Energy For Us All

Valero Energy Corporation announced that its new Corner Store filling stations will offer E85 ethanol blends along with other gasoline blends.

“There are already millions of Flex Fuel vehicles on the road, and there’s a growing market for E-85,” said Gary Arthur, President of Valero’s Retail Division. “As Valero builds new Corner Stores, we will continue to introduce E-85 sales to satisfy this growing demand.”

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Construction of the world’s first industrial-scale waste-to-biofuel plant began in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on August 31st.

Privately-owned Enerkem Inc said the C$80 million ($75 million) facility in Edmonton, Alberta, will produce enough biofuel to keep more than 400,000 cars a year running on a 5 percent ethanol fuel blend.

 
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Minnesota fair-goers are showing great interest in solar energy at the State Fair.

“People are very excited about solar power. Two years ago, they asked me if it really works in Minnesota because we have snow here. Last year they said, ‘All right, tell me how it works.’ This year everybody wants to know, ‘What would it take to put it on my house and how fast can you get there?’” said Rebecca Lundberg with Powerfully Green.

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Daihatsu and Toyota have joined forces to develop a mini-car that runs on gasoline and water-containing ethanol.

In bioethanol production, water is removed from the so-called ethanol broth that results from the fermentation of sugars in plants and other biomass. But even with the water, this broth holds promise as a fuel because it cuts down on the carbon dioxide emissions associated with bioethanol production.

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The Blythe Solar Power Project in southeastern California may soon receive final approval. The plant’s capacity of 1000 megawatts could power 800,000 homes.

“A 1,000-megawatt plant is a grand undertaking,” Schmidt said. “But the benefits are so positive. The Blythe facility will take some 2 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year. We will be doing our part [in] improving the overall environment of our planet.”

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MIT’s SENSEable City Lab has developed an oil-sucking robot that runs completely on solar energy.

Assaf Biderman, who oversaw the research team that developed the robots, described them to CNN as, “a carpet rolling on the surface of water.” The robots, which cost roughly $20,000 each, stand on a conveyor belt of sorts that floats and turns on the ocean’s surface. As it does, it propels the robot along. The robot, then, is able to lift oil out of the water using a nanomaterial that attracts only oil and not water. The robot can absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil.

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Kikkoman Foods will intall a 106.6 kilowatt photovoltaic system in its Folsom, California plant.

The new solar electric system will begin operating in late September. It will be installed as a fixed carport over the employee and visitor parking lot. The solar modules will be manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics Inc. USA’s Photovoltaic Division in Cypress, Calif.

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Life Technologies Corporation and SG Biofuels, Inc. announced that they have completed the sequencing of the Jatropha curcas genome. This advance will accelerate the development of more efficient biofuels.

Working in strategic alliance with Life Technologies, SG Biofuels will use the sequence to generate a high quality Jatropha reference genome. The genome will be compared to sequences generated from SG Biofuels’ germplasm library of more than 6,000 unique Jatropha genotypes – the largest and most diverse collection of Jatropha germplasm in the world – to identify molecular markers and trait genes to accelerate development of elite cultivars with vastly superior yields and profitability. This work will also advance the introduction of transgenic plants with further improved traits.

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A new Ikea store under construction near Denver, Colorado, will have a geothermal heating and cooling system.

This system, according to the NREL, will be the first in an IKEA store here in the United States. 130 holes are being dug 500 feet into the earth beneath the store’s parking garage. The geothermal heat pumps driven by the energy collected from these holes could potentially use 25 percent to 50 percent less electricity than conventional heating or cooling systems. It is estimated as well by the Environmental Protection Agency that these types of pumps in general can reduce energy consumption—and corresponding emissions—up to 72 percent compared to traditional electric resistance heating and standard air-conditioning equipment.

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A University of Saskatchewan dentistry professor, Dr. Kunio Komiyama, has designed a toothpaste that uses solar power instead of toothpaste to clean teeth.

The Soladey-J3X houses a solar panel at the base of the brush that transmits electrons to the head of the toothbrush with a lead wire. When the electrons reach the head, they react with acid in the mouth, creating a chemical reaction that breaks down plaque cells and kills other bacteria in the mouth. The toothbrush uses about the same amount of power as a traditional solar-powered calculator.

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