Important Innovations

  Mayflower 400 -  Truly Intelligent Ship                                         Source:  Mayflower 400 Captained by Artificial Intelligence In Plymouth, England, the world's first fully autonomous, intelligent ship - the Mayflower 400 - is preparing for its first transatlantic voyage to Plymouth, MA.  The Mayflower 400 commemorates the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, MA in 1620.  The 50 foot trimara weighs nine tons and navigates completely autonomously.  It is a ship without any people onboard for the ocean voyage to Massachusetts. Construction of the $1 million vessel took a year.  Every component of the ship operates autonomously including the diesel generator that supplements the solar panels that cover Mayflower 400. There is a robotic rudder that steers the vessel.  The journey to Plymouth will take three weeks and a great deal of scientific discovery will be generated along the way. Smart Captain Mayflower 400 is captained by Artificial Intell

   Africa Using Solar Powered E-Bikes To Prevent Poaching                                                       Source:  CAKE e-bikes & Elephant stock image Unique Global Partnership and Program Solar powered motorbikes from Sweden are about to be deployed by anti-poaching rangers in Africa to stop poachers from killing wildlife and endangered species.  The solar powered, electric bike is called the Kalk AP and it is designed to overcome the problems African rangers face in protecting endangered species in conservation areas.  The program and the Kalk AP have been developed by an unique partnership that includes the Southern Africa Wildlife College, CAKE electric motorbikes of Sweden and Goal Zero, a portable solar panel company based in Utah. Preventing Poaching Across Africa, rangers are using motorbikes to patrol protected areas.  But the bikes run on expensive and many times inaccessible gasoline.  They are also very noisy, sounding an alarm to poachers that rangers are on thei

  Africa Using Solar Powered E-Bikes To Prevent Poaching  Source:  CAKE e-bikes & Elephant stock image Unique Partnership and Program Solar powered motorbikes from Sweden are about to be deployed by anti-poaching rangers in Africa to stop poachers from killing wildlife and endangered species.  The solar powered, electric bike is called the Kalk AP and it is designed to overcome the problems African rangers face in protecting endangered species in conservation areas.  The program and the Kalk AP have been developed by a partnership that includes the Southern Africa Wildlife College, CAKE electric motorbikes of Sweden and Goal Zero, a portable solar panel company headquartered in Utah. Preventing Poaching Across Africa, rangers are using motorbikes to patrol protected areas.  But the bikes run on expensive and many times inaccessible gasoline.  They are also very noisy, sounding an alarm to poachers that rangers are on their way.  The new Kalk AP is quiet, energy efficient and sustai

   World Aviation History is Made                               Source:  NASA - Ingenuity 1st Image First Helicopter That Flew on Another Planet NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter has succeeded in achieving the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.  It used its navigation camera, which autonomously tracks the ground beneath Ingenuity during flight, to take its first black and white image from the air.  The small rotocraft has made world history with its first flight.  It is part of a long series of NASA achievements that were thought to be technologically impossible. First Flight Ingenuity is solar-powered.  During its first flight, it reached a height of ten feet and hovered steadily for thirty seconds before landing smoothly back on Mars after 39.1 seconds of flight.  The flight test was totally autonomous.  Because of Mars' nearly 200 million mile distance from Earth, NASA can not control Ingenuity with a joystick.  Ingenuity's flight was powered and piloted

  President Biden Wants Solar Energy Costs Cut 60%                                                                 Source:  Stock Solar Farm Image s Biden Targets 100% Clean Electricity by 2035 In a big reversal of former President Donald Trump's denial of climate change, President Joe Biden has a very aggressive green energy agenda.  Mr. Biden wants to cut US solar energy costs by 60% within the next decade.  And, he pledges to decarbonize the US power industry by 2035 by having it run on entirely green energy.  He wants the industry to produce 100% green electricity by 2035.  President Biden is acutely aware of the global damage that greenhouse gas emissions are doing to the environment, including the waves of severe weather consistently hitting the US with forest fires, flooding and severe storms. New Green Energy Innovations The US Department of Energy (DOE) says that to achieve the President's solar goals, solar energy needs to be installed at five-times the current rate. 

