Renewable Energy and Green Design
Despite Economic Crisis IEA Calls for “Global Energy Revolution”
Thu, 13/11/08 – 10:41 | No Comment

The International Energy Agency’s has just released it’s annual publication the World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2008. IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said that the report highlights that current trends in energy supply and consumption are …

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Green Design

articles and videos on new ways to improve the world through forward-thinking, high-tech, and environmentally conscious design

Biofuel

fuel derived from recently dead biological material offering the possibility of producing energy without a net increase of carbon into the atmosphere

Hydropower

articles on power that is derived from the force or energy of moving water, including hydroelectric, tidal, tidal stream and wave power

Solar Energy

articles and videos on the technology for electrical generation by heat engine or photovoltaic, daylighting, hot water, and space heating in active and passive solar buildings

Wind Power

articles and videos on the conversion of wind energy into a useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines

Solar Energy »

A Block Off the old Grid
Thu, 20/11/08 – 16:09 | One Comment

The San Francisco startup Virgance has acquired a solar-power cooperative effort called 1 Block Off the Grid (or 1BOG) that will give homeowners in 20 cities the financial leverage to go green.

1BOG is about bringing communities together towards a common good. Under the plan, consumers who want to install solar panels band together into coordinated buying groups to cut a deal for their own home’s installation. The resulting savings can be excellent. According to co-founder Sylvia Venturane one of the participants in 1BOG’s inaugural program in San Francisco cut 43 percent off the list price. However the average benefit will probably be closer to 20 percent off, or $1.50 per watt that’s installed. Apply that to a $25,000 solar system, and it equates to $5,000, and rebates will reduce that still further. Read the whole story »

Experts predict Russia close to economic collapse as oil price falls below $50
Thu, 20/11/08 – 15:32 | No Comment
Experts predict Russia close to economic collapse as oil price falls below $50

Russia is heading towards a major economic crisis, experts predicted today, following the news that oil had collapsed to under $50 a barrel. The collapse in the value of oil is likely to have several …

Cap and Trade is a Top Priority says Obama
Thu, 20/11/08 – 14:00 | No Comment

President-elect Barack Obama said he would push for carbon-cap legislation immediately upon entering office, and he did just that on Tuesday with an address to a meeting of state governors in Los Angeles.
Despite business spokesmen …

Rapid Recharging Systems Partnership Between Ener1 and Kyushu Electric
Wed, 19/11/08 – 8:02 | No Comment
Rapid Recharging Systems Partnership Between Ener1 and Kyushu Electric

Kyushu Electric Power (KEPCO) and lithium-ion battery manufacturer Ener1, Inc. have signed a memorandum of understanding on working together to develop rapid recharging systems for electric vehicles. Kyushu Electric is the fourth-largest publicly traded power …

Possible New Cellulosic Ethanol Facility To Be Built In Florida Using Sugar Cane Waste
Wed, 19/11/08 – 7:41 | No Comment
Possible New Cellulosic Ethanol Facility To Be Built In Florida Using Sugar Cane Waste

US Sugar Corp. has agreed to explore building a 100-million gallon per year cellulosic ethanol facility in Clewiston, Florida with Coskata, Inc. The plant, if built, would be the world’s largest second-generation ethanol facility. It …

Flying Around the World in a Solar Airplane
Tue, 18/11/08 – 9:11 | No Comment
Flying Around the World in a Solar Airplane

‘Solar Impulse’, a 1500 kilogram solar plane with a 61 meter wing span, will be undergoing its first test flight in April, prior to attempting the first  trip around the world in May 2011.The attempt …

California Increases Renewable Energy Mandate to 33% by 2020
Mon, 17/11/08 – 7:41 | No Comment
California Increases Renewable Energy Mandate to 33% by 2020

In an executive order signed on Monday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger committed to getting a third of California’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Schwarzenegger made the announcement while speaking at a solar panel factory …

New Wind Turbine Generator Could Produce 50 Percent More Energy
Mon, 17/11/08 – 5:35 | No Comment
New Wind Turbine Generator Could Produce 50 Percent More Energy

Two rings of magnets (blue-gray), one within and the other outside a series of copper coils (red and green), turn to generate electricity.
Credit: Exro Technologies
A startup based in Vancouver, Canada, called ExRo Technologies, has developed …

World’s First Regulatory Framework for CO2 Capture and Geological Storage enacted by Australia
Mon, 17/11/08 – 4:56 | No Comment
World’s First Regulatory Framework for CO2 Capture and Geological Storage enacted by Australia

The passage of the Offshore Petroleum Amendment Bill by the Australian Senate last week established the world’s first regulatory framework for CO2 capture and geological storage (CCS).
The legislation establishes access and property rights in Australia’s …

Battery Breakthrough Increases Charge Life by 800%
Mon, 17/11/08 – 4:26 | No Comment
Battery Breakthrough Increases Charge Life by 800%

A team of researchers at South Korea’s Hanyung University led by professor Cho Jaephil (pictured), has claimed a breakthrough that could extend lithium ion battery charge life up to 8 times current values that means …

Duke Energy to build 5,000 MW of Wind Energy in Wyoming
Mon, 17/11/08 – 4:14 | No Comment
Duke Energy to build 5,000 MW of Wind Energy in Wyoming

Duke Energy Corp. plans to produce more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity from wind projects located primarily in the West, Southwest and Midwest. That’s more than 2.5 times the power generated by Rocky Mountain Power’s …