The 100 Year History Of The Hybrid Car

T J Madigan asked: The history of hybrid cars is immersed in controversy. Not so much for the product itself, but for the technology it uses. Is it old like the conception of wheel itself, or is it a recent idea, as recent as the embryonic stem cell technology? First of all, a hybrid car is a vehicle that uses on-board RESS, or rechargeable energy storage system. This is coupled with a fueled propulsion power source for the automobiles propulsion. The Hybrid car is a low-gas consuming vehicle, therefore, a low-polluting vehicle. The last characteristic is particularly important because of the growing consciousness of people worldwide on the need to protect the environment. History points to the clear differences between hybrid and all-electric cars. Electric cars use batteries charged by an external source. On this note, almost all hybrids, save for those considered as mild-hybrid, still need gasoline or diesel as their fuel source. Other fuels are also available in the form of ethanol or other plant based oils. Hybrid vehicles also use hydrogen gas occasionally. What is the history of hybrid cars? The history of hybrid cars is closely intertwined with the history of the automobile itself. In 1898, Ferdinand Porsche, a young Czechoslovakian, designed the Lohner-Porsche carriage, a series-hybrid vehicle that utilized a one-cylinder gasoline internal combustion engine. This engine spun a generator which powered four wheel-mounted electric motors. The car was eventually presented at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. The said automobile, capable of up to 56 km/h (35 mph) fast destroyed several Austrian speed records. In 1901, it won the Exelberg Rally, with Porsche himself driving the car. Mass production during this time was yet to be developed, but for Porsches future-looking design, 300 units of this model were sold to the public. The first Porsche model however, technically speaking as we know Porsch today, was a hand-built aluminum prototype, and was completed on June 8, 1948. The development of the first transistor-based electric car in 1959, the Henney Kilowatt, heralded a new development in the history of automobiles as a whole, and the history of hybrid cars in particular. This transistor-based electric car, paved the way for the electronic speed control. Ultimately, this made the road for the development of modern hybrid electric cars possible. The Henney Kilowatt was considered the first modern electric car. It was a product of collaborative work between the National Union Electric Company, Henney Coachworks, Renault, and the Eureka Williams Company. Whilst the sales of the Kilowatt during this time were far from encouraging, its development served as the prototype for the other automobiles down the line of hybrid cars. Between the 1960s and 1970s, another prototype of the earlier electric-hybrid vehicle was built by Victor Wouk. Wouk is among the scientists involved with the development of the Henney Kilowatt automobile. For this work, some historians bestowed upon him the honor being the Godfather of the Hybrid hybrid car. For his pioneering work, Wouk installed a sample electric-hybrid drivetrain into a 1972 Buick Skylark, courtesy GM for the 1970 Federal Clean Car Incentive Program. The program was later axed by the EPA in 1976. Hybrid enthusiast and supporters continued building hybrid automobiles. These models however, were not put into mass production. In the fading years of the twentieth century however, the history of hybrid cars has taken on a new course. 1978, the regenerative-braking hybrid, was developed by Electrical Engineer David Arthurs. The said regenerative-braking is to have become the core design concept of most hybrids, currently available in the market. The first attempt of Arthurs used off-the shelf components, including an Opel GT. But the voltage controller that links to the battery motor and the DC generator belonged to Arthurs. Fast forward in the 1990s The history of hybrid cars took the final step to modernity in terms of mass production during the Bill Clinton administration. Clinton initiated the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles program in September, 1993, that involved the Department of Energy, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, USCAR, and various governmental agencies. The partnership was tasked to engineer a modern efficient and clean vehicle. In 2001, this program was replaced George W. Bushs own hydrogen focused FreedomCAR initiative. The focus of the FreedomCAR initiative was to fund research that is considered high risk for the private sector to engage in. The long term purpose of which is the development and production of petroleum emission. The success of hybrid vehicles in terms of mass production however, became a reality, when the Japanese car manufacturer entered the American market. This is when the history of hybrid cars finally took its modern development. Honda Insight and Toyota Prius became the modern progenitor of modern day hybrid vehicle available today in the market. Read more on The 100 Year History Of The Hybrid Car…

