Ten Green Ideas That May Never Take Flight

Some ideas -- electric cars -- were impossibly futuristic until they happened. Others -- like user-generated videos or free e-mail accounts -- were things that the public didn’t know it wanted until they existed. Others, like prepaid electricity meters and eBooks, are making a comeback.

Below is my list of technologies that should’ve, would’ve and perhaps could’ve been contenders if circumstances were different. Instead, they are just highly touted technologies that will likely land on the scrap heap of history along with the Stanley Steamer, the Nuclear Airplane and all the members of Ratt.

A caveat: I didn’t include technologies on the list -- fusion, osmotic pressure gradients, ormodular nuclear -- that are still in the development stage but could have a massive potential. Conversely, I’ve left out the pure crazies. The list below contains the ones that almost made it.

1. Stirling Engines. Stirling engines -- which try to convert solar heat into power via a piston and a mass of hot air or hydrogen -- have nearly all of the hallmarks of an intriguing idea doomed to obscurity. Stirlings have a long history (first created by Scottish inventor Robert Stirling in 1816), potential applications in a variety of fields, a legion of technical papers, and a long line of exuberant fans.

For Full Article: http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/ten-green-ideas-that-may-never-take-flight

Anumakonda Jagadeesh comments:

Good list. How about Energy Efficiency? More than energy generation,Energy saving yields quick results. Hybrid cars and Hydrogen fuel have a greater role to play towards Green and Clean Energy Technologies.