Posts Tagged ‘energy’
Barefoot science students make tricycle using solar energy
In Uncategorized on October 13, 2010 at 7:55 amThe Da Nang Poly-technique University was abuzz with admiration for three “barefoot science” students who designed and built a tricycle using solar energy.
The group of students and teacher stand by the new vehicle (Photo; SGGP)
Ta Ngoc Thien Binh, Huynh Kim Trang and Pham Nguyen Son of the Mechanic Department of the university, invested their own money to research and develop the new product because they felt sorry for tricycle drivers, who had to work in the scorching sun in central Vietnam.
The three barefoot science students said the biggest difficulty getting a hold of the design document. They journeyed to Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong delta province of Can Tho to learn more about the machine.
Their efforts paid off after two months, when they finished the vehicle model with the zealous assistance of teacher Duong Viet Dung. They then had to overcome financial barriers. Upon hearing the group’s story, teachers, the Mechanic department and their families decided to help the ambitious students to make their dream come true.
The newly invented vehicle ran on June 15. The 350-kilogram tricycle, named Solar Car C4, has two seats; and is capable of achieving a maximum speed of 30 kilometers an hour. Its electrical charge lasts for 30 kilometers, but most importantly, it can utilize gas when it is out of electricity or if it is cloudy.
Its design is small, making it suitable for tourist service in the central city of Da Nang, which intends to become an environmentally friendly city. It is also perfect for the UNESCO-recognized natural heritage site of Hoi An town, which ban vehicles with engines, said Thien Binh.
The Solar Car C4 won second prize at the competition launched in 2009 by the Communist Youth Union and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The barefoot science students have entered their product to the “Student conduct scientific research” contest and the Competition for Creativeness of adolescents & children nationwide 2010.
The cost of Solar Car C4 is over VND80 million. The group expects a motor company to invest in it and improve aspects of its technical design to produce a fleet of solar tricycles in Da Nang.
Source: SGGP
Barefoot science students make tricycle using solar energy
In Uncategorized on August 12, 2010 at 11:20 amThe Da Nang Poly-technique University was abuzz with admiration for three “barefoot science” students who designed and built a tricycle using solar energy.
The group of students and teacher stand by the new vehicle (Photo; SGGP)
Ta Ngoc Thien Binh, Huynh Kim Trang and Pham Nguyen Son of the Mechanic Department of the university, invested their own money to research and develop the new product because they felt sorry for tricycle drivers, who had to work in the scorching sun in central Vietnam.
The three barefoot science students said the biggest difficulty getting a hold of the design document. They journeyed to Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong delta province of Can Tho to learn more about the machine.
Their efforts paid off after two months, when they finished the vehicle model with the zealous assistance of teacher Duong Viet Dung. They then had to overcome financial barriers. Upon hearing the group’s story, teachers, the Mechanic department and their families decided to help the ambitious students to make their dream come true.
The newly invented vehicle ran on June 15. The 350-kilogram tricycle, named Solar Car C4, has two seats; and is capable of achieving a maximum speed of 30 kilometers an hour. Its electrical charge lasts for 30 kilometers, but most importantly, it can utilize gas when it is out of electricity or if it is cloudy.
Its design is small, making it suitable for tourist service in the central city of Da Nang, which intends to become an environmentally friendly city. It is also perfect for the UNESCO-recognized natural heritage site of Hoi An town, which ban vehicles with engines, said Thien Binh.
The Solar Car C4 won second prize at the competition launched in 2009 by the Communist Youth Union and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The barefoot science students have entered their product to the “Student conduct scientific research” contest and the Competition for Creativeness of adolescents & children nationwide 2010.
The cost of Solar Car C4 is over VND80 million. The group expects a motor company to invest in it and improve aspects of its technical design to produce a fleet of solar tricycles in Da Nang.
