MORE SUNDAY WORLD, 1-4 (TOYOTA’S SECRET SOLAR CAR, NICARAGUA GETTING WIND, PORTUGAL WORKS THE NEWEST IN WAVES, AIR NEW ZEALAND FLIES WEAK BIOFUEL)

TOYOTA’S SECRET SOLAR CAR
Report: Toyota secretly developing green car to be poered solely by solar energy
Yuri Kageyama, January 1, 2008 (AP via Chicago Tribune)

“Toyota Motor Corp. is secretly developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy in an effort to turn around its struggling business with a futuristic ecological car…it will be years before the planned vehicle will be available on the market…According to The Nikkei, Toyota is working on an electric vehicle that will get some of its power from solar cells equipped on the vehicle, and that can be recharged with electricity generated from solar panels on the roofs of homes. The automaker later hopes to develop a model totally powered by solar cells on the vehicle, the newspaper said without citing sources…The solar car is part of efforts by Japan's top automaker to grow during hard times…”


NICARAGUA GETTING WIND
Nicaragua turns to wind power, tries to reduce its dependence on oil-based energy
Filadelfo Aleman, December 25, 2008 (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

“Energy-starved Nicaragua is turning to wind as it tries to reduce its dependence on oil-based power…the country will begin operating 19 windmills that have the potential to generate 40 megawatts of energy…the $90 million project will be operating at full capacity by the end of January and contribute 6 percent of the country's total energy needs…

“Nicaragua successfully ended rolling blackouts that left the country without power for hours on many days, but the government struggled to pay higher energy costs as oil prices peaked…the new project will save about $9 million a year in fuel costs, at current prices. The lead developer on the operation is Arctas Capital Group LP of Houston, Texas, which says it is in advanced stages of development for another 40-megawatt installation…

“Nearly 80 percent of the oil Nicaragua consumes is provided at a discount by Venezuela, whose president, Hugo Chavez, is a close ally of Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega…”


PORTUGAL WORKS THE NEWEST IN WAVES
Wave Energy: New System Captures Significantly More Wave Energy Than Existing Systems
December 18, 2008 (Massachusetts Institute of Technology via Science Daily)

“MIT researchers are working with Portuguese colleagues to design a pilot-scale device that will capture significantly more of the energy in ocean waves than existing systems, and use it to power an electricity-generating turbine…designing a wave-capture system that can deal with the harsh, corrosive seawater environment, handle hourly, daily and seasonal variations in wave intensity, and continue to operate safely in stormy weather is difficult…

“Chiang Mei [of MIT]… has been working with Professors Antonio Falcao, Antonio Sarmento, and Luis Gato of Insitituto Superior Tecnico, Technical University of Lisbon, as they plan a pilot-scale version of a facility called an oscillating water column, or OWC. Situated on or near the shore, an OWC consists of a chamber with a subsurface opening. As waves come in and out, the water level inside the chamber goes up and down. The moving surface of the water forces air trapped above it to flow into and out of an opening that leads to an electricity-generating turbine…

“The Portuguese plan is to integrate the OWC plant into the head of a new breakwater at the mouth of the Douro River in Porto, a large city in northern Portugal…the installation will include three OWCs that together will generate 750 kilowatts…the plant's absorption of wave energy at the breakwater head will calm the waters in the area and reduce local erosion…”


AIR NEW ZEALAND FLIES WEAK BIOFUEL
NZ airline flies jetliner partly run on biofuel
Ray Lilley, December 30, 2008 (AP)

“Air New Zealand has tested a passenger jet powered partially with oil from a plum-sized fruit known as jatropha…the airline became the latest carrier experiment with alternative fuels, partly due to the threat of rising oil prices but also to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from aviation, which are projected to rise by up to 90 percent by 2020…Air New Zealand said the two-hour flight from Auckland International Airport was the first to use what are known as second generation biofuels to power an airplane. Second generation biofuels typically use a wider range of plants and release fewer emissions than traditional biofuels like ethanol.

“One engine of the Boeing 747-400 airplane was powered by a 50-50 blend of oil from jatropha plants and standard A1 jet fuel…

“Continental Airlines has said on Jan. 7 it will operate a test flight out of Houston using a special blend of half conventional fuel and half biofuel with ingredients derived from algae and jatropha plants…”