Read the rest of Recycled Cooking Fat to Power Equivalent of Nearly 40,000 London Homes

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Post tags: "clean energy", 20C, cooking oil, desalination plant, London, recycled fats, recycled oil, renewable energy, Thames Water, UK, vegetable oil, world's largest fat-fueled power plant

The world is facing a serious water shortage. Humans are using more than 9 quadrillion liters of water per year (or 25 trillion liters per day), and more than one-third of people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water. For a long time, environmental groups have warned that desalination is not the answer to the shortage of freshwater because it is so energy intensive; depending too much on desalination would increase CO2 emissions while damaging marine habitats. But could new technology make desalination more sustainable? In honor of World Water Day, desalination company Energy Recovery has produced this infographic explaining how new advances in energy-efficient desalination technology could help provide clean water to those who need it most.

Read the rest of Infographic: Energy-Efficient Desalination Could Provide Clean Drinking Water for Those in Need

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Post tags: desalination, energy recovery, energy-efficient desalination, filtered saltwater, freshwater, saltwater, sustainable desalination, UN world water day, water issues, world water day

Many countries in the Middle East have been researching desalination – the process of removing salt from sea water so it is fit to drink. It makes sense especially in hot, dry countries where drinking water is not abundant. However, a team of European researchers from CORDIS believe they can make the entire process even more efficient, by harnessing the region’s high levels of solar power to develop a high-efficiency and low-cost desalination system.

Read the rest of European Team Develop Solar-Powered, Low-Cost Desalination System

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Post tags: "solar energy", CORDIS, desalination, drinking water, Middle East, Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), reverse osmosis, RO-Solar-Rankine project, Solar Power, solar powered desalination

Read the rest of Dubai Pearl is Another Massive and Dubious “Green Building” Project in The Gulf

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Post tags: "leed", "sustainable development", Baccarat, Bellagio, dubai, dubai pearl, dubious dubai buildings, eco design, green buildings in dubai, green design, holistic luxury, LEED gold, MGM Grand, Palm Jumeirah, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, united arab emirates

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Post tags: "solar energy", Climate Change, Director of UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs Directorate of Energy and Climate Change, interview, masdar city, rio+20, rio+20 conference, shams 1, Solar Power, sustainable city, Thani Al Zayoudi, uae energy, uae renewable energy, uae renewable power

A prototype for a solar and wind power station that fits within a shipping container has placed a group of students from Princeton University among the winners of a national EPA-sponsored sustainable design competition. The Princeton students’ entry in the P3 Student Design Competition is a “rapidly deployable renewable energy system” for areas hit by disasters such as the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010 and left large areas without infrastructure.

Read the rest of Power in a Box: Princeton’s Disaster Relief Solar and Wind Generator Fits in a Shipping Container

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Post tags: "wind power", disaster recovery, Disaster Relief, disaster zone, emergency infrastructure, environmental protection agency, haiti earthquake, p3 compeition, people prosperity and planet, Power in a box, Princeton university, shipping container, Solar Power, student competition, sustainable deisgn

Read the rest of AROA’s Second Solar Tulip Power Plant Springs Up in Spain

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Post tags: "solar energy", concentrated solar power, csp, eco energy, green energy, Haim Dotan, Israel CSP, Israel solar company, low water CSP, solar hot air, solar tower, Solar Tulip, solar waste heat, Spanish CSP

The ‘Solar Cucumber‘ is an innovative desalination plant design with the potential to help water-starved communities in coastal environments. The solar-powered desalination unit turns seawater to drinkable freshwater at source, rather than miles away from the scene of a shortage. The mini bus unit uses multiple-effect humidification to evaporate and condense seawater while removing its salt content. Multiple-effect humidification replicates the normal environmental water cycle. In the case of the Solar Cucumber, it uses solar power and reverse osmosis to separate water from other substances, including salt. The system uses advanced non-stick-style materials to reduce maintenance and create an effectively self-cleaning system that produces fresh water and sea salt at source while reducing the need for costly and impractical transportation of water. In permanent off-shore installations, the Solar Cucumber’s anchor system would form part of an artificial reef encouraging the growth of local marine habitats and biodiversity.

+ Pauley

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Post tags: green design, multiple-effect humidification, phil pauley, social design, Solar Cucumber, Solar Power, sustainable design, water desalination, water issues, water purification

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Post tags: Alex Driver, algae, biophotovoltaics, biotechnology, Cambridge University, Carlos Peralta, clean tech, eco design, green design, lily pads, London Design Festival, MoSS, photosynthesis, renewable energy, solar, sustainable design

In the 1970′s, Georges Mougin was laughed at when he suggested that we should start towing icebergs from the polar ice caps to drought-ridden communities around the world to provide sources of fresh drinking water. Now, thanks to complex computer modeling, Mougin’s idea has been proven feasible — and he’s currently trying to raise money to make it a reality. The project will cost a whopping $10 million to tow a 30 million ton iceberg from Newfoundland to the Canary Islands. Beyond the monetary expense, we can’t help but think of all the fuel needed to move such an immense mass of ice – and we certainly don’t think this is the best way to provide clean drinking water to drought affected people.

