The Last Frost

I came across an interesting post on the blog ShoeMoney.com. Apparently they've received an email attempting to extort them out of $200 a month. If they do not comply the sender known as "dragon dragon" will use "special robots" to disable the site's Google adsense account.

What does this have to do with global warming and climate change you might ask? Well the scam artist is claiming to need the money for a magnetic energy machine prototype. He even promises to repay all the money after he "registers" the machine. I love this line though, "If you collaborate with me, you have helped to the science. And if not, I will have to close your Google AdSense account."

You can read about the so called machine at the blog given in the email scam: Magnet-Machine.blogspot.com  

Inventor Seeks Funding For Energy Machine From AdSense Publishers [ShoeMoney]

Size or quantity does matter apparently, and in this case it's a good thing for our planet.  Texas currently holds the wind power heavyweight championship, but California wants the title back. So could we be witnessing a mini green-energy race here? I sure hope so.

This is just the kind of competition we need to get the green energy revolution started. 

1500 Megawatt Wind Project Planned for California - [TreeHugger]

Imagine an energy system that runs constantly, requires no fuel, has a minimal environmental impact, produces no waste other than worn out machinery, and is available almost everywhere on Earth. It's geothermal energy and a panel from MIT suggests it may be the answer to the energy woes of the United States.  

MIT-led panel backs 'heat mining' as key U.S. energy source - [MIT News Office]

Which is better? Nuclear waste which can remain toxic to almost all life for up to 250,000 years, or greenhouse gases which are relatively harmless to life, but harmful to global climate stability.

I would have to argue neither on the basis that the only reason we produce so much greenhouse gas is because our economic system makes it difficult for existing alternative technologies such as solar, wind, tidal, and geothermic energy solutions to gain much traction.  

Plutonium or greenhouse gases? Weighing the energy options - [Innovations Report]

A quieter and almost twice as efficient wind turbine may be just what the wind power industry needs. Stormblade Ltd. an engineering company based out of London has designed this power plant that can accelerate the air before it reaches the blades which will increase efficiency in both low and high wind conditions. No word yet on if or when it will go into mass production.

Stormblade Turbine is More Efficient, Quietly Neighbor-Friendly - [Engineer Live via Gizmodo]

Fuel from water is not a new idea. Simply add electricity and it's easy to split water into it's elemental components, hydrogen and oxygen. Get those gases near a flame and boom, the energy you just added gets suddenly released through an explosion which turns the two gases back into nothing but water again. It's called electrolysis and you can do it in your living room if you're not afraid of a little water and electricity. 

So where does the conspiracy come in? Well, there have been several people who have claimed to have figured out a way to split water so efficiently that they get more power from the burning of the resultant gases than what was put in. Stan Meyer was just one of those people, except he actually has some evidence to back up his claims. 

Imagine powering a car from L.A. to NY on nothing but 22 gallons of water. Stan had a working prototype of a dune buggy that could do just that, or so he claimed. In fact he had plans to mass-market the invention. Too bad he was murdered in 1998 and the dune buggy and all his technology was stolen.

So again, where does the conspiracy theory come in?  Well, nowhere except that he had complained about receiving death threats from oil companies. It's an interesting story, true or not, but I'm not going to go into what I think. The evidence is out there… check it out, it definitely makes for some good reading.

Inventor Of Water Powered Car Murdered? - [Growing Growing Gone via Digg.com]

Nobel laureate Steven Chu has turned his attention to Termite guts in order to find a carbon neutral fuel source. Termites have a knack for converting cellulose into liquid ethanol. Most of the matter that makes up plants is cellulose, so this would mean we could tap nearly unlimited sources of ethanol by simply feeding a bio-reactor of some sort, rubbish plant matter. Imagine turning Fall leaves, lawn clippings, downed trees or even organic household rubbish into liquid fuel. It would be pretty revolutionary.

Chu left his current job to work for Lawrence Berkeley Livermore Labs to kick start an inquiry into the possibility.

'Termite guts can save the planet', says Nobel laureate - [Physorg.com]

A new solar cell technology which was funded by the Department of Energy, has become the World's most efficient solar cell. It converts sunlight to electricity at a whopping 40.7% efficiency. Traditional cells have an efficiency somewhere in the teens. More efficiency means cheaper solar energy.

The new technology utilizes a technology called multi-junction cells. Basically they have multiple layers which convert more of the solar light spectrum into electricity, not just the visible spectrum. They also utilize solar concentrators to capture more of the sun's light and direct it to the cell's themselves.

The DOE hopes to get this technology to the marketplace as soon as possible, but who knows when that will be. It can't happen soon enough. 

New World Record Achieved in Solar Cell Technology - [Department of Energy]

A new tidal energy conversion system developed by an Australian firm is a novel new way to generate power with zero emissions, and little to no environmental impact. The system resembles a very large fish fin, and was in fact inspired by it. It's a great idea to tap the power in the tides, and it's a shame it hasn't happened sooner. 

The company, BioPower Systems has a couple power plants both inspired by nature. 

Shark biomimicry produces renewable energy system » [MongaBay.com]

Whole Foods, the Austin Texas based chain of natural food supermarkets, is offering cards in $5 and $15 dollar denominations that will help to support the marketing of wind power in the US. The idea is that the $5 cards represent the average energy use by an individual (about 250KWh) and the $15 cards represent the average household (about 750KWh). Buy purchasing the cards, consumers are funding the costs of marketing wind power to the mainstream populace, effectively removing the gap in cost between wind power and traditional fossil fuels. 

It's an interesting idea, but it's supposedly only going to be offered in Western states. According to Reuters.com it will be in 76 stores across: Colorado, California, Texas, Washington, Arizona, Louisiana, Oregon, New Mexico and Nevada.

Whole Foods offers cards to fund wind power market » [Reuters.com]