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Who killed the electric grid? Fast-charging electric cars generate lots of excitement, but what seems to be forgotten is that they can lead to a fabulous amount of peak demand.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Urban windmills harm the environment & 12 small windmills put to the test A small windmill on your roof or in the garden is an attractive idea. Unfortunately, the financial payback time of micro wind turbines is much longer than their life expectancy and in urban areas they will not even deliver as much energy as was needed to produce them. Sad, but true.
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Leave the algae alone While the first generation of biofuels is wreaking havoc on the environment and the food markets, the second generation is set to make things even worse. Maybe this time around we could sort this out before the damage gets done?
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The monster footprint of digital technology When we talk about energy consumption, all attention goes to the electricity use of a device or a machine while in operation. A 30 watt laptop is considered more energy efficient than a 300 watt refrigerator. This may sound logical, but this kind of comparisons does not make much sense if you don't also consider the energy that was required to manufacture the devices you compare.
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The
status quo of electric cars Electric motors and batteries
have improved substantially over the past one hundred years, but today's
much hyped electric cars have a range that is - at best - comparable to
that of their predecessors at the beginning of the 20th century.
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Carbon sequestration: bury the idea, not the CO2 Capturing CO2 from the smokestacks of power stations with the intention of storing it in underground reservoirs, oceans, rocks, consumer products, chemicals or fuels has gained a lot of credibility recently.
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Is ecotech the new asbestos? What will remain of greentech, cleantech and ecotech if nanotechnology turns out to be harmful for humans and the environment?
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The ugly side of solar panels
In some cases, producing electricity by solar panels releases more
greenhouse gases than producing electricity by gas or even coal. Solar
panels don't come falling out of the sky - they have to be
manufactured. Similar to computer chips, this is a dirty and
energy-intensive process.
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Planes on wheels : high speed trains Trains are considered to be much more environmentally friendly than aircrafts. Unfortunately, they lose their ecological advantage when speed goes up. And train companies in Europe and Japan seem to be obsessed by speed.
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Viva Las Vegas : LEDs and the energy efficiency paradox The incandescent light bulb is abused by environmentalists – but the alternative will only raise energy consumption. LEDs might be useful, but they almost ever introduce lighting in places and situations where there was no lighting before.
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Why the electric car has no (wireless) future The only possible green future for electric cars is a wired future: hooked up to the overhead lines, like trolleybuses and bumper cars.
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Why bottled water is good for the environment Bottled water is under attack from environmentalists who preach that tap water has a similar quality and saves a lot of energy since it does not need to be transported by trucks. That might be true, but bottled water is not our biggest problem when it comes to drinking habits.
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Cars on hot air Following the hype on hydrogen - meet the car on compressed air.
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Water eats energy Desalination – the process of turning seawater into fresh water - is increasingly becoming the world's solution to a growing water shortage problem. But if we count on the oceans to fulfill our future need, we have to find an extra 30.000 terawatt-hours of energy - twice the current global electricity production figure.
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Information damages the environment Is an electronic magazine more ecological than a paper magazine?
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Nuclear reactors, but no fuel Atomic energy goes through a revival. But already in 10 to 15 years time, there will be a severe shortage of uranium.
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Mixed links & updates on ecotech myths at No Tech Magazine.
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More tech myths
Supercomputers reach their limits
Where is the second hand market for downloads?
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