News about Solar, Wind and alternative green power technologies

The US Department of Energy has given funding to a number of nonprofit organizations, private companies, research institutes and academia totaling $377 million dollars to encourage promising energy technologies exploration they hope will eventually decrease the United States dependence on foreign oil.

Those who received the money are known as EFRCs or Energy Frontier Research Centers. They utilize scientists, engineers, and also students, to move forward on energy technologies across the nation. The objective is to recognize and manufacture renewable and clean energy systems.

The EFRCs will have their assignments partitioned like this. Twenty EFRCs will be paying attention to carbon neutral and renewable energy tasks. Fourteen EFRC’s will commit to basic studies, and six will give their attention to Energy efficiency. The six that are left will be tasked with development of energy storage. Of these forty six EFRCs, sixteen of them are financed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the thirty remaining get their money via the Federal Budget. A total of $777 million dollars will be dedicated over five years to develop new start up energy technologies.

Government financed research are not the only ones landing the emerging energy technology advancements. There was a test completed recently of New Energy Technologies Inc.’s MotionPower device that produces electricity from light trucks and vehicles that are traveling and the model is pressing forward quickly. The company is excited about having the technology “out there” as quickly as possible.

The MotionPower apparatus works like this: Each time a vehicle moving at five miles per hour or less drives over a MotionPower unit, it presses a perfunctory actuator. The mechanical actuator collects 2000 watts from this act of motion. The power is then instantly captured and converted to electricity. The most recent evaluation of this technology happened at a Burger King drive-thru in Hillside, New Jersey on the Labor day weekend.

The MotionPower device is designed to be placed in areas where a vehicle has yet to give up its energy by acceleration. These kinds of places include rest stops, restaurant drive thru operations, toll booths and plazas, etc. The MotionPower unit changes the additional kinetic energy not utilized by forward acceleration or braking, capturing and transforming it into electrical power. The unit looks a bit like a speed bump only slightly more misshapen, however, advancements to the shape and size of the system is on their priority to do list.

Another business known as Ascent Solar of late has affiliated with Energy Technologies, Inc. to start work on manufacturing PV or photovoltaic goods for Military defense purposes. Combined, Ascent Solar and Energy Technologies will develop solar power generating systems for soft walled military sanctuaries engineered for fast deployment. The materials Ascent Solar utilizes have greater flexibility than solar panels using monocrystal equipment.
 
A single government or private corporation simply cannot develop on its own, the many emerging energy technologies. As a result, it is fortuitous that around the world, businesses and governments are recognizing the astuteness of investing in renewable and clean emerging energy projects on a planet that is quickly reaching the limits of fossil fuels while energy usage is increasing rapidly due to developing countries such as India and China pushing their economic borders.