Heal Earth Now

More hybrid and battery electric powered cars are being built and the need for the batteries that power those automobiles is growing.

Lithium-ion battery manufacturer EnerDel announced today it will invest $237 million in a new manufacturing plant near its Indianapolis headquarters in order to meet anticipated demand for advanced battery systems used in both automotive and stationary smart grid applications. Backed by a mix of private funds and public incentives, the new facilities will more than double EnerDel’s U.S. production capacity and create 1,400 new jobs.

Whether it is the desire to be environmentally responsible or just to save on gas more consumers are looking for alternative fuel vehicles.   In 2008 both Ford and Toyota underestimated the demand for hybrid vehicles and the battery shortage caused a bottleneck in production.  A  new battery supply company is certainly welcome and as the market recovers they will be poised to fulfill the demand that will take place.

Some homes in Western Kansas will be soon be powered by the biofuel produced by cow manure. Many different areas in Europe, including the Netherlands, are already using cow manure to produce biofuel.

In a few months, the city of Ulysses will get a new machine called a gasifier. It will be used to turn cow manure into electricity. Each unit is small enough to fit on a semi-truck, but is capable of producing enough energy to power 1,500 homes.

“Each cow produces about 8 pounds of manure per day,” says Gene Pflughoft, Grant County Economic Development Director. “They can take that dry manure, gasify it, turn it into a gas, and then run that into a generator and generate electricity.”

Source:Kake.com

Biogas produced from cow manure is warming many homes in the Netherlands. Biogas is produced by the fermentation of cow manure and other biological material. Biogas is a biofuel that can be used as power. The Netherlands and many other European countries have been using biogas as a power source for some homes.

A new plant opened in the Netherlands this past Friday.

Manure from cows at a nearby dairy farm will be fermented along with grass and food industry residues, and the biogas released during the process will be used as fuel for the thermal plant’s gas turbines.

The heat generated will be distributed to around 1,100 homes in the area around Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands, the plant’s operator Essent said in a statement.

Source: Reuters.com

An aquarium in Japan has harvested a new source of alternative energy. The energy released from the eel has been used to power the lights on a Christmas tree.

“Two aluminum panels inside the eel’s tank work as electrodes to catch its power. Cables attached to the panels supply the lights on the nearby tree with electricity.”

The human imagination is definitely a powerful thing . With the inventiveness and application there is no doubt that we can all work together to help create cleaner and cheaper sources of energy.

Source: MSNBC.com