Grid Friendly Charging of Cars

Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratories say they are closer to solving one of the main problems with wind power, how to store the energy when it’s not immediately needed. They are working on an electric car charging system that would essentially use the car batteries as storage.

Currently, the grid has very limited storage for additional power that is generated when the wind is at peak performance. So, they have created a box that will either sit in the car or the charging station that will balance the charging rate.

This is a great idea for areas of the country that have wind power at their finger tips!

Grid …as the green future unfolds.

Smart Water

A standalone desalinator needs 17 gallons of diesel fuel and 66.5 kilowatts of
electricity to make 1,000 gallons of freshwater, but now, the Solar Cube, (made
by Spectra Watermakers in California), churns out 1,500 gallons of drinking water
on just 22 kilowatts of its own solar and wind power. The innovation is a pump
that triples efficiency by recapturing hydraulic pressure during the filtering
process. Solar Cubes are now bringing freshwater to remote regions and places
short on infrastructure and electricity without paying the CO2 price – way cool. (more…)

A Message from Michael

Love him or hate him, he makes sense…

Friday, December 12th, 2008
Friends,

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building
only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that
reduce global warming.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their
many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our (more…)

PUT YOUR CAR KEYS BESIDE YOUR BED AT NIGHT

Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents, your Dr’s
office, the checkout girl at the market, everyone you run across.

Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside
your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic
button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue
to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.

This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home (more…)

Did you turn your clocks back this morning?  It is that time of year where we
gain back that hour we lost last spring!  A true sign that winter is a coming.

Today is the change the clocks day on everything you have.  Fortunately, most
computers do it for you.  The clocks in cars, vcrs (should you still have one),
wall clocks, etc. have you visiting them for the change.  Replacing batteries.

The only states that do not participate in daylight savings time is Hawaii and (more…)

Afsaneh Rabiei, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at
North Carolina State University, has invented a space-age material so light and
strong that it could revolutionize everything from vehicle bumpers to armor to
biomedical devices.  A brand new material that can save energy and lives.

“Basically, it is a new material for all sorts of safety devices,” said Rabiei
Her invention isn’t the first metal foam, but she says it’s the strongest. The main weakness of
existing metal foams is the varying sizes of their cells – tiny pockets (more…)

And we have lots to tell you about what Air Vehicle inventor Guy Negre and
his development team in Carros, France, are doing, including the October 9
announcement of a new Air Vehicle city transport solution called the AIRPod.
Also, all the Air Vehicles get new names!

When will the 4-door, six-seat US model be available? They expect it to be
manufactured in the US in 2010. They originally planned to take reservations for
the vehicle in 2008 but now plan do so in mid-2009 as we now anticipate demand
to far exceed the early production capability. (more…)