OS: Magnet Motors Achilles Ligeras’ Magnetic Engine (ALME) – After building a working prototype, “Archie” is now open sourcing the design here at PESWiki. He claims that his prototype (now broken) reached upwards of 1500 rpm for 45 minutes, and ran continuously at a lower speed for 48 hours. (PESWIki; Sept. 29, 2008)

Solar PhotoVoltaics Efficient, Cheap Solar Cells – Suniva, an Atlanta startup, has made solar cells that convert about 20 percent of the energy in the sunlight that falls on them into electricity. That’s up from 17 percent for its previous solar cells and close to the efficiency of the best solar cells on the market. (MIT Technology Review; Sept, 23, 2008)

Ocean > Tidal

Tidal power scheme to launch in Scotland – ScottishPower Renewables has identified the Pentland Firth, the Sound of Islay, and the North Antrim coast off Northern Ireland – as the most suitable for the underwater Lànstrøm tidal turbines to be built by Strom UK. (Telegraph.co. uk; Sept. 29, 2008)

downloadable book

Biofuels > Biofuel Market Set To Grow 1,000% – “Agro-fuel” has suddenly become competitive with oil, catapulting it from a backyard business into a global economic phenomenon. Bio-fuels are capturing about $23 billion of the $1.3 trillion spent each year to power vehicles. That’s just two percent of the market, with an astounding 98 percent upside. (EarthToys; October issue, 2008) Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 Store: DIY > Biodiesel > from Algae > Making Algae Biodiesel at Home – Downloadable 650-page book provides detailed instructions on how to sustainably produce clean oil from algae — in your back yard — enough to supply your transportation and home power needs. This is not a simple, afternoon venture, but a serious, long-term commitment.

Casimir Effect > Nanotechnology, the mysterious Casimir Force, and interstellar spaceships – Scientists have suggested that the quantum mechanics of something called the Casimir effect can be used to produce a locally mass-negative region of space-time, a phenomenon that theoretically could be used to stabilize a wormhole to allow faster than light travel. (Nanowerk; Sept. 23, 2008)

Ocean Wave > Buoys > Portugal opens pioneer commercial wave power plant – The world’s first commercial power plant converting the energy of sea waves into electricity started working off Portugal’s coast on Tuesday (Sept. 23) in a project that should be expanded nearly 10-fold over the next few years. (Video) (Reuters; Sept. 23, 2008)

Solar > Solar Panels Are Vanishing, Only to Reappear on the Internet – Solar power, with its promise of emissions-free renewable energy, boasts a growing number of fans. Some of them, it turns out, are thieves. (New York Times; Sept. 23, 2008)