When looking at which energy source provides the most energy to the American economy, natural gas topped the charts for 2010 (the most recent year for which data was fully available). Today’s set of facts looks at the breakdown of the various sources and follows up last week’s Five Friday Facts which looked at the [...]
Archive for the ‘Renewable Energy’ Category
Double Set of Five Friday Facts: Natural Gas Leads the Pack
April 13th, 2012 
Eric Wilson 
Posted in Eric Wilson, Five Friday Facts, Renewable Energy 
Tags: Biomass, Coal, Energy, Geothermal, Hydroelectricity, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Oil Consumption, Solar Energy, Wind Power 
No Comments »Ball State Completes Largest Geothermal Installation
April 10th, 2012 Eric Wilson A few years back we wrote an article about Ball State University’s plan to replace their coal-fired boilers with a geothermal system. As it turns out, the time has come. According to the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Office of the Department of Energy, Ball State has completed the nation’s largest ground-source geothermal system [...]
Posted in Clean Technology, Eric Wilson, Local Energy/Food, News, Renewable Energy Tags: Coal, Department of Energy, Geothermal, Green Jobs, Jobs, Stimulus Bill No Comments »LightSail Energy, Storing the Wind and Sun
April 3rd, 2012 Eric Wilson The days of a single dominant energy source are just about over. In the U.S., no one source provides a majority of the energy that is converted into electricity. Recent numbers put coal at the top of several sources. It is responsible for 45% of the electricity generated as of 2010. Moving forward, there will be a [...]
Why Dig for Energy When We’re Bombarded Every Day?
March 25th, 2012 Eric Wilson Ever wonder why oil is underground? I don’t mean how it got there (decomposing organisms trapped below layers of sediment that were compressed). I mean why we go through the trouble of digging it out of the ground. I realize it’s energy dense, but hear me out. I find it kind of curious to think [...]
US Imposes Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels
March 21st, 2012 Eric Wilson ABC News and The New York Times are reporting that yesterday, the United States’ Commerce Department has levied a small (2.9 to 4.73 percent) tariff on imported Chinese solar panels. Last year American producers of solar technology pushed the Commerce Department to pursue a case against the Chinese. Their argument was that Chinese manufacturers “may [...]
Posted in Business, China, Clean Technology, Eric Wilson, News, Policy, Renewable Energy Tags: Photovoltaic, Solar Energy No Comments »Geothermal Air-Conditioning Systems for Japanese “Combini”
March 19th, 2012 Justin Manger Seven-Eleven is the largest of the combini (convenience store) chains that can be found on nearly every block in large cities around Japan. Selling everything from juice and rice balls to beer and fish, underwear and band-aids, niku-man (meat stuffed steamed dumplings) and adult magazines, the combini is a uniquely Japanese experience. They are also [...]
California and US are Top State and Country for Renewable Energy
March 13th, 2012 Eric Wilson Ernst and Young’s most recent quarterly Renewable Attractiveness report reveals that the United States has regained its top spot as the most attractive country for renewable energy. China had taken over in 2010. States, led by California, “were the driving force behind this shift, offering insight into the nation’s diverse renewable energy markets, energy infrastructures [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, News, Renewable Energy Tags: Biomass, California, Colorado, Solar Energy, Wind Power No Comments »MIT Study Details Future of Grid and Renewable Energy
March 12th, 2012 Eric Wilson A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) looked at what it deemed as “One of the most important emerging challenges facing the grid . . . the need to incorporate more renewable generation in response to policy initiatives at both state and federal levels.” At issue is the intermittent nature of many [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, News, Renewable Energy, Smart Grid Tags: Battery, Biomass, Coal, Electric Vehicles, Electricity Generation, Grid, Hydroelectricity, Nuclear, Solar Energy, Wind Power No Comments »Why Walmart Fails at Sustainability
March 11th, 2012 Megan Stilley The key to sustainability is acknowledging and considering the three legs of sustainability: society, environment, and economic. Walmart fails in at least two of these categories. I will consider giving them economic. They have a business plan to keep their business running and not go bankrupt. While that plan includes opening more stores to increase [...]
Posted in Business, China, Featured Posts, Op-Ed, Renewable Energy, Sustainability Tags: Environment, Greenwashing, Megan Stilley, Zero Waste 1 Comment »Creative Localization of Solar Power at Japanese Oyster Farms
March 2nd, 2012 Justin Manger Big companies that operate worldwide use product localization to cater to the tastes and preferences of the various countries in which they conduct business. At the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta you can taste soda from around the world and discover how some variations are much sweeter than others. In Japan, there is no Diet Coke, [...]
