Platinum Substitute Makes Cheaper Fuel Cell Possible
Scientists in Australia have invented an alternative to the costly platinum that is used in the cathodes of fuel cells. Because platinum is responsible for most of the cost of the fuel cells - to the tune of up to $4,000 - this is a major breakthrough.

The conducting polymer is also much more effective and less affected by carbon dioxide and clumping. More …
New Storage Techniques Make Alternative Energy More Viable
One of the major problems with solar and wind energy is that it doesn’t work when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow. New ways of storing this energy may solve that problem and make alternative energy much more practical and available.

Using a hydrolyzer to convert electricity into hydrogen and then using an electrolyzer to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen may soon be done at normal temperatures and pressures, unlike current more costly and complicated methods which demand high temperatures and pressures. More …

First Wind Goes Public To Raise Funds
Shares of up to $450 million will be offered on the public market, as First Wind tries to pay down debt and raise capital for major projects. They have several contracts to fulfill, including a lab in Hawaii for the US Dept of Energy to research the feasibility of wind integration into the utility system there.

By 2013, the company plans to have 2,300 MW of operating capacity online. More …

Cathedral Joins Solar Revolution in San Francisco
Homes, factories and businesses are all turning to alternative energy, but now houses of worship are joining the Green revolution. Grace Cathedral in downtown San Francisco will install solar panels from Solar City. The project will be financed by the cathedral and PG&E and should be finished later on this year.

The city’s mayor announced the project on in a ceremony in mid July and hailed it as one more step in the California city’s goal of becoming the greenest city in the country. More …

New Wind Turbine Plant Creates Jobs
The US, which increased its wind generating capacity by 45% last year, will be the site of a new factory that will turn out more wind turbines and create about 350 new jobs in 3-4 years. While America is the fastest growing windpower market in the world, the new plant is sorely needed.

The new plant will be built in Illionois by Siemens, the company which produces more gear drives for wind turbines than any other company. More …

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 6:08 am and is filed under Green News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.