Green Technology

A team at Harvard's Wyss Institute can manufacture microbatteries using scaled down 3-D printer technology.

Imagine a computer so small it could slip through the human bloodstream. At just a millimeter in width, a new battery built by a Harvard University and University of Illinois team is perfectly suited to be a power source for tiny computers. It is also the first battery to ever be fabricated with a 3D printer. The team used a custom printer and ink to produce the batteries. A nozzle one millimeter wide deposited layers of nanoparticle-packed paste in a comb-like shape. A second printed comb nestled into the first, their teeth interlocked. These functioned as the two halves of electrodes, which conduct electricity. After printing, the electrode layers quickly hardened and were placed in a small container filled with solution. The finished product measured in at less than a millimeter wide. The team published their work Tuesday in Advanced Materials (subscription required). A battery like this could transform fields like robotics, which are limited by how small they can build product by currently available materials. It would benefit tiny flying and swimming drones that must work autonomously over long distances, plus medical implants and discrete, wearable electronics. Other small batteries are made of layers of film, but are too thin to provide much power. This 3D printed variety is dense and thick enough to compete with a traditional battery, and it’s also a lithium-ion battery: the same style as in a cell phone. “The electrochemical performance is comparable to commercial batteries in terms of charge and discharge rate, cycle life and energy densities. We’re just able to achieve this on a much smaller scale,” co-author Shen Dillon said in a Harvard release. Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.GigaOM Research highs and lows from CES 2013How emerging technologies will influence collaborationOpportunities for the future of batteries

At this year's Kwita Izina, 12 recently arrived baby gorillas will be celebrated and named. And oh my, are they adorable.

What if you could grow and sell food in the same place? That is the radical idea behind Ben Greene's The Farmery project. Can this revolutionize our current food transportation system?

This hotel for insects was created to promote urban biodiversity.

It was starting to look like battery-swapping was DOA, or at least not going to happen for a while, but Tesla seems to want to revive the idea.

GooseWatch NYC volunteers hope to stop goose killing in the city's parks.

When it comes to evaluating our energy options, policymakers typically perform cost-benefit analyses. That seems pretty uncontroversial, right? Where it gets squirrelly is in the selection of ingredients. What costs to include? Short term costs, or long-term? Include externalities? If a particular technology emits pollutants that threaten life on earth as we know it, how much should that matter? That kind of thing. Same thing on the benefits side. Do you value the resource as a short term or long term generator? Should you account for time of generation, given that electricity costs more during times of high demand? Do you include other grid benefits, such as the potential to avoid other capital outlays, such as investments in transmission and distribution systems? How about benefits that go beyond the grid? Should societal benefits such as the value of cleaner air and reduced morbidity be factored into cost-benefit evaluations? How about climate change impacts? Employment and other economic impacts? Impacts on water consumption? We think so. To this end, we’ve joined a coalition of groups (AmericanLung Association in California, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Brightline Defense Project, California Center for Sustainable Energy, California Environmental Justice Alliance, California Solar Energy Industries Association, Coalition for Clean Air, Distributed Energy Consumer Advocates, Environment California Research & Policy Center, Environmental Defense Fund, Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc., Local Energy Aggregation Network, Dr. Luis Pacheco, Presente.org, Sierra Club, Solar Energy Industries Association) to request that the California Energy Commission undertake a study of the societal costs and benefits of California’s net energy metering program. The petition can be found here (pdf). If you think this is a good idea, the CEC is requesting public comment. Instructions for adding your voice, here (pdf). All public comment on the matter here. Vote Solar is a non-profit grassroots organization working to fight climate change and foster economic opportunity by bringing solar energy into the mainstream. Related posts:Just Because a Utility Says It, Doesn’t Mean It’s TrueCost of Solar Energy Lower Than Usually Reported, Study SaysDOD Budgeting Rules May Impede Green BuildingLouisiana on the Brink of Dismantling Net MeteringCongress Requires Department of Defense to Perform Cost Benefit AnalysisCopyright © 2008-2010 CleanTechies, Inc. and Partners This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. Written by The Vote Solar Initiative. To the comments (Digital Fingerprint: b008bf120fbd682ffd7ee5812c495c9a)Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

They will stay in the city until June 20th. After that, they continue their journey which will end in Norway.

Instead of concentrating on becoming a reputable certification system, it trash-talks the competition.