ZapRoot keeps surprising me. While sometimes there's a bit too much fluff for me to paddle through, other times the bust out with some of the most hard-hitting (though easy-on-the-eyes) eco-journalism on the web.

Sometimes a bit too hard hitting.

This weeks episode, for example, takes aim at T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oil man with an eye for wind (and, as it turns out, water.) Give Jessica a couple minutes of your time and she'll have you convinced that Boone's wind farm is the devil's work.

Now, I'm not a big fan of draining the Ogllala Aquifer so Dallas can water its lawns for another ten years, but there are a lot of more evil ways to get rights for a water pipeline than by building a the world's largest wind farm.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if we could have the wind farm without the water pipeline, that would be better. But just because the water pipeline is part of the deal doesn't mean we should nix the biggest renewable energy project in the history of the world.

Yes, there's a double meaning to "catalyze" in that title. A couple of scientists at MIT have created a new kind of catalyst that makes electrolysis much simpler, cheaper and efficient. Theoretically this could help save the world by:

1. Creating a simple way to produce hydrogen fuel for our automobile fleet
2. Storing electricity provided by intermittent renewables like wind and solar
3. Storing electricity during cheap off-peak times for use during peak hours
4. Eliminating the need for hydrogen transport, as it could be produced anywhere with connection to the electric grid

Probably the biggest deal here is number 2 and 3. We've already seen some steps toward a distributed power system where everyone has a fuel source in their house. Bloom Energy is hoping to create a system that would allow every person to have a hydrogen storage / electricity creation box in their home.

The new technique uses inexpensive catalysts containing cobalt and phosphate. But the biggest deal is that it bubbles 100% of the oxygen produced, meaning that they can close the loop and not have to discard any water to keep efficiency high.

Other electrolysis techniques don't remove all of the O2 from he water, creating hydroxides that degrade performance. The new system, developed at MIT, removes all of the oxygen, so that electrolysis can be efficient at room temperature without electrolyte inputs to remove the hydroxides.

The scientists seem to be confident that this is a game changer, and a breakthrough, though they're saying it'll be a decade before it can be fully implemented. Nonetheless, this is a big freakin' deal, especially if combined with the next wave of cheap renewables. Power storage remains a huge issue, and if this could solve that problem, it would be the second step we need toward a truly renewable future.

Sources: CNet Greentech, TreeHugger and Science Magazine Podcast

Some “green” gadgets are too hilarious to pass up posting about. I have some serious doubts that this thing would actually cook a meal worth eating. But I felt compelled to share this concept design, should you need a pick-me-up for your Friday. Or perhaps you’ll decide this is exactly how you’d like to spend your Saturday afternoon.

The solar dish focuses sunlight onto a solar receptor and the energy travels to the grilling platform, heating a coil that cooks your food. Strikingly like an electric stove top. If you don’t have enough sunlight, there’s a plug-in cord… I don’t know how effective this thing could actually be unless it is quite expensive, but figuring that most of us BBQ when the sun is out, it may be a concept worth putting together. At least it’s not yet another solar bag or backpack.

Anyway, it cracked me up. So, happy Friday.

Via Ecofriend, Tuvie

Researchers are constantly on the look-out for new materials that can store or use up CO2, or new methods to sequester it. Carbon Sense Solutions has created an accelerated curing process for the creation of precast concrete, which it claims will suck up as much as 1% of all CO2 emissions in the atmosphere annually.

Concrete carbonation – the sucking up of CO2 by concrete as it cures – occurs naturally, but Carbon Sense Solutions says its faster curing method gets concrete to suck up more CO2 in a way that uses off-the-shelf technology that can be slapped on to their existing equipment. The process also uses 30% to 40% less energy to manufacture. The lower amount of energy used and the avoidance of expensive new equipment makes the wonder-concrete cheaper, and more profitable. Additional positive byproducts of the method are that the concrete is more durable, and more resistant to shrinking, cracking and water absorption.