Source: SGGP
Nations pledge clean energy amid treaty stalemate
In Uncategorized on July 21, 2010 at 3:23 pmNations pledged to work together to improve the efficiency of energy-guzzlers from televisions to cars, showing practical cooperation on climate change despite a deadlock on sealing a treaty.
Senior officials from economies that make up more than 80 percent of global gross domestic product agreed on 11 initiatives during talks in Washington, which betrayed none of the sharp divisions typical of climate negotiations.
A factory chimney in a residential area emits smoke as haze casts a blanket over Bangalore, India.
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who led the meeting, said Tuesday that the clean energy projects would eliminate the need for more than 500 mid-sized power plants around the world over the next 20 years.
“This is about taking concrete action and concrete steps. This is not about philosophical positioning,” Chu said after two days of talks among 21 nations including key emerging economies China, India, Brazil and South Africa.
“Yes, we have to deal with international agreements, but we can’t wait for those to move,” Chu said. “We know the energy challenge won’t wait, and we won’t wait either.”
While the two-day talks were not designed to pledge funds, Chu said that the nations together have invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” in developing green energy, and several states said they were boosting resources in research.
One key initiative will look at ways to improve the energy efficiency of home appliances such as televisions, which the US Energy Department estimated would reduce the need for about 80 power plants by 2030.
A number of nations will participate in the appliance research, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, India and European nations.
In another initiative, Britain and Australia promised to take the lead in accelerating work on so-called carbon capture and storage (CCS) — which lowers the output of carbon, which is blamed for global warming, from power plants.
CCS is considered crucial for the future of coal, which provides more than one quarter of the world’s energy supply and is politically sensitive in major polluters such as Australia, China and the United States.
“We have literally only 10 years to scale up and deploy CCS globally,” said Chris Huhne, Britain’s minister for energy and climate change.
“Each year of delay will lock in an increased amount of old technology which we won’t get rid of,” he said.
Another project, which includes major governments and corporations, will look at ways to collaborate in design efficiency standards for large buildings including factories — which account for more than half of global energy use.
Nations also agreed to exchange notes on one another’s pilot programs to develop electric vehicles, as well as to coordinate in designing so-called “smart grids” that manage community power consumption.
The United Arab Emirates said it would host follow-up clean energy talks in early 2011, with Britain holding a third meeting at a later date to be determined.
The talks, an offshoot of the US-led Major Economies Forum, include both rich and emerging nations but not smaller states such as Sudan and Venezuela whose strident criticisms dominated parts of December’s Copenhagen summit.
Kandeh Yumkella, director general of the UN Industrial Development Organization which champions the economic uplift of the world’s poor, said rich nations still needed to follow through on commitments at Copenhagen to offer 30 billion dollars through 2012 to help poorer nations cope with climate change.
But he said that the Washington meeting should offer hope to developing countries.
The world’s energy demand is estimated to jump by nearly half in the next 20 years, fueled by the developing world.
“If they decide to produce, use and consume energy the same way as the US and OECD (developed) countries have done, we will not be able to deal with climate change,” Yumkella told AFP.
“What this meeting does is to send a message that there are things we know already how to do. They are practical and we can deploy them now.”
Source: SGGP
Vietnam wins Global Green Energy awards
In Uncategorized on July 5, 2010 at 4:11 pmThe Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and Holland’s Development Organization (SNV) have been granted the Global Green Award 2010 for their biogas project.
The cooperation between the two organizations has created favourable conditions for the sustainable expansion of biogas technology in Vietnam.
The project was initiated in 2003, aiming to build 168,000 biogas works by 2012. By 2009, the project had reduced nearly 167,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in the air every year.
According to MARD, 78,000 biogas works have been built that benefit about 390,000 farmers in Vietnam.
Each biogas project built for a family breeding 10-15 pigs will help them save up to VND6 million in fuel costs every year, says Nguyen Xuan Duong, deputy director general of MARD’s Livestock Breeding Department.
