SOLARTAXI visit to NZ

LINK TO tv3 on demand ( Don't know if TV3 knows where University of Otago is is?
tv3


Solartaxi in Dunedin NZ:
Louis Palmer presented at the Centre for Innovation at the University of Otago last night! For those that came along thanks for the questions and if you want more information just post the site or contact Thomas or myself at Design Studies.

Summary:
Louis Palmer traveled overland from the heart of Switzerland via 18 countries to the Middle East and India, from where he took a ship to his next destinations India and Indonesia – to reach Bali in time for the Climate Change Conference in early December, where the Solar taxi became a major attraction at the gates of the summit, where it served to give an emission-free lift to, amongst others, Peter Garrett, Australia’s new Minister for the Environment, Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Nobel Prize winning IPCC, and Bianca Jagger, President of the World Future Council, and Michael Bloomberg, City Major of New York.

In Bali, he met Mike Fincken, Captain of the “Rainbow Warrior II”, who was so enthusiastic about the idea of touring the world emission free that he spontaneously invited the Solar taxi to find a temporary home on board of the Greenpeace ship – which was bound for Whangarei, New Zealand.

He liked the ideas ( OMOCO TEAM WELL DONE AGAIN for 2007 development)

http://www.solartaxi.ch

Salt Water Fuel

A cancer research lead to this finding of salt water as a potential alternative fuel. The salt water burns to provide immense heat energy. Check it out.

EEStor

i discovered this company when i was researching super-capacitors. they're very secretive but have recently come out claiming they've invented a new energy storage device which is a 10x improvement on the lead acid battery. from what i can gather its essentially a super-capacitor, but much better. there seems to be very little info on them but heres some interesting things i found.

the initial speculation - www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/eestor_capacito_1.php

what EEStor has to say - www.treehugger.com/files/2007/01/big_news_eestor.php

if their claims are realised then this could really revolutionize energy storage

Chris

Water Powered Bike

I am not sure if anyone seen this footage before, but i remembered catching a glimpse a long time ago. It is a '60 minute' documentary showcasing that an Aucklander, Steve Ryan has created 'the hydrogen fuel', (alternative water fuel source for bikes/ automobiles). Quite unreal.

Link to the company Biosfuel - http://www.biosmeanslife.com/home.html

Super Caps

Super caps, or "capacitors" are an alternative energy storage to batteries. I don't know quite how they work- ask Andrew or Chris if interested- but from what I understand they are lighter and deliver higher power bursts for acceleration. However, this comes at a cost- they don't hold as much energy, so they don't last as long. there is also rapid dissapation when not in use. On the plus side they can be charged very quickly which is why they are used in regenerative braking. Very useful things.

Check out
http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=2371
for an ebike which uses them and a general explaination.