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"Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy Tweet this talk! (we'll add the headline and the URL) Post to: Share on Twitter Email This Favorite Download inShare Share on StumbleUpon Share on Reddit Share on Facebook TED Conversations Got an idea, question, or debate inspired by this talk? Start a TED Conversation, or join one of these: Green Home Energy=Hydrogen Generators-alternative sources Started by Kathleen Gilligan-Smith 1 Comment What is the real missing link in renewable energy? Started by Enrico Petrucco 8 Comments Comment on this Talk 60 total comments Sign in to add comments or Join (It's free and fast!) Sort By: smily raichel 0 Reply Less than 5 minutes ago: Nice smily raichel 0 Reply Less than 5 minutes ago: Good David Mackey 0 Reply 3 hours ago: Superb invention, but I would suggest one more standard mantra that they should move on from and that is the idea of power being supplied by a centralised grid. This technology seems to me to be much more beneficial on a local scale, what if every home had its own battery, then home power generation becomes economically more viable for everyone. If you could show that a system like this could pay for itself in say 5 years then every home would want one. Plus for this to be implemented on a large scale requires massive investment that could be decades away. Share the technology and lets get it in homes by next year. Great ted talk. Jon Senior 0 Reply 1 hour ago: I agree 100%. Localised energy production would also make energy consumers more conscious of their consumption and encourage efforts to reduce it. We can invent and invent all we want, but the fast solution to allowing renewable energies to take centre stage is to reduce the base energy draw. With lower baseline consumption, smaller "always on" generators are required to keep the grid operational. Town and house-l

But today the scenario is different, with builders getting a mix of mid end and affordable housing into their portfolio. Raminder Grover, CEO-Homebay Residential, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, says the revival in sales has been, conservatively speaking, to the tune of around 25% across the mid-to-high income segments, according to his company's sales records. Rohtas Goel, CMD of Delhi-based Omaxe too says there has been a 30% increase in sales thanks to factors such as a reversal in general economic sentiment after the elections and more options available in affordable housing. Statistics too would appear to bear this out. India's largest real estate developer DLF says it has sold almost 1,500 flats in various cities since April, notably some 400 flats in its mainstay market Gurgaon, 700 in Bangalore, 100 plots in Indore, 200 flats in Hyderabad and 50 in Cochin. Rival Unitech has managed to sell more than 4,000 units in the last two and a half months in the National Capital Region, Chennai and Mumbai. Omaxe has also sold almost 500 apartments in its Omaxe Eternity project in Vrindavan.

The Butterfly Houses project in Thailand, designed by Norwegian non-profit architectural practice TYIN Tegnestue, has been shortlisted under the social justice category for the Earth Awards 2010 to be held in London on 16 September 2010.

As designed, the cities will have a total of four times the geographic area of Hong Kong, three times the population of Dubai, and - so the Saudis claim - an economic output equal to Singapore's. The coastal King Abdullah Economy City is designed to house two million in an area twice the size of Hong Kong. Entirely funded by domestic and foreign private investors, this is the only one of the four planned cities that is currently under construction. Aside from the seaport and residential area, KAC will also house a sprawling industrial zone, a central business district, a sea resort, and a multi-university education campus.

Leadership in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are calling on the Department of Energy (DOE) to allocate US $250 million of the $2.5 billion in stimulus funding for renewable energy research and development to the emerging marine renewable energy industry. The funding would help develop wave, current and tidal energy technologies

Copper prices tumbled to a five-week low Thursday on expectations that falling demand from China and a slowdown in the U.S. housing market will lead to a surplus of the metal. Other commodities traded mixed, with crude oil rebounding slightly and gold, silver and soybeans falling. Corn and wheat futures rose. China, the world's biggest buyer of copper, has been importing less of the metal since the completion of most major construction projects heading into the Beijing summer Olympics. Copper imports in June fell 20 percent compared to May, China's custom's agency said this month. As a result, stockpiles of the metal have swelled in Shanghai and London, helping drive down prices.

If you're worried about dependence on fossil fuels, the RuralZed timber-frame kit house can make you self-sufficient.

#1: Would-be buyers will have far more choices in 2012. #2: Prices will remain high for electric vehicles #3: Real estate companies and parking lot operators will continue to install electric vehicle chargers as a service. #4: More businesses will install chargers. #5: Wireless charging technologies will get wider testing. #6: Models will emerge for vehicle-to-grid electricity distribution. In scenarios where a house loses power, electric vehicles could play a role as back-up generators. #7: Safety issues will get closer scrutiny. Others: #1: The majority of people who drive a plug-in vehicle won't own it. #2: "Automakers will get pushback from EV owners regarding the length of time it takes to fully charge a vehicle." #3: Many EV charging stations will spend the majority of their time idle. #4: 'Range anxiety' #5: "The best-selling EVs won't have four wheels

Mueller Industries Inc., the US based copper tube and fittings manufacturer, announced its end of year 2011 results, reporting net sales of US$491M in Q4 2011, down from US$527M in Q4 2010. The company attributed US$11M of the diffrence in net sales between Q4 2011 and the previous year period to a decline in the copper price. US$25M of the difference was attributed to lower unit shipment volumes, of which, the plumbing and refrigeration sectors accounted for US$14M. The company is optimistic that new housing starts will continue to rise through 2012, boosting copper tube demand.

Mueller Industries, a leading producer of copper tubes and brass products, reported net sales of $594.1M in Q2 2012. After accounting for changes of metals prices, this represents a decline of 1% y-o-y. The contraction was partially offset by a slightly higher sales volume y-o-y.

Mueller Inc, the US-based manufacturer of plumbing and commercial copper tube, announced on 5th February that its operating revenue for the fourth quarter of 2012 increased by 27.1% y-o-y, to USD16.4M, compared to the same period in 2011. CEO Greg Christopher said that the company is heavily dependent on the housing and commercial construction sector, and after five years of decline and stagnation," the industry finally appears to be gaining positive momentum."

Southwire Co. Inc., a US cablemaker with a focus on building wire production, said that the US residential construction industry has bottomed-out after near-continuous contraction since being heavily impacted by the global economic crisis in late-2008. The company said that it is now necessary to use statistics on housing area under construction in order to analyse and pre-empt demand as government figures on housing starts cause an overestimation of the strength of the recovery in wire and cable demand. This is due to homebuilders more frequently electing to construct smaller homes, requiring less wire and cable than average-sized homes.