Renewable Energy Sources

The current energy situation has created a new industry. With new industry new careers are born. We are coming to the end of an era. This is not something that may happen. It is happening now. We have almost depleted the world's supply of oil, and we are killing ourselves with pollution from fossil fuels like coal. Renewable Energy has become the new industry on the horizon.

There are so many new job specialties that will be created by renewable energy becoming the way that we power our world, that new courses in universities are coming to fill the gap. Engineers and scientists are not the only new specialties that renewable energy will utilize. Read any of the books offered below and you'll begin to understand. In the meantime, a new sister page will become available here on this platform. It will be the followup to this page. Keep looking here for the new link. In the meantime, think solar and wind!

Nanotechnology is a simple short term solution for implementing alternative, renewable energy systems. It is a cost effective way to implement solar and wind power systems, which generally depend on the weather for energy output. By using chemical techniques inexpensive solutions of nanoparticles can be prepared and applied to materials for use in ultra capacitors. These units will be cost effective and will conduct electricity at a higher rate than is currently possible. Nanotechnology can be used in battery technology. Nanocomposite materials greatly increase the surface area at which chemical reactions occur in batteries. It enables increases in the battery's output while reducing it's size. In the long term nanotechnology could enable power to be harnessed from renewable sources and stored until we use the power at a later time. This is a technology whose time has come as we don't have a system in place that effectively stores power in this fashion. However there are researchers who are working in this direction and new discoveries are coming almost daily. It is almost the way every major innovation in our country has occurred. When the internal combustion engine was developed, there were several inventors working toward the same end without any of them having any knowledge of what the other was doing! The same could be said of the steam engine.

Credit for a great deal of this information comes from material written by David Walker and Dr. Mark Daugherty of IPC Corporation. This technology is another advent in getting to a place where we free ourselves from costly fossil fuels and embrace renewable energy.

This is an example of science providing a solution to a problem that seems mundane. There have been many detractors of solar power whose main defense has been no way to store surplus power. That is an old tired excuse and there are many more ways than the one indicated here to store solar power. We must consider the economy and the environment when we make our decisions regarding renewable energy sources and alternative energy.

The kitchen shown above is stylish, up to the minute, utilitarian, and completely solar powered!

The German government has presented us with a way to replace most of their power sources with renewable energy.
The following article details how the German government is going to power back fossil fuels and nuclear power, then move forward with renewables.

Germany, in particular, is pursuing a path forward that represents a significant departure from business-as-usual in the US and other countries. Rather than developing nuclear power, Germany is aggressively pursuing renewable energy in combination with innovative new electricity grid management strategies. Interestingly, Germany used to depend much more on nuclear electricity (~30% of national supply in 1999) than the U.S. currently does (~20%).

The scale of change that will be required for Germany to meet its renewable energy targets is unprecedented. In September 2010, the conservative government under Chancellor Merkel released its Energy Concept, which outlines the government's plan to reduce carbon emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2020 (and 80% by 2050) in part by increasing the national share of renewable electricity to more than 35% in 2020 and to 80% by 2050. Within four decades, one of the world's leading economies will be powered almost entirely by wind, solar, biomass, hydro, and geothermal power.

The German government is combining its push for renewables with a rapid retreat from its existing nuclear assets. Following the Fukushima disaster, the German government announced a three-month shutdown of seven of its seventeen nuclear power plants and a review of its nuclear strategy. No blackout followed and national energy supply has remained stable.

Nuclear power capacity was replaced by reducing surplus electricity exports, by temporarily importing electricity from neighboring countries and by using the reserve capacity of traditional back-up power plants. Some analysts have argued that a nuclear scale-back in Germany would prevent the country from reaching its long-term climate and energy goals. In reality, Germany is already well on its way to transitioning from nuclear and fossil fuel power to renewable energy.

The old nuclear power plants had been a bottleneck for greater investment. With the planned phase out of all nuclear power capacity, investors are lining up to put more renewable energy and high-efficiency natural gas plants in place. Overall, CO2 emissions will not rise as the energy sector has to comply with the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the associated emissions cap.

Within the Next Decade: Germany's Nuclear Phase Out

There has been strong anti-nuclear sentiment in Germany since the nuclear accident in Chernobyl in 1986. This has been reflected in a series of legislation placing limitations on nuclear build out. In 2002, Germany passed legislation establishing a phase out of nuclear power by 2022. In 2010, the Merkel government confirmed the phase out in general, but extended plant lives by an additional 8-12 years.

