A previous post reported on the acquisition of Beacon Power, formerly the largest flywheel player, after the company went bankrupt.

One of the technical hurdles faced by designers of these whirling rotational energy storage devices is that spinning masses have a natural “wobble.” Most flywheel designers have employed Continue reading… » 

A pretty big wad of money – $40 billion – is hiding somewhere inside the lights, AC, thermostats, furnaces and fans of our offices, stores, hospitals and schools.

That’s the amount of money the federal government estimates we can save annually by reducing energy use in commercial buildings 20 percent by 2020. To achieve the goal, the Obama administration in 2011 Continue reading… » 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week issued a fuel economy rating of 119 MPGe to the Chevrolet Spark EV, making it one of the most efficient cars in the United States. The all-electric subcompact goes on sale this summer in California and Oregon. The news begs this question: What is that little “e” doing at the end of MPGe? Continue reading… » 

General Electric recently announced it had started testing the prototype of what it calls the world’s most efficient high-output wind turbine. The new 2.5-120 is being tested in Wieringermeer, Netherlands.

The 2.5-120 harnesses the power of the Industrial Internet to analyze tens of thousands of data points Continue reading… » 

In recent test flights, NASA researchers have confirmed that commercial airliners can safely fly on an alternative jet fuel blend and that under some conditions the biofuel mix produced 30 percent fewer emissions than typical jet fuel.

After flying DC-8 aircraft using a biofuel blend Continue reading… » 

A Green technology brainstorm is headed for the IT world as International Green IT Awareness Week running from the 1 – 7 June 2013 aims to shine a spotlight on Green IT and pave the way for organizations and individuals to initiate, promote and support Green IT discussions and action. Continue reading… » 

One of the problems with wind power is that when there is no wind then there is no power. Offshore wind could provide abundant electricity — but as with solar energy, this power supply can be intermittent and unpredictable. A new approach from researchers at MIT could mitigate that problem, allowing the electricity generated by floating wind Continue reading… » 

The latest PCT Newsletter published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is promoting the WIPO Green platform as a way to match GreenTech innovators with commercialization partners.

The initiative from WIPO is a welcome move towards Continue reading… » 

According to Pike Research, almost 200,000 plug-in electric cars and trucks equipped with vehicle-to-building (V2B) technology will be sold through 2020. The company said that from 2012 to 2020, investment in that space will total $279 million.

That’s a lot of money. V2B and its vehicle-to-grid (V2G) cousin Continue reading… » 

I never know what to make of the frequent references I come across to the International Monetary Fund. Who exactly are these mysterious and terribly powerful people? How do they work? What are their true motivations?

In any case, they most certainly get some points for Continue reading… »