Yesterday’s post about fake and real Christmas trees and menorahs developed out of several conversations during the holidays, but was precipitated by an article in The New York Times about the use of so-called rare earth elements in the manufacture of clean energy components. Cradle to cradle design would suggest that all materials used in [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Renewable Energy’
The Coming Trouble With Clean Energy: Rare Earth Elements
December 27th, 2009 
Eric Wilson Ball State University Aims to Replace Coal-Fired Boilers with Geothermal
December 21st, 2009 Eric Wilson Over the past few days we have featured a couple of different stories about geothermal energy. The first recapped two of the main sources (deep well drilling for electricity generation and ground source for home heating and cooling). The second gave you a homeowner’s perspective. Today we bring you another take on geothermal. Ball State [...]
Posted in Clean Technology, Eric Wilson, Local Energy/Food, Renewable Energy 
Tags: Coal, Geothermal, Renewable Energy, Stimulus Bill 
No Comments »Geothermal Energy: A Lot of Hot Air?
December 17th, 2009 Eric Wilson While climate change has no scientific connection to earthquakes, one of the contenders to provide renewable energy may. Two geothermal projects – one in Basel, Switzerland and the other in Northern California – have recently been shut down amid concerns about increased earthquake activity believed to be related to the tapping of thermal energy in [...]
Posted in Clean Technology, Eric Wilson, Local Energy/Food, Renewable Energy Tags: California, Geothermal, Renewable Energy No Comments »Denmark Looks To Move Forward With Electric Cars
December 13th, 2009 Eric Wilson Denmark stands at the forefront of clean energy development. Nearly 20% of the electricity generated in the country comes from wind power. A New York Times article from earlier this month discusses the state of electric cars in Denmark – host to the United Nations Climate Change Conference. With such a significant percentage of energy [...]
Test Your Green IQ, Part 2
December 8th, 2009 Justin Manger We’ll be featuring “Green IQ Tests” all this week as a way to mark the climate change negotiations in Denmark. Regardless of the outcome of the conference, the second green revolution is well underway among consumers and businesses. Here are another couple of questions from the Wall Street Journal’s Green IQ Quiz to test your [...]
Posted in 2nd Green, Clean Technology, Economics, Justin Manger, Policy, Sustainability Tags: Alternative Energy, Biomass, Carbon Dioxide, Clean Energy, Green IQ, Renewable Energy Comments OffTest Your Green IQ
December 7th, 2009 Justin Manger With the international climate change conference now underway in Copenhagen, Denmark, there is plenty of talk about the environment. But among all the media and discussion, what are the facts? The Wall Street Journal had an interesting set of questions in today’s paper to test your environmental knowledge. We’ll put up two a day this [...]
Posted in 2nd Green, Clean Technology, Justin Manger, Renewable Energy Tags: Carbon Dioxide, Green IQ, Renewable Energy No Comments »Five Friday Facts
December 4th, 2009 Eric Wilson 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 [...]
Posted in 2nd Green, China, Five Friday Facts, Renewable Energy Tags: Clean Energy, GE, Photovoltaic, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Wind Power No Comments »Interface Inc: Using Lifecycle Assessments to Measure Product Impacts
December 2nd, 2009 Eric Wilson Last Saturday’s post, the second written about Interface Inc.’s steps toward becoming a sustainable company, highlighted InterfaceRAISE. This is the third post detailing Interface’s sustainability measures focuses on lifecycle assessments and further details the path that Interface has blazed. One of Interface’s main goals is to become a regenerative business. In order to do so, [...]
Solar Decathlon Results: Germany Repeats as Champions
November 29th, 2009 Justin Manger 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 [...]
Five Friday Facts
November 27th, 2009 Justin Manger Green Myths Exposed (from Kiplinger’s): 1) Never leave the lights on when you leave a room. In the U.S., it saves money to leave compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) on if you will return to the room within 15 minutes, according to the Department of Energy. www.energysavers.gov 2) You can trust products that say “green,” “eco-friendly” [...]