This extension, which was framed as a necessary "bridge" to a renewable energy future, was unpopular with the public. Soon after the Fukushima crisis, Chancellor Merkel's party (the conservative Christian Democratic Union, or CDU) lost a key election in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The historic election was largely seen as a referendum on nuclear power and it handed the governorship of Baden-Württemberg, one of Germany's largest and most economically powerful states, to the Green Party, following close to six decades of CDU rule.

At the national level, there is now a new consensus across the political parties in Germany that the nuclear phase out will again be accelerated. The question is not if Germany will phase out nuclear power, but how quickly. Instead of being shut down some time after 2030, current proposals envision full nuclear shutdown sometime between 2015 and 2025.

The country has consistently met its legislated targets ahead of schedule and appears poised to outdo itself again in the next few years. The previous target of 30% renewable electricity by 2020 has recently been updated by Germany's official National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP). The NREAP reveals that the country expects to actually generate 38% of its electricity from renewables by 2020.

While hydro power, geothermal, and biogas play an important role in the renewable mix, wind and solar power will expand the most rapidly under the German renewable energy strategy. It is projected that wind and solar will supply 18% and 7% of national electricity by the end of this decade, respectively. Although Germany has received criticism for supporting comparatively high-cost photovoltaic (PV) systems, the government remains committed to growing its PV markets and it seems likely that PV will be competitive with retail electricity within the next two to three years.

Several PV markets in Europe -- the Czech Republic, France, and Spain - were recently scaled back following rapid market growth in 2008-2010. Some analysts speculated that Germany would be the next large PV market to be capped. Germany has installed 17,000 MW of PV to date which amounts to more than half of the world's total, including over 7,400 MW of new PV capacity in 2010 alone. The official projections are that PV will expand to more than 50,000 MW by 2020. This equals the capacity of 70 coal fired power plants. Given the phase out of nuclear power, it is likely that this projection could be revised upward as the transition towards a renewable energy based economy accelerates.

The battle with public utilities already in existence has become a heated one. The existing power companies have campaigned against firms wanting to supply the public with electricity through renewable energy sources. This battle is going on now in California.

Several communities have tried but none succeeded until the Marin Energy Authority (or Marin Clean Energy) started operations last year. MEA started with 8,500 customers but is adding new customers continually. It estimates it will reach 70,000 customers by 2012. The total potential is about 100,000 customers, or more if other communities join them.

"We are filling a niche market for mid-sized renewable energy generation in the 20 to 60 MW range," said Dawn Weisz, interim director of MEA. "When we went out to solicit renewable power offers, Pacific Gas & Electric told us we would not get any bids. We were looking for 40 MW. We were offered over 600. Almost all was solar." Three firms are short-listed: LS Power, Sun Power and enXco.

Since 2002, Marin has spent or borrowed about $3.5 million to get its CCA up and running. Their pioneering work means that entry for other communities will be cheaper.

Ms.Weisz has been working on CCA for nine years and has the scars to prove it: "PG&E spent $4.1 million in Marin County and $46 million state-wide to prevent the birth of this CCA or any other."

She described what she and the elected officials who backed CCA were up against: "There were almost daily glossy mailers full of inaccurate information and fear tactics slandering our program."

Direct calls to residents caused many to back out because of false information about lights going out and bills doubling, said Ms.Weisz. As a result, 20% of potential CCA customers opted out. A recent California Public Utilities ruling turns over the process of polling potential customers to the CCA. This obvious fear campaign pointed out the problem clearly, existing utilities did not want competition.

The fact that state legislation allows CCAs to count customers "in" unless they specifically "opt out" is a measure of the support state lawmakers have provided. Legislation now pending prohibits incumbent utilities from many of the aggressive tactics that have defeated CCAs elsewhere in the state.

Marin's efforts began as a measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the county. Says Ms. Weisz: "When we were reviewing the GHG reductions that would come from various measures we realized that all were very small compared to a CCA, which would take over choosing power sources. With one fell swoop you could eliminate all GHG from power sources."

When it launched last fall, Marin Energy Authority's goal was to offer 20% renewable energy to its customers," said Ms.Weisz. "We were able to offer 27.5% compared to the state-mandated 20%." The state recently increased the mandate to one third. PG&E has about 17% under contract, according to Ms. Weisz.

The Marin CCA offers two grades of service: ight green and deep green. Deep green is 100% renewable and costs about 10% more than traditional energy service. Overall, the light green rates are competitive with PG&E. Over the long run, as the cost of renewables goes down, CCA rates could even be lower.