  Next Generation of Renewable Energy Source:  Virtual Power Plant stock images Homes, Working Together, Forming a Virtual Power Plant The concept of virtual power plants is compelling and already in practice.  The plant consists of homes powered by solar panels working together and turning neighborhoods into virtual power plants that can feed excess energy back to the grid.  These virtual power plants are already deployed in locations around the world such as public housing in South Australia and apartment complexes in Utah and California.  It's the next generation of solar power technology.  At some point in the future, virtual power plants may consist of fleets of electric vehicles. Gaining in Popularity Virtual power plants are gaining in popularity for a number of reasons.  They are a promising, green replacement for aging electricity infrastructure and their power plants powered by polluting fossil fuels.  Virtual power plants can distribute energy over a much wider area and

World's First Solar Powered Rail Road Source:  Indian Railway India's Green Experiment This is unique green innovation from India.  A large solar power plant has been built in Bina, India to directly feed solar powered energy to overhead power lines to power electric locomotives.  This is a major project of the Piush Goyaled Indian Railways.  The project is considered a world first. Testing Phase This is a joint project of Indian Railways and Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited.  It's a 1.7 megawatt solar power plant.  According to the companies, the plant can "produce 25 lakh of energy yearly and save an amount of Rs 1.37 crore for Indian Railways every year."  They are now testing the technology. 3 Gigawatt Solar Plant The plan is to install a 3 gigawatt solar power plant within a few years, after completing tests on their 1.7 megawatt solar plant system.  According to the Indian Railway Ministry, the power plant's feeding directly to the railway&

BP Pilot Project in Australia Source:  stock image of hydrogen Producing Hydrogen From Wind and Solar Power British Petroleum has won approval from the government of Australia to produce hydrogen energy from wind and solar power.  The renewable energy sources of wind and solar power will be used to split water and convert it into hydrogen and ammonia.  Australia is contributing more than $1 million to the $4.4 million BP feasibility study. Australia:  Global Hydrogen Capital Australia has ambitions to be a major producer of hydrogen by 2030.  If the feasibility study yields promising results, BP will build a pilot plant in western Australia to produce 20,000 tons of hydrogen.  Later, it will build a commercial scale facility capable of producting 1 million tons for both domestic and international markets. Renewable Energy's Holy Grail The production of green, renewable hydrogen using wind and solar power drastically cuts carbon emissions.  Energy e

Solar Powered Driving Charged at Home Source:  Tesla Elon Musk's Latest Brilliant Idea One big plan that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is executing on with speed is his solar roof business which includes solar panels and solar batteries. His vision is to use the Sun's solar power - at home - to provide energy to your home and also power your electric car. One Stop Sun Power The concept is brilliant.  It could provide large scale, additional charging power for EV's.  But at the moment, it's also expensive.  Musk's solar roof and his Powerwall battery can cost the homeowner $83,000 for installation.  Musk wants the installation to take 8 hours.  At the moment it takes about two weeks if you include removing the old roof. Expanding the Business and Lifting the Share Price Musk is currently operating his solar roofing business largely out of California.  But he plans to expand it initially into 17 states. Musk says solar is an extremely

Solar Sailing in Space - LightSail 2 Source:  LightSail 2 Promising New Solar Innovation for Space Travel This green energy technology has the potential to be disruptive innovation. It's a solar powered sail invented through the non-profit Planetary Society in California, led by the Science Guy Bill Nye.  The LightSail 2 CubeSat spacecraft successfully deployed its solar sail to get propulsion in space a few days ago.  It's the first spacecraft to be propelled by sunlight alone.  This is very important science because the use of solar sails to convert solar wind into thrust could save fuel for spacecrafts on long space missions. Solar Sailing The small spacecraft is the size of a toaster.  It was hurled into space aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket in late June.  A few days ago, flight controllers on the ground in California fully deployed the solar sail from the CubeSat into space.  The sail is the size of a boxing ring and the system is orbiting the Earth solely

Solar Energy Even on Cloudy Days Source:  Stock Image of Solar Panels Bacteria Powered Solar Cells University of British Columbia scientists have created a low-cost, sustainable way to build a solar cell using bacteria that can harvest light.  What's remarkable is the bacteria can harvest energy from light even on cloudy days. Biogenics Solar cells are the building blocks of solar panels.  They do the work of changing light into electrical current.  The bacteria solar cells are called "biogenic" because they are made of living organisms.  The hope is that biogenic solar cells can become as efficient and even more efficient than synthetic cells used in conventional solar panels. Shedding Light In the past, efforts to build biogenic solar cells have focused on extracting the natural dye that bacteria use for photosynthesis.  That process was costly and complex.  Also it involved toxic solvents that can cause the dye to degrade. British Columbia Breakthroug