Each year since 2003 the Metropolis Magazine Next Generation Design Competition has been held. One of this year’s entries is being considered by the city of New York for increasing recreational space and for green energy. Currently, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and GRO Architects hold a provisional patent to the entry.

The idea revolves around the use of floating docks, which would harness the power of the river currents. Each dock “station” would have three vertical turbines which would act as the ...

Gaining fuel from our trash is not a new idea, but more and more companies are dedicating themselves to this quest.. With the growing concerns of global warming and fuel consumption, companies are trying to find new ways to attain energy from our discarded materials.

Scientists in Singapore and Switzerland teamed up to release a study in the newest edition of the Global Change Biology: Bioenergy journal regarding this topic. The scientists determined figures ...

Due to the worldwide recession many business sectors experienced great declines. The clean energy industry, in particular the wind and solar sectors, was no exception. This year saw declining profits and declining requests for alternative energy around the world.

However, experts are indicating the United States and China are helping the alternative energy sector to recover. For example, Iberdrola Renovables, which is the largest operator of wind power assets globally, plans on using ...

Currently, the majority of freezer units use Freon and other such refrigerants. However, new freezers not using conventional refrigerants are becoming commonplace in Europe and may soon become widely available in the United States and Canada as well.

New types of freezers are now using propane, butane and similar refrigerants in place of Freon etc.. These new freezers are being referred to as hydrocarbon coolers. Hydrocarbon refrigerants are compressed and expanded during the refrigeration ...

The state of California is the most populated in the United States and is considered the largest alternative energy state as well. Amongst their various other initiatives, the California Public Utilities Commission is adding yet another energy efficiency program to their state.

The California Public Utilities Commission recently approved a plan to use $3.1 billion for various energy efficiency programs. The plans were submitted by multiple utility companies, including Southern California ...

President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recent announced a plan in order to protect the Amazon rainforest from sugarcane plantations. Sugarcane plantations are growing in numbers in Brazil in order to meet the demand for ethanol.

Brazil is a major consumer of ethanol and most of their newer vehicles are actually powered by the fuel. In addition to being a large consumer, the nation is the world’s largest exporter of ethanol. In addition to exporting the most ethanol, Brazil is also the largest producer of sugar. This makes sugarcane plantations ...

Oklahoma Bioenergy Center is currently conducting a $2.2 million experiment with switchgrass. 1,000 acres of switchgrass were planted last year approximately 100 miles outside of Amarillo, Texas. The experiment is meant to determine the circumstances under which switchgrass will prosper as an ethanol plant.

Whether or not switchgrass is commercially viable will be determined by whether or not the growth of the plant will be cost effective. Many in the field believe switchgrass will be ...

The First Solar company based in Tempe, Arizona currently makes the most solar cells of any other company. In addition to that feat, the company may also soon close a deal to build the largest solar field in the world.

First Solar recently announced that they had signed a so-called “memorandum of understanding” with China to build a solar field in Inner Mongolia. The agreement was with Wu Bangguo, who is the chairman of the Standing Committee in China. The agreement is currently ...