Ms. Weisz praised their full service contractor, Shell Energy North America, for helping Marin Clean Energy get started. The CCA is lean with only four full-time employees, but it hopes to wean itself away from the full service contract it has with its technical and legal team within two years.

MEA has begun contracting for its own energy sources, having put 3.2 MW of landfill gas generation under contract. The CCA's ultimate goal is to divert the county dollars going to outside energy sources to the local economy. They pay for locally-generated renewable energy better than PG&E - a typical rate of 7 cents a kilowatt-hour (kWh) plus 1 cent. They are presently fighting before the public utilities commission for the right to administer energy efficiency money. At present every customer pays into a "public goods" fund which is doled out by the incumbent utility. Marin Clean Energy thinks it can do a better job and create more local jobs with the money.

An intriguing possibility for the Marin CCA is unlimited expansion. They have had so many inquiries from other local governments that they have set up a program to assist by including them or consulting with them.

Nothing in the law limits a CCA to a specific geographic territory. All that is required is an ordinance from a local government. The Marin Energy Authority presently includes the county and seven cities. The board is working on a plan for including other jurisdictions.

No matter what the outcome of all of this turns out to be, a large new market for distributed local renewable energy sources could be opening up in California.

In August of 2008 the town of Rock Port Missouri announced that they had the first completely wind powered community in United States history. There are only four wind turbines supplying all of the power that Rock Port needs. Rock Port is a small city with only a little over 1300 residents. Rock Port's wind power is supplied by four wind turbines on agricultural lands inside the city limits of Rock Port which is in Atchison County. They use 13 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year. The four turbines will probably produce around 16 million kilowatt hours per year.
The excess power generated but not used will be purchased by the Missouri Joint Municipal Utilities for use elsewhere. At the University of Missouri, Extension specialists say that there are opportunities for wind power to be used in northwest Missouri.
Currently 24 wind turbines operate in Atchison County, 24 operate in Nodaway County, and 27 operate in Gentry County. University of Missouri Extension specialist say that wind farms will produce 1.1 million dollars a year in county real estate taxes. The taxes will be paid by wind energy developer Wind Capitol Group from St. Louis Missouri. This is a situation heretofore unheard of (the increase in tax dollars) in rural areas like these. Using wind power will help landowners in these areas, as they will lease part of their property for wind turbines at rates of 3,000 to 5,000 dollars.
The success of this venture is bringing other wind energy companies out to look at possibly acquiring sites in northwest Missouri. According to a U.S. Department of Energy map northwest Missouri has the state's highest level of wind resources. It also shows that a number of locations in this area would be suitable for wind development on a utility scale.
There is a 20 year life span for the turbines being used in Missouri, therefore they will provide electricity for that period before they would need to be replaced. The community will benefit greatly from this as they save money as well as the electric power companies in the area. An unexpected benefit is curiosity brings visitors from other areas which adds money received from tourism.
This is another example of the practicality of using renewable energy and thereby reducing CO2 emissions as well as eliminating greenhouse gas. We must lobby our elected officials to see that this is going to be one of the ways we save our environment and our planet.

This is a story that has implications for all of us. We can repeat this success all over the country with a little know-how and hard work. I think everyone is ready, this is the start of a new economy.

When you go camping you're probably using camping gear with material made by the Koch Brothers, so in essence you're camping with the Koch Brothers. They control brands like the Polarguard insulation that is in your sleeging bag, Coolmax fabric in your running outfit, lycra in your swimwear and Supplex in your jacket. (windbreaker) All of these things are made from petroleum. So, when you camp you're using material made by people that have been shown to be the worst polluters in the world.
I don't camp, I simply don't like the activity. However, I am guilty like the rest of us of using products that are controlled by people like the Koch Brothers. So the next time you are biking or hiking or anything that has to do with these activities, you are probably using material controlled by these people. I thought you might like to know.

One way to boost solar cell performance is to effectively trap light, and many companies have come up approaches to minimize reflection and keep the photons bouncing around the semiconductors. A new entrant, Solar3D, is investing a way to do this by creating "trenches" and optics on top.

The Santa Barbara, Calif., company is in the early stage of technology development. It's still designing components of the device and determining the types of materials to use. The goal is to fabricate a prototype cell by the end of this year, said Jim Nelson, CEO of Solar3D.

The company wants to develop a silicon solar cell with an array of tiny 3-dimensional structures that look like trenches for trapping light, Nelson said. The trenches, which don't exist in conventional solar cells, come with more surface areas to keep the light in order to increaes the power output, he said. The substrate and the trenches will be made with silicon. There also will be an optical element on top of the trenches to help increase the amount of light capture. The optical element could be made of silicon oxide or some other composite material, Nelson said.

