Tag Archives: car

Ventura County Reaps Rewards of Energy Efficiency

Reduces Both Costs and Carbon Ventura County’s outstanding cost savings and sustainability efforts have earned them the silver level in Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Energy Leader Partner Program. The Energy Leader Partnership Program awards local governments who are performing outstanding sustainability efforts with the support to identify and address energy efficiency opportunities in municipal facilities. The County of Ventura who …

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Alternative Energy Under Fire In House Bill

U.S. ENERGY SECURITY EFFORTS UNDER ATTACK IN ANNUAL DEFENSE BUDGET BILLS House Defense Bill Undermines Public-Private Initiative to Develop Domestic Alternative Energy Sources to Reduce Reliance on Foreign Oil The House on Friday approved a $642 billion annual Defense authorization bill, 299-120. Included in the bill are harmful provisions that would undermine efforts to reduce the military’s dependence on the …

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New Electric Cars Are Better

SuperiorMind asked: Just showing off some of the cool new electric cars and putting to rest some of the myths out there. When people think of electric cars, typically they think of older ugly slower models, lead-acid batterys, and BS propaganda they’ve read slamming the “electric cars”(as though they all carried the exact same attributes) The battery technology has changed(and …

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Today’s Energy Efficiency: Just What are the laggards thinking?

By Elisa Wood Why do some states avoid creating policies that encourage consumers and businesses to save energy? What’s the psychology of the laggards? A new report by the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy sheds some insight as it examines the states that consistently fall behind in the organization’s annual energy efficiency ranking. The bottom states are: Alabama, …

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5 Easy, Affordable Ways to Go Green

Pretty much everyone wants to save the environment. At least no one is out there advocating that we have a free-for-all with toxins and pollutants. The problem occurs from the choices we have to make: do it green or do it cheaply? Or more easily? I wrestle with that every time I grab a paper towel off the roll. But …

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SA Launches Fuel Cell Train

This seems like a big development in the fuel cell energy market. South Africa is launching a fuel cell powered Locomotive. I love to find news like this about alternative energy development. I say a big hurray for SA for making this step towards renewable fuels for industry. South Africa’s Anglo American Platinum (Angloplat) has launched the prototype of the …

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UC Berkeley Scientists Converting Carbon In Tobacco Plants Into Biofuels

Scientists at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s FOLIUM Project, funded by ARPA-E, use light to convert the carbon in tobacco leaves into biofuels. This is a most interesting approach to converting carbon into useable energy again through the use of light and tobacco plants. And this energy should not cause you to have cancer in then end. Or …

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FuelCell Energy Announces European Market Developments

— FuelCell Energy Solutions, GmbH Acquires Select Assets from MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH — European Joint Venture With Fraunhofer IKTS to be Finalized by June 30,2012 FuelCell Energy, Inc. a leading manufacturer of ultra-clean, efficient and reliable fuel cell power plants, today announced that its German subsidiary, FuelCell Energy Solutions GmbH, is acquiring select assets from MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, a subsidiary …

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Researcher Says Wind Ten Times Cleaner

Wind energy has been picking up lots of attention lately for both good and bad reasons. This report seems to be one of the good indicators that wind energy is a good part of the alternative energy puzzle we need to assemble in our country to have a diversified energy portfolio. Wind power ten times cleaner than coal, Colorado NREL …

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Deforestation And Green House Gases

TIME, PLACE AND HOW WOOD IS USED ARE FACTORS IN CARBON EMISSIONS FROM DEFORESTATION A new study from the University of California, Davis, provides a deeper understanding of the complex global impacts of deforestation on greenhouse gas emissions. The study, published May 13 in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Climate Change, reports that the volume of greenhouse …

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Electric Cars: Why Aren’t We Buying?

There are more and more electric car options for the consumer this year. But sales may not be happening. Why is that? bill asked: Americans are just not buying into the idea that was supposed to relieve pain at the pump. The electric car was meant to be a breakthrough in the automotive world, but as 11 News reporter Chris …

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Solar Energy For Soccer Dome

Solar Energy World Brings Sustainability to Soccer Maryland-based solar energy systems provider helps reduce Soccer Dome’s energy footprint In recent years, sports arenas and stadiums have become champions of sustainability for both social and financial reasons. The STAPLES Center, home to the Los Angeles Lakers, has 5% of its total power provided by solar panels, while the Portland Trail Blazers’ …

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Electric cars take off in Norway

AFP asked: They speed past gas guzzlers in traffic, ignore congestion charges and get city centre parking for free. In a country’s whose wealth is fuelled by oil, Oslo has become the world capital of the electric car. Duration: 01:58

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Solar Thermal For Commercial Businesses

Solar Thermal Combined Systems Create New Renewable Opportunities Solar thermal hot water and space heating systems are an attractive option for commercial enterprises who want to incorporate renewable energy into their operations. These systems harness the free power of the sun to directly heat the water and air that circulates in their processes, buildings and offices. While solar thermal is …

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Keeping Your Pool Eco-friendly

Having your own pool to exercise or relax in is a treat the entire family can enjoy together. If you strive to live in the most environmentally friendly way possible, you likely know how having a pool can increase your carbon footprint. To keep a swimming pool running efficiently, you must use energy to run the filter system and chemicals …

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White Roofs Are As Green As Taking Cars Off Road

I have worked with roofing contractors in recent years and they have seen some movement towards this idea of light colored and insulated roofing materials that save energy and cooling. I put a light colored roof on my home and noticed an almost immediate drop in interior temperature and had less need to cool the house in summer. Makes for …

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What does it mean to be a high-performance building?

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 47 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are from existing buildings. From a global perspective, reducing energy consumption in buildings is imperative for a sustainable future. So when property owners and managers transform an existing facility into one that’s a high-performance building, what does that mean? Essentially, it means doing more with less. …

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Extracting Geothermal Energy With CO2

Carbon Storage – and More A novel process developed by a University professor with help from an IREE grant aims to produce clean, renewable energy while reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. A University of Minnesota earth sciences professor and a postdoctoral fellow in his work group have imagined a new process for generating electricity with a two-for-one climate benefit. …

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Ethical Grid?

So much of what’s discussed in offices these days – and forever really – focuses on this: What’s best for the company? How do we increase profits? That’s totally understandable, given that a primary responsibility of any for-profit enterprise is to benefit its owners and investors. Still, as individuals, and I would argue, as part of the capitalist system, we …

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Storing Alternative Energy More Efficiently

University of Minnesota invention helps advance reliability of alternative energy A University of Minnesota invention could help make storage of solar and wind energy more efficient and economical. The invention was licensed to SustainX, a leading global developer of grid-scale energy storage solutions that use patented isothermal compressed air methods to store large amounts of energy cleanly and economically. “A …

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