Japan to Put Power-Producing Wind Turbines on Floating Barges

Ever since that giant earthquake and tsunami knocked out many of Japan’s nuclear power plants, the country has been scrambling to provide enough electricity for its people and businesses.

Things have gotten so bad that the Japanese plan to bolt power-producing wind turbines onto barges and float them in the ocean near where the nuclear plants were lost.

Call it “floating offshore wind.” This will be different than other offshore wind turbines that are anchored into the earth. This also may turn out to be the largest single wind farm in the world – off or on shore – producing as much as 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

That’s roughly the equivalent of two traditional coal or natural gas-fueled power plants.

To learn more, check out this Bloomberg article.

From Japan, a Weed-Control Mat that Also Makes Electricity

Imagine you’re on a highway. Look over at the shoulder of the road. It’s probably just dirt or spotty patches of grass.

Now imagine that same shoulder covered with what looks like an ordinary mat. The mat might stretch for a few feet, a few miles, or longer.

If you look closely at the mat, you will see strips of very thin solar panels embedded into the mat. These strips are capable of generating electricity. The mats, then, are capable of generating solar power in places where ordinary solar panels don’t fit.

Just imagine if every dirt space was covered with such mats. While their Japanese manufacturer, Fuji Electric Co., emphasizes that they’re a great way to control weeds while producing power, Earth Preservers sees them as a great way to taken barren areas of land – not just along roads and railroads but also ugly empty city lots, etc., etc. – and turn them into produce power sources.

Welcome to the future?

To learn more, check out another article form Japan for Sustainability.

When the Lights Go Out, Car Batteries to the Rescue

By now everyone knows that a small but growing number of cars on the road run on electricity instead of gasoline.

But did you know that one day soon, whenever the lights go out in a hurricane or other emergency, you may be able to turn them back on by using the battery of an electric car?

Nissan, which manufactures the Leaf electric vehicle, is working with Japanese partners on a battery package that will be able to supply enough juice to run a number of small appliances for several days.

The battery will be kept in the house, ready to plug in.

To learn more, check out this article from Japan for Sustainability.