by Sunny Lam on February 2, 2010
Harnessing plant power (Image: Pasieka/SPL via New Scientist)
Plants naturally create hydrogen and that could be big for moving away from oil and gas through hydrogen fuel. Chinese researchers have created artificial leaves that can absorb 2 times more light and give off 3 times more hydrogen than a typical leaf. What is amazing is that the researchers are using titanium dioxide to boost the natural water splitting, hydrogen making power of a typical leaf.
Artificial leaf could make green hydrogen – tech – 10 January 2010 – New Scientist: “It is these features which make the artificial leaves so efficient at generating hydrogen, Fan says. The team immersed the artificial leaves in a solution containing 20 per cent methanol – which acts as a catalyst – and zapped them with near-ultraviolet visible light. Compared with a commercially available form of titanium dioxide called P25 that can be used to create hydrogen, the artificial leaves absorbed more than twice as much light, and gave off more than three times as much hydrogen, Fan reports (Advanced Materials, DOI: 10.1002/adma.200902039).”
(Via New Scientist.)
It’s an example of where making up something from scratch is way harder than finding a way to make something you already have (the leaf) better.
Need help researching similar ideas out there? Let us know because we’ve got lots of experience doing it. Also, how do you think the last idea relates back to people and organizations?
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Technorati Tags: Energy, fuel, hydrogen, lifecycle, solar, Technology, titanium dioxide
by Sunny Lam on September 23, 2009
Photo via The Wind Power database
Denmark is the leader in wind energy. Not only do they have a country full of powerful breezes they also have the vision, foresight and willpower to pull it off. An amazing 19% of Denmark’s electricity power comes from wind.
Denmark’s Wind of Change – TIME: “But technology, like the wind itself, is just one more part of the reason for Denmark’s dominance. In the end, it happened because Denmark had the political and public will to decide that it wanted to be a leader — and to follow through… As a result, wind turbines now dot Denmark, the country gets more than 19% of its electricity from the breeze (Spain and Portugal, the next highest countries, get about 10%) and Danish companies control a whopping one-third of the global wind market, earning billions in exports and creating a national champion from scratch. “They were out early in driving renewables, and that gave them the chance to be a technology leader and a job-creation leader,” says Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director for the New York City-based Natural Resources Defense Council. “They have always been one or two steps ahead of others.”"
(Via Time Magazine.)
Denmark’s people are a bright example of where words and ideas are backed up by committed action and execution. After all, what is an idea without action?
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Technorati Tags: alternative, Energy, renewable, turbines, wind power