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The 100 Year History Of The Hybrid Car

Set up of Vinyl Siding the Basic Techniques for the Apartment

Vinyl siding is created up of polyvinyl chloride or PVC. It’s found in vinyl that’s found in gutter and window components. The important benefit of making use of a vinyl-made merchandise is it requires minimal upkeep. The important challenge is how to install vinyl siding on one’s house. Here are the standard ideas to successfully set up vinyl siding: 1. Make yourself a room to work by tying back from the wall of the home the branches of trees and shrubs. Eliminate any hindrances in installing the vinyl siding. Items such as shutters, lighting fixtures and downspouts might be needed to move. Eliminate the unwanted caulking found in the junctions that are put between the windows, doors and old siding to ensure the equipment will match greater. 2. For uneven walls, nail 16 in. of one inch by three in. furring strips from your base into the wall’s eaves. Do the same close to windows and doors. Degree any small spots to ensure the work region can be a flat area. 3. Look for that house’s lowest nook by employing a mason’s line. From your lowest nook, measure the manufacturer’s specified distance. Use a chalk to draw a range close to the whole home. 4. The chalk range serves to be a information. Getting this information, the starter strip need to be nailed on the bottom from the entire building whilst leaving 1/4 inch of area between ends every single time two ends satisfy together. 5. Commence installing the nook posts for that interior and outside. Use a 1/4 inch gap among the eaves and allow the post to extend at the very least 1/4 inch on the bottom of the previous siding. 6. The J-channels are then put in on all sides and on tops of all windows and doors. The J-channel must then be notched to supply an edge which has leak corners. Lastly, set up the J-channel on sloped eaves and on the end walls. 7. Next to nail may be the under-sill trim that are put under the windows and along the horizontal eaves. 8. Go on by installing the panels of the vinyl siding. Work all the way up from your starter strip. Distribute out the joints with four in. of distance. 9. The panels need to be overlapping at 1 inch from every joint. The overlapping must not appear on entrances or spots that are hardly visited in order to lessen its visibility. 10. See to it that in every single fifth course (or sixth) the run is leveling and do not push the panels upward against the earlier row. All of the panels need to be hanging loose. 11. In notching a panel that’s fitted to become put under a window, position a mark within the area where it will likely be cut out. Start cutting from your panel’s top with a tin cutter. Then, while using the help of the utility knife, snap apart horizontally the panel. 12. Make a hollow region for the lower edge by employing a snap-lock punch. This will need to measure 16 in. around the center. Following this, shove into position the siding panel. 13. Lastly, turn the attention into the horizontal eaves, split the panel using a fine-toothed circular saw. Make use of the snap-lock punch in punching the lower edge. This will need to measure 16 in. on center. Then shove into position the panel. Keep in mind how the procedure on how to install vinyl siding may perhaps vary. A person maker may perhaps have different setting up actions of the item from your other maker. So, it can be advisable to carefully read and follow the guidelines. The guidelines on tips on how to set up vinyl siding may perhaps differ from 1 item to an additional. Nonetheless, the standard actions can support anyone who demands an idea on what to prepare and tips on how to set up vinyl siding. Read more on Set up of Vinyl Siding the Basic Techniques for the Apartment… Energy Tags: hybrid cars , solar power Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Post on Google Buzz Add this to Mister Wong Share this on Mixx Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Tweet This!

