The U.S. wind industry broke all previous records by installing 9,922 MW installed last year. This expanded the nation’s wind fleet by 39% and bring total wind power generating capacity in the U.S to over 35,000 MW. The five-year average annual growth rate for the industry is also 39%. U.S. wind projects today generate enough to power the equivalent of 9.7 million homes, protecting consumers from fuel price volatility and strengthening our energy security.
Posts Tagged ‘energy’
U.S. Wind Energy Breaks Record with 10 GW added in 2009
February 4th, 2010Obama Pursuing Climate and Clean Energy Targets: Year 1
January 12th, 2010
President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition, the Center for American Progress proposed a 10-point clean-energy agenda for the president and Congress that would speed the economic transformation to a clean energy
economy.
A review of these items today finds that all were adopted or are working their way through the process. This is a startling achievement amidst the worst economy in 70 years, two wars, and an opposition party disinterested in cooperation. President Obama did much of what he promised, and he can do more in 2010 by cajoling Congress to do its part.
Teenager Invents Solar Panel for Developing World
September 11th, 2009
What were you doing when you were 18? Take a second and think about it. You were probably hanging out at the mall, at the skate park, or maybe if you were a hard-worker you had a part-time job at the local take-out spot.
Whatever you were doing, I can almost guarantee that you didn’t invent a solar panel that could possibly solve your entire country’s energy needs. That’s right, an 18-year old from a rural village in Nepal believes he has found the solution to the developing world’s energy needs.
Even crazier, the young inventor, named Milan Karki, says hair is to the key to using solar panels and revolutionizing renewable energy.
“First I wanted to provide electricity for my home, then my village. Now I am thinking for the whole world,” said Milan, who attends school in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
The teenager already has plans to commercially produce his invention. The panel, which produces 18 Watts of energy, could be sold for about 12 EUR if were to be mass produced, about one quarter the price of the silicon model already on the market.
Read more from Dailymail.co.uk
Old Meat, New Energy
August 11th, 2009
Meat, it’s what’s for dinner. Or energy. Ever wonder what happens to all the extra meat that expires at the supermarket or the butcher shop? Well at least one supermarket isn’t just throwing it away. UK supermarket Tesco is turning meat into energy–yah, you read that right.
The food chain is burning 5,000 tons of inedible meat for fuel. The biomass processing is being handled by the Cheshire-based PDM Group. The meat-energy will then used to power UK homes via the National Grid. In fact, Tesco says they dispose of enough old meat to power 600 homes a year.
This begs the question, why are supermarkets loading up on so much meat when they can’t possibly sell it all before it goes bad? But I’ll leave that one for another day. As long as they can put it to a good use it’s ok in my book, although providing power doesn’t entail the same instant gratification as a well-cooked filet mignon.
Read more from CleanTechnica.
An Energy Everyone Can Help Provide
August 11th, 2009
Pretty soon we will all be able to power our homes and cars just by taking a trip to the bathroom.
According to the scientists at the University of Ohio, it is possible, using a nickel based electrode, to create large amounts of cheap hydrogen from urine that in turn, can be utilized in hydrogen fuel cells.
This utilization of hydrogen as a source of power is one that is being extensively researched with everything from hydrogen fuel cell cars to hand held personal devices being powered by the most common element in the universe.
It is however, a complex process. As well as being highly flammable, storing pure hydrogen requires high pressure and low temperatures. Currently, new nano-materials with high surface areas capable of absorbing hydrogen are in production, but not on a large scale.
The science behind utilizing urine is to do with chemically binding hydrogen to other elements, such as water, to make it easier and safer to store and transport.
By inserting a special nickel electrode into a pool of urine and then applying an electrical current, you can release hydrogen gas. The current prototype measures 3x3x1 inch and can produce up to 500 milliwatts of power.
Read more from NextGenPE.com
The Army Goes Green, Say What?
August 4th, 2009
Isn’t it great when you selfishly do something and it turns out to be good for everybody? The U.S. Army can now add itself to that list.
When the Army announced they were going to build a 500 megawatt solar thermal plant in the California desert, it was hard to believe they were just trying to help the environment. And with good reason. As altruistic as the Army is, it usually isn’t well known for its philanthropy. But if it helps the planet, I won’t stop them from building it.
