When you consider the environmental benefits of solar power for providing electricity, it has always seemed unfair that it takes so much bureaucracy to overcome to get it built, even in the nation’s leader, California.
Whereas a natural gas power plant sails through the permitting process with ease, solar can take years and be tripped up by technicalities that don’t slow the permitting of polluting power plants…
If you haven’t gotten the picture by now, wind power has been blowing up in recent years and it is expected to continue on that trend for several years to come, at least. Here’s a look at some projections for world wind power, China wind power, India wind power, U.S. wind power, and Europe wind power growth in the coming decades.
Offshore wind power is not in place in most countries still, but it is in some places (especially the EU) and it is expected to grow considerably in the coming years. Let’s take a quick look at what’s in place now and what is being planned around the world.
Even though automotive executives initially deemed Better Place’s all-electric solution as “nothing more than a thought experiment,” Shai Agassi started by redesigning the all-electric vehicle or EV to prove them wrong and make it as good as any gasoline car today. This was done by developing a convenient system (because it is unacceptable to drive your car for an hour and charge for eight) that’s more affordable (not a forty thousand dollar sedan that would be impossible to finance today). This system uses technology that is feasible with current technology and economics. It is readily available to be scaled to mass in order for 99% of the population to drive it.
It seems that total cumulative installed power capacity from renewable sources passed up nuclear for the first time in 2010, according to the draft version of a new report coming out soon by the Worldwatch Institute, The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2010-2011.
“In 2010, for the first time, worldwide cumulated installed capacity of wind turbines, biomass and waste-to-energy plants, and solar power reached 381 gigawatts, outpacing the installed nuclear capacity of 375 gigawatts,” the draft report says.
Vertical farm concepts for the urban environment are not new, but now, a Swedish-American architectural design company (Plantagon) seems to have solved once of the biggest challenges of urban vertical farming: the need for uniform, sufficient natural light to provide even growth of vertically-farmed plants.
With its vast stock of vehicles, ships, planes, buildings, lands, and other facilities, the U.S. Department of Defense could foment a green revolution all by itself – and that seems to be just what it intends on doing, starting with the Army. Working quietly for the past couple of years, DoD has been nudging closer to developing an ambitious net zero program for a group of U.S. Army bases. That applies not only to energy production and consumption, but also to water resources and waste disposal as well.
Researchers at Oxford University are developing the basis for a long lasting, non-toxic, low cost miniature hydrogen fuel cell that could power pocket-sized electronic devices as well as laptops and other portables. The downscaled size would be made possible by using a small cartridge of
What comes to mind when you think of China? $1/hour manufacturing of your cleantech product? 1B+ potential customers? Right and right, but now add investment capital to the mix.
These polymer solar-thermal based cells constitute “a system that is ultra-efficient in home heating and cooling” according to David Carroll, Ph.D., Director of Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University,
