Motherboard TV: The Thorium Dream

This is a great documentary on the element radioactive Thorium.  It was set aside in the early nuclear research days in order to produce uranium and plutonium for weapons.  I highly recommend you give it a watch and research this element and the new research on the subject.

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In our case, it was the latter. While the idea of building small, thorium-based nuclear reactors – thought to be dramatically safer, cheaper, cleaner and terror-proof than our current catalog of reactors – can be shooed away as fringe by some, the germ of the idea began in the U.S. government’s major atomic lab, at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in the 1960s, only to be left by the wayside as the American nuclear industry plowed ahead with its development of the light water reactors and the uranium fuel cycle. It’s only in the past half-decade that the idea has picked up steam again on the Internet, thanks to enterprising enthusiasts who have chronicled the early experiments, distributed documents, and posted YouTube videos. But if thorium’s second life on the Internet has grown the flock of adherents exponentially, it’s also pulled in more than a few people whose nuclear expertise doesn’t extend far past Wikipedia, adding a sheen of hype to the proceedings.

Still, the idea has legs, if new research programs by India and China are any indication. The former has just announced a prototype thorium-based advanced heavy water reactor, while the latter is researching a liquid fuel reactor based on the 1960s design. In the U.S., the race is being advanced not by the government but by some of the central movers and shakers of the Internet movement.

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Gizmodo

Motherboard

Today’s Solar Power Is a Lot Like the Old Solar Power

We may’ve put a man on the moon since, but why has solar power technology remained virtually unchanged for decades now? Is it because there’s no better way to harness energy from the sun? Or are scientists just unimaginative?

Life.com has explored how little solar tech has changed in the last century, with an 18-picture gallery of various sun-capturing inventions. Seen above is the designer Charles Eames (him of the chair-making fame), who came up with the “Do Nothing Machine” in 1958, a little gizmo that creates enough energy to instigate a whirl of color and activity behind him.

gizmodo

Google Investing Heavily in $5 Billion Atlantic Wind Power Line

Google is positioned to be a major investor in a proposed transmission line for offshore wind farms on the Atlantic seaboard, a bold plan that could radically reshape the electrical grid in the region.

The proposed Atlantic Wind Connection, which would cost $5 billion in all, would run from New Jersey to Norfolk, VA, collecting energy from offshore windfarms and redistributing it among mid-Atlantic states. The bold plan has been praised by regulators who say it could service many smaller wind projects dotting the coast, and the mid-Atlantic wind farms it would engender would be less likely to raise aesthetic objections than similar projects in Cape Cod and other areas.

Google has agreed to take a 37.5 percent stake in the 350 mile transmission line, along with Good Energies (also 37.5%) and Japanese trading company Marubeni, which has committed to a 15 percent stake.

gizmodo

New technology that captures “exciton” particles could replace today’s solar cells

Even the most efficient solar cell loses a lot of energy in the form of wasted heat. But the electron-like particles that photons emit as they enter the cells could be turned into electrical energy, solving the heat loss problem.

When photons, the particles of light, enter solar cells, they can create a quasiparticle known as an exciton. The exciton is a combination of an electron and an electron hole. What’s an electron hole? It’s basically the complete opposite of an electron, but it’s not an anti-electron. It’s not matter, it’s not antimatter, it’s not really anything at all - it’s just a place where an electron should be but isn’t.

gizmodo

Tiny Solar Cells Can Rebuild Themselves

Minuscule solar cells that can fix themselves using the same building blocks as plant cells have been demonstrated, with our old friend the carbon nanotube one of the key components that holds these self-healing power units together.

The photoelectrochemical cells, built from proteins, nanotubes and plant lipids, are clever enough technology to begin with, but there’s another crucial twist. The solar cells can be broken down into their component parts by the addition of a surfactant, which, when removed from the solar soup, lets the cells rebuild themselves.

gizmodo

Impossible Sounding Solar Plant Generates Electricity at Night

Skeptics of modern technology, behold: a newly opened solar plant in Sicily is able to continue generating electricity long after the sun goes down. The trick lies in the plant’s use of salt to store up heat for later use.

