Saving Earth

Throughout history, humans have searched for better energy sources and better ways to harvest energy. A rough estimation of mankind’s energy consumption through different periods of history is displayed in the figure.

Anyone who has an iPhone is plagued by the relatively low battery life, but we were recently alerted to a solution in that beacon of invention oddities, the SkyMall catalog. A company called Novothink recently developed the first Apple-approved solar charger for the iPhone. The $70 “Surge” is like an iPhone case, except it has [...]

By the end of 2009, there will have been a 50% drop in the levelised cost – the lifetime cost per kWh before subsidies – of solar power, and a 10% reduction in the levelised cost of other renewable energy sources compared to the end of 2008.
These estimates are the latest fruit of detailed [...]

The term “geothermal” is derived from the Greek words for Earth (geo) and heat (therme). In essence geothermal energy is power harnessed from the Earth itself. Heat from the Earth’s core, which averages about 6,650 degrees Fahrenheit, emanates out toward the planet’s surface. Heated springs and geysers up to three miles underground can be accessed [...]

It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan’s space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves. The government has just picked a group of firms and a team of researchers tasked with turning the ambitious, [...]

Our planet receives as much solar energy  in 30–40 minutes as humankind uses in a year. Solar energy is the most abundant energy source on the planet. It is already being used as the energy source of space vehicles and space stations. (The energy source on the International Space Station  is an acre-size solar collector [...]