Green Energy News Items - 03/23/2008
10 Million Dollar Prize for Green Supercar
The X Prize Foundation is offering a prize of $10 million for a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon. The catch is that the car has to be commercially viable, not a concept car. Surprisingly, no major car companies are among the 60 teams that have signed up for the challenge.
Tesla Motors is probably the best known of the contenders who also include university and even high school teams. The prize will be awarded in 2009. The X Prize Foundation is the group that awarded the $10 million dollar prize for the first private group to fly into space. More…
Food Industry Execs Latest to Criticize Ethanol Production
At a meeting in Chicago recently, top food industry executives complained that rising costs of corn are causing hardship for livestock producers and bakers. Record prices for grain, however, are making grain producers very happy.
The meetings attendees made it plain that they feel that lawmakers need to reconsider subsidies for ethanol production or even consider capping production, before it starts to have an impact on consumers in the form of higher food prices for everything from breakfast cereal to meat. More…
Using Nature’s Way to Create More Efficient, Cheaper Solar Cells
Photosynthesis is nature’s process for turning the sun’s energy into energy that can be used by plants, bacteria and other organisms that contain cholophyll. Researchers used this technology to create the a type of solar cell, which uses dye-sensitive cells made of substances other than silicon, such as titanium dioxide.
If solar cells can be produced without silicon, they can be made more cheaply and can be made into flexible panels or - with more innovation - even painted onto panels. More…
Does the Mercury in Compact Floursecent Bulbs Outweigh Their Energy Efficiency?
If you break a Compact Flourescent Bulb, the EPA has an 11 step cleanup procedure you should follow to protect yourself from the mercury contained inside each bulb. It’s only a tiny bit and getting smaller as the bulbs are improved, but it can still contaminate air, water and furnishings if it’s not disposed of properly.
So should we be using these bulbs at all in our homes and businesses? Does the average person even realize that the bulbs contain mercury that needs to be handled correctly for safety’s sake? More…
US Postal Service Will Help Recycle For Free
The USPS has teamed with Clover Technologies to offer free postage for consumers who want to recycle small electronic items like ink cartridges, mp3 players, PDAs and more. The service will have a trial run in several major cities and will expand nationally if it’s a success.
The USPS already has a lightbulb recycling service in place and has instituted many internal programs to help the environment. More…