Technology Archives - Page 9 of 18

Financing Kicks Off for New York’s $1B Green Bank

Katherine Tweed for Greentechmedia Governor Andrew Cuomo just announced $165 million financing for New York State’s $1 billion Green Bank. Once the initial funds are approved by the public service commission, the Green Bank will look for private sector financing to join the bank to fund clean energy projects. The Bank is expected to be open for business in early 2014. Governor Cuomo said the money will be used “to build a more cost-effective, resilient and clean energy system in New York,” although the specifics of which projects will be able to take advantage of the Bank have yet to be determined. The money will go to technologies that are ready to be deployed, and could include everything from more efficient chillers and voltage control devices to solar PV and combined heat and power systems. “As a public-private partnership, the Green Bank will implement a pioneering approach that strategically and efficiently uses limited state resources to drive investment into…

Microsoft Research Shows How To Save 60% Of Earth’s Plants

Beth Buczynski for Earthtechling Biodiversity is one of Planet Earth’s greatest strengths. Ecosystems depend on many different plants and animals to stay healthy. When species go extinct, it’s like removing links from a chain. Too many weaknesses, and the entire system could fall apart. New research from Microsoft aims to show that while it’s an immense challenge, it’s possible to protect over 60 percent of Earth’s plant species from vanishing into the ether. In partnership with Duke University and North Carolina State University, Microsoft researchers used computer algorithms to identify the smallest set of regions worldwide that could contain the largest numbers of plant species. The result, they say, is a model showing how putting just 17 percent of the planet’s land surface off limits to human contamination could save a huge number of important plant species. Image via Microsoft Research According to study results published recently in the journal Science, a more …

100% Electric Vehicles & Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Sales Have Record Month

Originally published on EV Obsession. As you can see in the table above, 100% electric cars, plug-in hybrid electric cars (PHEVs), and conventional hybrid electric cars continue to do better and better. 100% electrics were up 457.48% in August 2013 compared to August 2012. And they were up 515.51% January through August 2013 compared to January through August 2012. PHEVs are also up considerably, as are conventional hybrids. The increases for each of the above (compared to 2012) are quite similar to the increases we saw in July. August was clearly the best month ever for 100% electric sales in the US, as well as PHEV sales. It’s also the best month I’ve seen for conventional hybrid vehicle sales, but I haven’t been tracking those long enough to know if it was indeed the country’s best month ever in that category. Who Are The Big Movers & Shakers? Not much has changed as regards the leaders in EV and hybrid sales. The Tesla Model S continues to do exception…

20-Story Vienna Office Building Is Certified as First Passive High Rise

Beth Buczynski for Earthtechling In order for a structure to be considered “passive“, it’s got to be buttoned up tight. Leaky windows or insufficient insulation means wasted energy, something that’s unacceptable in a passive house design. Normally, this would prevent glass-covered skyscrapers from even being considered (windows shed a lot of energy in both directions) but a new high-rise in Vienna has bucked the trend. The RHW.2 building–home to the Austrian Raiffeisen-Holding Group–features a glass facade that’s nearly 300 feet high. Inside, 900 employees enjoy superior air quality while the building’s owners enjoy tiny energy bills. As such, the building was recently certified as the first Passive House high rise in the city–a feat that wasn’t all that surprising to those affiliated with the Passive House Institute. Image via MVAHA So how does such an edifice achieve the energy-efficiency required for Passive House status? With determination and very carefully…

Better Biofuels Coming Along, But Slowly

Pete Danko for Earthtechling Advanced biofuels aren’t where U.S. lawmakers expected them to be, but that failure is in the rear-view mirror. The question now is about the road ahead, and the pro-renewables group E2 is forecasting steady growth – but whether that growth will come fast enough to meet the growing requirements of the U.S. renewable fuel standard seems doubtful. Advanced biofuels are important because unlike corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel, cellulosic and hydrocarbon-based fuels made from nonfood feedstocks as well as waste materials and algae might be able to directly replace gasoline and other fuels in gas tanks and refineries without warping food markets. Ineos Florida plant during construction (image via Ineos Bio) E2, in its 2013 Advanced Biofuels Market Report [PDF], sees “technical” compliance with the U.S. RFS possible in 2016 with some growth and with refiners using accumulated credits to offset production shortfalls, but mandates fu…

Huge Solar Plane Could Fly For Five Years

You think waiting for your flight to land seems like forever? This new solar plane is designed to stay aloft for 43,000+ hours. That's 5 years in calendar talk. I think I’ll need more peanuts. From Cleantechnica A solar-powered high-altitude drone made by Titan Aerospace is intended to be able to remain in flight for about five years. When manufactured, it would have 3,000 solar panels producing about 7 kW of electricity and would be above the clouds, so it would be exposed to sunlight constantly during daylight hours. One is scheduled for completion next year. The point of having such a plane would be to keep a payload in flight long-term, presumably in a manner similar to communications satellites. They could be used for surveillance applications such as environmental monitoring, fire monitoring and disaster response, among other things. Using a long-term solar drone/plane also has the advantage of being a vessel that can be safely brought back down to g…