image source: United Technologies

The perennial complaint by renewable energy skeptics about wind and solar power is, that despite the fact that they produce clean power, they are intermittent in nature and require some sort of storage technology to fully exploit the power generated. A recent article at Renewable Energy World spotlights one solution to this very real issue: Molten Salt.

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59.3% — Albert Betz calculated in the early 20th century that the maximum theoretical efficiency of a wind turbine is 59.3%.

50% — Currently, modern wind turbines are efficient at about 50%, a very impressive number.

15% — According to GE, when it entered the wind turbine market in 2002, the average wind turbine was out of commission about 15% of the time.

3% — Nowadays, wind turbines are down only about 3% of the time. That helps drive the cost of wind power down and get the most out of each turbine. Uptimes can probably be improved even further.

8 — Electricity produced by a m…

TalkGreen rounds up great, green children’s books.

New standards for biodiesel blends could popularize its use.

A photography exhibit in London depicts a future rendering of the city—affected by global warming’s rising sea tide.

TriplePundit encourages the creation of a solid carbon market.

Volkswagon announces the development of the Golf Twin Drive Concept, a plug-in hybrid diesel.

Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg’s t…

Last week I wrote about a new project we’re starting here at TreeHugger – collecting all the great eco-tips from our readers. So far, we’ve shared three with you. <a href=”http://www.treehugger.com/files/200…

photo by Bastian via flickr

While it may be true that carbon sequestration won’t save us , that certainly doesn’t mean that people aren’t interested in trying to make the technology work from a scientific and economic perspective. In this context, it’s worth reporting that The German Research Centre for Geosciences has begun a two year project to store up to 60,000 tons of CO2 underground at a depth of 600 meters.

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We’ve written many posts on how to save gas on land. Power boaters, too, are shortening their trailering and over-water journeys. According to a Wall Street Journal staff writer, some boaters are considering a year-round dry dock solution. Power boating for fun is changing: driven by higher fuel costs, reservoirs getting too low to launch, budget pressures, and more.

A cruise past the waterfront in our area tells the tale: Marinas usually filled to capacity sit half empty, and many of the smaller recreational boats, such as ours, are adorned with “for sale” signs.

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Image from jessicafm

Infrastructure may not grab the type of headline that, say, the latest solar or algal biodiesel technology does though, when placed in context, it really should. Fortunately, the latest issue of The Economist puts infrastructure f…

Electric Scooters
We’ve been writing about all kinds of scooters for years, but because of high oil prices, they’re now seeing a renaissance of sorts. With 30% of Americans saying they would consider riding a scooter–even some people we wouldn’t expect to–and sales of scooters up by 200% (and that was as of two years ago), now seems like a perfect time to revisit some of our past scooter coverage and brin…

There is no question that the world of today is a much different place from just a few years ago. And one of the most exciting policy developments we’ve seen over the past few years is the progress we’ve made on global climate change.

And Business Roundtable strongly believes we should keep moving forward.

I am proud to say that Business Roundtable – an association of chief executive officers of 160 of the largest companies in the world, representing every sector of the economy – has been out in front on this issue. Our CEOs worked hard to come to agreement on the need to address <a href=”http://www.busi…

photo by Edward Burtynsky via :: The Globe and Mail

It’s no secret that Treehugger’s not a big fan of extracting energy from the Alberta Tar Sands. Oil Shale in Colorado doesn’t really rate highly on our list of good things either. Well, it appears that the U.S. Conference of Mayors agrees with us.

Resolution Against Using High Carbon Fuels
Though it’s jus…