2nd Green Revolution

Yesterday KUNC, National Public Radio’s Northern Colorado affiliate reported that the clean energy economy had created 17,000 green jobs. According to GreenBiz.com

Venture capital is flowing into Colorado for green startups that see promise in the smart grid, energy storage and other clean tech technologies. “In 2008, we had $458 million of venture capital investments in Colorado. It’s just astounding,” Colorado Climate Change Coordinator Alice Madden said, noting that such investments have helped create 1,700 clean tech businesses in Colorado that provide 17,000 jobs.

The Colorado Governor’s Energy Office recently commissioned a green jobs report along with the Green Jobs Working Group (GJWG) and the American Solar Energy Society. The findings calculated that Read the rest of this entry »

This post comes from a 2nd Green Revolution reader who forwarded us the idea. Originally from the Maine Solar Primer booklet 2nd Edition by Richard Komp with drawings by Caleb Crawford, the SunGrabber is a relatively easy way to capture some of the sun’s heat by attaching a home-made solar panel to an existing window. Also known as a “thermal siphon”, the idea in its simplest form works on the principal that hot air rises. The best way to understand the concept is to look at the drawing after the jump or at this URL at Build It Solar. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite announcing his intention not to seek a second term as governor of Colorado, Governor Bill Ritter has continued to pursue a clean energy future for the state. While many states have mandates of 20% or 25% electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2020, Ritter is pushing ahead toward 30%. Ritter’s goal is one of the most ambitious, ranking in the top three states as measured by a percentage of electricity production.  Read the rest of this entry »

Last month’s lengthy post titled “Inefficient Devices and the Laws of Thermodynamics” failed to relate the abstract laws of thermodynamics to everyday life. This post aims to tie the two together in a more easily digestible package.

Devices that consume excessive amounts of energy, convert energy inefficiently, or perform tasks that can be accomplished with less energy are wasteful and need to be replaced. This latter option, achieving a goal with less energy (i.e. carpooling instead of driving individually or cooking indoors on a cold day and leaving the oven ajar to release heat throughout your home) represents a version of low-hanging fruit.
Read the rest of this entry »

On or around the first of every month, 2nd Green Revolution updates the green events calendar for the coming month. Last November we began including a post highlighting some of the intriguing events for that month. Many of the events on the calendar for February take place in India, New Zealand, and Australia. However, there are a few in San Francisco, California and several intriguing domestic events at the end of the month.

Here is a sampling of a few domestic symposiums that caught our eye. Read the rest of this entry »

As a science teacher I can tell you that people find science scary. Perhaps you already knew that. They think it is something they “can’t do” or “don’t get.” They may say they do not have a scientific brain. I can also tell you that these are entirely untrue. Real world, personally accessible examples, instead of theoretical situations, help make the connection to the here and now. For instance, the title of this post “Inefficient Devices and the Laws of Thermodynamics” would probably be enough to scare off most readers. However, by thinking about your own home, this scientific concept comes to life. Read the rest of this entry »

A few months ago Solar Roadways was the recipient of extra attention in the blogosphere. 2nd Green Revolution did its part and brought you news of this company as well. All of the attention resulted in a redesigned website with flash animation. The older version of the site (one of which can be seen here) lacked the “Wow” factor that is now a part of the new site.

While the revamped site contains a wealth of information on the benefits of solar roadways in an attractive, easy to access format, there does not seem to be much movement on the development and implementation side. Read the rest of this entry »

In finance, a good rule of thumb for managing a budget and staying out of debt is “Don’t spend more money than you make.” This same simple premise can also be applied to energy management. Take homes, for example. With efficiency gains, energy conservation, and home energy production through solar power, geothermal power (see one homeowner’s perspective) and other types of renewable energy, it is becoming possible to create or retrofit a home to be energy neutral. ZETA Communities is designing houses that don’t use more energy than they make. Partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy, ZETA’s zero energy homes

provide one of the first nationally scalable solutions to these unsustainable environmental impacts. Using a whole-systems design approach, high performance materials, and an innovative mechanical core, ZETA homes require 40%-60% less energy overall and 65% less energy for heating, cooling, and hot water than a comparable structure (based on data published by ZETA’s partner: U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America program). To achieve net zero energy, ZETA homes use grid-tied photovoltaic systems and other clean energy sources.

The Wall Street Journal has an interactive feature that shows how ZETA’s design features listed below can allow homes to produce as much energy as they consume and create a healthier environment for their inhabitants. Read the rest of this entry »

• The United States is likely to install just one-eighth as much new solar power this year as Germany.
• China is expected to surpass the United States this year as the leader in adding new wind energy capacity.
• General Electric, which has 10,000 wind turbines in the United States, says that to encourage growth in the wind industry, the nation should adopt a target of obtaining 12 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2012.
• Some note that even with the administration’s recent moves, it has spent less than one-fourth of the $80 billion clean energy component of the stimulus package. Administration officials boast that the $80 billion figure is by far the largest amount ever committed to renewable energy.
• Solyndra, a company that makes solar photovoltaic panels in Fremont Calif., received a $535 million loan guarantee to finance a manufacturing plant, creating 3,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs.

Source: New York Times

- 2nd Green Revolution

[image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art]

Team Germany's Winning Solar House

I am remiss to post this so late but still wanted to wish a quick and belated congratulations to Team Germany for winning the 2009 Solar Decathlon that was held last month on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The annual contest challenged 20 student teams to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. Full results and details are here, or click on the image below. The following synopses of the three top houses are from the Solar Decathlon website.

Overall Winners

First Place: Team Germany (Technische Universität Darmstadt)

The 2007 champions did it again! Team Germany focused on producing surplus energy by using the maximum overall building dimensions allowed, applying photovoltaics to every available surface, and pushing the envelope with new technologies. The team walked away with the Net Metering contest and performed well in several others, including Architecture, Lighting Design, Comfort Zone, and Hot Water. Demonstrating that they are true champions, members of Team Germany were extremely gracious in their victory and recognized the work of their peers.

Read the rest of this entry »