Environmental Issues: Offbeat Renewable Energy Sources

Officials in Halmstad, Sweden plan to use emissions from the ovens at their local crematorium to help heat their town. The crematorium will save money on its own heating bill, reduce air pollution, lower the cost of cooling and filtering its emissions, and provide a valuable new energy source to Halmstad.

In the search for renewable energy sources, ocean power is an option. Learn how pioneer companies can use ocean power to produce energy.

National Geographic reports that scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn infrared rays into electrical energy. The plastic solar cells can be sprayed onto other materials and used as portable electricity to power everything from cell phones to hybrid cars.

American dogs and cats produce 10 million tons of animal waste every year, and most of it ends up in landfills or ends up in the water table. San Francisco and several other cities in the Bay Area have set a goal to end their use of landfills by 2020, so they have started looking at the feasibility of turning pet feces into power instead of pollution.

Combining chocolate with the right kind of bacteria produces hydrogen, a clean renewable energy that could be used with fuel cells to power vehicles or manufacturing processes, according to researchers at the University of Birmingham in the UK.