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The Oatmeal Woos Tesla Motors, Elon Musk Agrees To Help Build Nikola Tesla Museum

Originally published on Gas2. Yesterday, The Oatmeal creator Matthew Inman made a plea to Elon Musk to help build a museum dedicated to Nikola Tesla…and this morning, Musk responded. In a tweet sent this morning at 6 AM, Musk told Inman (via Tweet) that he “…would be happy to help.” Woot! Last year Inman launched a

The Oatmeal Woos Tesla Motors, Elon Musk Agrees To Help Build Nikola Tesla Museum was originally published on CleanTechnica.

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By Christopher DeMorro | May 15, 2014 | Electric Cars, Media |

Magnetic Water Softening Solution Looking For Crowdfunding

Originally published on Ecopreneurist.

For those of us who live in areas with hard water, dealing with the effects of mineral deposits in our bathrooms, kitchens, and water heaters can be not only a total pain in the you-know-what, but can also be an expensive endeavor. Conventional water softeners tend to require regular maintenance and rely on replenishing the salt, which can end up polluting the local water system.

However, a new type of water softening process, which uses magnets instead of a salt resin and is considered maintenance-free, could end up being the most affordable and effective solution for homeowners in hard water areas.

The Akwamag system uses a “High Intensity Multipass” magnetic technology to treat hard water, by converting dissolved minerals into a crystalline structure that isn’t prone to “scaling” plumbing fixtures and which can be easily removed. The process is said to be able to soften an “unlimited capacity” of water and to not require any maintenance, resulting in an eco-friendly and cost-effective water softening solution.

Not only does the average salt-resin water softening system introduce a lot of salt to the local water system (up to 800 pounds of salt each year), but it also uses about 10,000 gallons of water per year, plus an estimated 10 to 25% more water in order to fully rinse clothes, bodies, dishes, etc., so having a more sustainable water softener could have a bigger impact than just reducing scale in home plumbing systems.

According to the company, the device can handle large volumes of water (continuous use), and the design overcomes inefficiencies found in other magnet-based water softening systems.

“Akwamag uses advanced magnetic water softening technology to replace existing water softening products.

Unlike existing water softeners, Akwamag’s patent-pending High Intensity Multipass™ technology can process unlimited water capacity at a fraction of the cost. And because Akwamag is not salt based, homeowners no longer have to worry about purchasing salt every month, or dealing with water waste and salt discharge.”

To get the Akwamag technology to the market, the company has turned to crowdfunding, and their Indiegogo campaign seeks to raise $26,000, with the first units being available to the campaign’s backers as early as July of 2014.

Magnetic Water Softening Solution Looking For Crowdfunding was originally published on CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 50,000 other subscribers: Google+ | Email | Facebook | RSS | Twitter.

Wave Energy Project Looking For Support — Crowdfund It!

Can We Harness Ocean Waves to Power Your Home? from Experiment on Vimeo.

Wind energy experts have harnessed the movement of air to produce cheap electricity. The movement of water, waves, is another source of energy being explored and utilized.

To use wave energy to create electricity, one realizes the force of water.

Marcus Lehmann, who is 80% to his $9,622 wave energy funding goal with just 2 days left, inquires, “Can we solve future energy and freshwater crises with the Power of Ocean Waves?”

Marcus and his team clearly think it could help. “Our engineering team at UC Berkeley is developing a new Wave Energy Converter that is able to efficiently harvest this energy,” he writes.

“With your support, we can continue our development towards a first pilot plant in the ocean and want to reward our Top 50 backers with special Thank-You-Packages (details at end of the page)!”

Apparently, this isn’t the same old wave energy technology we’ve been covering for years, and the crew thinks it can be economically competitive. Furthermore, the team already has a prototype:

In our wave tank laboratory, we have developed a proof-of-concept-prototype and have successfully tested the functionality and ability of the converter to cancel waves and generate power.

While solar and wind power are currently cheaper and are more abundant, wave energy also has some advantages. “The main advantage of Wave Energy over Solar and Wind Energy is its high availability, reliability and higher power densities (Solar: 0.3 kW/m2, Wind: 3 kW/m2, Waves: 30 kW/m).”

Here’s more on the funds the team is pursuing and what they will be use for:

Budget Overview

The budget will be used for:
1. Hydraulic Pumps – Two competing power take-off technologies will be tested separately: a) industrially available double acting reciprocating linear cylinder pumps, and b) large scale diaphragm type pumps.

2. Carpet Material – Carpet materials will be purchased from an industry partner and expert in elastomers.

3. Wave Gages – In order to evaluate the efficiency of the prototype under various sea states, the essential values that are to be determined experimentally are the wave height before and after the device and the generated flux. This will be measured with Wave Gages and a non invasive Electromagnetic Flowmeter.

4. Magnetic Flow Meter – For high accuracy real time measurement of the system’s performance, a magnetic flux measurement instrument will be purchased.

Head on over to the “experiment” page to chip in!

Wave Energy Project Looking For Support — Crowdfund It! was originally published on CleanTechnica. To read more from CleanTechnica, join over 50,000 other subscribers: Google+ | Email | Facebook | RSS | Twitter.

Crowdfunded Sustainable Start-Ups on the Rise

I received an interesting email a couple weeks ago on a topic I’m not that familiar with but follow a bit — crowdfunding of green projects and start-ups. As the writer pointed out, “the market for sustainable and locally sourced products and startups is continuing to grow, but at the same time, our current economy is making it harder than ever to raise the capitol necessary to get off the ground.”

By Zach | August 27, 2011 | Business & Economy, Food & Water | 4 Comments |