"The light comes down and hits the (optical element), which forces it into the trenches at an angle so that it will bounce back and forth, for four times at least, to get the most energy out," Nelson said.

The company's web site also talks about putting the electrical contact lines not on top of the cells, like they are in conventional silicon cells today, but underneath the optical element. This placement is meant to make sure more light is caught and funnel it to the 3D trenches below.

By the company's own assumption, such design will push a silicon solar cell's efficiency close to its theoretical maximum of 29 percent, Nelson said. A lot more computer simulation and calculations will have to be done to nail down the designs and likely efficiency targets, however.
SunPower holds the world record for being able to produce a solar cell with 24 percent efficiency, though the typical efficiency of cells rolling off its production lines could be a few percentage points lower. SunPower is using the more expensive monocrystalline silicon while most of the solar cells today use multicrystalline silicon and generally have efficiencies between 15-18 percent.

Nelson said the goal is to design a way to make the solar cell that will require minimal additional equipment and other costs. "Our technology guys feel they can engineer something that can be a dropped into existing facilities and with minimum capital investments," he said.

There is no clear indication whether the company can even come close to delivering on its promise. The idea it is exploring is intriguing though. The 3D solar cell concept isn't new. Some of the well profiled research included what's been done at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In a 2007 research paper, Georgia Tech's scientists described the "tower structures" on the silicon substrate, as well as other features that 3DSolar mentioned on its website, that were designed to trap more light.

Solar3D is starting out at a time when venture capitalists are shying away from startups that are likely to require hundreds of millions of dollars to bring their technologies into commercialization. Investors also are weary of simplistic pitches about how a novel technology can dramatically boost solar cell performance without incurring much more additional manufacturing costs than what current processes require.

But then, Nelson said Solar3D doesn't want to raise venture capital at all.

"One option we will never touch is the venture capital option," said Nelson who, unlike many solar startup CEOs, doesn't have a technical background. Instead, he comes from the private equity world.

"There have been billions of dollars that VCs have put into green energy, but green energy has never been for them. They should've never done it. The payback is too long and so different than what American venture capitalists are used to," Nelson said.

Nelson is mum about how much the company has raised money for developing this technology. The company actually started out as a software developer called MachineTalker, Inc., in the early 2000s, he said. The company went public to raise money but the technology never got commercialized. About a year and a half ago, key investors who were interested in cleantech decided to look into funding solar technology development. The company's director of technology, Changwan Son, joined the company last fall.

The company has enough money to complete the prototype cell, Nelson said. He will then look for a manufacturing partner as an investor and to help Solar3D finalize the process for making the 3D device. The company might do another public offering to raise money; its shares are currently traded on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board market.

Solar3D employees about a dozen people, with five full-time people working on the technology development, Nelson said. The company hopes to contract with manufacturers to make its technology and maybe license its know-how as well, he added.

Courtesy of Renewable Energy World

This business is in my neighborhood and they have one vertical and one horizontal wind turbine(s) along with photovoltaic solar panels powering their business! They have the turbines located in back of their store in the parking lot. The solar panels are visible here on the awning above the door shown.

Pay them a visit in person or go to their site, by clicking here

Their business address shown above is 9665 First View Street, Norfolk VA 23503

(we are not affiliated with them but we like e'm)

For detailed information on electric cars go to Plug In Cars

The car shown above here is the Tesla Roadster, it is a beautiful automobile. What is even more beautiful is the fact that no gas is required. 'Filling' this vehicle only requires an electrical outlet. I show this car to show the high end of electric car. This car will go from 0-60mph in 4 seconds. A charge will take you up to 250 miles and cost only $5, good by any standards.The founder of this company expressed it well. To paraphrase he said, you don't have to have an electric car that resembles a souped up golf cart. The 92,000 dollar price tag means this is a luxury vehicle. It looks and runs better than most gas powered luxury vehicles. There are more cars shown below, and they are futuristic,well engineered and they are electric! Take it from me the new generation of vehicle will take us neatly into a future that is carbon dioxide free and sustainable.
The first car shown was invented by William Morrison in 1887 and he exhibited it in a parade. New York used electric cars as taxis in the early 1900's.
The second car shown below is the Dodge EV. From 0 to 60mph in 5 seconds. This car is the American answer to the Tesla Roadster, so it is not an average consumer car. This 2 passenger electric rear wheel drive will take you 150-200 miles on one charge. It travels at speeds up to 120mph and has 270 horse power. Simply plug it in and go!

