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nventor who stumbled upon a way of making electric induction motors work, at the very least, more efficiently

. At most, he believes he's figured out a way to manipulate magnetic fields so that instead of slowing down a generator (according to Lenz's law in physics) it speeds it up. In fact, it gets caught in a positive feedback loop, resulting in a dramatic acceleration without any change to power input.

This one’s been swirling around for a tick, but Leviathan Energy’s brilliant new turbine is just too good to pass up. Showcased at the Cleantech Forum in California, this contraption would reportedly generate power from the downward movement of water through pipes in a municipal system. In other words, there’s potential to conjure up energy from simply flushing one’s toilet. Of course, there’s nothing revolutionary about yet another hydroelectric generator, but using such a device to grab power from such a dirty place takes things to a whole ‘nother level.

In the 21st century we have seen numerous ways to create alternative energies. Some are much more popular than others (Eco Football), but throughout the thought process there seems to be a unique pattern in the sources of renewable energy, most of which are inspired by mother nature. Piezoelectric is a science that produces energy as an object is bent, deformed, or stressed. According to Groovy Green “Scientists at the CEA/Leti-Minatec in Grenoble are looking at this technology as a way to harness the vibrations caused by falling raindrops. According to the article, the system works with raindrops ranging in diameter from 1 to 5 mm, and simulations show that it’s possible to recover up to 12 milliwatts from one of the larger ‘downpour’ drops

A new breakthrough superconducting material fabricated by a Canadian-German team has been made out of a silicon-hydrogen compound and does not require cooling. The implications of the discovery are enormous and could transform the way people live by cutting power usage from everything from refrigeration to cell phones.

FACT: There aren't enough resources on this planet to sustain continued human growth and increasing quality of life.FACT: If we want to avoid catastrophic war, suffering, and global shortages of energy, we need to start looking to space seriously for solutions.Space Based Solar Power is the first step.

"Just 40 tons of this stuff has enough potential energy to meet the total U.S. electricity demand for a year." Does this mean we will be mining the moon for Helium-3 any time soon to fuel the earth? Probably not, since the cost to extract Helium-3 from the moon would be enormous and it would require "hundreds of millions of tons of soil" to "be processed to extract a ton of helium-3".

Forty years ago, Harold Hay, 98, invented a simple, inexpensive way to heat and cool a home using the sun’s rays, but without the panels and wiring that come with conventional solar energy systems. He’s been pushing for its adoption ever since, trying to find footing in each of the solar industry’s last three boom-and-bust cycles. Yet, despite the merits of his pioneering technology, the energy establishment has shown only fleeting interest.

Wind power is currently the fastest growing renewable energy source (in terms of capacity - solar has a faster percentage growth rate), and looks like remaining so into the next decade. While most attention is focussed on the mainstream approach of generating power using large wind turbines - both onshore and, as Jerome recently looked at, offshore - there are a wide range of alternatives being considered for harvesting energy from the winds. In this post I'll look at 2 approaches that have received some attention in the press recently - attaching kite sails to ships and airborne wind turbines

ollecting solar power in space, where it is available 24/7 and is not attenuated by atmosphere or clouds, remains one of my favorite long-term energy solutions, on a par with nuclear fusion

At the 21st century's start, few would have predicted that by 2007, a second race for the moon would be under way.

Vertical urban agriculture offers a potential silver BB in this domain ... with a new concept from Seattle offering one of the most integrated and interesting approaches that I've seen to date.

A space elevator would essentially be a long rope made of nanomaterials, stretching from Earth to a counterweight at geosynchronous altitude, about 22,000 miles (35,406 kilometers) above Earth's surface. Special craft, like elevator cars, would travel along the ribbon, carrying people and goods into space in a matter of days.

Something about this reminds us of Desertec: ambitious, expensive (though not in the same league as the €400bn Desertec), and with a bunch of big name vendors involved (apparently - there is no sign of it on either Mitsubishi’s or IHI’s websites). It’s also a long way off and far from certain.

The diagram below displays affordability and effectiveness (the top right-hand label should read ‘High effectiveness/high affordability’, not ‘low affordability’). And yes, on these measures alone, stratospheric aerosols - one of the more dramatic proposals - do pretty well:

One of the more intriguing examples was from an inventor named Steve LeRoy who has developed a system to harness energy from lightning bolts.