Topic Page: Engineering
If it gets built, there’s an engineer involved somewhere. Check out some ideas on engineering the things we use everyday to be cleaner and more efficient. Have an idea in Engineering? Tell us
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Ideas Related to Engineering
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Webisodes Related to Engineering
Hackers: The Practical Green Activists
Most of us recycle bottles, cans, paper – the basics – but how many of us take the time to rebuild, repurpose and recycle the technology in our lives? The people of HacDC live that lifestyle every day.
Tiny House, Big Impact: Getting Green by Building Less
Downsizing your living space is one way to get really green. Tiny houses could be the next big thing in both sustainability and affordability.
How does YouTube Consumption Affect the Environment?
THIS WEEK: Have you ever wondered ‘What’s something I do everyday that impacts the environment and I don’t even know it?’ #Thinkfwd student Charles Pulliam-Moore sheds light on an idea you might never have thought of: how green is YouTube?
Building Green for the Future
This week, we take you into the classroom and look at how some organizations are hoping that kids will be “sustainability natives.”
An Innovative Approach to Water Conservation
THIS WEEK: Our rapidly increasing consumption of water is creating concerns about what the world would be like without any! One team, however, created an innovative solution to the planet’s quickly disappearing water. Check it out in this week’s webisode!
Empowerhouse: Community-Based Sustainable Living
THIS WEEK: How to turn a Solar Decathlon house into a home. GW students Melissa Turley and Jon Fenech followed Team Empowerhouse through the Solar Decathlon. Their innovation? Making it affordable enough to be a Habitat for Humanity home.
WATCH!
A Solar Conversation with Secretary Chu
THIS WEEK: In this week’s webisode, Planet Forward’s Frank Sesno interviews Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu at the 2011 Solar Decathlon! Chu talks about the coolest innovations, and even wonks out a bit on r-values and building materials.
Wind Beneath Their Strings
Here is a new way to deliver energy to those who need it. The women in one small community in Guatemala have wind, they just need a way to harness it. Enter enthusiastic students from the University of Michigan College of Engineering.
ICLEI’s Martin Chavez On Sustainable Growth & Smart Cities
This week, Planet Forward host Frank Sesno sits down with Martin Chavez, Executive Director of ICLEI. The focus? Smart cities! Learn what your city can do to grow and adapt to a changing planet. More>>
Top Online Vote Getters – Who Did YOU Choose?
Your viability ratings helped up select 22 nominees, then your votes determined the top three online vote getters. These three pieces made the cut and will be on our April PBS prime time special. Check them out…
The Phantom of the Outlet
Students at the University of Nebraska are developing technology to combat vampire energy and we want to know if you think it’s a good idea. What are your thoughts on these smart houses?
Solar Artist Sculpts with Renewables
Environmental artist Rein Triefeldt calls on more than just stone to make his sculptures. In this week’s webisode, we look at his innovative way of making solar beautiful. Sorry Garden Gnome, these front lawn ornaments aren’t just pretty decoration, they produce energy too. Watch>>
Ditch the Peanuts, Pack with Shrooms
Get ready for our next segment on Bloomberg TV by learning more about Ecovative Design! Planet Forward’s Frank Sesno talks with Ecovative’s founder about their mission to replace styrofoam and plastic! Watch>>
Sandia Labs Aces Solar Golf Carts
Planet Forward hosted a LIVE event during the White House’s GreenGov Symposium, a conference focused on making all levels of government more sustainable. In this segment, Sandia National Laboratories shows the potential of how a little change can go a long way. In webisode 215, we see how and learn what our esteemed panel (Laura …Read More…
Breaking it Down on the World Energy Congress Floor
The World Energy Congress is where the big multinationals present their newest energy innovations. At this year’s event in Montreal, international companies wanted to show off their renewable investments. But is it all just a dance on the convention floor? We talked to Tony de Vuono of AECL, Henrik Hudsk of Vestas, Nany Mohn of …Read More…
Waiting for the Sun…to Pay Off
On the one hand, it’s a positive sign for renewable fans… a small family business making a go of it in solar and wind power. This Long Island family has been installing small-scale solar and wind energy packages in back yards, reducing homeowner’s electricity bills to almost zero. But, on the other hand, it illustrates …Read More…
Planet Forward: Our Energy Future
Our first TV special focused on great ideas from you, our members, about how we as a country should approach our energy future. Originally broadcast on April 15, 2009 on PBS.
