Solar-powered Air Conditioning System Developed for Trucks -- Tech-On!

Solar-powered Air Conditioning System Developed for Trucks -- Tech-On!

ICL Co Ltd, Mitsubishi Chemical Corp and Nippon Fruehauf Co Ltd co-developed an idling-stop air conditioning system that uses photovoltaic (PV) batteries for trucks.

The companies plan to conduct field tests of the system, "i-Cool Solar," aiming to commercialize it in the spring of 2012.

ICL released the "i-Cool," an air conditioner that stores electricity in a storage battery while the truck is moving and uses it when the engine is not in operation, May 24, 2010. This time, the company developed the i-Cool Solar by using Nippon Fruehauf's mount to install Mitsubishi Chemical's PV cell modules on the container of the truck and combining them with the i-Cool.

The i-Cool Solar can save about 1.8L of light oil per hour when the truck is not moving and reduce fuel consumption by about 1% when the truck is moving in the same manner as a normal 10t truck. As a result, the air conditioning system can save about 1,500L of light oil per year.

From Low Power to No Power through Energy Harvesting: Powering Up the Battery-Free World -- Nikkei Electronics Asia --November 2010 - Tech-On!

From Low Power to No Power through Energy Harvesting: Powering Up the Battery-Free World -- Nikkei Electronics Asia --November 2010 - Tech-On!

Vibration from people walking or cars crossing bridges, automobile heat, broadcasting waves and more: Energy harvesting makes it possible to utilize the uptapped energy all around us. While the available electric power is small, the world is fascinated by the concept of eliminating the need for primary batteries... More and more applications are becoming possible as the characteristics of peripheral components are improved, and high-efficiency wireless ICs running on minimal power are driving expanded introduction.

Energy harvesting refers to collecting the minute amounts of energy in our immediate surroundings, such as vibration, light, heat and electromagnetic radiation. This concept of efficiently tapping the minute amount of energy that we casually discard today is attracting enormous interest.

Full Throttle for New Motors: Electric Vehicles Drive Evolution -- Nikkei Electronics Asia --November 2010 - Tech-On!

Full Throttle for New Motors: Electric Vehicles Drive Evolution -- Nikkei Electronics Asia --November 2010 - Tech-On!

There is considerable interest in motors for applications other than merely replacing internal combustion engines, and motor technology is being revolutionized in a number of fields where motors are already being used. One excellent example is railway carriages. Railways have mostly used induction motors (IM), but are beginning to switch over to permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) for their higher efficiency. The pace of change is rapid indeed in both new applications like automobiles and existing applications such as rail.

Technologies developed for vehicular use, including new designs and new materials, will eventually spill over into home appliance and equipment fields as well. If these new motor structures and materials achieve widespread adoption, it would mean air conditioners with much smaller condenser units outside, and industrial equipment with much lower power consumption. Toshiba Corp. of Japan has already used a variable-magnetism motor originally developed for use in EVs in a washing machine, cutting power consumption by up to 16% from the prior design.

Nissan reveals all-electric Twizy-based New Mobility Concept — Autoblog Green

Nissan reveals all-electric Twizy-based New Mobility Concept — Autoblog Green

At first glance, Nissan's New Mobility Concept fooled us. We looked at the images and saw nothing more than a slightly modified Renault Twizy with a Nissan badge and "zero-emissions" lettering. But when we turned to the automaker's press release, we discovered that the New Mobility Concept is not really about the vehicle – whether it be Twizy-based or a ground-up design – it's about discovering new ways to in which electric vehicles (EVs) can be designed to meet our driving needs in the future.

Nissan envisions the New Mobility Concept as but one proposal that could provide an efficient and convenient mode of transportation in the future. The concept vehicle will be used to study two possible car-sharing scenarios that Nissan hopes will one day become reality

Hyundai i20 ArtCar -- when modern art meets modern motoring

Commissioned by Hyundai Motor Company Australia to paint an all-new i20 and matching wall mural, local Sydney artists Beastman & Numskull created the vibrant work over three days in an underground workspace in Sydney.

Using aerosol paint only, the collaboration of the two distinct styles sees bright colours and organic patterns illustrate nature morphing with an exciting urban lifestyle.

BrightSource | Ivanpah Groundbreaking

Fate of the World: Climate change challenge for computer gamers

Climate change challenge for computer gamers | Environment | The Guardian

They've previously tackled alien invasions, gang violence in New York and how to raise a happy family, but this week computer games wrestle with an even more pressing issue: climate change.

Arriving on PCs on Tuesday and Macs shortly after, the British-made Fate of the World puts players at the helm of a future World Trade Organisation-style environmental body with a task of saving the world by cutting carbon emissions or damning it by letting soaring temperatures wreak havoc through floods, droughts and fires.

The strategy game is already being hailed by gaming experts as a potential breakthrough for such social change titles, and welcomed by climate campaigners as a way of reaching new audiences.

Rousseff elected Brazil's first female president - Channel NewsAsia

Rousseff elected Brazil's first female president - Channel NewsAsia

Dilma Rousseff, a 62-year-old grandmother who was jailed in the 1970s for guerrilla activities, was elected as Brazil's first female president on Sunday.

Rousseff succeeded her mentor and outgoing leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

She beat her rival, former Sao Paulo state governor Jose Serra, in a runoff with 56 per cent of the vote, according to an official tally of 95 per cent of ballots.

The career civil servant, who served as Lula's cabinet chief before leaving in April to contest the election, will take charge of Latin America's biggest country on January 1 next year.

Lula, 65, is required to step down then, having completed the maximum two consecutive terms permitted by law.

He has not said what he plans to do. He is retiring with a popularity rating above 80 per cent and a high global profile.

Speculation was swirling that he might accept an international post, or stand by as an informal advisor to Rousseff as she runs the country, though he has downplayed those scenarios.

"There is no possibility of an ex-president participating in a government," Lula said when he voted on Sao Paulo's outskirts, where he started out as a factory metalworker and union leader.

Rousseff will have "to form a government in her image. I only hope that she does more than I did," he said.

Rousseff has none of Lula's charisma or negotiating skills.

But she does have a such a reputation for fierce determination that Brazil's media have nicknamed her the "Iron Lady," in the mould of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

She developed her political spine when she started out as an active militant opposed to the 1964-1985 military dictatorship that ruled Brazil.

She was arrested in January 1970 and sentenced to six years in prison for belonging to a violent underground group responsible for murders and bank robberies.

After nearly three years behind bars, during which she said she was tortured by electric shocks, she was released at the end of 1972. She continued her political path and eventually joined Lula's Workers Party in 1986.

After Lula became president in 2002, he named Rousseff his energy minister and then, in 2005, his cabinet chief -- a post analogous to prime minister.

Rousseff has vowed to maintain Lula's policies, which over the past eight years have brought prosperity and financial stability to Brazil, and lifted 29 million people out of poverty.

Her biggest immediate challenges will be preparing the country to host the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, both awarded under Lula's deft lobbying.

She will also have to steer Brazil through tricky economic waters.