Solar Impulse, a one-of-a-kind solar powered airplane, started as an ambitious idea to circumnavigate the globe using zero liquid fuel and has surpassed numerous milestones along its path toward that goal.
Last year the plane made its first intercontinental flight from Europe to Africa and this spring the team plans to fly Solar Impulse from California to NY, but flying through the night was one of the most impressive demonstrations that proved the technology’s capabilities. Keep reading →
History will be made when the first transcontinental airplane flight made with zero liquid fuel takes place this spring. The solar-powered plane called the Solar Impulse will travel from San Francisco to New York using 11,628 photovoltaic cells, several lithium polymer batteries and four 10 horsepower electric engines. The plane’s wingspan is the size of a Boeing 747, it weighs about as much as a car and has as much power as an average scooter.
The idea for Solar Impulse was born in 1999 when Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones circumnavigated the globe in a balloon – a mission that almost failed due to fuel supply constraints. The incident motivated Piccard to circle the Earth again, but this time without fuel, a goal that hit a major milestone last year when Bertrand and Co-founder Andre Borschberg flew the plane from Switzerland to Morocco and back in the first fully-solar powered intercontinental flight. Keep reading →
Are DOE’s most effective problem solvers outside the Department itself?
In the fall of 2011, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General issued a sobering report calling for a major restructuring of operations. Keep reading →
Central Hudson Gas and Electric based in Poughkeepsie, New York is working with state and federal authorities and industry groups to investigate a cyber attack earlier this month where hackers gained entry to as many as 110,000 customer accounts. Employees detected the computer system intrusion, which happened over a weekend, as a result of regular control procedures, the utility said.
So far there appears to be no evidence that customer information was misused or downloaded during the incident, but the utility has warned customers to monitor bank accounts for suspicious or unauthorized activity. Newsday reports that while customer information may have been compromised, a company spokesman indicated there is no evidence the intruders found their way to the electric infrastructure. The investigation is continuing. Keep reading →
The mobile internet revolution has been driven by customers rather than companies, with the most innovative work being done for consumers who often then turn around to companies and ask why they can’t use the same tools at work.
Now – thanks to Google and GE – they can. The two companies have launched a partnership for the utility business that leverages the combination of Google’s customer-facing approach with its ease of use and intuitive maps functions with the deep sector knowledge of GE. Customers accessing GE’s information on energy assets can now load that data on top of Google’s maps functions rather than requiring separate custom-built technology with accompanying training hurdles and potential bugs or mismatches. Keep reading →
For years predictions of the horror show that could happen if the nation’s electricity grid was compromised by hackers proliferated in inverse correlation to the number of attacks; the sector went about its peaceful way, adding security as it added increased interconnectivity and meeting standards that left service reliability levels intact.
That “quiet war” in cyberspace is over. The US energy sector is under attack, and there isn’t any indication the situation is going to improve. Keep reading →
Americans are accustomed to being told that they are running behind other countries, that other places are doing a better job of educating their young or building high-speed railroads or ensuring access to healthcare. Energy efficiency would seem to be the last area in which the US, with its famously well-lit and climate-controlled lifestyle, would be leading.
But in fact, demand response markets that allow customers and power providers to reap the benefits of “negawatts” (essentially un-used power they would traditionally demand or need to supply) are highly developed in the US, if admittedly still imperfectly understood and applied. The market for demand response, which is the activity that creates “negawatts,” has grown from essentially nothing a decade ago to a $3 billion market today, Joule Assets CEO Mike Gordon told Breaking Energy on the sidelines of the AGRION Energy & Sustainability Summit in New York City this month. Keep reading →
The United States is reportedly under attack by the Chinese government. America’s business secrets, critical infrastructure and wealth are the targets. But many businesses are taking a lackadaisical approach to cybersecurity. Multiple industry studies have shown that the vast majority of companies don’t begin following cybersecurity best practices until after they’ve been hit. The latest and most telling example came Tuesday. According to a new report from information security company Mandiant, the Chinese military is linked to one of the most prolific hacking groups in the world. That group, known as the “Comment Crew,” has attacked Coca-Cola (KO, Fortune 500), EMC (EMC, Fortune 500) security division RSA, military contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT, Fortune 500), and hundreds of others. It reportedly holds the blueprints to America’s energy systems, and has funneled trade secrets out of some of the country’s largest corporations. The implications of China’s presence in Corporate America’s networks are vast, from matters of economic competitiveness to international diplomacy.
The rise of the consumer as advocate, reviewer and influencer has been a byproduct of technology, but has also influenced the shape and pace of technology development as communications have improved and online reviews have proliferated. The community of enthusiasts around a product or a sector now have an outsized voice – through social media and other formats – in influencing the outcomes of the products they care most about.
Capturing the interest and imagination of the enthusiast community is part of what the electrical generation sector wants to do when it comes to electric vehicles, Edison Electric Institute senior vice president Brian Wolff told Breaking Energy in a recent interview. “There have been a lot of fits and starts with regard to the EV movement,” Wolff said in discussing a new platform the association has launched called The Electric Generation. Keep reading →
The largest energy services companies are set to benefit from a focus on oil drilling in the US as the shale oil boom in North America continues, analysts at Barclays claim, even as drilling for natural gas in shale – largely an “efficiency game” – becomes commoditized.
Much has been made of the boom in development of both oil and natural gas fields in the US, stemming from advances in the efficiency and deployment of hydraulic fracturing. That technological advance has created a price dynamic that weighs on the very industry that has taken advantage of it, while comparatively high global oil prices have made drilling for crude – a more complicated business – more attractive. Keep reading →