Meet the Sky Trough at the National Renewable Energy Labs
Planet Forward Host Frank Sesno travels to the National Renewable Energy Labs (NREL) to find out, what is a Sky Trough? Utility-scale parabolic trough solar concentrators harness the sun’s energy to make steam for electricity generation. The thermal efficiency of the trough is the percent of available sunlight that is converted into heat and available …Read More…
Tough Cell: From Wind to Hydrogen-Powered Cars at the National Renewable Energy Labs
The National Renewable Energy Labs are researching a new way to store renewable energy: in hydrogen. Wind and solar energy are used to create hydrogen and stored in tanks that can be used to power the grid or your car. While no single alternative to today’s cars and trucks can meet all our needs, fuel …Read More…
Your (Grand)Parent’s Grid or a Smart Grid? From the National Renewable Energy Labs
It’s almost as universal to our lives as air, but how many of us really know where our electricity comes from or how it gets to our homes? Is our energy infrastructure up to the 21st consumer’s demands? Is it really worth the investment to upgrade. Some 30 percent of the grid is 40 to …Read More…
TV Segments Related to Engineering
Charging Your Phone With Every Step
Have you ever wished that mobile devices did not need batteries? Well, your wish will probably come true. Zhong Lin Wang and his research team at Georgia Tech are developing shoes that can generate power and charge electronics using nanotechnology.
Can Liquid Nitrogen Be Used to Fuel Cars?
What if car engines no longer emitted greenhouse gases? Europe has been leading the way toward this dream, as countries like Germany have advocated for the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs)–by 2020, the German government is aiming to have one million registered. As the EV market receives a boost, other alternatives have fallen out of …Read More…
A Toilet for the Developing World
This week on Bloomberg West we featured an innovative new toilet. Yes, you read that correctly. This toilet, designed at Cal Tech, is intended for use in the developing world and hopes to make the water there cleaner and healthier.
A Compressed, Natural Alternative at the Gas Pump
Coming soon to a road near you: Natural Gas Vehicles! This company is working on creating a material that will replace the need for big, natural gas tanks in vehicles, making natural gas a more viable option when fueling up your car!
Bringing Sunlight Indoors With ‘Sundoliers’
It’s the heart of summer, your friends are off catching tans in the tropics, and yet you’re stuck in a cold, dark office devoid of sunlight. Human beings are not adapted for such an injurious lighting dynamic. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, daylight is simply a higher-quality, healthier light than that from artificial …Read More…
Turning Methane Into Energy
FlexEnergy has developed a technology that takes low-quality methane and turns it into energy. By using a machine with a small footprint, this company hopes to capture some of the wasted energy that’s currently just flared into the atmosphere.
Creating Eco-Friendly Cement
Researchers at Drexel University are trying to lower cement’s carbon footprint by using technology of the past to build sidewalks the future.
Amphibious House (Your Loss, Hurricane Irene)
Update (11/1/2012): In response to questions surrounding Hurricane Sandy, we are featuring “Amphibious House (Your Loss, Hurricane Irene).” We hope this idea will provide insight into dramatic weather events and the measures that communities must take to adapt to their risks, such as water contamination, flooding, and sea-level rise. As the east coast picks up …Read More…
Solar Decathlon: The Race to Build the Most Efficient Solar Home
Peek into the solar powered house designs from Middlebury College in Vermont and University of Maryland. It’s all for the Solar Decathlon competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Ecovative Design: Are Mushrooms the New Plastic?
Ecovative Design is developing packaging material that is affordable and biodegradable. The secret: fungi and agricultural waste. In this month’s Nightly Business Report segment we visit Ecovative’s lab and get up close and personal with the new product that could replace plastic and styrofoam.
Home Energy Saving Device
Can researchers find an easy button that will get Americans to save energy? Some experts say we waste 40% of our energy in our homes. Could this be the gigantic energy reserve, hidden right under our doorsteps, that we need?
Planet Forward on Nightly Business Report: Innovation at one of New York’s Iconic Structures
How many windows are in the Empire State Building? Watch our Nightly Business Report segment to find out and learn about the building’s innovation retrofit.
Leasing the Sun: An Innovative Business Model from Sungevity
Last month we test drove Nissan’s Leaf…this month, we show you one way you may be able to afford solar panels with zero upfront costs. Check out our piece on PBS’s Nightly Business Report and let us know what you think of Planet Forward member Danny Kennedy’s business model.
Articles From the Blog Related to Engineering
Floating Into the Future
Floating Into the Future You know houseboats, you know cars that are build to swim or tanks. But can you image to live on water in a real house? That is reality for example in Nigeria, where the people of Makoko build their houses on stilts above the lagoon. What is tradition there, might be a …Read More…
The Debate on Fracking and Climate Change
Unconventional gas extraction (UGE) or hydraulic fracturing is booming in many States across the US and indeed may be expanding worldwide. Generally, UGE entails injecting 3-5 millions gallons of water, a million pounds of sand and a several hundred gallons of chemicals through a horizontal well to fracture the shale rock which will then yields natural gas …Read More…
3-Dimensional Solar Cell Created by Solar3D
Above: Animation describing a three-dimensional photovoltaic cell. Three-dimensional cells are essential in Solar3D’s technology. Above: Animation describing a conventional photovoltaic cell, employing a two-dimensional structure. Solar3D, Inc. is developing a breakthrough 3-dimensional solar cell technology to maximize the conversion of sunlight into electricity. Up to 30% of incident sunlight is currently reflected off the surface …Read More…
Sustainable Innovation in the Hills of Montana
By Chris Potter, Institute for Market Transportation Cross-posted from the Institute for Market Transportation In an ongoing series to highlight green buildings that go above and beyond in efficiency and innovation, this week we’re featuring a stand-out residential home project that’s underway in Montana. Little Efficiency in the Big Sky Country For a state that …Read More…
The Smartest of them All
This week we feature Planet Forward innovators who are working to make our energy grid more efficient, modern, and sustainable. Believe it or not, many aspects of our energy grid are based off of models created 100 years ago. Can you imagine if you were still using 100-year telephone technology? Be sure to tune into …Read More…
5 Innovations in Biomimicry
Next week on Bloomberg West, we’ll be featuring an idea straight out of the Terminator movie seri–er, Michigan State University, rather. In all seriousness, the MSU students and faculty have developed robotic fish that can track water quality and other environmental factors, all while mimicking the movement of real fish. That got us thinking: what other …Read More…
Solar: Does Size Matter?
