Even given the backlash over the very public bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra, the Obama administration remains set on pushing clean energy. It has fast tracked plans for the largest windfarm in the U.S., a 2,000 to 3,000MW facility that will consist of 1,000 wind turbine generators and be built just south of Rawlins, Wyoming. [...]
Archive for the ‘Renewable Energy’ Category
Obama Returns to Energy Theme in State of the Union
January 26th, 2012
2nd Green Revolution As he has done previously in talking about the state of America, President Obama had several things to say about energy in Tuesday night’s speech (transcript here). For one, due to a surge in domestic oil production, imports of foreign oil have fallen to the lowest levels in 16 years and “American oil production is the highest that [...]
52 Japanese Municipalities Now Energy Independent
January 24th, 2012
Justin Manger Given the dearth of natural resources, new concerns over nuclear power, and a “mottainai” mentality, it seems natural that Japan should look to put in place policies and develop technologies in order to increase renewable energy. A non-profit organization called Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, in conjunction with a research lab at Chiba University, completed a study [...]
Is Germany the Model for a Second Green Revolution?
January 20th, 2012
Chris DeArmond In May 2011, shortly after the Fukishima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Germany’s government decided to put the country on track to phase out its nuclear power plants by 2022. In its place will be energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy, as mandated by Germany’s 2012 Renewable Energy Act. As one of [...]
Not Your Average Bus Trip: How “Green” is that Green Bus? Part 5 (Final)
January 14th, 2012
Heather Perry This is the final installment of the green bus series. Read all five parts here. Standing as one of the most memorable and defining experiences of my life, the adventures of our green bus brought us back to Tahoe, right where we had started. From Hannibal, Missouri we continued to make a giant loop around [...]
British Firm Doubles Up with Solar/Wave Power Combo
January 5th, 2012
Justin Manger Wouldn’t it be nice to harness the power from all that turbulence in the seas? There are numerous startups working to try to perfect a technique to do just that from waves and tides. What if you could add a solar powered top to that device, creating the ability to harness both sun and sea? Marine Solar [...]
Last Year Denver International Airport Added Another 1.6 MW of Solar
December 31st, 2011
Eric Wilson Although the project was completed last year, the addition of 1.6 MW of solar panels to the 2 MW system that provides roughly half the energy needed to power the Denver International Airport (DIA) tram system demonstrates the role solar can have in a carbon economy. The large array partially “offset[s] the environmental and monetary [...]
NREL Announces Breakthrough in Solar Cells
December 26th, 2011
Eric Wilson According to a news release from the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, researchers “have reported the first solar cell that produces a photocurrent that has an external quantum efficiency greater than 100 percent when photoexcited with photons from the high energy region of the solar spectrum.” What this means is that more [...]
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