energy

What? The Earth revolves around the sun? Preposterous. By the way, I want you to give up all technology for Lent. Oh, and pay no attention to the workers installing our $US660 million solar plant.

Poo is powerful stuff. That’s cow poo to be exact, though scientists say other animals' waste could also be used as an environmentally friendly energy source. 121 facilities in the U.S. are already turning their manure into electricity, and a report from the university of Texas says that the total potential across the country from existing cows could potentially serve 3% of our national energy use. And, a new bill was recently proposed asking for tax incentives for even more biogas production. This poo power stuff is really catching on.

If you're still finding it hard to visualize the transition from cow pies to flickering light bulbs, we delve into the poo-power basics here in graphic exposition.

Cave Junction, Oregon, was once, long ago, the center of a gold rush boom that, like so many booms, ultimately consumed its host. Prospectors mined the land around the towns in an ever-tightening circle, until the only gold left was below the saloons, assayers and burlesque halls. Those fell next. The towns were mined right out from under themselves—with no trace left of the old frontier burgs but scars in the earth.

Bad news, tech lovers. IT is not so eco-friendly. According to University of Calgary researcher Richard Hawkins, digital technologies are not reducing our environmental footprint, but may in fact be turning us all into polluters.

"It was once assumed that there was little or no material dimension to information technology, thus, it should be clean with minimal environmental impact," says Hawkins. "However, we are finding that reality is much more complicated."

For most of us, procuring a gallon of milk requires only a quick trip to the corner store. Breastfeeding mothers, on the other hand, need an estimated 30 percent more energy to keep a newborn nipper happy with fresh mama juice. Eating like a horse and lazing about are two ways to offset this extra energy demand, but another factor may contribute as well. According to a new study, support from family may play a key role in helping mothers conserve energy and therefore allow their bodies to prepare more quickly for another pregnancy.

The Energizer AA batteries are rated at 2200 mAh and the Duracells at 2000 mAh (that's milliampere-hours, a measurement of energy charge). But the Duracells last a lot longer.

I tested using an ICON LED flashlight, this solid aluminium model with high and low settings—the high setting killing a standard battery in about 3 hours. Through several trials using different cells, the Energizer lasted 2 to 3.5 hours, while the Duracells took anywhere from 5 to 6.5 hours to drain. Not an insignificant discrepancy, and contrary to the respective charge ratings on each.

From the US PopSci team

Raise your hand if you're heard about clean coal. Now keep your hand up if you know what the hell it is. Still up? You're better off than I was before I started digging into this.

It's been all over the news, and in countless political speeches, so we know clean coal is popular. It's in the new economic stimulus package to the tune of US$2.4 billion. And its first pilot project was canceled last year after costs accelerated out of control, so we know clean coal is expensive. But what else is it, really...?

After the jump, a short primer in comic form.

Australia is sweltering today in substantial heat. No matter where you live it’s likely that you’re in for a real scorcher. Strangely it’s the top end that will cop the least of it. Darwin is in for a relatively cool 29 degrees and thunderstorms while Melbourne and Adelaide are set for top of 43 and 42 respectively. Even Canberra will be cooking at 37 degrees. In Melbourne at 9pm last night it was still around 35 degrees.

The human body contains enormous quantities of energy. In fact, the average adult has as much energy stored in fat as a one-ton battery. That energy fuels our everyday activities, but what if those actions could in turn run the electronic devices we rely on? Today, innovators around the world are banking on our potential to do just that.

Story from Gizmodo Australia

Chemical engineers working at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the States have developed a hydrogen fuel cell that measures only 3 millimeters across. That could mean longer lasting, eco-friendly power for your gadgets.

Soldiers may soon get greener rides on-base, after the U.S. Army announced the acquisition of 4,000 neighborhood electric vehicles.

The plug-and-chug vehicles come in both sedan and light truck models, and can charge their batteries at any three-pronged household outlet. Estimates put the savings over a six-year service lifetime at 11 million gallons of fuel, not to mention 115,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.