A key issue for scaling up solar is where to put it: on every home or in huge arrays on the desert? Some businesses, like Sungevity, are trying to get solar panels on every home by breaking down the up-front cost barrier. They partner with financial institutions to spread the cost of going solar into …Read More…
Driving Innovation: Washington DC’s Auto Show
What will it take to get more electric vehicles on the road? Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and James Wisemen of Toyota got a head start at that question at yesterday’s Policy Summit at the Washington DC Auto Show. It was the day after the President’s State of the Union address, where he reiterated his …Read More…
Five Ideas for Building Better, More Efficient Homes
It’s winter and you’re probably realizing how awful your insulation is – I’m looking at you, Seattle — and also starting to rethink that last addition to the house where you used single-pane windows that now render the room useless. When faced with this dilemma, building owners wonder how to become more efficient at little …Read More…
What’s More Important? Research, Policy or Deployment?
Planet Forward friend and New York Times’ Dot-Earth blogger, Andrew Revkin, talks to energy innovator Nate Lewis about whether we can achieve optimal levels of renewable energy without a stronger focus on research versus deployment or political will. New studies suggest even the best deployment and political will won’t be enough.
It’s Alive: Purdue’s INhome and the Future of Biological Interiors
Purdue’s Solar Decathlon house featured a innovative biowall–but how practical is this kind of feature? Anthony Cefali takes a look at the future of biological interiors.
A Window Into Efficiency
Every year, I spend countless hours putting those plastic sheets over my windows for insulation. The bigger the window, the bigger the pane in the glass, the more time I spend and the more energy I lose to the winter. We often neglect insulation when it comes to energy expenditures because it only lowers heating …Read More…
Bangkok Underground: How to Prepare for a Flood
Once called the “Venice of the East” because of its extensive canal system, Bangkok is a city that has been dealing with flooding for hundreds of years. It’s built on water. In fact, the primary housing option in the city in the 18th century was floating rafts. As the city has modernized, and its people …Read More…
Energy Innovations at a Big Apple Icon
Planet Forward and PBS explore how the Empire State Building is greening its giant footprint.
“Green is so 2008…”
Serious Materials CEO Kevin Surace says, “Green is so 2008.” After interviewing him, along with an energy expert, a green tech consultant, and a BBC producer, I’m beginning to think that’s right. Green for green’s sake may be history. Do you remember 2008? Global Warming was so hot back then. Now in 2010 over 41% …Read More…
Feeling hot hot hot
What’s up? That’s a question I often find myself wondering when researching solar power since most solar systems inhabit on rooftops. Look high and low, solar can be found in strange places from solar backpacks to solar-powered ambulances. We found solar panels in an unusual place a few weeks ago at the Rockville Ice Arena …Read More…
A Better Battery
EnerG2, a Seattle-based company has just opened a new plant in Albany, Oregon. The goal? Creating high-tech batteries to be used in ultracapacitators. These new batteries are aiming to be both more efficient and longer-lasting. The end goal is to use the batteries in hybrid and electric vehicles. This new plant, built by an Oregon-based …Read More…
Federal Register: July 26, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 142)
Well, I guess the Department of Interior can’t be TOO mad at BP. They destroy the Gulf and what does our brilliant government do? Reward them with tax breaks to build an environmentally unfriendly wind farm. More here: [Federal Register: July 26, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 142)][Notices] [Page 43551-43552]From the Federal Register Online via GPO …Read More…
Sufficient Energy Density
This term Energy Density is appearing with increasing frequency. The message is that non carbon alternatives, solar, wind, bio, etc cannot attain the needed prevalance to ever replace coal, petroleum and natural gas . Energy number crunchers say the energy output from green sources in relation to achievable infrastructure and sustainable cost will be insufficient …Read More…
Air heat with solar energy, a new approach
At present, both efficiency and output of solar thermal power plants are quite low and it’s a big reason behind the high cost of kWh electricity produced in present day solar thermal power plants. The other reason is the high cost of maintenance of array of reflectors. But, this cost can be reduced to less …Read More…
The New Green Economy
Research and development is essential to making progress in the fields of environmental protection and sustainable energy. During the New Green Economy Technological innovation symposium Friday January 22nd, Dr. Brian Czech, president of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy, said “I think we need to look deeper into the relationship between …Read More…
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