Word: solarization
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...hangar outside Zurich, engineers are paring away at the obstacles to a very 21st century challenge: flying a plane around the world powered by nothing but the rays of the sun. If the Solar Impulse project goes to plan, in 2011 a gangly aircraft with the wingspan of an Airbus A380 and the weight of a compact car will attempt to circle the globe in about a month at an average speed of 43 m.p.h. (70 km/h), landing only five times along...
Engineers and environmentalists will watch Solar Impulse with interest, since it offers a rigorous testing platform for extracting maximal power from minimal energy. A recently unveiled prototype, HB-SIA, which will begin flight-testing next year before the larger plane is built for 2011, is a marvel of optimization. Its 200 ft. (61 m) wingspan is covered with photovoltaic cells, which convert the sun's rays into roughly the same amount of energy needed to light a large Christmas tree. That solar power drives four electric engines, and loads four lithium batteries - a quarter of the aircraft's total weight...
Given its weight and power source, the Solar Impulse design can't handle turbulence, rain or even heavy clouds. During the day the HB-SIA is expected to climb to 28,000 ft. (8,500 m) so it can preserve battery power after sunset by gliding down to 10,000 ft. (3,000 m) at night. For as much as one-third of the night, says Piccard, the plane will be able to fly its descending course without engine power. But once it reaches its nighttime cruising altitude, the burden of powering the plane will fall to the batteries alone...
...possible to capture the carbon dioxide before it is emitted from a coal-fired power plant, and to transport it to long-term underground storage, in a process known as "carbon capture and sequestration." They've also dramatically reduced the costs of non-fossil-fuel electricity from wind, solar power and geothermal power, with further savings achievable based on experience and more research and development. France and other countries have also demonstrated that nuclear power plants can be safe, efficient and low cost if properly regulated...
...gasoline and electricity and will be plugged into the wall socket for an overnight charge. Large industrial emitters like cement, steel and petrochemical factories will also have to capture their own carbon dioxide emissions as well. And our buildings will be greener too, with better insulation, and heating through solar power and low-emission electricity rather than home furnaces...