The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL – pictured left) has just announced that they’ve set a new world efficiency record for two-junction solar cells at 31.1%.
The last couple of days have been extraordinary in terms of new technological advancements in the solar industry – Sharp just announced a couple of days ago that they`ve created highest converting solar cell to date at 44.4%. (more…)
Going green doesn’t have to be hard or expensive.
Anyone can take steps to have a greener home. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to do so, either. You can do a few simple things to have a greener home and help the environment.
Remember, every step you take toward being greener is one less footprint you’re leaving on the planet. (more…)
When today’s art and music festivals win a green award, it is a badge of honor that translates into ticket sales to eco-aware customers. That’s why it comes as no surprise that festivals around the world are increasingly seeking out green energy solutions.
Since festivals are temporary in nature and often take place in isolated rural locations, the challenges of setting up clean power sources are quite different compared to most permanent commercial or residential projects. Festivals typically consume an enormous amount of fuel to power the generators. Since the cost of fuel is high, switching to sustainable power sources can save event producers money. (more…)
The men and women of the nation’s armed forces often deploy overseas to protect its energy interests around the globe, safeguarding foreign oil sources and the sea lanes through which they pass.
While the country strains and devotes its military resources to protecting oil-producing regions, citizens at home are left vulnerable to attack and national security is compromised. Standing up and fighting the green energy battle will not only break the country’s dependence from external sources but will also bring the men and women back home.
Wind Power is Good for America (more…)
Reducing excess steps and upgrading sources in your supply chain is good business and also green business. At Coghlin Companies, a contract manufacturing company, we’ve learned that streamlining our supply chain with a commitment to greener practices requires constant monitoring to ensure gained efficiencies and green initiatives provide value for our customers. Here are three elements of our green approach to supply chain management.
1. Review your shipping options frequently. Shipping is seen as the low hanging fruit of supply chain optimization, but many shipping suppliers already operate in a tight, competitive market. (more…)
A few months ago I interviewed Dennis McGinn, the current president of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) for my third book (“Renewable Energy – Following the Money”) that I hope to have available shortly. I’ve also met his predecessor in that post, Micheal Eckhart, several times at various conferences.
I deeply admire both these folks, perhaps mostly for the comportment with which they approach the challenge. It blends a core passion with a calm levelheadedness that I think is important in an arena that invites such controversy. (more…)
Here’s a powerful article that bashes Obama, not as a Muslim Kenyan food-stamp socialist, but as just another lying politician — one whose true legacy will be “the guy who had the last chance to save the environment from collapse but was led around by the nose by huge vested interests.” As you scan through the comments you’ll note that these people (largely leftist environmentalists) are pretty cheesed off.
Here’s a supposed breakthrough in fuel cells on which I thought readers may want to comment. I’ve always believed that the cost and longevity of the fuel cell itself is really not the gating issue here, but rather the creation and distribution of hydrogen.
Am I wrong? (I hate it when that happens.) 🙂
In response to my post on (former U.S. President) Dwight D. Eisenhower and my suggestion that current U.S. President Obama should build out the public infrastructure in the same way, Warren Weisman writes: “Ha ha. Love to see it happen, but Obama ain’t no Eisenhower.”
Thanks, Warren — and good point. It’s certainly true that Obama doesn’t have the public support that Eisenhower did. But in fact, even Eisenhower himself didn’t have the support he needed at the time; in large measure, he sold the Highway Act to the American people on the basis that he claimed it was necessary to move troops and supplies around in the interior of the U.S. in order to protect us citizens from the prospect of foreign invasion.
20th Century fear. There was plenty of it to go around, and it motivated (in addition to some good things like the highway system) some of the great atrocities in the history of humankind. An eerie parallel to today’s world, perhaps.
On this day in 1956, a few days before my first birthday, President Eisenhower signed the Federal Highway Act, which established the Interstate Highway System. I think of the implications of our vast network of highways frequently, normally in connection with the challenges we face in building out our aging and woefully inadequate national electricity grid.
When I tell people that we have a profound and urgent need to connect various regions of the country, bringing solar energy into our population centers from the deserts, wind energy from the plains, hydrokinetic energy from the Pacific Northwest, etc., people roll their eyes and explain that there will be legal objections that will keep this idea held up in court until the next Ice Age. While they may be right, we do have several legal precedents for using eminent domain for the public good, and the Federal Highway Act is just one among them. In fact, we’re pretty good at moving cars – and trains – and fossil fuels – all over this great land of ours. Do you suppose this could be extended to renewable energy? We’ll see.