The next car shown below is the Venturi Volage Roadster. All electric vehicle with 295 horse power, and 1711 pounds of torque, and will travel from 0-60 in 5 seconds. It will reach speeds of 160mph and will travel 200 miles on one charge. The car weighs 2,369 pounds and each wheel is independently powered. It goes into production in 2012. The second picture of the Venturi is to show those doors, very nice!

The next in line is the Nissan NuVu all electric vehicle. This vehicle's roof is lined with a dozen solar panels. It seats 3 and is 3.3 meters long. The maximum speed is 75mph and it will travel 80 miles on one charge. The powertrain runs on 2 lithium batteries and will start production in 2010. I wanted to show the outside and inside of this vehicle as the inside is really well done.

This next car is the Chrysler Pea Pod. It is a neighborhood electric vehicle, perfect for urban and suburban areas for short trips or commutes. It seats four and it is 114 inches long. It weighs 2,200 pounds, and the maximum speed is 25mph. The need for 2 pictures is the unusual shape and you can see the inside from the side view.

This next one is the Super Slim Lumeneo Simera EV. It is a 2 seat 4 wheeled electric vehicle narrow enough to manuver like a motorcycle. It has dual electric motors with 20hp power wheels. The car is 2.4 meters long (around 8 feet) and 80 cm wide (less than 3 feet) and lithium ion battery power. This vehicle is priced at between 20-30 thousand Euros. It will be in production this year.

Next to last, is the Chevrolet Volt. This is an electric vehicle that will run on gas after 40 miles electric travel. The time it spends running on gas is mostly to charge the lithium ion battery pack. It's price tag is 30-50 thousand dollars. Chevy is working on similar models that will be more moderately priced.

Introducing the Nissan Leaf, this car will be built in the US as Nissan has aquired the land and has set up production for this all electric vechile. The second photo shows the interior, which appears to be 'high tech', but simple to operate the vehicle's gadgets. The third shot is a reminder, this vehicle will only cost a couple of bucks to fill. The vehicle is all electric and is on sale as I write this, I want to put my teenage son into one. UPDATE: THE NISSAN LEAF IS AVAILABLE NOW!

In the summer 2010, Initial infrastructure deployment begins for the EV project and has hopefully ushered in a new era in automobile transportation. In the fall of 2010, Nissan launched the Nissan LEAF, a zero emission pure electric vehicle. Check the layout shown above of the Nissan LEAF. This project will provide 750 new jobs by 2012, and 5,500 new jobs by 2017. Let me explain, this project is sanctioned by the United States Department of Energy, and they have awarded a 100 million dollar grant to the participants. Read on and learn more about this exciting project.

The Following is an Overview of this Project quoted from their website:
The EV Project is the largest deployment of electric vehicles and charge infrastructure in history.

On August 5, 2009, Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec), a subsidiary of ECOtality, Inc. (OTCBB:ETLY) was awarded a $99.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to embark on this Project. The Project officially was launched on October 1, 2009 and will last approximately 36 months.

eTec is partnering with Nissan North America to deploy up to 4,700 zero-emission electric vehicles, the Nissan LEAF, and 11,210 charging systems to support them in strategic markets in five states: Arizona, California, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington.

The EV Project will collect and analyze data to characterize vehicle use in diverse topographic and climatic conditions, evaluate the effectiveness of charge infrastructure, and conduct trials of various revenue systems for commercial and public charge infrastructure. The ultimate goal of The EV Project is to take the lessons learned from the deployment of these first 4,700 EVs, and the charging infrastructure supporting them, to enable the streamlined deployment of the next 5,000,000 EVs.

In the summer of 2010, charging infrastructure was deployed in the following major population areas: Phoenix (AZ), Tucson (AZ), San Diego (CA), Portland (OR), Eugene (OR), Corvallis (OR), Seattle (WA), Nashville (TN), Knoxville (TN) and Chattanooga (TN). The Nissan LEAF has been available in those same areas since the fall of 2010 to consumers and fleets.

This project is an opening to a new way of transportation that will be cleaner, easier to maintain and not harmful to the environment as there are no emissions. Keep your eye on this lens as I will update the project's progress from time to time.
For now included in the project there will be, 10,950 Level 2 (220V) Chargers, 260 Level 3 Fast-Chargers, and 40+ Project Partners. These number will grow as the viability of electric vehicles is proven to be an acceptable replacement for internal combustion engine vehicles.

