Renewable Energy

The USAF’s Secret X-37B Space Plane is Powered by a Deployable Solar Panel

The USAF’s Secret X-37B Space Plane is Powered by a Deployable Solar Panel

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) - the US Air Force's top-secret automated space plane - is finally set to return to Earth after a year in space. Although not much is known about the spacecraft, we do

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London’s Tower Bridge Gets LED Upgrade for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

London’s Tower Bridge Gets LED Upgrade for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

  2012 is a big year for London (and the UK) with the  2012 Olympic Summer Games, the Diamond Jubilee and 60 years of James Bond films, so a project was undertaken to update the

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Romney Says Colorado Has No Green Jobs, When In Reality It Has Over 70,000

Romney Says Colorado Has No Green Jobs, When In Reality It Has Over 70,000

On a trip to Colorado, presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney claimed that the state had no green jobs as a result of the Obama Adminstration's energy policies. While in fact it has 72,452 jobs in

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Germany Sets New Solar Record By Meeting Nearly Half of Country’s Weekend Power Demand

Germany Sets New Solar Record By Meeting Nearly Half of Country’s Weekend Power Demand

Germany fed a whopping 22 gigawatts of solar power per hour into the national grid last weekend, setting a new record by meeting nearly half of the country's weekend power demand. After the Fukushima

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Bonn Climate Change Conference Fails to Make Any Progress Due to Lack of Political Will

Bonn Climate Change Conference Fails to Make Any Progress Due to Lack of Political Will

The climate change conference in Bonn was supposed to see the creation of a work-plan that would result in a new global climate treaty by 2020. Instead, the talks ended with disappointment, no progress

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US Doctors Use Tiny Snakebots In Surgical Procedures

US Doctors Use Tiny Snakebots In Surgical Procedures

Doctors from New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center are using tiny, tool-laden snakebots in surgical procedures in order to help identify diseases and perform operations.

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It Took Earth’s Species 10 Million Years To Recover After “The Great Dying”

It Took Earth’s Species 10 Million Years To Recover After “The Great Dying”

Considering that our planet may be on the precipice of experiencing its sixth mass extinction event, this makes for pretty disturbing reading. According to researchers from the University of Bristol, it

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No Need To Panic – But Survival Condo’s Apocalypse-Proof Bunkers Are Now Sold Out

No Need To Panic – But Survival Condo’s Apocalypse-Proof Bunkers Are Now Sold Out

It seems that there are a lot of paranoid people out there. Maybe it is because of rising water levels, a nuclear disaster, The Rapture or a possible 2012 doomsday scenario, but all apartments in

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New Report Shows UK Green Economy Grew By £5.4 BILLION In 2011

New Report Shows UK Green Economy Grew By £5.4 BILLION In 2011

According to a new report from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the UK green economy saw record growth last year with an increase of £5.4 billion. That now puts the UK green goods

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This Modified Desktop Computer Uses its Own Heat to Grow Plants

This Modified Desktop Computer Uses its Own Heat to Grow Plants

Mike Schropp of TotalGeekdom has combined technology and the natural world with his modified desktop computer that uses its own heat to grow plants! The compact DIY unit allows the plants — in this

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Scientists Create Laser-Controlled Micro-Robot from a Bubble

Scientists Create Laser-Controlled Micro-Robot from a Bubble

We'd like to think that here at Inhabitat, we are rather clued in to the latest in robotics, however a new development has blown our minds. A group of scientists at the University of Hawaii have created

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Fukushima Radiation Finally Below “Cancer-Causing Levels”

Fukushima Radiation Finally Below “Cancer-Causing Levels”

Residents of Japan may be able to breathe a sigh of relief as the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently announced that radiation levels in most of the country are “below cancer-causing

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Solar Energy Generation Costs to Compete with Fossil Fuels by 2017

Solar Energy Generation Costs to Compete with Fossil Fuels by 2017

Despite recent clashes between the US and Chinese solar industries, it seems that the entire solar power sector is prospering. As stated in a new report from GlobalData, with the ever-increasing number

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Students Create Award-Winning Robot That Cleans Solar Panels

Students Create Award-Winning Robot That Cleans Solar Panels

Solar panels must be regularly cleaned and maintained in order to keep them operating efficiently and maximize the amount of sunlight they convert into electricity. With this in mind, a group of students

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Berlin’s Technik Museum Is Topped with a Historic Candy Bomber Plane

Berlin’s Technik Museum Is Topped with a Historic Candy Bomber Plane

The Technik Museum's new building was completed in 2000 and has a total usable area of 215,000 square foot. It was mainly constructed from steel-composite structure and was designed to be extremely

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Arizona-Based Company Heliae is Growing Algae on a Commercial Scale for Transportation Fuel

Arizona-Based Company Heliae is Growing Algae on a Commercial Scale for Transportation Fuel