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Set up of Vinyl Siding the Basic Techniques for the Apartment

Home Solar Power Kit

Kristiana Jones asked: A home solar power kit is not generally used to supply you with all of the power you need. Instead, they are used to provide either emergency power or to power a smaller appliance on a regular basis. When used in this way they will deliver both the energy savings you were seeking and the peace of mind in knowing that in the event of power interruptions form your electricity supplier you will not be sitting in the dark. A home solar power kit can be purchased and installed by most people. No specialized technical knowledge is required and they are fairly inexpensive. There is no reason to go from no solar power used to being powered only by solar power. In fact you can spend less than six hundred dollars on certain kits which will power many items in your house such as a laptop, one light bulb, a 19″ television for more than twenty hours, and many other small appliances. If everyone in the country were willing to run just one appliance using a home generator the savings would be enormous. The environment would improve, and people would begin to lower their monthly electric bills in incremental amounts. As these home solar power kits catch on more and more people will realize the benefits and begin yo use solar power in their everyday lives. As mentioned previously there is not a lot of technical knowledge required to install a home solar power kit and, in fact, many can be installed by a novice provided they follow the instructions carefully. Some jurisdictions will require you to obtain a permit and have a licensed electrician install the kit, but in many places it is perfectly acceptable to do this work yourself. Home solar power kits are also very useful in the event of a power outage. If the power fails your kit will have stored enough electricity in its batteries to give you light, heat, and hot water, and many other modern conveniences until the lights go back on. The amount of electricity available to you will depend greatly on the storage capacity of your batteries. If you are considering a home solar power kit then you are making a wise choice. It will help you to be prepared in case of an emergency, save you a few bucks, and help the environment. Solar power Read more on Home Solar Power Kit… Energy Tags: solar energy , energy renewable energy conerted to car power residential solar power- green energy idea

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Home Solar Power Kit

Blu-ray Compared To HD-DVD – The Information Regarding The Warring Formats

The current intention of blu-ray as well as HD-DVD is to have as significantly public assistance quickly as ultimately it could be the customer that will pick which format comes out number one. Check out this site: bd 390 . Using the unification talks failing it really is your responsibility to generate the decision which format to adopt. To support an individual with this difficult decision may be the lowdown on the way each and every format matches below. History The blu-ray formats head companies are Sony and also Philips with Toshiba and Hitachi going up the HD-DVD format. This circumstance isnt the very first period when these two sides have gone at each other with opposing formats. The DVD format came to be through the co-operation from the Multimedia Compact Disc from Sony/Philips (MMCD) and also the Super Density Disc (SD) coming from Toshiba. Although it ended well to the purchaser using the DVD format being generally adopted as well as being the newest standard, it turned out to be Toshibas camp which came out number one when it comes to royalties. This led towards the work on modern formats by each sides with Sony planning to take back some of its lost market. The 2 projects though were in manufacturing but not really heading anywhere at the moment. Sonys Professional Disc for Data (PDD) became the blu-ray format while Toshibas Advanced Optical Disc becoming HD-DVD. This leads us back for the original circumstance wherever there are two competing formats with a unification looking a lot less likely. Technical Each blu-ray and also HD-DVD use a wavelength of 405nm on the other hand the smaller track pitch on blu-ray (see Blu-ray Disc) allows additional data to become squeezed on and also gives the greater capacity. Nevertheless it is a varying track pitch that makes these two formats incompatible. The surface layer with the two is different also as HD-DVD utilizes a .6mm layer just like DVD whereas blu-ray makes use of a .1mm clear plastic layer. This distinction may be the major reason rates are greater with blu-ray. Costly production methods are needed to become able to produce the discs and also a hard coating must be applied to produce the discs suitably resilient to dust and also fingerprints. Capacity Blu-ray currently offers discs in 25gb for single layer as well as 50gb for dual layer. Even so TDK has began work on a 200gb disc which is 6?33gb layers. HD-DVD comes in 15gb for the single layer and 30gb to the dual layer. Best tests so far have achieved 45gb though 60gb may be the theoretical limit. This shows that the maximum for HD-DVD is merely 10gb a lot more than what blu-ray can already offer. Codecs Both formats use similar codecs to play video as they are both equally able to play standard and also high-definition. Which means that MPEG-2, Microsoft Video Codec 1 (aka VC1, WMV HD, etc.) and H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC are all supported on both equally formats. Security Both equally blu-ray and also HD-DVD have to make use of HDCP encrypted output and also the Advanced Access Content System (AACS). Each HDCP and AACS are mandatory for any discs with HD video. Blu-ray also incorporates ROM-Mark watermarking technologies and also BD dynamic crypto which generates unique keys for batches of discs. HD-DVD makes use of a similar method within the Volume Identifying technologies. Support Each formats are heavily supported in together the Purchaser Electronics (CE) as well as Facts Technologies (IT) industries. Nevertheless blu-ray has a better portion from the big name movie as well as game studios supporting it that is essential for there to become a ready amount of content at launch. See below for that list of Supporting studios: Blu-ray: 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista Residence Entertainment, Electronic Arts, MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Walt Disney Business, Vivendi Universal Games, Warner Bros. HD-DVD: Buena Vista Home Entertainment, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures,The Walt Disney Corporation, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Josh Biggs is the founder of Blu-ray-review.co.uk that gives the visitor a resource for all the latest blu-ray news and product reviews with community discussion. For more info regarding this, visit this site: blueray player Check out practical things to know about the topic of traffic to website – make sure to read the site. The times have come when proper information is really within one click, use this opportunity. Read more on Blu-ray Compared To HD-DVD – The Information Regarding The Warring Formats… Energy Tags: solar power , energy resources pellets machine you tube production in car