The auto industry is in a state of collapse and there is a need for a new way to do business. There is a company in Israel that has an innovative program to build and deploy mass-produced electric cars in that country. Word is that President Obama will adopt this technology for the United States. There is a major car manufacturer in this country that has a team they have put together in order to manufacture these cars by the hundreds of thousands and have them on the road by the year 2010. Renault-Nissan agreed some time ago to build these cars.

The new admistration is a perfect fit for this kind of technology as it can revive the auto industry that is against the ropes now and failing fast. The factories could be retrofitted to manufacture this type of vehicle and that alone would create thousands of new jobs. Once the retrofit was complete the auto unions would have plenty of work for their members. The result of the Obama administration embracing this technology would be immediately obvious to the public.

Better Place, the Israeli auto manufacturer, established 14 months ago by entrepreneur Shai Agassi, aims to switch cars worldwide from the pump to the plug, using battery-powered electric vehicles that would recharge at parking meter-style "charging spots," on a grid powered by renewable energy.

Israel, Denmark and Australia are committed to the idea. The Japanese government invited Better Place to work with its local car manufacturers on an electric car venture. The state of Hawaii signed up to a pilot program recently. Hawaii is President (elect) Barack Obama's home state, that is to say it is where he was reared by his grandmother and his mother, although Illinois is his home state of record.

The Renault-Nissan vehicles will cost about the same as conventional cars for now, but will be less expensive eventually. They have comparable acceleration, can reach comparable speeds (of 150 to 180 kph) and can run 150-200 kilometers on a single battery.

Some of us remember the slot cars that vibrated around a magnetic track from our childhoods. This concept has been adopted by a German scientist as a new alternative transportation mode.
Christian Forg, a German designer took the slot cars we loved as kids to come with an idea for extending the range of electric cars. Instead of an electric motor under the hood, Forg suggests putting an electric motor under the road.

Förg's Speedway Transport System concept uses a network of linear electric motors to propel EVs along the highway. He sees us driving around in futuristic dual-mode EVs with small motors for city driving. When we're ready to leave town, ahe contact-free linear motor would propel the car over long distances with a drifting magnetic field. Förg says linear motors would work under our existing roadways, complementing, not replacing, existing automotive technology.

"This means that you can use the roads with normal cars and also at the same time for the Speedway system," he told Wired.com.
The scientist contended that with the new 'speedway' we could see a new style of transportation, While traveling on the speedway, one would not have to actually navigate the vehicle. The speedway will accomodate conventional automobiles and those would of course have to be driven in a normal fashion, However if you were to upgrade to the proposed futuristic vehicles shown in the photo below, the speedway would propel you to your destination. This innovation would bring about a new clean way to travel with the added feature of passive driving, where your vehicle by means of the speedway would transport you to your destination without any effort from the driver. Travel would become safer, faster, and more efficient.
If Speedway is ever implemented, the Autobahn could become the top of a giant linear motor. Instead of spinning a rotor, linear motors create a linear force along a flat stator (the stationary part of the electric motor). In transporation, the linear motor's moving magnetic field will repel the opposing magnetic field of a conductor, thereby moving it along.

Förg says the linear motor also can charge an electric car's battery so it's ready for urban travel. "Only highways for long range distances will need to be upgraded," he wrote on his website. "But even with this upgrade, the streets still can be used by conventional cars."

While the concept sounds far-fetched, linear motors have been around since the 1840s and the first practical models were demonstrated in Germany in 1935. Linear motors are used to propel Maglev trains and some urban transit systems. The AirTrain at New York's JFK Airport and the Vancouver SkyTrain are two well-known public transit systems that use linear motors from Bombardier, while Maglevs in Shanghai and Japan also use the technology.

Images by Christian Forg

The mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome, has announced that he will transform the city's civic center into the massive sustainable energy site and resource center pictured above. This new center will have solar panels, wind turbines, living roofs and other renewable energy resources. These renewable resources will reduce San Francisco's energy needs by 33 percent, there will be an 80 percent decrease in potable water use, it will be energy efficient and have water efficient fixtures. There will also be a reduction of wastewater discharge of 45 percent.

Mayor Newsome was attending President Bill Clinton's climate initiative when he announced this project.

In his own words he said, "San Francisco's Civic Center sits at the core of one of the most visited cities in the world. What better way to educate the world on sustainability than by transforming that core to showcase how we can use water more efficiently, promote food security, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. San Francisco has always been a leader - willing to think differently and act boldly. And now, our Civic Center will stand as a global model for how we achieve a more sustainable future".