Algae fuel and other biofuels have gained popularity in recent years to the point that even the US Military has adopted it as jet fuel. Given its recent rise to prominence, it's not particularly

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Solar Prices Expected to Rise as US Places Huge Tariffs On Chinese-Produced PV Cells

Solar Prices Expected to Rise as US Places Huge Tariffs On Chinese-Produced PV Cells

With China becoming the world's leader of solar cells and panels, it was hoped that their mass production would help bring down global prices. However, in order to aid domestic manufacturing, the US has

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The Stillwater Energy Plant in Nevada is the World’s First Solar-Geothermal Hybrid Facility

The Stillwater Energy Plant in Nevada is the World’s First Solar-Geothermal Hybrid Facility

The world's first Solar-Geothermal Hybrid power plant has been inaugurated in the town of Fallon, Nevada. Just ten months ago Nevada Senator Harry Reid announced that the addition of solar panels to the

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After Closure of All Nuclear Power Plants, Japan Urges Population To Cut Power Use By 15% To Avoid Blackouts

After Closure of All Nuclear Power Plants, Japan Urges Population To Cut Power Use By 15% To Avoid Blackouts

Since Japan shut down all its nuclear power stations in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, the country has been exploring ways to replace the 30 percent of national power which was generated by nuclear

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100-Foot Subsea Turbine Successfully Installed at World’s First Tidal Farm Off the Coast of Scotland

100-Foot Subsea Turbine Successfully Installed at World’s First Tidal Farm Off the Coast of Scotland

Tidal farms, which use underwater turbines to harness the power of the planet's oceans and convert it into electricity, are something that we frequently mention here at Inhabitat. While there are plans

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Steven Chu Talks Science and Renewables, But Steers Clear of Policy at World Renewable Energy Forum

Steven Chu Talks Science and Renewables, But Steers Clear of Policy at World Renewable Energy Forum

Dr. Steven Chu, head of the US Department of Energy, gave an information-packed, 50-minute speech at the World Renewable Energy Forum in Denver on Wednesday. Speaking to a crowd of renewable energy

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Africa’s First Ethanol Cooking Fuel Plant Opens in Mozambique

Africa’s First Ethanol Cooking Fuel Plant Opens in Mozambique

Yesterday Africa’s first bio-ethanol cooking fuel plant opened in central Mozambique. The partnership between Novozymes and CleanStar Mozambique, NDZiLO, will provide cleaner, safer and cheaper cooking

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US Consumers Willing To Pay Higher Utility Bills For Clean Energy

US Consumers Willing To Pay Higher Utility Bills For Clean Energy

According to a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Americans are willing to pay for slightly higher electricity bills for clean energy. The survey, led by researchers from Yale and

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The Enessere Hercules Wind Turbine Generates Wind Energy in Fine Style

The Enessere Hercules Wind Turbine Generates Wind Energy in Fine Style

Wind energy is one of the cleanest, most reliable sources of renewable energy out there, but there's one strike against it: Most wind turbines aren't exactly the most attractive sight. But for anyone who

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Could Solar Satellites Be the Key to Infinite Energy?

Could Solar Satellites Be the Key to Infinite Energy?

While solar energy has long been touted as the key to solving the planet's energy demands, the problem of efficiency has always hampered it. However, a team of engineers from the University of

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Mind-Controlled Robotic Arm to Transform the Lives of the Paralyzed

Mind-Controlled Robotic Arm to Transform the Lives of the Paralyzed

Here at Inhabitat, we are huge fans of any technology that can improve the lives of disabled people, such as exoskeletons and robotic suits. However, Brown University, working with the Department of

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Wij krijgen Kippen’s Giant Egg Wanders Amsterdam to Provide Green Energy Education

Wij krijgen Kippen’s Giant Egg Wanders Amsterdam to Provide Green Energy Education

“Wij krijgen Kippen,” which roughly translates from the Dutch to ”we pick up chickens,” has an unusual educational tool for informing the public about energy usage — their

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Nuclear-Powered USS Enterprise Could Take Us To The Stars (In Theory)

Nuclear-Powered USS Enterprise Could Take Us To The Stars (In Theory)

Star Trek might be just a TV show for many of us, but some believe that such high-tech space exploration might soon become a reality. An engineer known simply as “BTE Dan” believes that with

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Biochar Promises to Provide Carbon Negative Fuel and Better Soil

Biochar Promises to Provide Carbon Negative Fuel and Better Soil

Could what's in this little container keep our planet healthy? The simple reality is we need to find a way to put carbon back into the soil, and making something called 'biochar' is perhaps the best way

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Got Milk? Wasted Milk Creates the Equivalent Emissions of 20,000 Cars Annually

Got Milk? Wasted Milk Creates the Equivalent Emissions of 20,000 Cars Annually

Food waste has long been a problem, but it seems a particular foodstuff is more harmful than others. According to a team from Edinburgh University, wasted milk that is poured down the drain can create a

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