Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Alternative Clean Energy Roundup: 20 March 2013

Homegrown Innovation Thrives on the Internet
19 March 2013 - We did not realize it at the time, but when my wife and I designed and built our first solar house in the early 1990s, we joined a growing number of do-it-yourselfers who were finding imaginative ways to save energy.

During design and construction, we experimented with various ideas to improve wintertime solar heating and insulation, summertime cooling and ventilation, and year-round energy efficiency. In retrospect, some of our ideas were not particularly successful, but other ideas worked well, perhaps inspiring other solar house builders to do the same.

Now that nearly 10 years have passed since our first experiment in solar housing, we have witnessed a virtual explosion in renewable energy experimentation among people like us – regular working folks who are concerned about saving energy while cutting costs, and who love to tinker in the workshop. read more>>>

New Energy Technologies enters second Technology Development Agreement on solar windows
16 March 2013 - Phase 2 of the company’s Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with NREL is announced as a move towards commercialization

New Energy Technologies Inc. has announced that it has entered Phase 2 of an important agreement with the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to advance development of its solar window technology geared towards the generation of electricity on glass. Henceforth, NREL and New Energy Technologies plan to enhance the product’s performance, processing and lifetime with additional work orientated towards optimisation of the deposition of coatings on flexible surfaces thereby allowing the generation of electricity on surfaces such as see-through and tinted plastics. read more>>>

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Overcoming Market Barriers and Using Market Forces to Advance Energy Efficiency
March 18, 2013 - The United States has made much progress in energy efficiency in recent decades. U.S. energy use is approximately half of what it would have been if we had not improved our efficiency over the past 40 years. Still, there are large, cost-effective opportunities to increase energy efficiency much further, thereby helping us to cut energy bills, reduce pollution, and encourage economic growth. However, a variety of market failures and market barriers contribute to keeping us from fully realizing our energy efficiency potential.

This report analyzes several targeted policies that leverage market forces and address specific market failures and barriers to energy efficiency without requiring substantial spending or government mandates. visit to download report>>>

DOI, BLM approve renewable energy projects
March 19, 2013 - Outgoing Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has approved three major renewable energy projects that, when completed, are expected to deliver 1,100 MW of electricity to the grid.

Two of the projects -- the 750 MW McCoy Solar Energy Project (one of the largest in the world) and the 150 MW Desert Harvest Solar Farm -- are located in California's Riverside East Solar Energy Zone, which was established by the Interior's Western Solar Energy Plan as the most suitable for solar development. The 200 MW Searchlight Wind Energy Project will be built on public lands in Clark County, Nevada.

"In just over four years, we have advanced 37 wind, solar and geothermal projects on our public lands -- or enough to power more than 3.8 million American homes. read more>>>

Homewind: Wind Turbines, Power Kits & Components

U.S. Drivers Could Get 100 MPG By 2050
March 18, 2013 - By the year 2050 – in less than 37 years – the United States could cut petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent for cars and small trucks, finds a new National Research Council report released Monday.

There is no single “silver bullet,” said chair of the committee that wrote the report, Douglas Chapin, but the shift can be made with a winning combination of more efficient vehicles; alternatives like biofuels, electricity, and hydrogen; and strong government policies to overcome high costs and influence consumer choices.

“Such a transition will be costly and require several decades, but “we’re talking about 90 to 100 or more miles per gallon,” he said. read more>>>

Hunters, Anglers Urge Obama to Act on Climate Change
March 15, 2013 - Hunters and anglers from across the United States are concerned about the impact of climate change on wildlife and natural resources and also on the U.S. hunting and angling economy, worth roughly $120 billion a year.

As a coalition, they are asking President Barack Obama to follow through on his promises to act against warming temperatures given in his Inaugural Address in January and in his State of the Union speech in February.

Ten groups representing millions of anglers, hunters, scientists and conservationists sent a letter to the President on Monday asking that the Obama administration “develop and implement climate change adaptation strategies that support the resiliency of fish and wildlife populations.” read more>>>


1 comment:

  1. Touching on another energy source, biomass is a swiftly emerging renewable energy, burning wood chips and natural resources to create more environmentally friendly energy.

    Fantastic, and comprehensive blog.

    ReplyDelete

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