This project will go into the planning stage at the end of October 2008. When this planning process is complete, the project will start by the end of the year 2009.

San Francisco recently was one of the first urban areas to grant building permits for wind turbines.

Inspired by the surrounding landscape, Vulcano Buono has a gently sloping profile that rises from the earth as a grassy knoll. The structure's roof is covered with a vegetative layer of over 2,500 plants that help to insulate the interior spaces.
A 150 meter-wide clearing in the volcano's crater lends space for an outdoor theater, a market, and a sloping pine forest. Rising around the center of the structure is a concentric series of circles that form the center's commercial areas. The volcano's slopes are held by structural components meant to evoke trees each "trunk" sprouts three or four supporting "branches".
The roof of Vulcano Buono has a series of skylights fitted with solar-control double-pane glass that allows daylight to filter through the mall, reducing energy needs from lighting. The interior of the complex houses shops, a supermarket, a 2,000 seat cinema, restaurants, and a hotel.

Information obtained from Inhabitat Weekly Newsletter

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The Elithis Tower is located in Dijon, France, the Tower is said to be the world's most environmentally sound building and the first positive-energy office structure.
Elithis Engineering General Director Thierry Bievre, wanted to design and build an environmentally sound building equal to the cost of a traditional structure. In a collaborative effort with Dijon, ADEME Bourgogne and architect Jean-Marie Charpentier, Bievre and the team designed and constructed The Elithis Tower.

Features of the building include:
*The 54,000 square foot structure is 110 feet tall.
*The building's exterior is constructed mainly from wood and recycled insulation. Very little aluminum was used.
*The building's temperature is regulated through a unique venting system.
*A meteorological station, located on the roof, controls the opening and closing of the building's vents.
*The inner concrete core retains heat.
*The structure is fitted with 1,600 solar panels.
*Besides office space, retail and restaurant space is located on the main floor.
*Comfort and aesthetics are combined with energy and environmental performance.
*The offices will use natural light, minimizing the need for artificial light.
*A unique solar shield, designed by the engineers, allows natural light in while filtering out excess heat and blinding light.
*A patented triple flow system saves energy by recovering office energy emissions from computers, lights, copy machines, etc.
*Over 1,600 sensors are installed in the building to examine and analyze energy and emissions. Daily consumption and savings is displayed on a public sign.
*Rainwater is collected for the toilets.
*The building will be cleaned during the day, computers will be turned off at night, and people will use the stairs. Everyone in the Tower is encouraged to participate in making positive environmentally-friendly choices.
This building should act as a model for office buildings constructed elsewhere. The United States has to act now or we will fall behind in environmentally sound building construction.

The following is an article written by Al Gore and published by the New York Times on November 9,2008. It is intended to show the importance world leaders place on changing to powering our society with renewable energy sources and alternative energy.

THE inspiring and transformative choice by the American people to elect Barack Obama as our 44th president lays the foundation for another fateful choice that he - and we - must make this January to begin an emergency rescue of human civilization from the imminent and rapidly growing threat posed by the climate crisis.

The electrifying redemption of America's revolutionary declaration that all human beings are born equal sets the stage for the renewal of United States leadership in a world that desperately needs to protect its primary endowment: the integrity and livability of the planet.

The world authority on the climate crisis, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, after 20 years of detailed study and four unanimous reports, now says that the evidence is "unequivocal." To those who are still tempted to dismiss the increasingly urgent alarms from scientists around the world, ignore the melting of the north polar ice cap and all of the other apocalyptic warnings from the planet itself, and who roll their eyes at the very mention of this existential threat to the future of the human species, please wake up. Our children and grandchildren need you to hear and recognize the truth of our situation, before it is too late.

Here is the good news: the bold steps that are needed to solve the climate crisis are exactly the same steps that ought to be taken in order to solve the economic crisis and the energy security crisis.

Economists across the spectrum - including Martin Feldstein and Lawrence Summers - agree that large and rapid investments in a jobs-intensive infrastructure initiative is the best way to revive our economy in a quick and sustainable way. Many also agree that our economy will fall behind if we continue spending hundreds of billions of dollars on foreign oil every year. Moreover, national security experts in both parties agree that we face a dangerous strategic vulnerability if the world suddenly loses access to Middle Eastern oil.

As Abraham Lincoln said during America's darkest hour, "The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew." In our present case, thinking anew requires discarding an outdated and fatally flawed definition of the problem we face.

