A study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory conclusively demonstrates that energy payback for photovoltaics (PV) is generally less than 4 years. It states: “Reaping the environmental benefits of solar energy requires spending energy to make the PV system. But as this graphic shows, the investment is small. Assuming 30-year system life, PV-systems will provide a net gain of 26 to 29 years of pollution-free and greenhouse-gas-free electrical generation … [...]
Wind is the movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. In fact, wind exists because the sun unevenly heats the surface of the Earth. As hot air rises, cooler air moves in to fill the void. As long as the sun shines, the wind will blow. And as long as the wind blows, people will harness it to power their lives. Ancient [...]
Harvard University Engineers Without Borders Invites Leonardo Stoute to Discuss Sustainability Projects in Indonesia April 27th, 2012 | Cambridge, MA Today, at Harvard University, the board members of the university’s Engineers Without Borders (EWB) chapter invited Leonardo Stoute, LSI Group CEO, to discuss Sustainability Projects in Indonesia and around the world. EWB is a global non-profit organization that seeks to aid communities in the developing world via providing technical assistance [...]
ORegen Can Take the Heat: GE Lights up the Prairie with Hot Air Every day Canada’s Alliance Pipeline scoops 1.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas from British Columbia and Alberta and hauls it 2,300 miles south to American consumers in Chicago. Along the way there are 14 compressor stations powered by giant GE turbines that pump up the pressure in the pipeline and goose the gas along. But the [...]
From Clean Edge News According to the most recent issue of the “Monthly Energy Review” by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), with data through September 30, 2011, renewable energy sources continue to expand while outpacing the growth rates of fossil fuels and nuclear power. For the first nine months of 2011, renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass/biofuels, geothermal, solar, water, wind) provided 11.95% of domestic U.S. energy production. That compares [...]
from the L.A. Times — Nathan Olivarez-Giles Google announced that it’s investing $94 million in solar panel farms in the Sacramento area. The money will go toward four photovoltaic, or PV, panel farms built by San Francisco-based Recurrent Energy, owned by tech-giant Sharp, and will help fuel the project alongside funding from investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., said Axel Martinez, Google’s assistant treasurer, in a company blog post [...]
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