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Blu-ray Compared To HD-DVD The Information Regarding The Warring Formats

Get More Important Info And Tips On Horse Barns

When it comes to horse barns there are two major options to choose from. You could build a barn by yourself or purchase a prefabricated one. Prefab horse barns have several advantages. They are usually cheaper than traditional horse barns. Plus they could be erected much faster than other types of horse buildings. When you get a prefab barn it is already ninety percent complete. Your barn will be delivered in individual sections from the manufacturer. As soon as you receive the sections you will be able to assemble the barn. If you are not skilled enough to do the work, you will always be able to hire construction workers to do the job for you. With the help of professional builders your barn will be constructed within the weekend. It is important to pay attention to some details when it comes to prefab horse barns. A horse barn should have a safe, non-slippery floor. This will reduce the risk of your horses falling and injuring themselves. Stall mats made of rubber usually solve the problem. You could also get sandy soil to prevent slippage. When it comes to the ceiling make sure it is high enough. Your horse should be safe when raising itself. In fact, some horse owners think that the ceiling should be either very high or very low. A low ceiling discourages your horses from raising up and they will not get injured as well. Another important tip is to keep all the lights in safety metals cages. The wires and the lights should be protected from rodents. The wiring should also be water proof. This way you will not have to worry about your horses or kids having electric shocks. Make also sure all the switches are placed out of reach of animals. Your horse barn should have windows. They are required for proper ventilation. Windows should be placed rather high to be out of reach of horses. You should also cover them with metal grids. This way neither birds nor other animals will be able to get inside the barn. Your horses will feel comfortable and will not be disturbed. If you feed and water your horses inside the barn, make sure you place the pails and water buckets on the wall. If you do so, your horses stall will remain clean and dry for a longer period of time. These are just the few tips to help you organize your horse barn properly. You should anything else to make sure your animals feel safe and comfortable inside their home. But you should also remember that horses need to stay outside as much as possible. So turn them out to pasture and ride them a lot even if your barn is ideal. If you need horse barns at a good price, this horse barns web resource is waiting for you. It has a very nice product line with wide choice of really good offers. Exactly what a wood horse barns seeker needs. And don’t limit your chance to find more good offers. This is easy – we are living in the world where information makes life easier. That is why if you are properly armed with the info in your sphere of interest you can rest assured that you will always find the solution to any bad situation. So, please make sure to visit this web site on a regular basis or – best of all – sign up to its RSS feed. In such an easy way you will have a direct shortcut to the freshest info updates here. Blogging can be helpful, you just need to understand how to use the updated information from the site. Read more on Get More Important Info And Tips On Horse Barns… Energy Tags: energy , hybrid cars

