How the Coal Industry Flattened the Mountains of Appalachia. Photo As the destructive coal mining process known as mountaintop removal ebbs in Appalachia, it is leaving behind what amounts to its own grim field of tombstones: A grossly disfigured landscape pocked with decapitated mountains standing flat as mesas and inhospitable to forest restoration.
Will Tesla's home battery really transform our energy infrastructure? “The goal is complete transformation of the entire energy infrastructure of the world,” Tesla founder Elon Musk told reporters as he launched the electric car company’s new home power storage battery on Thursday.
“This is actually within the power of humanity to do. It is not impossible.” Portland's water pipes are the newest source of clean energy. Portland residents can now generate green electricity simply by turning on their water taps and flushing their toilets.
Fast Company reports that the Oregon city is using a state-of-the art system to capture energy from water flowing through the city’s pipelines. Small turbines installed inside the pipelines are turned by the flowing water, sending energy into a generator and off into the power grid. “It’s pretty rare to find a new source of energy where there’s no environmental impact,” Gregg Semler told Fast Company. Semler is the chief executive officer of Lucid Energy, the Portland start-up behind the new system. On Coal River. The U.S. Navy Just Announced The End Of Big Oil And No One Noticed - Surf’s up!
The Navy appears to have achieved the Holy Grail of energy independence – turning seawater into fuel: After decades of experiments, U.S. Navy scientists believe they may have solved one of the world’s great challenges: how to turn seawater into fuel. …The new fuel is initially expected to cost around $3 to $6 per gallon, according to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, which has already flown a model aircraft on it. Curiously, this doesn’t seem to be making much of a splash (no pun intended) on the evening news. Court Rules Off-The-Grid Living Is Illegal. Living off the grid is illegal in Cape Coral, Florida, according to a court ruling Thursday.
Special Magistrate Harold S. 96-Year-Old Solar Energy Genius Harry Zvi Tabor Talks To NoCamels About Pioneering Solar Power. When NoCamels decided to start profiling people who have helped shape Israel into a hub of boundless innovation, one person we knew we would have to interview is Harry Zvi Tabor.
But while Israel is mostly associated with hightech, it is in the field of cleatech that 96-year-old Tabor truly made his mark. Born in London in 1917, and with a bachelor’s degree in Physics, Tabor dedicated his life to investigating solar energy and brought forth groundbreaking methods for its storage. You could say that like the biblical character Joshua, when Harry Zvi Tabor first came to Israel, “the sun stood still”. 30 Year Old Dream Comes True With Israel's Biggest Solar Power Plant. The earth revolves around the sun, and so does the green-tech industry.
Some of the earliest pioneers of solar energy started in Israel 30 years ago with the company Luz. Luz went on to become Luz II, then BrightSource, which is now a US-based solar power company about to flip the switch on a massive 377-megawatt solar thermal farm in the California desert. And at the start of 2014, the sun and stars will align and a dream will be coming true for Israeli solar pioneers and visionaries like BrightSource Israel CEO Israel Kroizer. BREAKING... Fukushima Disaster Leaves Hundreds of Whales Radiated to Death. Fukushima Nuclear Plant By National Report Staff <National Report> On August 31st, four days ago the National Report ran the story… Fukushima Crisis Escalates Tons of Radioactive Waste Released into the Pacific Causes Ocean to Boil… Since then we have been taking calls and emails from people all over the world wanting to confirm our story.
Fukushima's Radioactive Plume to Reach U.S. by 2014. A radioactive plume of water in the Pacific Ocean from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, which was crippled in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, will likely reach U.S. coastal waters starting in 2014, according to a new study.
The long journey of the radioactive particles could help researchers better understand how the ocean’s currents circulate around the world. Ocean simulations showed that the plume of radioactive cesium-137 released by the Fukushima disaster in 2011 could begin flowing into U.S. coastal waters starting in early 2014 and peak in 2016. Luckily, two ocean currents off the eastern coast of Japan — the Kuroshio Current and the Kuroshio Extension — would have diluted the radioactive material so that its concentration fell well below the World Health Organization’s safety levels within four months of the Fukushima incident. But it could have been a different story if nuclear disaster struck on the other side of Japan. VIDEO: Tsunami Warning Center Uses Top Technology. Fukushima radiation levels spike, company says. TEPCO found high radiation readings SaturdayIt said the highest levels measured were so-called beta radiation (CNN) -- There's been a sharp spike in radiation levels measured in the pipes and containers holding water at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan.
