Posts Tagged ‘energy’

Putting Energy (and Investment) to Good Use

Friday, April 1st, 2011


(photo credit: Evan Prodromou)

We all know that carbo-loading is essential for running a marathon (or staying up all night writing papers/ playing video games). So why expect lasting social change to run on a cookie here, a handful of peanuts there?

“45% of the population of rural India live in villages with no electricity.” So it was only a matter of time before capitalist do-gooders found an opportunity to profit from lighting up the countryside. Providing affordable clean energy solutions is potentially a $2 billion industry in India alone. And it’s not just the entrepreneurs who profit: locals suddenly have light to study and work by, cleaner air and water, and a new job market for selling and repairing solar lanterns and other green gadgets.

Sounds like a pretty neat social venture to us. What do you think?

When it comes to supporting causes you care about, are you more likely to fund emergency projects, like disease and hunger relief, or longer-term strategies for change, like electricity?

Sharing the Stuff That Drives Electric Cars

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

“Xatori, a Silicon Valley software start-up, aims to create a network of electric car enthusiasts who make their household power outlets and home chargers available for drivers who need to top off their battery or who find themselves out of range of the few public-charging stations currently available.”

What do you think?

Would you ever pay for a total stranger’s gas? What about letting them charge their phone in your garage?

Are electric car owners just more generous?

U.S. To Build World’s Largest Solar-Power Plant

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

China may be in the lead when it comes to investing in renewable energy, but the U.S. is about to take a 1,000 megawatt leap.

  • The Obama administration just approved a permit allowing a $6 billion solar thermal plant to be built on federal land in a California desert.
  • Solar thermal energy production isn’t the same as photovoltaic solar panels. The plant works by using mirrors to direct sunlight into a tube, where its heat generates steam and moves turbines.
  • The company building the plant, Solar Trust of America, intends to start construction immediately to take advantage of government incentives for renewable energy projects before the year ends.

Facts & Figures

  • This plant, along with 8 others recently approved by the CA Energy Commission, will produce enough power to sustain 800,000 homes.
  • CA law requires all state utilities generate 1/3 of their power from renewable energy by 2020.
  • Solar Trust estimates that this project alone will create 7,600 jobs.

Environmental Damage, Illuminated By Trendy Bulbs

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

The modern Green Movement has been called trendy, popular, and fashionable. But what’s the deal with popular, fashionable trends that aren’t green?

  • The latest trend to sweep restaurants of New York, San Francisco, and beyond is the exposed-filament light bulb: a reproduction of Edison’s first light that happens to consume massive quantities of energy.
  • From hip hangouts to sophisticated venues, restaurant owners around the world are drawn to the industrial style, warm glow, and nostalgic quality of the bulb.
  • Reproductions of Edison’s carbon filament bulb have been around for almost 50 years, but did not become noticeably trendy until 2003.

Facts & Figures

  • The exposed-filament light bulb is the least efficient light bulb in the world, with some types using 5 to 10 times more power than other bulb options on the market.
  • Exposed-filament bulbs are sold at home decor stores for $9 to $20 each.
  • Upscale restaurant lighting budgets often reach six figures.

Best Quote

“You can’t on the one hand brag how green you are by serving organic beer and locally grown produce while you are lighting your business with the least efficient light bulbs available in the world.” – Noah Horowitz, Senior Scientist, The Environmental Group

Biofuels are…

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Biofuels are liquid fuels and blending components (i.e., a mixture of components used to produce motor gasoline) produced from biomass feedstock — organic matter used as a renewable energy source. Biofuels are used primarily for transportation purposes. Basically, these are fuels derived from an organic source that you can use to fuel your various vessels of transportation. Biofuels primarily serve as an alternative to other fuels, such as oil and its derivatives.

Europeans Find Electric Desert In North Africa

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
Companies from Europe are searching the globe and Africa in particular, for real-estate suitable for their green energy dreams.
  • Desertec is an ambitious European project that harvests solar power in North African desert and delivers it to Europe as electricity.
  • Last week, a group of German companies committed to significant financing for the project.
  • Supporters emphasize the connection between economic and ecological sense and the implications of such an enormous international cooperative; critics suggest a bi-continental plan is inefficient, could result in a negative foreign dependency just like oil, and could further assert Euro-imperialism.

Facts & Figures

  • As it’s planned, Desertec would be the largest centralized solar power production project in the world.
  • The electricity produced could account for as much as 15% of the European Union’s power.
  • It is expected to cost €400 billion ($555 billion).

Best Quote

“The time now is perfect to start this initiative as climate protection has become an urgent issue and our economies need new impulses.” – Alexander Mohanty, a Munich Re spokesman.