renewable

Can new development go carbon-negative with smart design, renewable energy, high efficiency, and offsets?

Its the age old debate to why people will not buy “green” and that is, it costs too much! Well that is starting to not be the case as we see larger corporations adopting eco-friendly products and an overall consumer acceptance on the rise. It seems to me that there is no reason why buying eco-friendly products will just be a fad, but become the normal standard. With that being said, allot of people buy those old fixer’ upper’ kinda places, my parents included, and there is allot you can do to make your renovation a green one.

Many people envision solar power as rigid silicon panels mounted on a roof. With thin film solar cells, you’re more likely to not see them, or even know they’re there. This article is about a real-life thin film solar project.

Residential wind turbines costing $500 to $700 have come of age, beating other renewable energy competition for the home market on price and efficiency.

Whats the biggest attraction you have ever seen? Mine would have to be the world’s largest nickel in Sudbury. Those roadside attractions that claim to be the world’s biggest always give me a bit of a chuckle, like the worlds largest ball of twine. All these attractions are funny but what about the worlds largest solar farm? Thats right, green/eco tourism is coming!

The relative recent development of thin film photovoltaic solar panels is now deployed in solar roof shingles which seems to gain popularity.

Boyd Rutherford, Assistant Secretary for Administration, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is interviewed about the Bio-Preferred Program which mandates federal government procure renewable, bio-based products where possible. The government hopes to expand the program to certify consumer products as "bio-preferred" as well.

A big problem in todays society is what to do with the “things” we don’t need or want anymore. Now this can be brought down to a societal or individual viewpoint where either the individual is responsible for the disposal of these “things” or society is. In most of North America, someone will come and pick up what you don’t need or want anymore and dispose of it for you. However, what about when those “things” are still perfectly good and it would just be a waste to get rid of them? I present to you Freecycle…

Less than 1% of the world's deserts could generate as much electricity as the world is currently using, according to an international network of scientists and engineers, and backed by detailed research by the German Aerospace Centre and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Beside being the fastest growing woody on the planet bamboo offers a viable replacement for wood. With stalks that can grow to be as large as 60 meters, and playing a critical role in balancing the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere Bamboo is one tree to be reckon with. Functioning as a critical part of the economy in eastern Asia, and providing homes for over 2.2 billion people worldwide Bamboo has aslo been praised for its uses as an artistic medium.

Expected to cost some $420 million AUD ($270 million USD) the project is being constructed by Hong Kong-owned TRUenergy. The plant – which is planned to begin generating power by 2010, and be completed 2013 – is looking to provide solar power to some 45,000 homes.

The Scottish Government will offer a £10 million (R155 million) prize for development of the best technology for electricity generation from wave or tidal power.

UPC Wind marks the one-year anniversary of commercial operations for Mars Hill Wind in Maine.

The Selsam Superturbine is an offshore wind turbine concept that uses several small fast spinning rotors to create electricity rather than one large rotor, which is standard.

Margot Gerritsen visits the Palo Alto Research Center again to have a look at the new concentrated solar PV system designed at PARC with Solfocus, a start-up incubated at PARC. It's a clever device that is designed to reduce the amount of silicon needed in PV systems per Watt produced.