Some New Stuff

This is just a collection of some interesting (at least to me) items added tot he site over the last week or so....

Harvesting Fresh Water From Fog
Areas with regular daily fogs (e.g. some coastal areas) can harvest impressive amounts of fresh water from the fog.  Nets catch the fog and then channel droplets from the fog into a catch basin. 



Details...

Booklet on "Hot Water From Your Woodstove"
This is a good 45 page booklet from Lehman's describing a couple systems for adding a heat exchanger coil to the firebox in your woodstove to heat water.  Good detail on both thermosyphon and pumped systems, and lots of information on troubleshooting and doing the installation safetly.




Details...




Skysails -- Kites for Towing Ships
These are large kites that can be deployed under favorable wind conditions to reduce fuel consumption.  With favorable winds, fuel consumption can be reduced as much as 50%.
Operation of the Skysails is largely automatic.




Details...



Homes From Cylindrical Grain Storage Bins
A collection of links to homes made from cylindrical steel grain bins.  These homes offer a thermally efficient shape, and some options for good insulation thickness -- plus and interesting look.

Details...









Gary

Energy Fairs

This is the season for a lot of the annual energy fairs, so check around and see if there is a good one to go to in your area.

The fairs are a great way to learn about renewable energy projects, go to workshops, meet some renewable energy people in your area, and find some deals.

I keep a list of all the Energy Fairs I know about here...

If you know of others that are not on the list, please let me know...

Gary

EcoRider -- Converting a riding gas mower to electric

This is an interesting ongoing set of entries on the Eco-Renovator site about converting a riding gas mower into an electric operation running on lead acid batteries.

This could become a solar charged mower with the addition of PV panels and a charge controller.

Details on the EcoRenovator conversion here...

More on converting mowers and tractors to solar electric operation...

 

The EcoRenovator site has a number of interesting articles.

Gary

Single Seat VW Car to Get 250 mpg -- Production in 2010

This
single seat car that VW is working on would get 250+ mpg, top speed 75 mph. 
It can travel over 400 miles on its 1.7 gallon fuel tank! 

It weighs 660 lbs.

This car is powered by gasoline only, and its 250 mpg is not one of the
phony plug in hybrid mileage ratings that does not include fossil fuel
burned to make electricity -- its an honest 250 mpg -- amazing.













Said to be ready to go on sale in Shanghai in 2010. 

More here...

Gary

New Product: Nissan LEAF EV for US in 2010

Nissan Motor Co. has announced that they plan to offer the Nissan LEAF pure electric car in the US in late 2010.
The LEAF seats 5, and will have a range of about 100 miles.  It uses a 24 KWH Lithium-Ion batter pack.  Top speed of 90 mph.

More info here...