Will future smartphones come without chargers

Smartphones of today

The world of cellphones is expanding with new models being launched almost every day. Back in 1973, when the first cellphone was made; it was a bulky object with not many functions other than that of making and receiving calls. Now, cellphones have become like mini computers with multipurpose cameras, capable of storing substantial amounts of data, recording videos and music, linking to the internet, playing games and a whole host of other features. These phones fall under the category of smartphones owing to their intelligent capabilities. So essential have they become to consumers that the third quarter of the year 2011 saw 115 million units of these phones being sold worldwide.

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A Wave Power Generator with a Twist It Generates Electricity On Dry Land

A relatively new* type of reciprocating wave-powered electricity generator called Searaser has been developed and is moving forward. Searaser, acquired by Ecotricity, is not a typical wave power plant.

The first peculiarity is that it does not generate electricity out at sea. Due to the fact that waves move up and down in the ocean, they can continuously move a float attached to a reciprocating pump that can pump water through a water-powered onshore electricity generator for the sake of keeping the electrical parts of the system out of the water.

As Damian Carrington of The Guardian notes, its is a bit like an aquatic “bicycle pump.”

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First Solar-Powered Electric Car Charging Stations Open in Sofia, Bulgaria

This month, A1 Co., Ltd. and BIES Ltd. opened the first set of solar-powered electric car charging stations across Sofia, Bulgaria. Built as simple structures, each station simply uses solar panels to collect solar energy and a special module for electric cars to connect to the batteries. While the number of electric cars in Bulgaria are still very few, according to experts, a boom in the purchase of electric vehicles is expected this year — particularly due special incentives that will be given by the Bulgarian government.

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Microbubbles Enable More Efficient Production Of Algae Biofuels

Algae biofuel is one of the most promising alternative fuels on the market – so far we’ve seen cars and even planes adapted to run on it. The main drawback thus far has been high production costs and energy usage – until now. Using a new “cost-effective harvesting method” featuring microbubbles, a team from the University of Sheffield believe they have found a way to make algae a more commercially viable fuel source.

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What's Next Low cost wind turbines for the developing world

As we know it

In the present era, the renewable energy realm has a share of about 19 percent in worldwide electricity generation. Now, for the uninitiated, this may seem to be a paltry figure, but if we go by statistical expansion, the ongoing phase is certainly propitious for sustainable output. As a matter of fact, total power capacity from renewable sources momentously exceeded the world capacity of nuclear power for the first time in 2011. In this regard, the major progression was actually witnessed in the case of wind power, with a whopping increment from 6.1 GW in 1996 to more than 200 GW by 2011.

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Military bases in Mojave desert could generate 7GW of renewable solar powercould

According to a study conducted by ICF, a consulting firm for the US Department of Defense, surplus land at four military bases in the Mojave desert in California could be capable of producing up to 7 Gigawatts of solar power. These bases include, the Edwards Air Force base, Fort Erwin, China Lake and Twenty-nine Palms. Some 37,873 acres of land is available for setting these solar power plants, without impacting the space needs of the military for its ongoing operational needs or for potential future needs. The type of solar power plant to be installed, whether silicon flat panels or solar concentrators, has not yet been determined. If the go-ahead happens, power plant construction could commence by 2015.

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'Bicycle pump' to turn wave power into clean energy

An aquatic “bicycle pump” is set to take to the seas and turn wave power into clean electricity after being acquired by green energy company Ecotricity. The Searaser device, which pumps saltwater to an onshore generator, has been tested in prototype and praised by ministers.

Searaser uses the rise and fall of a large float to pressurise water, but unlike other wave power technologies does not generate the electricity in the hostile environment of the ocean. “If you put any device in the sea, it will get engulfed in storms, so it all has to be totally sealed,” said inventor Alvin Smith. “Water and electricity don’t mix – and sea water is particularly corrosive – so most other devices are very expensive to manufacture and maintain.” The technology means the salt water and electricity-generating equipment never meet, and is done routinely in Japan.

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Tûranor PlanetSolar World’s Largest Solar Ship About to Complete Trip Around the Globe

The epic voyage of the Tûranor PlanetSolar – the world’s largest solar-powered boat – will soon come to a close as the ship closes in on its final stretch. The Swiss vessel is a full-bore high-tech solar harvesting machine whose deck is covered in 537 square meters of photovoltaic panels. The array produced enough energy for the boat to navigate the entire circumference of the Earth without any other means of energy. The Tûranor PlanetSolar is currently set to depart Abu Dhabi en route to their final port in Morocco – the same place the expedition launched on September 27th, 2010. The journey has come full circle in more than one respect, as it was not too long ago the only way to navigate the earth was by harnessing renewable energy with sails.

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PowerTrekk instant charger powers your smartphone with water

A Swedish firm myFC has created an instant mobile charger, dubbed the PowerTrekk, which makes use of water to produce power for your smartphones. PowerTrekk mixes water with a chemical powder called sodium silicide to generate hydrogen gas that can power your cells through the fuel cell technology. The PowerTrekk was put on display at CES 2012.

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