By the end of last year, nine months after passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), $263 billion had been disbursed of the $787 billion available. [social_buttons] While Fox News disagrees, independent economists do agree that 1.5 million to 2 million people are now working as a result … [continued]
Hydrovolts, Inc. has been going at clean hydrokinetic power hammer and tongs with a mini-turbine called the Flipwing. The company is specializing in drawing sustainable energy in the form of hydropower from existing canals and other waterways where the current is predictable. The Flipwing is a self-contained device similar in … [continued]
According to a recent study, fish can live with a new type of hydropower that does not involve constructing dams, weirs, or other fish-unfriendly infrastructure. It’s called hydrokinetic power, and it simply uses underwater turbines to harness the energy of existing currents in rivers. Sounds good so far, but the … [continued]
his month Europe’s first electricity super-grid dedicated to renewable energy will become a political reality, as part of Europe’s plan to meet its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20% below 1990 levels by 2020.
[social_buttons] Wave energy seems to be Scotland’s lottery number. Scotland-based energy developer Pelamis just signed a joint venture agreement with the European energy giant Vattenfall for a large, almost $100 million energy project off Scotland’s Shetland Islands. This follows the recent launch of Oyster, reportedly the largest working hydro-electric wave … [continued]
Moving on from the problems encountered in the Northern California wave energy tests off Mendocino and Humboldt Counties; PG&E has just filed a new preliminary permit application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for another three-year study of a potential wave power site.
This time the proposed site is off the coast of Santa Barbara County at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Like every Federal Agency, the Air Force is now under Executive Order to cut transport carbon emissions 30% and to power buildings with renewable energy, possibly making this location more amenable to tests of a renewable energy source that has that potential.
The largest working hydro-electric wave energy device was launched by Queen’s University Belfast, Aquamarine Power Ltd. and the Scottish government recently, bringing the global wave energy industry one major move forward. The device is called Oyster. It is the only hydro-electric wave energy device producing power in the world, according … [continued]
The oceans seem like a great potential source for clean energy. The force of the waves, the constancy, the size of the oceans — it all seems like something that could produce energy for humans without much harm. (I still have some concerns, though it seems like one of the … [continued]
The simplest ideas are best at harnessing underwater wave energy. You don’t want lots of parts in the harsh marine environment (for machine parts) under the ocean. Here’s an idea from a diver from Finland who was almost hit in the head by a shipwreck door that inspired this invention: … [continued]
Catch the Wind Ltd. of Virginia has just announced that its new Vindicator laser wind sensor has been deployed on a specialized buoy for a field test off Race Rocks Island in British Columbia. If successful, the laser sensor would be part of the world’s first buoy-based wind power assessment … [continued]
