Emergent Energy Group» New Energy Tech – Emergent Energy Group

Indian Innovators Solving Energy Issues Independently

sara — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:59:03 +0000

If you read any sort of energy or environmental news these days, you are certainly aware that government initiatives to combat climate change are taking place from the local to state to federal level. These laws and incentives offer great hope that renewable energy could serve a much larger portion of our energy needs in the years to come. While large scale energy projects offer us great hope in making a sizeable impact in our energy dependence, we should not forget all the small projects that together will make a huge change. Today I’d like to give a shout out to International Development Eneterprises India, who is creating home-grown solutions to traditional irrigation for agriculture. The company “ has developed human/gravity-powered irrigators, water storage systems and treadle pumps that consume no electrical power, use far less water than current irrigators (hence requiring less storage to start with), and are most importantly simple, low cost and user friendly.”* On the surface, this is great technology because it requires no electrical power. This technology is however much more than that – it offers independence to small users of energy, the farmers of India. They are taking control or their own access to water and finding that independent systems do not have to come at a cost – most of the time they are even cheaper. This is just one story of innovators in India creatively meeting their energy needs, even without the government initiators such as those existing in the West. To read more about Indian climate change innovators, visit: http://www.indiaclimatesolutions.com/

*http://www.indiaclimatesolutions.com/pump-sets-irrigation-and-human-power

Wanna be in our Posse?!

jared — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:17:33 +0000

We’re starting a movement. The Emergent Posse is an online group/movement/community of highly-motivated community activists spread across the nation working to educate and empower communities and community leaders in order to implement real sustainability programs and projects. We’ve hit a paradigm shift: oil isn’t cheap, the planet has a fever, and the economy is in the toilet. I’ve heard smart people calling for BIG government intervention and Europe-styled Socialism. That’s not the answer here in America. The biggest problem is that most of us, including our politicians (local, state, national) and our business leaders haven’t yet “seen the light.” There are ways to get ourselves out of this mess – it’s right under our nose in the wind, the sun, soil, and water. It starts with our communities, not the White House or the Capitol. It starts with us! Let us help you help your community and your friends – join our Posse. We are the answer.

Here’s what to do – and there’s a lot of different ways to get in touch with us:

Our website: http://www.emergentgroup.com/posse/

Join us on Facebook @ The Emergent Posse : http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=80673874691

Twitter us @EmergentEnergy : http://twitter.com/EmergentEnergy

On your phone: Text ‘empower’ to 68398

Emergent to Attend the First Annual Kairos Summit

Jayson — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:07:50 +0000

Emergent Energy Group is excited to be attending the first annual Kairos Summit on April 3 – 4. The invitation-only event will bring over 500 young entrepreneurs from around the world to the Intrepid Air, Sea, & Space Museum in New York City. Some of the notable speakers include President Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States; William Gates Sr., Chairman of the Gates Foundation; Ellen Kullman, CEO of DuPont; and Naveen Jain, Founder & CEO of Intelius. For more information on the event please visit www.kairossociety.com Emergent is excited to be apart of this event. We will have a table at the entrepreneurship expo on Friday evening; come visit us at the Intrepid!

Honda Makes a Huge Leap towards Hydrogen, Away from Gas

mike — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:08:27 +0000

The NY Times reports that this past Monday Honda celebrated the start of production of its new FCX Clarity, the world’s first hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicle intended for mass production. Fuel cells work from combining hydrogen and oxygen from the outside air to make electricity in a process whose only byproducts are water and heat. Not only will the use of fuel-cell vehicles help alleviate the effects of climate change but it might eventually provide a financial benefit over oil which has risen to $140 per barrel.While manufacturers have been able to produce cars with fuel cells in the past, Honda’s ability to mass produce this technology is a significant step towards phasing out the use of petroleum-based fuels. As, Kazuaki Umezu, head of Honda’s Automobile New Model Center stated, “basically, we can mass produce these now … we are waiting for the infrastructure to catch up.”

The lack of infrastructure does indeed present one of the most challenging problems to instituting the widespread usage of fuel-cell vehicles. Public filling stations simply do not exist in most places, which would force owners to only drive within a certain vicinity of their home. While creating this infrastructure would be costly, it is certainly possible as states like California have shown.

Although the lack of public filling stations remains a barrier, Honda has taken great strides towards the use of fuel-cell vehicles with their ability to mass produce the FCX Clarity. This technology will result in lowering the prohibitive cost that has always been an issue with the widespread use of fuel cells. While the Clarity costs several hundred thousand dollars to make, this figure will drop below $100,000 in less than a decade as a result of mass production. In the meantime, Honda will subsidize its customers and only charge $600 a month for leasing the vehicle – not much more than the price of leasing one of Honda’s luxury Acura vehicles.

Not only has Honda made fuel-cell cars more practical with this reduction in cost, but their new technology has allowed the customer to sacrifice less in the power department. The Clarity’s fuel-cell unit can generate up to 100 kilowatts of electricity, enough to accelerate the car from zero to 60 miles an hour in less than nine seconds, and give it a top speed of 100 miles an hour, Honda says. Furthermore, unlike electric cars whose batteries must recharge for hours, the Clarity can be refilled at the pump, once they are available, and can drive 280 on a single tank, nearly rivaling gasoline models. It also gets higher fuel efficiency than a gasoline car or hybrid, the equivalent of 74 miles a gallon of gas, according to the company.

It seems that Honda has made a significant breakthrough in finding a viable substitute for gasoline. Fuel cell units are 100% environmentally clean and provide a more practical alternative to the batteries of electric cars. Though usage on a grand scale is a ways away, Honda has made it clear that the main obstacle is not one of production or cost, but of a significant lack of infrastructure. Hopefully Honda’s demonstration that the mass production of fuel-cell vehicles is a feasible enterprise will spur government action to develop the filling station that will help make this substitute to gasoline engines a reality.

Check out the original NY Times Article here.