The Green

Innovation is the lifeblood of the green movement. The people of the world are hungry for energy resources and like never before, and even withstanding torrential hurricanes, devastating droughts and various other environmental calamities, the demand just keeps increasing.

One of the offshoots that attempts to satisfy this desire for more energy resources is the biofuel industry. Some experts are saying that converting agricultural lands into fuel for large ethanol plants is driving world food prices to record highs. While this may be true, this is not to suggest that alternative biofuels cannot be part of the solution, it is rather a caution against the certainty that fossil fuels can someday be entirely replaced by biofuels.

In seeking recourse to this dilemma, one must consider another source of energy, namely, wind and solar power. This is where innovative design comes into play, as wind and sun are fickle enough sources of power; wind only blows sporadically; the sun can be diminished by weather and nobody can stop the setting of the sun.



There are some great examples of innovation in solar and wind technology. Take for example, the GROW project launched by an organization called SMIT (Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology). GROW is a combination of solar technology and wind technology on one small, flexible square. The idea is to attach many GROW panels to the outside of a house, generating energy from absorbed sunlight and adding to that energy by harnessing the wind energy created by the "fluttering" of each panel in the wind.

SMIT plans to develop this GROW technology further and to begin the process of creating a commercially distributable product. We encourage our readers to check out this interesting innovation in alternative energy and welcome comments on this technology or any other interesting development within the enlarging alternative energy industry.