The “Archimede” facility uses what’s known as concentrated solar power, absorbing the sun’s heat and later using it to boil water and drive electricity-yielding turbines. CSP plant differ from photovoltaic plants, which generate power directly from sunlight.

Most CSP plants use a synthetic oil to store turbine-driving heat, but Archimede uses molten salt, which possesses a heat capacity able to drive its temperature up over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. Even when the sun starts to dip, the salt is still, as you can imagine, rather hot—hot enough to continue to boil water at night.

[Guardian UK via Inhabitat]

gizmodo

This Electric Motorcycle Can Reach a 100 Miles Per Hour

Brammo’s new electric motorcycle, the Empulse, is the big brother bike to the Brammo Enertia. Compared to other electric motorcycles, it’s faster, lasts longer and still surprisingly affordable. Not to mention that it actually looks like a motorcycle.

Where the Enertia was cute and charming, the Empulse is beastly and powerful. The Empulse can reach speeds up to 100mph and has an average range of 100 miles off a single charge. It’ll actually come in three models: a 6kWh, 8kWh and 10kWh version with each averaging a 60, 80, and 100 mile range on a single charge. Pricing ranges from $9,995 to $13,995 depending on which motorcycle you spring for.

The Empulse uses features similar to what we’ve seen in the MotoCzysz E1PC—like the liquid-cooled motor—but for a more practical setting. Brammo won’t go into details about the battery but they’ve managed to cook up something super powerful at a very low cost. The rest of the bike draws inspiration from conventional motorcycles:

That huge extruded aluminum frame connects the swingarm pivot to the headstock and supports the battery packs. Front suspension is upside down forks holding radial Nissin brake calipers and there’s a full-adjustable rear shock. Brammo chose to go for a streetfighter-inspired look with the Empulse as most riders will be using them in urban environments.

You’ll actually be able to check out all the awesomeness of the Brammo Empulse at Best Buy when it releases sometime next year.

[Hell For Leather]

gizmodo

GE and Yves Behar Unveil Charge-Stations for Electric Cars

Today, GE has unveiled its long-awaited scheme for electric-car charging points, complete with a design by Yves Béhar’s Fuseproject. The stations will drop the time required to charge a car down to as little as four hours.

Outwardly, the GE Wattstation charge point resembles the award winning work byFastCompany.com contributor Gadi Amit and NewDeal Design, for Better Place. And indeed, the Better Place design and the Wattstation are both usable by any city interested in building EV infrastructure.

gizmodo

Thermally-Activated Roof Tiles Change Color to Conserve Energy

Since black roof tiles absorb heat and white ones reflect it, we should all just plain re-do our roofs biannually to save energy as the seasons change. Or maybe just get roof tiles that change color on their own.

A bunch of MIT students came up with this funky-looking roofing material, dubbed Thermeleon, which changes color based on temperature. According to initial studies, “in their white state, the tiles reflect about 80 percent of the sunlight falling on them, while when black they reflect only about 30 percent.” This would translate into about a 20 percent saving on cooling costs in the summer.

Pretty neat, but unfortunately there are no plans to commercialize the tiles yet, and even if there were you’d probably have quite a battle with your home owners association to install them.

[MIT News via Gizmag]

Gizmodo

Holy shit, Japan is getting prepped to drop $21 billion on a solar power station in space, one that will beam enough energy back to Earth to power 294,000 homes. With no cables.

The whole deal is being put together by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and industrial design company IGI Corp. The plan involves a gigantic solar panel floating around in space, soaking up a gigawatt of energy and beaming it to Earth without the use of cables. And they hope to have it ready to rock within four years.

Pretty amazing stuff. Here’s hoping it works well and doesn’t end up giving the entire country of Japan cancer. Thanks for testing that whole thing out for us, guys! [Bloomberg via Inhabitat]

(via Gizmodo)