Home/Posts Tagged ‘electricity’
Posts Tagged ‘electricity’
Green living, Politics, Jan 17th, 2012,
Wasteful battery chargers for smartphones, tablet computers, laptops, etc., will be subject to new, stricter rules in the US state of California. ‘Vampire’ battery chargers can waste up to 60% of the energy they take from electrical outlets. California is the first US state to confront this problem, with the California Energy Commission voting unanimously to improve efficiency standards, which will cover some 170 million chargers. The manufacturers of consumer appliances of course strongly objected to the new regulations, despite projections that the improved energy standards would save $306 million per year on commercial and residential electricity bills. From the…
Tags: battery, California, chargers, electricity, energy, smartphones, vampire
Green living, Oct 1st, 2010,
Investment in wind turbines and solar panels has paid dividends for over 800 Italian communities, which produce enough renewable energy that they are able to sell electricity back to the grid. A survey by the Italian environmental organization Legambiente (League for the Environment) shows that small municipalities in Italy are benefiting from new renewable energy plants, which are being constructed due to the southern European country’s high electricity rates. Though Italy as a whole is behind the rest of the European Union in renewable energy production as well as on other environmental issues, some parts of the country are responding…
Tags: electricity, energy, Italy, New York Times, power, renewable, Solar, Tocco, wind
Climate Change, Politics, Aug 11th, 2010,
During a trip last month from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon to its second largest city Porto, in the north of the country, I noticed a lot of wind turbines dotting the landscape. I’m not the only one either. The New York Times published a piece yesterday on Portugal’s green makeover. Wind, hydro, solar and wave power are fueling the small Iberian republic’s move from fossil fuels to renewable energy – and they’ve got the resources to do it. Few countries in Europe have these key ingredients: lots of wind and sun, suitable rivers and a coastline complete with powerful…
Tags: electricity, energy, Green, New York Times, power, renewable, resource, Solar, source, wind
Green living, Science & Technology, Jul 21st, 2010,
Certain Internet giants were recently criticized by a Greenpeace report because they source their power from coal-fired stations. Facebook and Apple were named as guilty parties, while Google and Yahoo came out looking a bit more eco-friendly than the competition. But cloud computing – or web-based computer use – can also generate heat and electricity. It’s all about the efficient use of energy. From an article in Scientific American: District cooling and heating is already a mainstay in Finland and some other Scandinavian countries, contributing to their Kyoto-required reductions in CO2. Heat gets captured and injected into water or steam….
Tags: centers, cloud, computing, data, electricity, energy, Facebook, Finland, heat, power
Science & Technology, Jul 12th, 2010,
During a recent visit to Finland I discovered the most amazing thing. Apart from being a very beautiful and clean country, populated by friendly and eco-conscious citizens, Finland has one big advantage over the rest of Europe when it comes to EV’s: charging stations! Vesa Koivisto, part of Fortum, a Finnish leading energy company focusing on the Nordic countries, Russia and the Baltic Rim area, pointed out that this advantage towards EV’s has a very simple and historical foundation. Currently there are more than a million potential charging stations already in place. The stations have been set-up everywhere over the…
Tags: charging stations, electric vehicles, electricity, engine heating stations, EV, Finland, Finnfacts, Fortum
Climate Change, Green living, Politics, Jul 9th, 2010,
Germany’s Federal Environment Agency claims that the European nation could get all its power from renewables by 2050. At the moment Germany derives 16% of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind – a threefold increase from 1995. Some 300,000 jobs in the renewable energy field have been created since 2000 and Germany trails only the US in wind energy production. From a Reuters report: The government has set goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 to 2020, and by 80 to 85 percent by 2050. That goal could be achieved if Germany…
Tags: 2050, electricity, emissions, energy, EU, European, Germany, power, renewables, Solar, sources, wind
Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Weird Stuff, Jun 20th, 2010,
Several American technological companies are developing methods of wireless energy transference, as was once envisioned by legendary inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. The details the firms are using in their various methods of delivering wireless power differ from Tesla’s ideas, particularly in terms of the amount of power and the distance it travels. WiTricity has demonstrated the ability to send enough energy across a room to run a flat-screen television using its approach, called “resonant magnetic coupling”. This is different from Tesla’s approach, but the firm’s founders have acknowledged his pioneering work. –Economist Similarly, Computer giant Intel is working…
Tags: Economist, electricity, energy, Intel, Nikola, power, Tesla, wireless, WiTricity
Green living, Science & Technology, Jun 1st, 2010,
The US is planning to build its first freshwater offshore wind farm and the location of choice is Lake Erie. Many of you may think: “Aren’t they already planning to build an offshore wind farm near Cape Cod?”—well, yes, they are and technically that one would have been the first. However, the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp recently signed a deal to buy 5 of GE’s 4-megawatt offshore wind turbines; while the Cape Cod project is expected to be much larger (468-megawatt) and will most likely take longer to complete. These turbines will be used for an offshore wind farm…
Tags: Cape Code, electricity, first, freshwater offshore wind farm, GE, Lake Erie, Lake Erie Energy Development Corp, Ohio, power, renewable energy, US, wind turbine
Green living, Weird Stuff, Apr 19th, 2010,