As it turns out, sustainable energy is safer, suggests Dr. Kevin Geiss, the program director for the project. The Army hired private developers, Clark Enterprises and a Spanish company called Acciona, that will build this massive solar plant at Ft. Irwin, California.
Right now, like many military bases, most of its energy comes from diesel generators—with long, vulnerable lines back to the fuel source. Screw the green movement, solar just makes sense.
The solar plant at Ft. Irwin will require at least 1.5 billion dollars total, and should be ready to crank electrons by 2022. A hefty price, yes, but there is the potential to earn much of it back. Located conveniently right next to high capacity transmission lines, the army can then sell most of the excess energy to southern California; and since Ft. Irwin only needs 35 megawatts at its peak, that leaves 465 to shed.
So what could be next on the irony scale? The CEO of GM driving to work in a Prius?
Read more from Wired Magazine.
The Last Place You Would Have Ever Looked For Fuel
July 22nd, 2009
Topping off your hydrogen-fueled car’s tank may soon have an entirely new meaning.
Ohio University scientists have developed an all-in-one machine to take urine, extract hydrogen from it, safely store precious-yet-dangerous gas and later extract it to generate energy. The researchers think their pee-powered prototype could finally make a case for practical hydrogen power.
From Discovery News: “One cow can provide enough energy to supply hot water for 19 houses,” said Gerardine Botte, a professor at Ohio University developing the technology.
Now that’s what we call a stream of energy.
Article by livescience.com
From Trash to Treasure
July 20th, 2009
Next time your boss sees you throwing away his memo, tell him you’re doing it to help the environment. Unload the break room fridge into the garbage, and you’ll power the office for an hour or two. Surely, your hungry co-workers can’t stay mad at you knowing you are just trying to do your part.
IST Energy Corp. has launched its new product, the GEM3T120, a waste-to-energy system in the consumer market that cleanly converts trash into electricity and heat.
Perfect for office buildings, hospitals, and much more, the GEM3T120 can process up to three tons of paper, plastic, food, wood and agricultural materials daily into pellets. At full capacity, the resulting energy from these pellets is enough to power and heat a 200,000 square foot building housing more than 500 people. With no disposal costs for the waste it processes and the energy produced, IST estimates the GEM creates an annual energy cost savings of about $250,000.
The GEM can save consumers big bucks, but the benefits of using the system are not only financial. The GEM is eco-friendly and carbon negative, diminishing greenhouse gases by 540 tons annually. In fact, the system powers itself with the clean energy it produces.
Stu Haber, president and CEO of IST Energy says: “The GEM has created a value for every bag of trash we generate – first by eliminating the need for disposal and then by converting it into energy.”
Read more from livescience.com
Oregon Tech Powers Up Geothermal Plant on Campus
July 13th, 2009
College students have long been at the forefront of political and environmental change. The bright young minds at the Oregon Institute of Technology are no different, demanding sustainability efforts put into place by their school.
The Oregon Tech administration finally complied, accommodating their students’ wishes by outlining a plan to build a $7.6 million geothermal power plant on campus.
The plant will become the sole power source for the school in a few years, making Oregon Tech the only university to be powered completely by geothermal energy.
Since Klamath Falls, the home of Oregon Tech, sits near a fault line, heat and energy can be easily extracted from the earth.
In addition, the city of Klamath Falls operates a geothermal heating utility, using the energy to heat buildings, melt snow on the streets, and more.
Read more from cleantechnica.com
Turning “Wastelands” into Energy
July 3rd, 2009
The United States Interior Department has found a use for 670,000 acres of previously considered worthless sunny deserts and wind-swept plains: solar energy production.
As part of President Obama’s pledge to move away from reliance on fossil fuels and to double renewable energy in three years, the plan has identified 24 solar energy zones spanning six states that could generate nearly 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity.
At the same time, it has become a controversy as environmentalists and politicians, including U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, have decried federal plans to open ecologically sensitive land to development.
“This environmentally sensitive plan will identify appropriate Interior-managed lands that have excellent solar energy potential and limited conflicts with wildlife, other natural resources or land users,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said, hoping to appease doubts about the plan.
The department says the objective is to provide landscape-style planning and zoning for solar projects on Bureau of Land Management lands in the West, allowing a more efficient process for permitting and sitting responsible solar development .
Read more on Reuters.
