alternative energy
illconsidered | December 25, 2014
Sorry, I don't know who to credit for that, I got it from a Facebook post...
illconsidered | September 7, 2012(click here for a higher resolution image)
While thinking about the image above from EarthTrack.net a "sign this pettition" request from Avaaz.org landed in my mail box. (Fair warning, I have not checked this out very carefully. Please do say so in the comments if this issue is being misrepresented). Read below:
Climate change is accelerating, but there’s a massive ray of hope: clean energy is booming, producing nearly 20% of the world's electricity! Incredibly, the US and EU are threatening to stifle this breakthrough -- but together we can stop them.
In the last decade the Chinese…
gregladen | March 6, 2012Wind power is like Ginger Rogers. You know what I mean. It isn't judged by the same standards as other kinds of electricity generation.
Click here to visit an interactive guide to wind power in Minnesota.
I'm speaking specifically of the reliability of, or variation in, wind over time. Many people live in places where they personally experience highly variable wind, or at least, think they do, so it is easy to assume that wind generators would be sometimes running on full, sometimes standing still, in a more or less random and unpredictable way, but this is not necessarily true. There are…
milhayser | February 14, 2012
On We Beasties, Kevin Bonham reports that scientists have genetically enabled E. coli to digest a sugar found in algae. Bonham writes, "Scientists have been picking this bug's locks for decades, and it's already been engineered to make not just ethanol, but many other useful products as well." With the ability to metabolize sugar from a source as prolific, low-maintenance, and renewable as algae, E. coli could become a much bigger player in biofuel production. Meanwhile, Greg Laden considers the State of the Union address from an environmental perspective. Laden gives President Obama a…
milhayser | January 11, 2012Renewable energy sources could allow for a prudent decrease in CO2 emissions while still powering a populous, electrified global economy. On The Pump Handle, Mark Pendergrast examines the proverbial canary in the coal mine, Japan. Wary of imported fossil fuels and burned by nuclear disaster, Japan is looking toward solar, geothermal, wind, water, and biomass-powered alternative energy sources. Wind, for example, could provide 10% of Japan's energy needs, but with blade-busting typhoons and fierce winter lightning storms, turbines must be more robust and adaptable than ever. Mark writes, "…
illconsidered | November 7, 2011Paul Krugman has some optimistic economic commentary on solar energy in the NYT today, titled "Here comes solar energy".
It can not be emphasized enough, his points about indirect subsidies to dirty energy sources in the form of shifting the indirect social costs (health and environmental damage) of coal and fracking onto the public. The playing field is not level and tipped in precisely the wrong direction if we are serious about a better future for ourselves and the planet.
jhalper | December 6, 2010
December's calendar photograph is a battery of five solar cells that also stores electricity in series. The cells were invented and developed at the Weizmann Institute in the late 1970s. These not only converted sunlight into electricity, but also could store some of that energy using a battery-type setup with electrodes in a chemical solution, so that they could provide electricity day and night.
The idea of efficiently storing solar energy has taken more than one twist and turn since then - various forms of artificial photosynthesis, for example. Interestingly enough, one of the latest…
illconsidered | August 18, 2008
John McCain like to talk about renewable energy and flash photos of windfarms like this one in his campaign ads, but does he actually support wind and solar energy development? He also vapidly criticised congress for being on holiday - "Tell them to come back and get to work!" - and not fixing the energy crisis. But in an NYT Op-ed, Tom Freidman details McCain's glaring failure to back his words with actions.
Recently there was a critical vote that would have renewed desparately needed tax credits for wind and solar development, the failure of which has halted many projects that can…
illconsidered | February 19, 2008I know I am a bit late on this one, but CBC Radio's "Quirks and Quarks" had a very interesting segment on geothermal energy February 2. You can listen to the segment directly here.
The page for that day's show is here, where you can read the following teaser and find links to related material:
We're familiar with geothermal energy from mountain hot springs, geysers like Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park, and perhaps from the way Iceland has developed an entire energy system based on volcanic-heated water. However, geothermal energy is still just a niche player in the global energy picture.…
illconsidered | November 19, 2007Hydrogen powered cars have such an immediate and naive appeal. I mean just imagine nothing but water vapour coming out of your exhaust pipe! What could possibly be wrong with that?
Well as with most deus ex machina solutions to our oil dependence, this one has some rather glaring and inconvenient difficulties, in a very similar way to biofuels.
Specifically, the problem with hydrogen powered vehicles is not with the burning of the fuel, but its production. Because there is no earthly source of ready to go hydrogen, this product is actually better thought of as energy storage, rather than…