Category: Green

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From Autoblog: Video: Translogic visits Europe, first to drive the Lightning GT

The Lightning GT all-electric supercar has been inching its way towards production for years now. The last time we talked about itwas November 2010, but it’s back thanks to Translogic.

The video series from our colleagues at AOL Autos took a trip to Europe and managed to score the very first drive of the Lightning GT before anyone else. Not even Top Gear has sat in this thing and it’s being developed in their backyard.

The specs for the car as they stand today are 400 horsepower from its electric motor powering the rear wheels for a 0-60 time of around 4.5 seconds and a maximum range of 150 miles. The folks behind the Lightning GT even claim that their lithium-titanate batteries (sourced from the U.S.) can be recharged in just 10 minutes when paired with a big daddy ultra powerful off-board charger.

Bold claims for sure, and we’d likely describe the Lightning GT as vaporware if Translogic didn’t just drive it. Drive it they did, though, so follow the jumpto watch Translogic host Bradley Hasemeyer be the first to put foot to floor in the Lightning GT.

Continue reading Translogic visits Europe, first to drive the Lightning GT

 

from Autoblog

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From Engadget: Japan to reduce rare earth consumption in response to China’s export controls

Japan took another step toward lessening its rare earths dependence today, announcing plans to drastically reduce consumption levels in response to China’s continued market dominance. Of particular concern to the Japanese government is dysprosium — a rare earth used in the production of high-powered magnets. China, which accounts for about 95 percent of the world’s rare earth supply, has been tightening export controls on the metal in recent months, sending global prices skyward. With its domestic supplies dwindling, Japan has now committed to reducing its dysprosium consumption by 30 percent over the next few years, as part of a $65 million initiative. Much of that money will presumably go toward helping manufacturers develop alternative production and recycling methods, as some already have. Toyota, for instance, has found a way to produce hybrid and electric vehicles without using dysprosium, while Mitsubishi, Panasonic and TDK are currently looking at ways to extract the metal from old air conditioners. If effective, the government’s program would reduce domestic consumption by between 200 and 400 tonnes per year.

 

from Engadget

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From Engadget: Two US startups break solar efficiency records, aim to light up your life

Two US startups break solar efficiency records, aim to light up your life

Two US startups are breaking solar efficiency records in their quest to bring clean, cost-effective, eco-friendly energy to a power grid near you. Alta Devices, based in Santa Clara, CA, has achieved a 23.5 percent efficiency rating with its standard solar panel, while Semprius, a Durham, NC company, has achieved a rating of 33.9 percent with its concentrated photovoltaic offering — besting the previous records of 22.9 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Interestingly enough, both outfits chose to utilize a new material to construct their sun-sopping cells: gallium arsenide. The material, while more expensive, is better suited for absorbing the sun’s energy, especially when compared to silicon, the cheaper element typically used. Alta and Semprius are looking to proliferate solar power by further refining the technology, making its price per kilowatt equivalent to that of fossil fuels without the use of government subsides. Here comes the sun…

 

from Engadget

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From MAKE: New in the Maker Shed: Alpha Particle Detecting Geiger Counter Kit

Why spend $400+ on a Geiger Counter when you can build your own for a fraction of the price? This new Geiger Counter Kit, available in the Maker Shed, was featured in MAKE: Volume 29 and is able to detect α(alpha), β(beta) and γ(gamma) radiation using the included GMT-01 tube. The simple to build kit can be soldered together in a few hours and is designed to be reliable and long lasting. When complete, the Geiger counter will output a click and flash an LED each time a radioactive particle is detected. The unit has two digital TTL logic pulse outputs that allow connection to a number of accessory instruments such as a a data logger, Digital Meter, or RS-232 adapter for connection to a PC (none included.)

Features

  • GMT-01 tube detects α(alpha) β(beta) and γ(gamma) radiation
  • 2 digital outputs
  • Flashing LED and audio clicker alert you to detected radiation.
  • Robust circuit design
  • 9V battery not included

 

from MAKE

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From Discover Magazine: [HED: How to Turn a Cockroach into a Fuel Cell] | Discoblog

spacing is important
Discoid cockroaches, used in this study, can be up to 3 inches long

From the digestive system that demolishes glue and toothpaste comes the first living, breathing, and yes, digesting cyborg-insect-biofuel-cell. Researchers have created a fuel cell that needs only sugar from the cockroach’s hemolymph and oxygen from the air to make electric energy. As long as the cockroach keeps eating, the fuel cell keeps running.

LiveScience lays out how electrodes inserted into the cockroach’s abdomen hijack its biochemical machinery:

The fuel cell consists of two electrodes; at one electrode, two enzymes break down a sugar, trehalose, which the cockroach produces from its food. The first of the two enzymes, trehalase, breaks down the trehalose into glucose, then the second enzyme converts the glucose into another product and releases the electrons. The electrons travel to the second electrode, where another enzyme delivers the electrons to oxygen in the air. The byproduct is water.

The cockroaches are not much harmed by the electrodes. “In fact,” says lead author Michelle Rasmussen, “it is not unusual for the insect to right itself and walk or run away afterward,” which only further confirms our suspicion that cockroaches can resist anything. …

from Discover Magazine

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From Technology Review RSS Feeds: Shrunken Servers Aim for a Greener Internet

Intel teams up with a startup to create a server twice as efficient as those that power websites and apps today.

As the cloud becomes more pervasive—driving everything from social networking to mobile apps—the computers that power it must guzzle more and more energy. Today, startup company SeaMicro, chip maker Intel, and electronics giant Samsung unveiled a new computer design that could make the data centers that power cloud services dramatically more efficient.




from Technology Review RSS Feeds