moored at a single point of contact which allows the device to be fully compliant on all three axes (pitch, roll and yaw).” Follow this link to view an illustration showing the process.

Vice President, Perry E. Toms, explains the design in a little more detail: ” The WET EnGen has been successfully demonstrated in both sea trials just outside Halifax as well as in many tests conducted at National Research Council indoor wave tank facilities in Ottawa and St. Johns, NL. The device has a unique design and motion that automatically adjusts itself to capture the strongest wave energy in water depths ranging from 50 meters to many hundreds of meters. This design also can withstand storms and rough seas…The size of the units vary; a 20 kW unit was tested at Sandy Cove Nova Scotia which was approximately 5 meters x 5 meters on top and about 4.5 meters deep whereas a larger 250 kW unit would be larger at about 20 meters square on top and about 18 meters deep. The larger sized unit could provide all the electricity needs for approximately 150 homes.”

This device easily converts wave energy into electrical power or pressurized water for desalination. It seems that the potential for the Wet EnGen is immense. It is hard to beat this product with low maintenance costs and productivity in all areas including those with smaller waves.

One concern, however, is the environmental impact these devices will have. No one wants their pristine view of the ocean ruined by a dozen floating Wet EnGens. Toms argues that their technology is efficient and obstruction is minimal: “The WET EnGen, like an iceberg, has over 90% of its mass under water and does not present a visual detriment to coastal installations – most projects will be located hundreds of meters from shore. Also because wave energy is very dense, a wave energy farm will be much smaller in surface size compared to an equivalent sized wind project and can be designed with minimum impact to both the environment or to fishing or other marine enterprise.”

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Posted in CleanTech, Wave | 1 Comment »

IceEnergy - Keeping Yourself Cool With Stored Ice Energy

Friday, February 15th, 2008

Everyone sweats. It is the unfortunate truth that heat leaves us feeling uncomfortable, sticky and lethargic. It is no wonder that many countries with hotter summer climates like Argentina and Italy close shop during the hottest time of day. Between 1-5pm in the afternoon, you would be hard pressed to find any store open because no one wants to work in a 100 degree environment. Fortunately, with the development of Air Conditioning, work environments have become more comfortable and productivity is definitely higher because of it.

Typical air conditioning units work by using a refrigerant, like freon, for cooling. Strangely enough, the freon first runs through a compressor that transforms the freon into a HOT gas. This gas runs through a set of coils until it cools down to liquid form. Afterwards it runs through an expansion valve that forces the freon to evaporate and turn into a cold, low-pressure gas. This gas cools tubes of water that are pumped through a building to absorb excess heat.

The mechanics are simple to understand, but people are more concerned with the cost. During the hot summer months, electric bills sky rocket because of the need to keep cool. However, Ice-Energy has found a solution.

Energy costs are cut by around 20% when their patented “Ice Bear” is attached to an A/C unit. This machine runs at night, freezing water in its massive storage tank when temperatures are cooler and electricity is plentiful. This ice lasts well into the end of the day where it is used to keep the refrigerant cool before it runs to the AC. Cooling the refrigerant through an AC unit is an energy intensive process, but with the help of the Ice Bear, the refrigerant flows already cooled.

Ice Energy explains the process in their website:

“The Ice Energy system supplements your home’s central air conditioner. Cooling energy is created and stored during nighttime hours when energy is inexpensive and less polluting. During peak daytime hours, the stored cooling is supplied to your home through your air conditioning system. It’s a super-efficient ‘cooling battery’.”

The result is improved cooling comfort, but with 90-95% of the energy use shifted to nighttime hours.”

Through the use of their product, energy bills are cut dramatically and owners can be proud of reducing pollution.

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Posted in Buildings, Energy | 1 Comment »

Bastoey Prison - Criminals Living Green

Friday, February 8th, 2008

Sometimes life does not seem fair, especially when prisoners seem to live better than the rest of us. In the Norwegian prison of Bastoey, inmates roam free on an island without fences. They have access to beaches and landscapes that many of us would pay to visit. As punishment for a variety of crimes, ranging from murder to petty theft, inmates are forced to live on this island and must produce their own meals by farming the land. Everything is extremely efficient: Wood-waste is used for heat and solar panels installed by inmates provide much of the electricity used on the island.

One of the main benefits of running this sort of prison is the low cost associated with its design. Solar panels cut electricity by up to 70%, staff is minimal, and prisoners handle the food production and preparation.

It might seem like a strange form of punishment, but prisoners are obviously not allowed to leave the island and have to work on a daily basis for their food. They are restricted to living a certain way and many tire of the lifestyle. The environment is a healthy one, though, and this is exactly what is needed to rehabilitate troubled individuals.

The calm demeanor of the inmates on this island is surreal when compared to the daily riots, killings, and other meltdowns that occur in many other prisons throughout the world. Of course there are only 115 inmates to deal with and this small number makes managing the community much easier.

Everything harvested in this community is organic and natural. No pesticides are used on the various grains, fruits and vegetables that prisoners farm. Cows, sheep and chickens are taken care of on the island to provide additional protein in the self made meals. Nothing is wasted either; any food not used by the Bastoey prison is sent to other prisons.

This is the first ecological prison in the world. Instead of restricting criminals in cells where productivity is minimal, Norway has found a way for prisoners to provide for themselves in an ecologically friendly environment. Some may argue that there are incentives to commit a crime just to live in this ‘resort’. But numbers indicate that they know what they are doing: Norway has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. It seems that the modern attitude adopted by their society is definitely working.

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Posted in Buildings | No Comments »

Nanosolar-Affordable Solar Panels

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

Everyone has come across photovoltaics on the news, on the road or through personal use. Roofs, cars, garden-lights, satellites, and calculators have all used photovoltaic systems to generate power from the sun. This technology still needs some improving before other fuels become obsolete. Cars still can’t run on solar power alone, for example, but with lower costs of production and increased efficiency the technology is becoming popular for individuals who want alternatives to electricity and fuel.

A company dedicated to improving the efficiency of these solar panel cells in Nanosolar (www.nanosolar.com). In fact, Nanosolar developed cells with world-record efficiency in 2006 and the U.S Department of energy awarded $20 million to the company in 2007. A lot of faith has been put into the potential of these cells. Founded in 2002, Nanosolar can now boast about owning the world’s largest solar cell factory in and the world’s largest panel-assembly factory in Berlin, Germany.

Nanosolar explains that they have developed the “world’s lowest-cost solar panel. Designed to halve the balance-of-system cost relative to competitive panels… Nanosolar is the first and so far only company in the world that has managed to make efficient solar cells work on a metal foil substrate that is both low cost and highly conductive. Our metal foil has a conductivity that is more than 20 times higher than that of the stainless steel used by others - and thus enables major cost reduction on the solar cell’s thin-film bottom electrode.”

Because these cells are less expensive does not mean that there is a catch. In fact, the company prides itself on testing these panels in the harsh environments of Arizona and Alaska and and they stand behind their 25 year warranty.

Nanosolar produces two varieties of solar paneling: The first is the Nanosolar Utility Panel. This panel is “specifically designed for utility-scale power plants…and is the industry-best solution for MW-sized PV systems.” The second panel is the “Nanosolar SolarPly.” This is a “light-weight solar-electric cell foil which can be cut to any size.”

Demand for these Nanosolar panels is so high that they are sold out for the next year. The potential for these cells is immense, so it is no surprise that many individuals are investing money in a product that will eventually pay for itself. Sunlight is free, after all.

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Posted in Solar | 4 Comments »