The U.S. Army’s a new best friend when it comes to recycling waste, conserving energy and keeping hazardous materials out of the waste stream is a chipmunk – a Kurt Chipmunk, that is. The Kurt Chipmunk is a new energy efficient metal compactor and recycler installed at the Tobyhanna Army … [continued]
The U.S. Navy has been placing a well-aimed barrage of funding toward sustainable new energy technology in recent years, including new solar installations at naval bases, high-efficiency desalination systems, and even camelina biofuel for Navy fighter jets. Now the Office of Naval Research has upped the ante with grants for … [continued]
Coney Island, home of famous hot dogs, sideshows, and a heart-numbing roller coaster, has just added a pioneering solar energy installation to its roster of points-of-interest. The new solar array has been installed at the New York City Transit Complex, a maintenance and repair facility that services many of the … [continued]
The House version of the climate bill, Waxman-Markey’s ACES included a national building code (Section 201, page 214) which would have led to a 75% reduction in national energy use from buildings. Yet it is not in the Senate’s climate and clean energy bill, the recently unveiled American Power Act. … [continued]
Here in California, now that it is possible to pay-as-you-go for solar and switch to solar power with a lease or a PPA, which is the best way to get solar? (In many other states, pay-as-you-go plans are not an option because utilities in those states won’t allow the competition, … [continued]
In harsh and inhospitable environments, with hot days and cold nights, this invention creates a temperate and moist earthen nursery for protecting and nurturing seeds into trees with a self replenishing source of drip irrigation. It is a plant incubator that’s designed to cool faster than the night air, creating … [continued]
In a program designed to reduce California’s peak afternoon grid demand, the CPUC this month moved about 2,000 PG&E customers – large commercial power users with a demand over 200 KW – to a new pricing structure that charges more in summer afternoon hours, and less in off-peak hours. [social_buttons] … [continued]
Another Bad Week, Or a Really Good One? Good news grows as slow as a tree, but bad news spills as fast as a broken oil main. That seems to be the lesson from this week as BP, the U.S. government and an armada of ships and volunteers tried but … [continued]
About 24 municipal buildings in Southern California are about to help ease the strain on the grid created by the peak need for air conditioning on hot California afternoons. Over the next few weeks, a consortium of municipal utilities in California will begin retrofitting government offices and commercial properties with … [continued]
Maybe castor beans are good for something besides castor oil – California based BioSolar has come up with a high-performance protective backsheet for solar panels made partly from a castor bean resin. The bio-based product is cheaper than conventional backsheets, helping to lower the cost of photovoltaic installations. [social_buttons] High … [continued]
