Home/Posts Tagged ‘energy’
Posts Tagged ‘energy’
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, May 23rd, 2012,
Since the earthquake and tsunami-induced meltdowns in Japan last year, nuclear power has experienced a significant dip in global popularity. In parts of the globe, anyway. Japan itself is currently nuclear-free in terms of energy production, with an ambitious plan to clean up its air and water as well as increase the development of renewable power sources. The East Asian economic powerhouse is home to 54 nuclear reactors, not one of which is online. Public outcry in Germany following the events at Fukushima immediately resulted in 8 plant closures, with all remaining nuclear facilities to be closed by 2022. This…
Tags: energy, Fukushima, Germany, japan, nuclear, power
Climate Change, Green living, Videos & Documentaries, May 6th, 2012,
A lot of money and resources go into making our homes warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. How can we minimize the amount of power we use for climate control? For example, 1/3 of all energy consumed in Germany is used to heat or cool homes. This can be quite an expense and is a significant source of climate change driving greenhouse gases. People have been insulating their homes for thousands of years with grass, mud and other natural materials. Now we use fiberglass, foam insulation, special glass in more developed areas, while houses in poorer, hotter…
Tags: climate, energy, home, house, insulation
Conservation, Apr 18th, 2012,
American billionaire and erstwhile presidential candidate Donald Trump is campaigning against wind energy in Scotland. Why? Because he thinks the presence of wind turbines will deter patrons of the golf resort he plans to construct on the Scottish coast in Aberdeenshire. In a submission to Scottish Parliament, Trump claimed that wind farms will end tourism in Scotland and ruin the environment. The business magnate, reality TV star and son of a real estate tycoon threatened to pull his golf resort project out of Scotland if the wind project went head, claiming that Scotland will “go broke”. A Scottish Government spokesman…
Tags: Donald, energy, golf, resort, Scotland, Trump, wind, wind farm
Climate Change, Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Mar 20th, 2012,
China may still be overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels for power (especially coal) but the country’s rapid economic boom and consequent insatiable hunger for energy is causing it to explore and exploit all avenues, including massive wind and solar projects. While the US is going natural gas crazy and despite plenty of solar possibilities, Australia is still in the thrall of cheap coal, China is embracing greener energy sources. Bear in mind China is still the largest emitter of greenhouse gasses and has a less-than-stellar record when it comes to toxic pollution. But the market is driving this still centrally…
Tags: australia, China, desert, energy, Gansu, Green, Solar, wind
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
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Dec 15th, 2011,
According to Yale University’s 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) Canada ranked as the 46th greenest country in the world, a shameful and sudden drop from #12 in 2008. Why? Mostly due to Canadian ‘tar sands’ or ‘oil sands’ in the province of Alberta, where huge petroleum reserves lie in the form of bitumen, a heavy black form of crude that is energy intensive, highly polluting and more greenhouse gas intensive than conventional oil extraction. And now Canada has pulled out of the Kyoto Treaty, citing that it would be too expensive. Canadian environment minister Peter Kent claims that it would…
Tags: Africa, Canada, energy, Germany, Solar
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Nov 2nd, 2011,
Growing anti-nuclear sentiment in Europe has reached another milestone. Following Germany’s move to close all of its nuclear power plants by 2022, Belgium has decided to shut its own starting in 2015 and completing by 2025, according to a Reuters report. Much like the companies that run Germany’s nuclear stations, Belgium’s energy operator, Electrabel, warned of blackouts, environmental pollution and a decrease in energy independence as a result of the imminent shut down of the country’s 7 atomic power plants. From AFP: Already a net importer of electricity, Belgium could become increasingly dependent on its neighbours, increase its carbon footprint…
Tags: atomic, Belgium, Climate change, coal, energy, Europe, Fukushima, Lynas, nuclear, plant, power
Green living, Science & Technology, Oct 17th, 2011,
Despite the well-publicized bankruptcy of California-based solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, solar power is a growth industry in the United States and is set to boom, according to the US National Solar Job Census. The new survey shows that job growth in the United States’ solar energy sector grew by 6.8% over a one-year period ending in August, compared to less than 1% for over-all job growth in the US. The industry believes that solar jobs will grow by another 24% over the next year. A quarter of American jobs in the solar power industry are currently located in the State…
Tags: California, energy, job growth, jobs, power, Solar, Texas, United States, US
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Oct 3rd, 2011,
A new study shows that it’s not just our addiction to fossil fuels, but our love of new and high-tech gadgets that is driving dangerous climate change. And you thought they were just polluting the Earth and enslaving poor workers in Asia. But no – your iPhone, iPad, giant flat screen TV, games console and fridge with built-in ice machine are all causing floods and droughts in the same poor countries that build them. So double shame on you, you Twittering, Tumblring, YouTubing Facebook addict. According to research by the Energy Savings Trust, nearly one third of CO2 emissions in…
Tags: Climate change, energy, gadgets, iPad, iphone
Green living, Aug 23rd, 2011,
Power failures caused by the incident at Fukushima nuclear plant following the earthquake and tsunami last March have sparked a new energy saving trend in Japan. Setsuden or ‘power saving’ is catching on in Japan in a big way. As far as public opinion goes, clean energy is in, nuclear and fossil fuels are out. From the Guardian: Tokyo, a bustling capital famous for its neon lights, has now turned into a city of darkened buildings and slower running trains. Billboards at major crossings flash daily rates of power consumption that tell whether the city has conserved sufficient energy to…