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How To Start A Solar Energy Business During A Down Economy

Solar Is Our Future: Crafting Your Own Green Collar, Solar Business Starting a home primarily based solar energy business has many rewards and challenges. Starting a business is a big responsibility that has commitment, professionalism, coaching, and self-discipline. It involves careful thought, like what type of competition you’ll encounter and therefore the demand for the solar rental service you’ll expect. Start searching for your next dream job. Due to this commitment, the Department of Energy can be additional than willing to convey out grants for something like a home-based mostly, solar energy business. Steven Chu, the new Secretary of Energy has pledged to form the Department of Energy’s services more available to the common person. This means that anymore who want to run a business from home promoting the utilization of solar energy should be in a position to work their approach through the bureaucracy well. The change in attitude connected to renewable, solar energy just offers method a lot of choices to someone, who may have lost their job during this economic downturn, to urge a let up and start their own, make money working from home business. Most of the grants and funding work is finished through the Office of Science Grants and Contracts Division. The Office of Science Contracts would build an assessment on whether or not the work at home solar energy business would be viable enough to be ought to have a government subsidy. The DOE has launched what they decision the Solar America Initiative. Many new renewable energy initiatives can establish many new types of energy all from off grid places by twenty-fifteen. There are other choices and ways that to begin your own solar energy business besides getting the full business operation up and running by yourself. You can look for different established or emerging firms that have inexpensive ways to become affiliated with them. To be a sales associate in most organizations does not take a ton of work. You’ll need to pass a check to show you are qualified and grasp a little concerning solar energy however that is sometimes it. You are doing not would like to be a school graduate or a seasoned sales executive. A lot of often than not, someone with passion and drive will really make a difference. There are opportunities within the renewable energy industry for those that believe in solar power and want to push alternate ways in which to help the U.S. produce electricity. If you are needed to pay a fee to become concerned in an exceedingly business chance, it may mean something is fishy. Sensible business opportunities, especially targeting the house-primarily based entrepreneur, show not fees or additional prices to join. You should be looking if they do. A reputable company can not ask new associates to buy a “welcome kit” or sample products. The primary objective is about creating a team, a collective of passionate people all doing good by referring U.S. owners to exciting aspects of renting a solar energy system for his or her home. Obviously the thought of a home primarily based solar energy business that promotes the renting of a solar system versus having to shop for one could be a super manner to supply renewable energy and one great idea that will get us all closer to moving off the grid for good. A green collar, solar job was talked about therefore abundant throughout the 2008 presidential election. A green collar job would revive the solar manufacturing base in this country and give opportunity to folks who otherwise would possibly not be ready to form a smart living or who could have recently lost a job. A little business is that the lifeblood of the economy for several communities so when a inexperienced collar job may be a half of a little business, it’s a winning combination. The exciting facet of solar energy is the potential for growth. The renewable energy business remains in its infancy. With but 2.3 percent of the U.S. home solar energy market is tapped currently. Renewable energy encompasses a long method to travel and a lot of growth to tap into. What is more, solar power makes up three fifths of a percent of the total renewable share, and however, solar power has the greatest potential of all renewable varieties for rapid, exponential growth. There are also many websites that promote the idea of home primarily based renewable energy. Several of these websites have connections to personal equity and venture capital corporations who would consider investing during a solar energy company, but the truth is that there’s such a calling for one thing innovative sort of a home based solar company that giant upfront investments don’t seem to be necessary in many ways. Learn more about earth 4 energy . In order to save energy you should know about home made energy . Click here for more information about home made energy review . Read more on How To Start A Solar Energy Business During A Down Economy… Energy Tags: energy , battery technology countries with new energy centres

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How To Start A Solar Energy Business During A Down Economy

