Friday, November 7th, 2008
The World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Project
Earlier today, concentrated solar company SolFocus announced that it has signed a deal to install over 10 MW of its systems in Spain for EMPE Solar. Upon its completion in 2010, the $103 million, multi-site project will be the largest concentrated solar deployment in the world. Provides energy for 40,000 homes.
New Coating= Solar Panels Harvest 96% of Available Sunshine
A new type of reflective coating can make solar panels far more efficient, soaking up nearly all available sunlight from nearly any angle. Current solar panels — which convert energy from the sun into electricity — absorb only about two-thirds of available sunlight.
Solar Cells Set New Performance Mark
Researchers are reporting the highest efficiency ever for one type of solar cells in a breakthrough that could lead to more widespread use of solar energy.
Trees Are Nature’s Climate Air Conditioners, Study Finds
If you’re reading this, I probably don’t need to waste my time trying to convince you that trees are great. They absorb carbon dioxide, they can be used to power small remote sensors and they’re pretty darn nice to look at too. Now a new study by a team of scientists from Germany and the UK has discovered another beneficial property…
Millennial Youth to Take Over America’s Environment?
Generation We is new to me. Have you heard of it? It’s the Millennial Generation of Americans born between the years 1978 and 2000. They are being hailed as the next “greatest generation.†I take just a liitle offense to that statement, being GenX myself.
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Monday, June 2nd, 2008
Secrets of Stonehenge unearthed
Now that’s a pretty impressive tombstone. New research suggests that Stonehenge was used as a cemetery for more than 500 years, much longer than previously thought. The new findings also show that people used the area as a burial site long before placement of its trademark stones (or sarsen stones) was complete.
How to harvest solar power? Beam it down from space!
The satellites would electromagnetically beam gigawatts of solar energy back to ground-based receivers, where it would then be converted to electricity and transferred to power grids. The floating power plants could provide round-the-clock clean, renewable electricity.
Scientists Invent Machine to Suck CO2 & Fight Global Warming
Scientists say they have invented a machine that can suck carbon dioxide out of the air – potentially creating a vital weapon in the war against global warming. The blueprint for the CO2 ’scrubber’ raises the prospect of a generation of machines which would help reduce the billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere.
The Coming Energy Wars – A Bargain at $200
Oil prices could hit $200 a barrel in the next few months. How the spike changes everything. This spring, America hit a historic point. With average gas prices per gallon edging toward $4, America’s notoriously profligate ways started to change fast. Americans are driving less, using mass transit more, buying fewer gas guzzlers.
How Man-Made Noise May Be Altering Earth’s Ecology
The contamination of biophony may soon become a serious environmental issue — Scientist Bernie Krause says that man-made sounds are already wreaking havoc with animal communication. We worry about the carbon emissions from SUVs and airplanes; maybe we should be equally concerned about the racket they cause.
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Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Laura and I were talking last night about wind energy, the government and how people do not want to solve the energy problem.
Paul and I had a little back-and-forth over the weekend about wind turbines in residential areas. I was against it and he was for it. The reason I was against it is because of the first photo he displayed in his post. I thought that something like this was inappropriate for a residential area. Then, I did a little research and noticed that certain companies are making residential wind turbines much sleeker in their look and use. I am now on board. Apparently, with the right height and wind speed, one of these turbines can supply a whole house with electricity.
Here is our (well, my) reason why anyone with any amount of power simply doesn’t want to really make any changes when it comes to energy…If the government wanted to solve the problem, they would have “gently forced” every property owner in the country to erect a small wind turbine on their property. I know, I know, that sounds strange, but think about it. The government can even pay for it. They got the taxpayers to pay billions and billions of dollars to go over to Iraq and…well, you know. Think about if the American government used that same money to purchase and have installed one wind turbine (or solar system) per property owner. Can you even imagine how much oil and coal that would save from being burned? We wouldn’t have to go over and…well, you know…the Middle East anymore.
Why is it that the only thing being offered right now are tax breaks that no one knows about? I hear more about “Barney” than I do about renewable energy incentives, and I don’t even like Barney.
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