Thirty-five years ago this past week, President Richard Nixon created Project Independence, which set a national goal that, within seven years, the United States would develop "the potential to meet our own energy needs without depending on any foreign energy sources." His statement came three weeks after the Arab oil embargo had sent prices skyrocketing and woke America to the dangers of dependence on foreign oil. And - not coincidentally - it came only three years after United States domestic oil production had peaked.

At the time, the United States imported less than a third of its oil from foreign countries. Yet today, after all six of the presidents succeeding Nixon repeated some version of his goal, our dependence has doubled from one-third to nearly two-thirds - and many feel that global oil production is at or near its peak.

Some still see this as a problem of domestic production. If we could only increase oil and coal production at home, they argue, then we wouldn't have to rely on imports from the Middle East. Some have come up with even dirtier and more expensive new ways to extract the same old fuels, like coal liquids, oil shale, tar sands and "clean coal" technology.

But in every case, the resources in question are much too expensive or polluting, or, in the case of "clean coal," too imaginary to make a difference in protecting either our national security or the global climate. Indeed, those who spend hundreds of millions promoting "clean coal" technology consistently omit the fact that there is little investment and not a single large-scale demonstration project in the United States for capturing and safely burying all of this pollution. If the coal industry can make good on this promise, then I'm all for it. But until that day comes, we simply cannot any longer base the strategy for human survival on a cynical and self-interested illusion.

Here's what we can do - now: we can make an immediate and large strategic investment to put people to work replacing 19th-century energy technologies that depend on dangerous and expensive carbon-based fuels with 21st-century technologies that use fuel that is free forever: the sun, the wind and the natural heat of the earth.

What follows is a five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of our electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years. It is a plan that would simultaneously move us toward solutions to the climate crisis and the economic crisis - and create millions of new jobs that cannot be outsourced.

First, the new president and the new Congress should offer large-scale investment in incentives for the construction of concentrated solar thermal plants in the Southwestern deserts, wind farms in the corridor stretching from Texas to the Dakotas and advanced plants in geothermal hot spots that could produce large amounts of electricity.

Second, we should begin the planning and construction of a unified national smart grid for the transport of renewable electricity from the rural places where it is mostly generated to the cities where it is mostly used. New high-voltage, low-loss underground lines can be designed with "smart" features that provide consumers with sophisticated information and easy-to-use tools for conserving electricity, eliminating inefficiency and reducing their energy bills. The cost of this modern grid - $400 billion over 10 years - pales in comparison with the annual loss to American business of $120 billion due to the cascading failures that are endemic to our current balkanized and antiquated electricity lines.

Third, we should help America's automobile industry (not only the Big Three but the innovative new startup companies as well) to convert quickly to plug-in hybrids that can run on the renewable electricity that will be available as the rest of this plan matures. In combination with the unified grid, a nationwide fleet of plug-in hybrids would also help to solve the problem of electricity storage. Think about it: with this sort of grid, cars could be charged during off-peak energy-use hours; during peak hours, when fewer cars are on the road, they could contribute their electricity back into the national grid.

Fourth, we should embark on a nationwide effort to retrofit buildings with better insulation and energy-efficient windows and lighting. Approximately 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from buildings - and stopping that pollution saves money for homeowners and businesses. This initiative should be coupled with the proposal in Congress to help Americans who are burdened by mortgages that exceed the value of their homes.

Fifth, the United States should lead the way by putting a price on carbon here at home, and by leading the world's efforts to replace the Kyoto treaty next year in Copenhagen with a more effective treaty that caps global carbon dioxide emissions and encourages nations to invest together in efficient ways to reduce global warming pollution quickly, including by sharply reducing deforestation.

Of course, the best way - indeed the only way - to secure a global agreement to safeguard our future is by re-establishing the United States as the country with the moral and political authority to lead the world toward a solution.

Looking ahead, I have great hope that we will have the courage to embrace the changes necessary to save our economy, our planet and ultimately ourselves.

In an earlier transformative era in American history, President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to land a man on the moon within 10 years. Eight years and two months later, Neil Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface. The average age of the systems engineers cheering on Apollo 11 from the Houston control room that day was 26, which means that their average age when President Kennedy announced the challenge was 18.

This year similarly saw the rise of young Americans, whose enthusiasm electrified Barack Obama's campaign. There is little doubt that this same group of energized youth will play an essential role in this project to secure our national future, once again turning seemingly impossible goals into inspiring success.

Al Gore, the vice president from 1993 to 2001, was the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He founded the Alliance for Climate Protection and, as a businessman, invests in alternative energy companies.