Pure Energy Systems

Energy Resources

Tonight I discovered PESWiki - a wiki focused on "alternative, clean, practical, renewable energy solutions." that is compiled by a group called the New Energy Congress. Among the highlights are a working page of the Top 100 Technologies selected on the basis of "renewable, environmentally safe, affordable, feasible, credible, reliable, developed, safe, etc." (the full criteria can be viewed here). 

A nice feature of  their list of the technologies indicates the current stage of development ranging from theoretical to commercially available. Some of the technologies that caught my attention and would like to get some feedback on are the following (descriptions from PESWiki)

1. MotorWind's Pastic Micro Wind Turbines
   - Two of the biggest hurdles for using wind power have been cost and
   the need for strong winds. A Hong Kong businessman/inventor has found a
   way to overcome those problems with plastic, bringing the generation
   cost down to around 1 cent per kilowatt-hour. (http://www.motorwavegroup.com/)
2. O'Conner Hush Energy Turbine
   - Arthur O'Conner of Australia has international patents on a wind
   turbine design that is very quiet, can operate a low speeds while
   tolerating high wind speeds, with a price tag that makes energy
   generation comparable to grid energy cost for residential and
   commercial applications. (http://www.hushenergy.com)
3. Nanogenerator Provides Continuous Direct Current (http://pesn.com//2007/04/07/9500466_DC_Nanogenerator/)
   - Researchers at Georgia Tech have demonstrated a prototype
   nanometer-scale generator that produces continuous direct-current
   electricity by harvesting mechanical energy from such environmental
   sources as ultrasonic waves, mechanical vibration or blood flow.
4. Acoustic Stove, Fridge, Generator
   - The "Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration and Electricity," or SCORE,
   could help improve the health and quality of life for the two billion
   or so people in the world who cook over open fires. The SCORE
   thermoacoustics technology promoted by a multi-institutional project
   converts heated gas into sound waves which can be used to cook, cool,
   and/or generate electricity. (http://www.score.uk.com/research)

The final piece goes back to part of a lively email conversation about the transformative potential of nanosolar and other technologies to create a world where electricity is both cheap (or free) and available for all. The problem, however, is waiting for the patents to expire and for companies to squeeze as much profit as possible before seeing this happen. This leads to the question of whether waiting 20 years for the patents to expire is an option given the potential for serious environmental and social upheaval in the meantime. The PESWiki has a section that is following open source energy products and research with 17 different active projects. Are there more open source projects like this going on? and if so, what potential is there in further promoting this approach for energy development? The founder of the New Energy Congress (the group who maintains the wiki), Sterling Allen gave a presentation about evaluating and open sourcing energy that also may be worth checking out...