Source: VOV
Source: QDND
Vietnam wins Global Green Energy awards
In Uncategorized on July 4, 2010 at 4:08 pmThe Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and Holland’s Development Organization (SNV) have been granted the Global Green Award 2010 for their biogas project.
The cooperation between the two organizations has created favourable conditions for the sustainable expansion of biogas technology in Vietnam.
The project was initiated in 2003, aiming to build 168,000 biogas works by 2012. By 2009, the project had reduced nearly 167,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in the air every year.
According to MARD, 78,000 biogas works have been built that benefit about 390,000 farmers in Vietnam.
Each biogas project built for a family breeding 10-15 pigs will help them save up to VND6 million in fuel costs every year, says Nguyen Xuan Duong, deputy director general of MARD’s Livestock Breeding Department.
Source: VOV
Source: QDND
First hospital uses solar energy in Vietnam
In Uncategorized on June 22, 2010 at 4:36 pmThe Tam Ky Heathcare Centre in the central province of Quang Nam has put into use a solar energy system to supplement the limited electricity source from the national grid.
With the system, the 100-bed healthcare centre has become the first hospital in Vietnam using solar energy.
The 25-cell solar system is capable of generating some 7,200 kWh each year, meeting electricity demand by the centre’s emergency ward.
The system will help ensure the power supply for the centre’s operation during the hot season when the electricity flow from the national grid is often unstable, said the centre’s officials.
The system costing 720 million VND is half funded by the Spanish government.
Source: VNA
Source: QDND
Firms focus on energy efficiency
In Uncategorized on May 29, 2010 at 5:18 pmEnterprises should focus on advanced technologies to save energy and costs for themselves and the country, a seminar in Ha Noi heard yesterday, May 28.
The symposium on energy efficiency in manufacturing was held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Energy Efficiency Centre.
Viet Nam faced an energy shortage which would be eased if enterprises and individuals were aware of the need to save energy, the seminar was told.
To raise the awareness, the Government had begun a national programme on energy efficiency, of which the seminar was part.
The ministry said that to generate US$1,000 GDP, Viet Nam must consume 600kg of oil equivalent, a unit of energy, one and a half times higher than that in Thailand and double the average rate of the world.
The energy consumption of Vietnamese manufacturing sector was also double or triple that of other nations in the region.
Schneider Electric Vietnam representative Do Manh Dung said: “The gap between energy supply and demand in Viet Nam tripled against a decade ago and the gap will continue to widen due to a sharp increase in demand.”
It was expected the demand on power would be 74 billion kWh while the supply would likely stay at about 64 billion kWh this year, he said.
Electricity prices in Viet Nam would increase amid rising demand and against the present low prices in comparison with other nations, he said.
“The Government had mapped out plans to invest $30 billion to generate an addition capacity of 33,200MW by 2015,” he said. “However, supply still failed to meet demand and energy saving was an indispensable and compulsory responsibility of enterprises.”
Dung pointed out four steps for energy efficiency in production: measuring and auditing energy consumption, using advanced technologies, applying automatic systems and maintaining management and consultancy on energy efficiency.
Ha Noi Technology University deputy rector Pham Hoang Luong said: “To manage energy saving effectively, the determination of CEOs plays a very important role and he or she must mobilise all workers to do it.”
Companies should also implement quality management, he said. These measures would help save energy, cut costs, reduce product prices and thus sharpen the competitive edge.
Luong said businesses should “boldly” renovate their technologies to improve quality and get higher sale prices.
Energy efficiency and cleaner production usually coincided, he said.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade had composed a draft decree to encourage manufacturers to use renewable energy.
However, the ministry’s science and technology department deputy director Vuong Hoang Kim said: “We have to go step by step because the cost of applying renewable energy was higher than the financial capacity of Vietnamese firms.”
The seminar was part of the international fair and exhibition on energy efficiency and environment at the Giang Vo exhibition centre, that will end tomorrow, May 30.
Source: VietNamNet/Viet Nam News
Source: QDND
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