To add an item or to subscribe to this newsletter, please contact

Energy Grapevine

Issue 83

4thJune 2010

  1. Giant Inflatable Airship Powered by Algae

This summer, piloted by Captain Allan Judd, Bullet 580 will usher in the return of inflatable giant airships. The 235 ft long and 65ft diameter ship is covered with a type of Kevlar, a material 10 times-stronger than steel but only one sixteenth of an inch thick. AnE-greendesign special costing £5.5million, this giant runs on algae – latestbio-fuelthat can be developed from brackish and waste water.

  1. Wave Energy Companies Set for Substantial International Developments in 2010

Even though wave device technologies are still at the proof-of concept phase, 2010 has witnessed a flurry of UK government support for wave energy with the first recipients from the Marine Renewables Proving Fund being rewarded over £10mn.In addition to this Carbon Trust funding, the Technology Strategy Board, the Scottish Saltire Prize and also EC funding all hold promise… but only for those companies right at the forefront. What about the rest?

  1. Family dairy farm hopes to generate electricity from biogas

A large 42- by 84-foot separator building is already framed up and partially closed in on the 425-acre Auburn Star Farm on the Connecticut River side of Route 2. The structure represents what the Eaton family hopes will be the first phase of a two-phase plan to generate electricity in a methane gas (biogas) Combined Heating and Power (CHP) project to diversify the dairy farming operation.

  1. Over a Third of Power from New Energy - Study

It is a crucial, if geekish, point: Wind and solar power are NOT intermittent, they are VARIABLE. If someone talks about problems with the intermittencies of wind and solar energies, it is out of ignorance or to intentionally discredit them. Obviously, the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow but those things can be scheduled and forecasted and are no reasons whatsoever not to keep building wind power and solar energy as fast as is humanly possible.

  1. Scientists Study Fish Schools for Wind Farm Ideas

Presently Fluid Dynamics Expert, John Dabiri, is very much on the quest of improving designs ofwind turbines. Spotting behaviours that may throw light on energy-related practices in biological system and trying to implement that in real-life situations is part of that quest and Mr.Dabiri is jubilant that he is learning lessons from a school of fish!

  1. Research hands out Grades for Energy Efficient Housing by Dr Hasim Altan

Student flats, mid-terraced housing and Victorian homes were named among the most energy efficient buildings in the country, following a research exercise by Dr Hasim Altan and energy company E-ON.

1

Prepared by James Williams and Adorkor Bruce