LEDs may seem to be the peak of efficient lighting technology, but they aren't perfect, and that doesn't mean that other technologies aren't being explored. Recently, scientists from Wake Forest University announced a new kind of light called FIPEL, which stands for "field-induced polymer electroluminescent." If it performs as promised, it offers several advantages over LED and compact fluorescent lights. With commercial development already under way, lights using this technology are reportedly going to be available to consumers in 2013.

Researchers behind the project are promoting it for its improved color properties, as well as avoiding the use of mercury or the "annoying buzz" in fluorescent lights. Of course, the old style T-12 fluorescent bulbs, and their associated magnetic ballasts (which were the kind that could develop a hum) are already being phased out, and means and methods for warming the light from LEDs have long been available.

This is not to say that there are no benefits from FIPEL lights. One disadvantage that most LEDs present is that they are point sources, so the light is very directional. FIPEL light comes from the entire surface (similar to the ESL light, another alternative to CFL or LED lights).

A review posted in Ars Technica reveals a number of weaknesses in the data available about the FIPEL light. Ars notes that the new light is "based on FIPEL technology," and not necessarily a proper FIPEL light. The article from Ars also dissects the numbers around FIPEL light as compared with other technologies, and finds it seriously wanting.

For instance, the light level of the test FIPEL had a luminance of 100 cd/sq meter, which is only a tiny fraction of the luminance of a light such as a fluorescent tube (27,000 cd/sq meter) or even the Moon (2,500 cd/sq meter). However, the photo attached to the press release and used in other articles about the technology (as well as this one) show something in the researchers' hands that is more than a little bit brighter than the lab space. So the numbers may not add up, but something would appear to be working. Furthermore, glare can be reduced by spreading the light over a wider area, so a larger area, lower luminance light source is not necessarily a bad thing.

via: Buildings

The idea of self-driving vehicles has been getting increasing attention on several fronts. Google's self-driving car is perhaps the most widely publicized example, but other options are under development at various stages. Volvo is working on a different approach, with cars that are not completely autonomous, but that can safely follow others in a close formation known as a road train.

In a road train, vehicles equipped with wireless connectivity and control equipment will be able to follow other vehicles in close formation, with a lead vehicle being driven by a human driver. Computers and sensors will monitor the convoy, and automatically follow the lead vehicle with safe clearances. Once a vehicle is part of a road train, the driver can can switch their attention to other things.

Road trains would offer a number of benefits that are beneficial to the environment as well as to drivers.

Fuel mileage will improve, as vehicles stay at the same speed (acceleration reduces efficiency). Cars can safely drive more closely to one another, and will benefit from lowered wind resistance. With groups of cars moving at predictable speeds, congestion will improve. And the stress of the daily commute will be alleviated, with time in the car to read or relax.

The Volvo system has been undergoing testing for the past several years. A video presentation from Volvo shows vehicles operating on a test track to demonstrate the workings of this system.

Hat tip to: Jaymi Heimbuch

Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics have developed a method to break down old concrete debris into its constituents for better recycling and re-use of the material. The process, called electrodynamic fragmentation, uses very short pulses (less than 500 nanoseconds) of induced lightning to separate gravel from cement materials in concrete.

Concrete is a material with a mixed environmental pedigree. Although its workability and durability make it extremely useful for a lot of purposes, it also has several drawbacks. There are the environmental impacts from the production of concrete, and it is also a major component of the materials going into landfills, so this makes the idea of recycling concrete a compelling one.

At present, most concrete recycling is merely to crush it and use it for sub-base under roads. This is better than landfilling it, but is a downcycling of the material. With the new lightning process, the aggregates can be more readily salvaged and re-used in new concrete.

Production of new cement from the recovered, separated material would be the ultimate goal of concrete recycling, since the production of cement is one of the single most intensive sources of CO2 emissions at present. While this process does not accomplish that, it does lay the way for that kind of recycling to become a possibility.

image: CC BY-SA 2.0 by brewbooks

via: Gizmag

Another development to improve the efficiency of solar panels has been announced by researchers from Princeton University led by professor Stephen Chou. By using a nanostructured "sandwich" of metal and plastic, the efficiency of thin film solar collectors was improved by 175 percent.

The nanoscale lattice on top of the sandwich is able to trap light with openings called a "plasmonic cavity with subwavelength hole array" or PlaCSH. The layer is made of gold and is only 30 nanometers thick. Each hole is 175 nanometers in diameter and spaced 25 nanometers apart. The opening is smaller than the wavelength of light, which traps it rather than allowing it to reflect off the collector, which leads to improved conversion of light to electricity.

The mesh layer also replaces the indium-tin-oxide (ITO) layer which is typically on top of thin-film solar cells, which is one of the most expensive parts of these cells. The ITO layer is also more brittle, while the PlaCSH is extremely bendable.

image credit: Chou lab

via: Phys Org

The US Navy is getting a reprieve from what looked like strong Congressional opposition to further use of biofuels in Navy vessels. Restrictions imposed this past May by Congress against the further use of biofuels by the Navy were recently repealed in the Senate.

The Navy has been testing the use of biofuels for the past few years, and this legislation makes it more likely that the Navy can continue to explore the use of biofuels with its fleets. The Navy's "Great Green Fleet" planned for 2016 may still be a viable possibility.