Reducing Your House Insurance With Thermal Insulation

Keeping the maintenance up on your house is essential if you decide to reduce your homeowner’s insurance policy as you will be responsible for your guests’ health and safety. You make sure your valuables are locked up safely, and you buy security systems, stronger doors, locks, and windows to protect your home from theft. You even opt for a cuddly kitten rather than a large dog in order to protect visitors from attacks. However, have you thought about keeping your homeowner’s insurance policy rates as low as possible during the different seasons? The weather during winter can cause damage to your home which can present a safety risk to the people living in it and visiting so you need to prepare for the colder season. To make repairs to your home before winter, start at the top. Clean out your gutters and stop any leaves, debris or other materials getting stuck in them by installing a gutter protector which will keep the guttering free from clogging. Next move onto the steps and path that lead to your home and your drive of you have one. You should secure anything outside your home that is loose like handrails, steps and stones as well as filling in any cracks or holes that could be covered in snow and cause injury if someone were to step in them by accident. Think about installing a handrail if you do not have one already as it can prevent slips and falls when the area outside of your home becomes icy. Also; take a look at the outside structure of your home. If you have any cracks, repair those as well. Now, take a look at the inside of your home. Keep drafts out of the home by sealing any cracks near windows and doors, bulk out your thermal insulation materials in the home and check that your central heating is working. You will be less likely to need homeowner’s insurance if you do this work on your house before winter and will not have to pay as much for cover so you will have more money for presents and parties. Read more on Reducing Your House Insurance With Thermal Insulation… Energy Tags: energy resources , wind power

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Reducing Your House Insurance With Thermal Insulation

The Tube Solar Power Collectors: Key Aspects

We continue speaking about the tube solar power collectors. Due to the fact that the coolant flows directly through the pipe in the reservoirs they have, there are difficulties in the installation. Each tube should be connected to the system separately in order to avoid leakage of coolant. We need also serious maintenance, because leakage or mechanical damage even of one tube stops the work of collector. The vacuum tube consists of two glass tubes: outer is made from ultra strong transparent borosilicate glass that can withstand the impact of hailstones with a diameter of 25 mm, internal one is the same but with a special selective coating (A1-M/A1) that ensures excellent heat absorption with minimal reflection. In order to avoid conductive and convective heat loss from the space the air is exhausted between the two tubes. To maintain the vacuum barium gas absorber is used, which is exposed to high temperatures in a production environment, resulting in lower end of the vacuum tube is covered with a layer of pure barium. It absorbs CO, CO2, N2, O2, H2O and H2, which are distinguished from the tube during storage and operation, and is a clear visual indicator of the vacuum. When the vacuum disappears, barium layer transforms into white from silver. This makes it easy to determine whether a pipe works correctly. The absorption of heat occurs in the copper heat-pipe, which is located inside the vacuum tube. Method of heat transfer from its thermal conductivity is very simple. Copper tube is hollow and contains a patented inorganic non-toxic liquid. When heated, the liquid evaporates, and because of the vacuum created inside of a tube, it occurs even at a temperature of 25-30 ? C. The vapor rises to the tip (that is to say condenser) heat pipe, which gives off the heat to water, which flows through the thermal conductivity. Then it condenses and flows down, and the process repeats again. Solar collector with vacuum tubes shows excellent results on cloudy days, because the tube can absorb energy from infrared rays that pass through the clouds. With insulating properties of the vacuum influence of wind and low temperatures on their work is so insignificant in comparison to the impact on the flat solar collector. The system works successfully down to -35 ? C. Packed tubes are round, so that the amount of solar radiation reaching the collector remains fairly constant from mid morning until mid-day. This brings increasing in the total amount of absorbed solar radiation. The shape of pipes provides superior degree of absorption, since the sun’s rays always fall on its surface at a right angle, reducing the reflection to a minimum. Pipes are laid in parallel inside the collector. The angle of inclination depends on the latitude of the place. Having been oriented from north to south, they passively follow the sun during the day. This collector requires virtually no maintenance. Manufacturers offer the guarantee up to 25 years for similar products. The system is fully maintainable: if necessary, the pipe can be replaced, added or removed without stopping of the collector. Luckily we live in the times when the government start to realize the value of living in harmony with the nature on this planet. And solar power grants is a realistic proof of it. If you want to make a switch to solar energy, please read more about how solar power grants and how exactly you can use these solar power grants for your living. P.S. Good information makes life easier. Due to this if you are properly armed with the information in your sphere of interest you can rest assured that you will in any case find the way out from any bad situation. So, please make sure to visit this blog on a regular basis or – an ideal solution for you – sign up to its RSS. Thus you will have a direct shortcut to the freshest informational updates here. Blogs can be helpful, you just need to understand how to use it. Read more on The Tube Solar Power Collectors: Key Aspects… Energy Tags: solar power , alternative

