Home/Posts Tagged ‘Solar’
Posts Tagged ‘Solar’
Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Weird Stuff, May 25th, 2012,
In preparation for its first round-the-world flight, the sun-powered Solar Impulse aircraft has completed the first leg of its flight across the Mediterranean by landing safely in Madrid this morning. The experimental solar airplane was making the first leg of its journey from Payerne, Switzerland to Rabat, Morocco. Though the plane has a wingspan comparable to a large jet, it only weighs as much as a mid-sized car. Lone pilot Andre Borschberg is quoted by AFP: The flight went very well and thanks to the team of meteorologists, everything went according to the plan: it was extraordinary. It was…
Tags: flight, impulse, plane, Solar
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
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
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
Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Jun 10th, 2011,
When one thinks of Belgium three things immediately spring to mind: alcoholic monks, acne and ethnic strife. Wait, that’s not quite right. What I mean to say is that when one thinks of Belgium three things immediately spring to mind: fine Trappist beers, gourmet chocolates and a thriving multiculturalism. It’s funny how that came out on my first try. I must have momentarily become some kind of stereotyping, Daily Mail-reading, grumpy old cynic. Anyway, one thing that this boring little non-country, excuse me, this fascinating microcosm of Western Europe can add to its wall of fame is that it is now…
Tags: Antwerp, Belgium, Solar, solar panels, solar-powered, train, tunnel
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
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
Green living, Videos & Documentaries, Aug 19th, 2010,
In a UN-sponsored event designed to popularize electric vehicles, the Zero Race solar car rally began on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland. Participating in the race are teams from South Korea, Australia, Switzerland and Germany. They will attempt to travel around the world in 80 days, through 16 countries. Zero Race organizer Louis Palmer has already driven around the world in his ‘Solar Taxi’, through 38 countries during 18 months. From a CNET News article: With this race we want to show that seven billion people on this planet need renewable energy and clean mobility. –Louis Palmer For more on the…
Tags: around, carbon, cars, electric, Louis, Palmer, race, Solar, Switzerland, World, zero
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
Climate Change, Green living, Politics, Aug 10th, 2010,
Britain’s energy secretary Chris Huhne has lifted the ban on local authorities selling back surplus electricity into the national power grid. The plan is to encourage local councils to generate their own renewable energy by installing solar panels and wind turbines on council owned property, including both homes and public buildings. Any extra electricity can be sold back to the grid and provide much needed income to local authorities. From an article in the Guardian: At present only 0.01% of electricity in England is generated by local authority-owned renewables. In Germany the equivalent figure is 100 times higher. The hope…
Tags: authorities, Britain, British, buildings, carbon, council, developers, energy, government, Green, grid, homes, local, plant, power, renewable, Solar, UK, wind
Green living, Politics, Aug 6th, 2010,
If the unusually hot weather in Europe this summer is an environmental ‘cloud’ of bad news – forest fires in Russia, algal blooms in the Baltic, etc. – then an increase in capacity for renewable energy in Germany is the ‘silver lining’. A new report by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy Systems Technology shows progress in German solar power passing expectations. Along with wind, hydro and biomass, solar is expected to cover all of Germany’s energy needs – and ahead of schedule. From a Deutsche Welle report: Theoretically, because things have developed much faster than expected one…
Tags: energy, German, Germany, nuclear, power, renewable, Solar, wind
Science & Technology, Jul 27th, 2010,
Latin America has huge potential for wind and solar power. Brazil already has large and long-established hydropower and biofuel industries, but along with Mexico, Colombia and other Latin American countries, they are increasingly looking towards European models of renewable energy. From an article in Scientific American: European wind farms dwarf Latin American efforts in terms of production today, but this will change dramatically if Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and other countries in the region continue their wind energy efforts. Whereas Spain generates 20,000 megawatts from wind energy and plans to double that capacity by 2020, Brazil has a capacity to produce…
Tags: America, Brazil, Chile, energy, EU, European, industries, Latin, Mexico, Peru, power, renewable, Solar, Solarpack, Spain, T-Solar, wind
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Jul 24th, 2010,
Despite the recent economic downturn, the green energy market has grown to the point of eclipsing fossil fuel – at least in terms of the creation of new power capacity in Europe and the United States. In 2009 renewables accounted for over 50% of new power capacity in the US and 60% in the Europe. Green power also grew globally. From an article in Red Herring magazine: Nearly 80 GW of renewable power capacity was added globally, including 31 GW of hydro and 48 GW of non-hydro capacity. Wind power and solar PV additions totaled a record high of 38…
Tags: capacity, China, energy, global, Green, investment, North Sea, power, renewable, Solar, UK, UN, wind
Climate Change, Politics, Jul 21st, 2010,
The UK’s independent advisory body established under the Climate Change Act has stated that Britain needs to invest more in low carbon technologies in order to meet its goal of cutting 1990 emissions levels by 80% by the year 2050. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) was established with the purpose of reporting to the UK’s parliament regarding the country’s progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The fear is that Britain will be left behind if it does not fund technological development in green industries such as solar and wind. The CCC’s report comes after the UK’s new coalition government…
Tags: Britain, carbon, CCC, change, climate, committee, emissions, energy, government, Green, invest, low, Solar, tech, technologies, UK, wind
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, Jul 8th, 2010,
I recently wrote about lightweight manned electric airplanes making groundbreaking 2 and 3-hour flights. As impressive as this may sound, a Swiss solar-powered plane has just demolished these achievements by a ‘comfortable’ margin of 23 hours. On Thursday morning a former jet pilot in Switzerland’s air force successfully landed Solar Impulse, a four engine solar aircraft, near the Swiss capital of Bern. The landing followed an incredible 26-hour long flight; the longest and highest – at 8,700m or 28,543ft – ever recorded solar-powered airplane flight. From a BBC News report: The plane has 12,000 solar cells arranged on its wingspan…
Tags: aircraft, Airplane, cells, flight, plane, report, Solar, Solar Impulse, Swiss, Switzerland
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Jun 28th, 2010,
With fossil fuels running out, not to mention polluting the earth and heating up the planet, the largest energy consuming countries are constantly looking for new sources of power. One vast renewable and obviously inexhaustible source is sunlight. As technology for capturing solar energy and converting it to usable power continually develops – making solar power an increasingly viable and affordable source – Europe is setting its sights on the African Sahara. The European energy commissioner claims that within 5 years the EU will be importing hundreds of megawatts of solar energy from North Africa. But that’s just the beginning….
Tags: commissioner, energy, EU, Europe, European, North Africa, power, renewable, Sahara, Solar, source, sun
Green living, Science & Technology, May 19th, 2010,
The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that solar power will supply 20-25% of energy needs by the year 2050. Half of this will be from photovoltaic solar panels, initially driven by feed-in tariff schemes like the UK government’s controversial FIT plan. The other half will come in the form of Concentrated Solar Power, or CSP, which uses lenses or mirrors to focus large areas of sunlight, ‘concentrating’ it to produce electrical power. Solar Trade Association CEO David Mathews sees different roles for both types of solar power generation: photovoltaic for northern Europe and CSP in sunnier, southern lands. From an…
Tags: Africa, concentrated, CSP, energy, Europe, IEA, north, photovoltaic, power, Solar
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