Tags: CFL, energy, japan, LED, light bulbs, nuclear, power, saving, setsuden
Climate Change, Jul 26th, 2011,
The premise is pretty simple: There are places in the world where the wind blows fairly strong. This free, natural source of power has been used for centuries to grind grain and now it’s increasingly being harnessed by turbines to generate electrical power. Renewable, basically free electricity. Who could possibly have a problem with that. OK, fossil fuel companies might not like clean energy moving in on their business. And then there are those wealthy folk who flee the noise, congestion and pollution of the big cities in search of a bucolic idyll. They don’t like wind turbines spoiling their…
Tags: australia, energy, Europe, power, Romania, wind, wind farm
Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, May 20th, 2011,
As the Philippines moves forward in cleaner energy production and away from power sourced from oil and coal, the streets of its capital city, Manila, are choked with emissions from diesel and petrol-burning vehicles. According to the Global Energy Network Institute (GENI) recent years have seen the Philippines experience a sharp rise in the production of energy from hydro and natural gas, and especially from geothermal and other renewable sources. At the same time, power generated from coal and oil peaked and began a somewhat steady decline during the last decade (though figures are only shown up to 2005). What’s…
Tags: coal, electric, energy, jeepney, Manilla, oil, Philippines, Pollution, power
Pollution, Science & Technology, Apr 21st, 2011,
Things have not been looking good for the world’s favorite technology company. They seem green and ethical and liberal and just plain cuddly-cute, but Apple has fallen from the tree and landed in last place on Greenpeace’s “How Dirty is Your Data” table of tech firms. Cloud computing and our increasing reliance on energy intensive data centers are fueling this change in the way we use energy (for information) and the trend is set to rise 4 fold in 10 years time. From the Guardian: The report estimated dependence on coal for Apple’s data centres at 54.5%, followed by Facebook…
Tags: Apple, coal, data center, energy, Facebook, Greenpeace, intensive
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Apr 11th, 2011,
Greenpeace has been giving facebook a tough time regarding social networking giant’s reliance on fossil fuels to power its massive servers. Back in February 2010 facebook announced that it would build a new, more efficient, datacenter. Sounds, great, right? Problem is they chose to build it in a location where it will be powered by coal-burning electricity plants. So Greenpeace launched the “Unfriend Coal” campaign, which ironically has its own facebook page. Now, in an effort to share its energy efficiency innovations – without directly addressing the coal issue – facebook has decided to be truly open source and share…
Tags: coal, energy, Facebook, Greenpeace, power, tech, unfriend
Climate Change, Green living, Feb 3rd, 2011,
A new study by the WWF says it’s possible to cut global carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050 by investing heavily in green tech. Kind of like China is doing, but without all the investment in fossil fuels that they are also doing. The report claims that we could source 95% of our energy from renewables. While we are currently using and demanding more and more energy intensive goods and services, energy saving measures are in fact reducing the actual energy we use. From an article in the Ecologist Before pouring billions into creating a new generation of…
Tags: BP, energy, renewables, Shell, UK, WWF
Green living, Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Oct 8th, 2010,
A sewage works in Oxfordshire, England is providing natural gas from human waste to the power grid. As much as 15% of natural gas in the UK could come from biogas or biomethane by the year 2020, according to the National Grid. Since biomethane is both a renewable power source and a way to use waste, it is seen by many as a win-win innovation in energy solutions. The average person produces the equivalent of 30kg of dried-out sewage sludge a year that could be used for producing gas. In theory that means the UK’s 62.5 million people could generate…
Tags: biogas, biomethane, energy, gas, human, power, renewable, sewage, UK
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Oct 2nd, 2010,
Germany’s cabinet has voted to extend nuclear power use in the country by an average of 12 years. According to legislation passed in 2002 by the Social Democratic-Green Party coalition, all nuclear power stations in Germany were to be decommissioned by 2022. Not any more. German Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Party, which rules as part of a center right coalition, sees the extension as a way to generate tax income, while meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and transitioning to renewable energy sources. But nuclear energy is not popular in Germany and the decision to extend the…
Tags: atomic, energy, extension, German, Germany, Green, Greenpeace, Merkel, nuclear, power, protest
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, Green living, Sep 30th, 2010,
A new Danish report states that the Scandinavian country could produce all of its energy without fossil fuels within 40 years. The report, by the government of Denmark’s climate commission, cites the rising cost of oil and gas coupled with the lowering prices of renewable energy. From an article in the Guardian: The report will also send a very clear and important signal to other countries that wind is a sustainable source of energy for future development. This is a great opportunity to solidify Denmark’s reputation as a laboratory for green, CO2-free power technology solutions that are globally required. –Vestas…
Tags: Danish, denmark, energy, fossil fuel, renewable, report
Climate Change, Politics, Sep 28th, 2010,
Currently Northern Ireland produces 10% of its energy from renewable sources, primarily on shore wind farms. After Scotland threw down the gauntlet and announced an 80% renewable energy target for 2020 and Wales pledged to increase the amount of energy they produce from green sources by 200%, its now Northern Ireland’s turn. Though not as ambitious as Scotland’s, NI new energy plan puts their target at 40% renewables by 2020. From a BBC News report: Reaching the target will need large offshore wind farms, tidal turbines like Seagen in Strangford Lough and even using energy from controversial sources including waste…
Tags: energy, Ireland, northern, renewables, Scotland
