Home/Posts Tagged ‘power’
Posts Tagged ‘power’
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
Green living, Science & Technology, Apr 11th, 2012,
Soon Wales will receive wind energy generated off the coast of Ireland via high voltage cables spanning the bottom of the Irish Sea. There is already a link between the UK and the Netherlands via the BritNed cable and by 2019 a 900km interconnector between Norway and the UK should be completed, supplying energy from a clever pump storage system powered by wind turbines. Another connector between the UK and France is already in existence, with two more proposed, although one involves nuclear power. The most interesting and by far longest cable proposed would link the UK power grid with…
Tags: cable, geothermal, green energy, Iceland, Norway, power, UK
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
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
Politics, Pollution, May 24th, 2011,
Four major power companies warned that the post-Fukujima backlash against nuclear power in Germany country could result in future winter blackouts. These blackouts would ostensibly occur if Germany decides to decommission all its nuclear power stations. The companies claim that solar and wind power could not meet demand in the case of insufficiently windy or sunny weather. Chancellor Angela Merkel recently signaled she would support closing all of Germany’s 17 nuclear power stations by 2022. Seven nuclear power stations have been off-grid ever since Merkel announced in the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima disaster a “three-month moratorium” on her controversial…
Tags: blackouts, earthquake, Fukushima, Germany, Green Party, japan, Merkel, nuclear, plants, power, reactors, tsunami
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
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
Politics, Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Mar 19th, 2011,
The debate over nuclear energy has heated up in Europe. Though always controversial, the events post earthquake and tsunami in Japan have brought the issue to the forefront in the media and political arenas in some European countries. In May a government safety review of nuclear plants in the UK will be released, taking account of the events at Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. For more on this story see this article from BBC News. In Germany, where nuclear power is always especially controversial, the issue has sparked political action of late. From Deutsche Welle: The governing CDU/FDP coalition…
Tags: debate, earthquake nuclear, Europe, Germany, japan, plant, power, tsunami, UK
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
Politics, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 28th, 2010,
Nuclear power is a hot issue in Germany. Only last month German chancellor Angela Merkel decided to delay the nuclear phase out legislation passed by the preceding Social Democratic-Green coalition government, extending the deadline by another 10-15 years. Merkel cited the country’s energy needs while undergoing a transition to renewable power sources and reducing greenhouse gases. But what about nuclear weapons? Old arguments of nukes as a deterrent are still alive and well in some German defense circles, though anti nuke sentiments run strong amongst Germany’s public. From Deutsche Welle: Almost a year ago, US President Barack Obama pledged to…
Tags: German, Germany, Merkel, nuclear, nuke, power, weapons
Green living, Politics, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 25th, 2010,
Generally considered to lag far behind many other European countries when it comes to generating renewable energy – in the EU only Malta and Luxembourg produce proportionally less – the UK has just opened the biggest offshore wind farm in the world. The opening of the Thanet wind power project, located off the coast of Kent, means that in one fell swoop, Britain now produces more power from offshore wind than the rest of the world put together. Even larger wind farms are planned up the English coast and in the Thames estuary. We have enough energy to power all…
Tags: Britain, energy, Kent, power, renewables, Scotland, Thanet, UK, wind farm
Green living, Politics, Sep 20th, 2010,
Back in August I wrote about ‘Portugal’s green energy revolution’ as detailed by a New York Times article on the sunny, windy and relatively unspoiled coastal European nation. Portugal’s evolving energy policies continue to garner international attention from investors, industry, politicians and the media. Industrial market research firm SBI Energy has much to say about Portugal’s ‘sweeping clean energy initiatives’, including this: The country is quickly emerging as a “green” trendsetter due to its determination to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels by channeling its wind, solar, and hydropower resources and by improving smart grid capabilities and exploring the…
Tags: energy, feed-in-tariffs, FIT, Green, Portugal, power, renewable, Solar, UK, wind
Politics, Sep 16th, 2010,
On Tuesday Italian police seized Mafia-linked assets worth an unprecedented €1.5 billion from a Sicilian businessman known as the ‘Lord of the Winds’. The seizure of holdings from 43 mainly renewable energy companies included land, sports cars and bank accounts. It signifies a shift in operations for Italy’s mafia; from the illegal dumping of toxic waste to the laundering of money through solar and wind power projects. According to members of the Italian press, this transition has been going on for years. From a France 24 report: Throughout Italy, organised crime has invested heavily in renewable energies and in waste…
Tags: crime, energy, Italian, Italy, mafia, organized, power, renewable, Sicilian, Solar, subsidies, wind
Politics, Pollution, Aug 31st, 2010,
According to legislation passed in 2002 by the Social Democratic-Green Party coalition, all nuclear power stations in Germany are to be decommissioned by 2022. However, according to a recent television interview, current German Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union plans to extend this deadline by another 10-15 years. From a report in Deutsche Welle: The chancellor, citing an independent consultants’ report set to be published this week, said such a time frame would ensure Germany’s energy needs are met as the country transitions to renewable energy sources. Energy prices would remain under control and goals for reducing greenhouse…
Tags: Angela, Chancellor, energy, German, Germany, Merkel, nuclear, plants, power
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Aug 16th, 2010,
The ‘greenest government ever’ is at it again. The UK’s coalition government headed by Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg has been cutting a lot of green programs and departments in the name of efficiency and belt-tightening. Now they are shelving one of their own environmental plans to regulate coal and gas power plants, a measure they claimed could be implemented upon taking office. From a report in the Guardian: Introducing a so-called “environmental performance standard” (EPS) for power companies would have restricted greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas plants and encouraged companies wishing to build…
Tags: Cameron, Clegg, coal, coalition, EPS, gas, government, greenest, plants, power
Green living, Aug 13th, 2010,
A massive 22.5m (73ft) tall, 130-ton tidal power generator was unveiled yesterday in the Scottish Highlands, ahead of testing at the European Marine Energy Centre off Scotland’s Orkney Islands. The AK-1000, built by Atlantis Resources, looks like a tough, squat version of a wind turbine, but with two sets of blades so it can catch both directions of tidal flow. From a BBC News report: In order to get a robust turbine we have had to make what we call ultimately the dumbest, simple but most robust turbine you could possibly put in such a harsh environment. –Tim Cornelius, chief…
Tags: Atlantis, marine, Orkney, power, resources, Scotland, sea, tidal, turbine
