Next100 has a post on "demand response" - managing customer demand in peak periods to reduce the need for costly, rarely used generation capacity and to allow greater penetration of renewable energy sources - The Invisible Energy Resource.
The media rush to highlight every major new renewable power project, but another clean energy resource gets far less attention, even though it's flexible, abundant, relatively inexpensive and valued overall at billions of dollars.
According to a recent report by the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), this unheralded resource is equal to 29,000 megawatts of capacity during periods of peak summer demand--as much as all U.S. wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass power combined.
Solar power has a number of excellent advantages, including great savings and saving the environment. An excellent product out there that helps users get the most out of their solar power is the Appolo SolarT80 MPPT Charge Controller.
f a project isn't sold to the community it will struggle to gain public acceptance
There are suddenly plans for a lot of wind-based power generation blowing into Washington's Pacific County, possibly a hint at what may occur in many of the coastal counties of Oregon and Washington in the years ahead.
A "joint operating agency" of Washington state electricity providers is planning an 82-megawatt wind turbine farm in the Naselle area, with completion of up to 45 wind turbines eyed in 2011. A smaller, very interesting four-turbine project is getting started in northern Pacific County and southern Grays Harbor County. In total, all this may be enough to power some 40,000 average-sized homes.
That's what you get from fuel cells, as long as they're subsidized by generous grants
By the time Hartford's Blue Hills Avenue reaches Bloomfield, it has turned into an economic-development director's fevered dream, with a parade of major corporations lining both sides of the wide avenue.
Geothermal power is getting a closer look from several directions. These new studies are based on "hot rocks" at temperatures of around 150 degrees C (about 300 degrees F) that can be reached by drilling a couple of miles into the earth's crust. This is a much more involved approach than dealing with surface or near-surface geothermal activity, as is used for much of Iceland's power generation.
Hydrogen cars get no respect. A lot of people consider them the stuff of science fiction, a technology as vaporous as the stuff that drives them. But despite some hurdles even Liu Xiang couldn't clear -- creating a fueling infrastructure comes to mind -- Uncle Sam and the big automakers love hydrogen cars and are driving across the country in a fleet of them to prove they work.
Even if they're occasionally hauled on trucks.
If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh yes, and the car is made by Ford Motor (F), known widely for lumbering gas hogs.
The presidential candidates are stumping hard. And while energy and environmental issues are getting frequent mentions, both the Republican and Democratic leaders are neglecting one area: geothermal energy.
It now makes up just a sliver of the electricity generation pie. But experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say that the technology could have far wider applications and be especially useful in times of high energy prices and carbon constraints. Not only is it much cleaner than fossil fuels but it also provides a continuous flow of energy -- all at a competitive prices.
Something that has long been a dream of mine looks like it will be a reality soon. I have always wanted to see a solar powered solar panel factory, or a wind powered wind turbine factory. Basically you use a little fossil fuels to get started, then the first however many turbines/panels off the line power the factory, from then on in it's all carbon neutral.
We also believe that people make better choices when they have information to help them, especially if the information is easy to understand and easy to find. Determining the greenness of a product can be a complex task; to form an accurate picture, the following kinds of questions must be answered:
* The materials within the product: Are they harmful to the environment? Where were they sourced, and at what environmental cost? Are they renewable resources? Are the materials recycled? How much transportation is involved in getting the materials to the manufacturer?
* The manufacturing process: How much energy was consumed in creating the product? What kind and how much waste is created in making the product? Is this waste reused in any way? If not, how is it disposed?
* Product usage: Does using the product release any pollutants into the environment? How much energy is consumed while using the product? What is the average life expectancy of the product?
* Product disposal: Can the product be recycled? Does the manufacturer have a recycling program? Is the product bio-degradable?
Considering all these factors is enough to make anyone's head spin! That's why Greener One created a way for people to compare products on an environmental basis and to share product information with one another. A variety of factors for each product are converted into a simple "green index" score that can be easily understood by anyone.
How Green Index is Calculated
Greener One was created by a group of technology veterans committed to the idea that people who are empowered with information can change the world. We put the tools in your hands to make the right decisions, to share your knowledge and to open conversations with companies about the products that they produce. Everything you consume has an impact; Greener One gives you the knowledge to determine the size of your environmental footprint.
Geothermal Energy
We have found the company that is ready to lead the way on this exciting new energy technology. The company is one of the world's leading vertically integrated companies in the field of geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is one of the cleanest, most abundant sources of energy on the planet and now is the time to know as much as possible about this great new investment. This companies technologies and its subsidiaries engage in the geothermal and recovered energy power business. Before we get into the details of this business, lets take a closer look at what geothermal energy really is.
We provide an easy, fast, and safe way for you to sell electronics and recycle electronics. When you sell cell phones, mp3 players, laptops, or other gadgets to us, you'll earn cash and help save the environment by keeping old, used gadgets out of landfills. You get green while being green! The bottom line is you want to sell electronics and we want to buy electronics. A perfect match!
We are familiar with the notion of getting an expert second opinion when an expert medical specialist has diagnosed life threatening circumstances. However a second opinion that is a bit more optimistic simply decreases the perceived odds of death somewhat - the dire initial prediction remains.
With gas prices going through the roof and regulators requiring cars to be ever more miserly, Volkswagen is bringing new meaning to the term "fuel efficiency" with a bullet-shaped microcar that gets a stunning 282 235 mpg.
Volkswagen's had its super-thrifty One-Liter Car concept vehicle -- so named because that's how much fuel it needs to go 100 kilometers -- stashed away for six years. The body's made of carbon fiber to minimize weight (the entire car weighs just 660 pounds) and company execs didn't expect the material to become cheap enough to produce the car until 2012.
And you thought the U.S. was getting big solar photovoltaic projects (like the one being built by SunPower for FPL, or SunEdison for Duke). But those will deliver just a little more than half of what a Godzilla-like solar PV project in Germany will soon provide. The managing director of solar builder Juwi Solar, Michael Martin, said Juwi has already built over half - or 26 MW - of what, at 40 MW, he claims will be the world's largest solar PV project, which could be completed as soon as the end of the year.
The global power industry must take the lead in making energy efficiency a way of life, says Jonathan Leake
Six kilograms of carbon dioxide a day. If that sounds like little more than an obscure scientific measurement, think again. In the years to come it's a figure we may have to get used to. Why? Because, say climate scientists, that's the maximum daily amount of carbon dioxide each of us can generate if humanity is to have a chance of keeping the rise in global temperature below 2C.
It's a question we've heard a lot lately: "Who will lend me money to finance solar installations?" In fact, a couple of our readers, Reeves and Byron, were kind enough to send comments on the subject:
"We've heard there are some articles out there showing that if you get the right kind of financing, your solar installation can be cash flow positive right away. Problem is, I can't find those articles."
Wind turbines do not drive birds from surrounding areas, British researchers said on Wednesday, in findings which could make it easier to build more wind farms.
Conservation groups have raised fears that large birds could get caught in the turbines and that the structures could disturb other species.
But scientists fou
Drill, drill, drill.
Suddenly, oil and gas exploration is all the rage on Capitol Hill.
With energy prices a red-hot political issue, the Democratic-controlled Congress, in the midst of its final, three-week legislative sprint before the presidential elections, can't get enough of drilling bills.
Not that most Capitol Hill watchers seriously believe that - in the absence of a major supply disruption - any substantive energy legislation will actually emerge from this frenzy and become law.
"You don't pass energy bills in the heat of the campaign season," noted Frank Maisano, an energy specialist with Bracewell & Giuliani. Still, there should be plenty of action.