While it sounds miracle cure-ish, it isn’t, necessarily. The company says that a plant could have a line of concrete not suitable for this carbonation process, and so the CO2 emitted to create it can be pumped into their CO2 sequestering concrete line, potentially becoming a net-zero CO2 emitter. The numbers for that don’t seem to easily line up, though it’s a nice dream. Concrete production creates about 5% of global CO2 emissions. This new process only soaks up about 1% percent of that. So, it’s really more of an off-set process than a carbon storage solution. Even so, off-setting 1% of global CO2 emissions annually – or looking at it another way, sequestering 20% of the CO2 created by the concrete production industry – while still creating a material that is the most abundant human-made material on earth is pretty great.

The process is still unproven, but holds a lot of potential for making an impact on CO2 emissions. A pilot plant is planned to go up in Nova Scotia this summer, and we should hear by the end of the year preliminary results.

Via EcoFriend, Inhabitat, ABC News, CleanTech, Technology Review

For those of you who think that the BMW Hydrogen 7 is a new idea, someone has dredged up a video of a similar car from 1978 being showed off by Jack Nicholson.

The "news" report seems laughable now, but it's a good lesson for a world that see,s to think "breakthroughs" happen every day. Feeding hydrogen into an internal combustion engine is and old idea and, it turned out, a bad idea. And while almost all car companies (aside from BMW) are focusing on much more efficient hydrogen fuel cell cars, decades of development still haven't brought us a mass-market car.

We're closer than ever, of course, with the Honda FXC Clarity and the Hydrogen Chevy Equinox both on the road in California. But Hydrogen cars might need decades of development before they can operate coast to coast. And, by that time, I hope we've come up with another, better solution.

Spain has announced its intention to put 1 million EVs on their roads by 2014 as part of the governement’s plan to hunker down on decreasing energy use, making it a prime place for EV auto makers to target. The plan is expected to gain approval today from the Council of Ministers, and be carried out this year. They’re starting just in time, since 2010 will be a banner year for the EV.

According to Miguel Sebastian, minister of industry, business and tourism, “Electric vehicles are the future and the driver of the industrial revolution.” I think he might have the Industrial Revolution confused with the green movement – but, we'll let that slide... Electric vehicles are certainly part of the future, but so is effective mass transit and a mind shift away from owning three vehicles per family. This is a great eco-friendly and economically-friendly move, but what is often more exciting are cool transit ideas various cities are implementing that have nothing to do with personal vehicles. Still, perhaps a few three wheelers will find homes here.

While the plan will cost some $381 million, it is expected to save about 6 million tons of oil over three years, an important, nearly $8 billion savings for a country that has spent, according to Sebastian, nearly $26.5 billion on oil in the past year alone.

Via Gas2, Stuff; photo via f-r-a-n-k

So I poked fun at the Solar BBQ and solar bag earlier today. But recovering a little perspective from what tech writer Matthew Sparkes has to say after trying to take his gadgets off grid, I have to unpoke the bag…and maybe the BBQ, though I still find that silly.

In a fit to prove to colleagues at PC Pro that running gadgets on green energy is possible, practical, and more than ready for today’s consumer – even foggy London dwellers – Sparkes decided to try out different methods of powering his electronics with solar, wind, and human-powered chargers.

Tacking on a HYmini (hybrid between wind and solar energy generator) to his bike to generate wind power, Sparkes was able to charge his cell phone…about half way, but enough to keep it running. To get more energy, he added the Freeplay FreeCharge to his artillery and replaced his iPod with an Eco Media Player from Baylis – but the hand-cranking was a pain. To be expected. Finally he tried portable solar panels. The Powermonkey-eXplorer gave great results, charging his phone on non-biking days, with extra energy to power his MP3 player, all while foldable and light enough to cart around.

While he found that he could renewably charge his gadgets, ditching the ease of plugging in to readily available power means sacrificing exactly that – ease. In other words, there are products ready for us to use to renewably charge our hand-held devices, (less readily) our laptops, and so on. But there is still a lot of work to do to make charging up renewably as easy – and as cheap – as charging up from the coal- and nuclear-powered grid.

Despite putting in work to power up, Sparkes ends on this note: "Taking one small gadget off the grid may not seem like a big step, but it's the thin end of the wedge. In five years' time, let's hope people look back and wonder why that bloke from PC Pro thought it was such an achievement to never plug a gadget into the wall."

It is a heartening note, reminding us that each penny adds up to a full piggy bank. So the solar bag is cool. At least cool enough for now, while I keep in mind that more is coming down the line.

Via TreeHugger, PC Pro