Keeping with Denmark’s progressively green lifestyle, one hotel is offering a rather unique deal to its guests. Located 15 minutes from the center of Copenhagen, the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers hotel is offering a free meal in exchange for electricity. How will this be done? Well, there will be two exercise bicycles installed at the hotel. These bikes will be connected to generators. Any guest is welcome to use these bikes; however, their use comes with a challenge. According to a statement from the hotel: “Anyone producing 10 watt hours of electricity or more for the hotel will be given…
Tags: 10 watt hours, bicycle, carbon footprint, challenge, copenhagen, Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers, denmark, electricity, energy, exercise, free meal, generators, hotel guests
Science & Technology, Weird Stuff, Wildlife & Flora, Apr 12th, 2010,
Research in Japan suggests that lightening strikes can significantly increase growth in some popular species of mushroom. According to a report in National Geographic, sudden bursts of electricity – of the strengths that might occur some distance from where lightning strikes the ground – cause mushrooms to multiply. A direct hit from a lightening bolt would fry a mushroom, but a diffuse jolt sparks a curious response. The latest results show that lightning-strength jolts of electricity can more than double the yield of certain mushroom species compared with conventional cultivation methods. –National Geographic When shiitake and nameko are exposed to…
Tags: electricity, japan, lightening, mushroom, nameko, National Geographic, shiitake, strikes
Science & Technology, Apr 11th, 2010,
Imagine if someone found a way to bring more renewable energy to the grid. Imagine if it would increase grid reliability. Imagine if all that power came from garbage trucks, postal trucks, and school buses. PJM Interconnection is working on making all that imagination a reality. PJM is a regional electricity transmission organization (RTO) that provides electricity to 13 states and Washington D.C. They have developed a plan to convert fleets of garbage trucks, postal trucks, and school buses into all-electric vehicles. By doing this, they believe the vehicles could store grid energy in their batteries during off-peak hours. Right…
Tags: electric vehicles, electricity, EVs, garbage trucks, PJM Interconnection, postal trucks, renewable energy, renewable power, RTOS, school buses, Solar, the grid, us postal service, USPS, wind
Green living, Science & Technology, Mar 31st, 2010,
What, you mean you haven’t been breathless with anticipation regarding the large-scale storage of renewable energy from wind and solar power? Well get with the program. Presidio, a small town on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico, is also on the frontier of energy storage technology. Life in Presidio, Texas is harsh, isolated, hot and stormy. So why would anyone live there? Well, I don’t have the answer to that, but those who do reside in Presidio endure some of the hottest temperatures in the United States as well as frequent electrical storms, which tend to disrupt the…
Tags: battery, electricity, energy, japan, power, Presidio, renewable, Sodium-sulfur, Solar, storage, technology, Texas, wind
Green living, Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Mar 13th, 2010,
Rural India does not have much infrastructure or development, but it does have plenty of sun. 450 million people in India live without electricity, many in places with no connection to any power grid. Therefore inexpensive photovoltaic solar panels offer a practical solution for those who live off grid and have little money. Independent solar power can provide rural Indians with inexpensive, renewable energy for electricity, light and heat in their homes. It can also power electric water pumps for agricultural irrigation far more cleanly than diesel powered pumps. Check out this video from CNN Eco Solutions to see how…
Tags: electricity, energy, grid, India, panels, power, Solar, solutions
Green living, Science & Technology, Feb 24th, 2010,
In case you haven’t noticed, Google is not really just a search engine anymore. It has even gone so far as to become a verb in more than one language. That, in and of itself, is no mean feat. The Wikipedia entry for Google describes it as a ‘multinational public cloud computing and Internet search technologies corporation’. I don’t know exactly what that means, but ‘public cloud’ gives a pretty good impression of the amorphous brand image that Google has for me: it is one of the number one names in computers and information technology, while remaining just vague enough…
Tags: corporation, electricity, energy, google, public cloud, Reuters, U.S.
Climate Change, Green living, Science & Technology, Feb 1st, 2010,
Statkraft, Norway’s state owned electricity company, has opened the world’s first osmotic power station in the Norwegian municipality of Hurum. The process at the plant is conducted by salty seawater drawing fresh water through a permeable membrane which increases pressure on the side with the salt water. According to an article from the website Nordic Energy Solutions, ‘the increased pressure is used to produce power.’ The plant is only a prototype and not yet capable of generating very much power, but Statkraft has high hopes for the future of the technology. It could one day supply up to 10% or…
Tags: electricity, Norway, osmosis, osmotic power, plant, power, salt, sea, Statkraft, water
Green living, Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Jan 24th, 2010,
A National Geographic video report from last November offers an inspiring example of one family who are making a serious commitment to energy independence and sustainability. What electricity they don’t use from their turbine can be sold to neighboring families. The family also plans on buying an electric car and charging it with wind power. Family Wind Turbines Gain Momentum Part of a growing trend, a Danish family of seven has installed its own wind turbine to produce all the electricity the family needs while reducing its carbon footprint. Additional resources: US Offers Tax Credit for Homeowners with Wind Turbines…
Tags: Danish, electricity, energy, family, power, turbine, video, wind