The top military leadership is generally in favor of green measures. The armed services have been adopting greater use of more sustainable materials, and they recognize the strategic importance of energy conservation and self-reliance for energy needs. As a whole, the US Department of Defense is the single largest single user of oil in the world, so developing more sustainable sources is beneficial to them strategically as well as reducing their environmental impacts.

image: Public Domain by US Navy/Wikimedia Commons

via: Wired.com Danger Room

Chevrolet is introducing an electric version of its Spark small car. The Spark EV is being called a "high tech electric city car," and its initial rollout is being aimed at urban markets and areas with a growing infrastructure to support electric vehicles.

Driving range numbers, which are usually a concern for potential electric vehicle drivers, have not been included in the GM press release, although the company claims it will have some of the best EV range. The Spark EV will optionally offer a new fast-charge system which allows the battery to be charged to 80 percent of capacity in about 20 minutes. The SAE Combo DC Fast Charging capability is a new industry standard, and the Spark EV will be the first electric vehicle to offer it in North America. The Spark EV will also have a "confidence gauge" that shows the expected driving range based on driving habits and other conditions.

Spark EV is powered by an advanced electric motor and battery system. It consists of a GM-designed, coaxial drive unit and electric motor that together deliver 130 hp (more than 100 kW) and 400 lb.-ft. (542 Nm) of torque for instant acceleration; and a more than 20-kWh lithium ion battery is expected to provide among the best EV range performance in its segment.

The Spark EV is a 2014 model, and will initially be available in California and Oregon, as well as in Canada and South Korea and "other global markets." Pricing for the Spark EV, according to GM, will be less than $25,000 with tax incentives.

via: GM Media

The need for water is important in many parts of the world without the infrastructure to provide safe drinking water. There are many personal technologies that can be used water purification or water gathering. While the idea of a self-filling water bottle may at first sound like magic, it's based on nanotechnology and biomimicry.

NBD Nano is named for the Namib Desert Beetle, whose shell functions to collect water for the insect, and which served as the inspiration for the technology. The technique behind this uses hydrophilic (water retaining) and hydrophobic (water repelling) coatings to concentrate moisture in the air onto the hydrophilic surfaces, and then, as the droplets become big enough, the water runs into a central collector. A small fan is used to move air over the surface to improve collection.

The company is pursuing a variety of possible applications for the technique. While it is not yet a commercial product, this offers a possibility of making water scarcity less of a problem in an increasingly water-dependent world.

image: Public Domain by Moongateclimber/Wikimedia Commons

via: PRI

The eighth largest economy in the world has a new carbon cap-and-trade program in place. And no, it's not a country in Europe, it's the State of California, which this week auctioned the rights to emit 60 million tons of carbon dioxide.

The California Air Rights Board auction serves to set a price on the emission of a ton of CO2. Companies can decide whether to invest in cleaner, more efficient systems, or can choose to pay for the right to pollute. As noted in the Marketplace report, "We've been living in a world where there is no price on pollution," says Dan Kammen, a professor of energy policy at U.C. Berkeley. "It doesn't send the right signals. It doesn't reward innovators."

Absent such a system, industry has been free to exhaust CO2 into the atmosphere without regard to impact on others. Establishing a market for carbon emissions will begin to put a price on that right, and to allow the true costs of carbon emissions to be more accurately reflected in the economy.

The California Chamber of Commerce has filed a lawsuit to object to the auction, but the Air Rights Board believes that the auction will withstand legal challenge.

image: CC BY-SA 3.0 by Dori/Wikimedia Commons

via: Marketplace

A grant of $3 million from Google to the US Green Building Council (USGBC) was announced during the annual Greenbuild conference which is taking place in San Francisco this week. Google has been a leader with the greening of its own facilities and has taken a very proactive step in avoiding the use of "red list" construction materials in its own facilities.

The grant is meant to be used for furthering green building materials research and the promotion of communications in and around the green building process. "The grant supports three related efforts: research on building materials and their effect on health, development of new building transparency tools, and encouraging conversation between industry stakeholders." More specific detail about how this grant will be applied by USGBC remains to be announced.

Google's grant gives the USGBC some leverage of its own since some credits in the LEED building rating system have been targets of objection by strong monied interests.  These include the credit for use of certified sustainable wood and the proposed materials credits that incorporate open reporting of chemical content of products and "for selecting products for which the chemical ingredients in the product are inventoried using an accepted methodology and for selecting products verified to minimize the use and generation of harmful substances."

via: Eco-Structure

Like the plot of a low-budget spy movie, this past July, roughly 100 tons of iron sulphate was dumped into the waters of the Pacific Ocean by a "controversial American businessman." The program was not part of any governmental- or consensus-based program, but is instead a private project to effect large-scale change to the planet.

The rationale for this is a belief that it will promote growth of plankton, which will grow (in a plankton bloom) and absorb carbon dioxide before sinking to the ocean bed. The CO2 will remain sequestered if the plankton do not subsequently break down on the sea floor. However, earlier tests have not proved successful.

Tests caried out a few years ago showed only limited succes with ocean fertilization. Critics point out a number of potential unwanted side effects to this approach:

"It is difficult if not impossible to detect and describe important effects that we know might occur months or years later," said John Cullen , an oceanographer at Dalhousie University. "Some possible effects, such as deep-water oxygen depletion and alteration of distant food webs, should rule out ocean manipulation. History is full of examples of ecological manipulations that backfired."

The California-based businessman behind this dumping has been involved in previous failed projects do similar things near the Galapagos and the Canary Islands. His earlier efforts are also credited as part of the incentive for the United Nations to pass an international moratorium on ocean fertilization experiments.

image: Public Domain - US EPA

via: Guardian