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The Tube Solar Power Collectors: Key Aspects

Power-generating clothes

This post is brought to you by ? Curt Rosengren ~ Passion Catalyst TM ? ? “Love your work. Change your world.” Out and about and need to charge up your iPod? Just plug it into your…shirt? Could happen, if this new technology has anything to say about it. Someday, your shirt might be able to power your iPod just by doing the normal stuff expected of a shirt. Scientists have developed a way to generate electricity by jostling fabric with tiny wires woven inside, raising the prospect of textiles that produce power simply by being stretched, rustled or ruffled by a breeze. The research, described in the new edition of the journal Nature, combines the precision of nanotechnology with the elegant principle known as the piezoelectric effect, in which electricity is generated when pressure is applied to certain materials. —

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Power-generating clothes

US government missing the boat on alternative energy

This post is brought to you by ? Curt Rosengren ~ Passion Catalyst TM ? ? “Love your work. Change your world.” The idea that there is incredible potential behind the green economy of the future is exciting and hopeful. But the question today still remains, how much potential is there? Part of the answer depends on the choices governments make in supporting, for example, alternative energy. Currently in the US, that’s been lacking. Here’s a good article on the issue in BusinessaWeek. Referring to a recent study that projected that “the green economy could produce as many as 40 million jobs and $4.53 trillion in annual revenue by 2030,” the article suggests… Despite the undeniable green momentum, a $4 trillion-plus U.S. green economy is far from likelyeven in 22 yearsbecause there simply is no “aggressive, sustained” federal policy. The federal government has failed to create and adequately fund the programs that would make the U.S. a world leader. And that’s what the government should be trying to do, for reasons that go far beyond rising carbon levels. The U.S. risks falling way behind other countries in the development of green technologies. On its current course, this country could trade oil dependence for reliance on alternative energy products built by other nations already far ahead of it. It goes on to talk about the positive developments on state and local level, as well as from the private sector. But… Silicon Valley didn’t become a global tech leader thanks to private equity alone. From the funding of the Arpanet, the granddaddy of the Internet, to research and development tax credits, the federal government helped the technology industry grow. The green economy envisioned by the ASES report will never be realized unless the government takes a similar approach. Despite condemning “America’s addiction to oil” and promoting the importance of alternative energies in his State of the Union addresses, President Bush has consistently failed to follow through on his promises to fund for alternative energy research. He’s generous with the green rhetoric, just not with actual greenbacks. “Every robust energy technology has existed because of government support and tax subsidies,” says Joel Makower, editor of GreenBiz.com. “But there hasn’t been the appetite [in Washington] to do that for clean energies.” And if the federal government doesn’t get its act together? It’s not over, but the federal government needs to take meaningful action, matching the bottom-up efforts of state and local governments, activists, and venture capitalists. If it doesn’t, it won’t just mean jobs lost. Even worse, today’s dependence on foreign oil will transform into tomorrow’s dependence on foreign alternative energy technologies. —

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US government missing the boat on alternative energy

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