Read the rest of Simulation Shows Towing an Entire Iceberg to Drought-Stricken Areas is Feasible

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Post tags: african drought, drought in africa, drought problems, drought solutions, feed africa, glacier melting, how to fix a drought, moving glaciers, moving icebergs

When considering wind power as an energy source, it’s best to think big. Japan-based ZENA Systems is working on developing a new type of wind energy generator that will dwarf anything before it. The 50 meter-tall hexagonal building essentially acts as a huge scoop that compresses wind from all directions and then runs the rushing air through a series of ground-based generators. The ambitious project is the first of its kind, and it includes a desalination plant, on-site energy storage, and a visitors center. Details are sketchy on the viability of the design, but if it works out this wind concept could someday reach high into the sky to power our grid.

Read the rest of Massive Energy-Generating Wind Tower Proposed for Japan

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Post tags: "wind power", desalination plant, nano water, wind power Japan, wind tower, worlds largest wind generator

Read the rest of World’s First Floating Golf Course Set to Break Water in the Maldives

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Climate Change, dutch docklands, eco design, floating architecture, floating developments, floating golf course, golf course, green architecture, Green Building, green design, Koen Olthius, Maldives, maldives island, rising sea levels, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, sustainable golf course, troon golf, Waterstudio.nl

When disaster strikes, one of the most vital needs of survivors is access to clean drinking water. A Singapore-based company has created a mobile desalination system that could make it much easier to provide stricken areas with clean water. Using a shipping container as the system shell, memsys created a solar-powered desalination system specifically designed for disaster relief.

Read the rest of Memsys Creates a Solar-Powered Shipping Container Desalination System

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Post tags: access to clean water, desalination for disaster relief, desalination for drinking water, desalination system, Disaster Relief, disaster relief shipping containers, memsys, memsys clearwater, memsys desalination system, memsys disaster relief, memsys solar powered desalination, shipping container, shipping containers

Each year breast cancer claims the lives of 465,000 women around the world — however this scourge can often be defeated if detected early. To aid in the fight against breast cancer Professor Zhipeng Wu of the University of Manchester has developed a portable breast scanner the size of a lunchbox that can detect and highlight cancer in real-time using much less radiation than x-rays.

Read the rest of Portable Breast Scanner Detects Cancer in Real-Time Without X-Ray Radiation

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Post tags: Breast cancer scanners, breast scanners, Design for Health, health devices, health technology, medical devices, Professor Zhipeng Wu manchester university

In coastal desert countries like the United Arab Emirates, fresh, clean water is a lacking resource. Desalination is a necessary process to receive fresh water, but it often harms the environment by returning concentrated saline back to the ocean. Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency recently announced that they have developed a new solar-powered desalination system that would cut costs and be more eco-friendly.

Read the rest of United Arab Emirates Tests New Solar Powered Desalination Process

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Post tags: abu dhabi, abu dhabi solar power, desalination plant abu dhabi, renewable resources, solar energy desalination system, Solar Power, solar power desalination plant, solar powered desalination, uae solar power desalination plant, united arab emirates, united arab emirates solar power desalination, united arab emirates water

Read the rest of Tianjin Eco City is a Futuristic Green Landscape for 350,000 Residents

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Post tags: "wind power", china, eco-city, global development, green architecture, green city, green design, Solar Power, surbana urban planning group, sustainable city, Tianjin, Tianjin Eco-City, Tianjin Economic-Development Area, urban density

Life rafts are designed to sustain shipwrecked survivors for as long as possible, however finding a steady source of drinking water is a tremendous challenge while adrift at sea. Fortunately, Chinese Engineer Chao Gao has designed an award-winning experimental desalination product called C-Water that uses solar power to make drinking water. The C-Water system was a recent entry in Designboom‘s Incheon International Design Awards, where its water purification possibilities drew attention due to its simple distillation technique.

Read the rest of C-Water: Solar Powered Water Desalinator For Life Rafts

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Post tags: c-water, c-water solar desalination, chao gao c-water, iida c-water, iida chao gao, solar water desalination

Solar cells keep getting thinner and tinier, and thanks to MIT and their research sponsor Eni, we are already seeing cells that can be folded up into paper airplanes! Recently revealed, MIT’s paper solar cells feature five layers of solid material layered on a paper substrate. When combined, the materials and paper form a solar cell. Albeit weak – each cell has an efficiency level of of just 1%, while most commercial silicon solar cells maintain at least 15% efficiency – the potential for commercial application is incredible.

Read the rest of MIT Introduces Paper-Thin Solar Cells

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Post tags: "solar energy", eni, green design, green energy, MIT, Solar Cell, Solar Power

A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Field and Space Robotic Laboratory (FSRL) has designed a new solar-powered water desalination system to provide drinking water to disaster zones and disadvantaged parts of the planet. The water desalination system can be easily packed up for delivery to emergency areas and is completely powered by solar energy, so it is able to function in arid and remote off-grid regions.

Read the rest of MIT Unveils Portable Solar-Powered Water Desalination System

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Post tags: Field and Space Robotic Laboratory (FSRL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology solar power water desalination, MIT, MIT solar power water desalination system, MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering, solar power water desalination

Need proof that green technology is a lucrative industry? Look no further than Italy, where the Mafia (AKA the “lords of the wind”) has infiltrated the wind power business. Fraud is rampant in Sicilian mob strongholds like Corleone, where the Mafia owns many wind farms. The reason: power from wind farms is sold at a high rate because of generous government subsidies intended to expand the renewable energy sector. All the mob has to do is buy off local politicians and voila, the Mafia owns the lucrative wind power business.

Read the rest of Italian Mafia Gets in the Wind Farm Business

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Post tags: "wind power", mafia, mob, sicily, wind energy, wind farm