You won't believe what fuels this car. Rawlemon’s Spherical Solar Energy-Generating Globes Can Even Harvest Energy from Moonlight. The solar energy designers at Rawlemon have created a spherical, sun-tracking glass globe that is able to concentrate sunlight (and moonlight) up to 10,000 times. The company claims that its ß.torics system is 35% more efficient than traditional dual-axis photovoltaic designs, and the fully rotational, weatherproof sphere is even capable of harvesting electricity from moonlight. The ß.torics system was invented by Barcelona-based German Architect André Broessel.
Fukushima meltdown appears to have sickened American infants. Fallout from that Fukushima meltdown thing a couple years back? It’s not just the Japanese who are suffering, though their plight is obviously the worst. Radioactive isotopes blasted from the failed reactors may have given kids born in Hawaii and along the American West Coast health disorders which, if left untreated, can lead to permanent mental and physical handicaps. Children born in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington between one week and 16 weeks after the meltdowns began in March 2011 were 28 percent more likely to suffer from congenital hypothyroidism than were kids born in those states during the same period one year earlier, a new study shows.
Nanowire solar cells raise efficiency limit. Public release date: 24-Mar-2013 [ Print | E-mail. PART II: U.S. Marine Battles TransCanada in Court over Eminent Domain for Keystone XL. Michael Bishop [Editor's note: Thanks to Michael Bishop for providing EcoWatch this firsthand account of what happens when a company like TransCanada claims eminent domain on one's property and begins building a tar sands pipeline—the southern leg of the Keystone XL. Unfortunately, this is one of many examples of corporations putting profits before human health and the environment in pursuit of extreme fossil fuel extraction. Lancaster, California to Require All New Homes to Have Solar Panels. Photo via Shutterstock We’ve heard of mandatory recycling and composting, but mandatory solar panels? Lancaster, California — a small city of about 150,000 people in the high desert near Los Angeles — is planning to update its residential zoning code to require homebuilders to add solar panels to all new-construction homes.
The move was announced by Republican mayor Rex Parris while speaking at an event hosted by Lancaster homebuilder KB Home. The new requirement would require all new-construction single-family homes built after January 1, 2014 to include at lease a 1.0 kilowatt solar system. Photo via Shutterstock. Jennifer Granholm: A clean energy proposal. Hands Off: Why The Free Market Should Control the Valve to US Natural Gas Exports.
By Michael J. The (Shale) Gas Renaissance. Renewable Sources Provide All New Generating Capacity in January — Three-Fold Increase From Same Period Last Year. Air Quality Egg collects and maps real-time air pollution data. Global Hydropower and Geothermal Growth Slow. New Worldwatch Institute report examines global consumption and installed capacity of hydropower and geothermal energy sources Washington, D.C. —Although the global consumption and installed capacity of hydropower and geothermal technologieshave increased steadily since 2003, both types of energy saw slower growth in 2011, according to new research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute for its Vital Signs Online service (www.worldwatch.org).Global installed capacity of hydropower reached 970 gigawatts (GW), only a 1.6 percent increase from the previous year, while geothermal cumulative capacity reached 11.2 GW, slowing to below 1 percent for the first time since 2002, writes report author Evan Musolino.
Hydroelectricity accounted for almost 6 percent of primary energy consumption among members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). EOSDIS - Earth Data Website. By Katherine LeitzellSeptember 22, 2011. Supermarket is saving $80 million a year just by putting doors on its refrigerators. Resilient Design: Why Buildings Should Be Designed for Change. New Technology for Hybrid Car Motors Leaves Rare Earth Behind. China’s sprawling Baiyan Obo mine, which provides a substantial amount of today’s rare earths. Fast Growth in LED Industry.
New Report Finds Installed Cost of Solar Power Dropped Significantly. Rapidly Urbanizing Populations Face Unique Challenges. Turbine construction completed at world's largest wind farm > National News > News.
Mexico looking at risky deep water oil. The Natural Gas Revolution – Good or Bad for Energy Efficiency? US electric car industry poised to overtake Europe. Gestational exposure to urban air pollution linked to vitamin D deficiency in newborns. Farm powered by walnuts. Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. Green Technology US Fuel Efficiency Standards Raised to an Amazing 54.5 mpg by 2025. Solar Jobs Booming 10x Faster than National Average. Philadelphia Eagles Soar Into Clean Energy Future with $30 Million Wind and Solar Power Installation. The Power Above: Kite Gen Seeks High Altitude Power. The Sweet Smell of Fuel Derived From Sugar Cane. U.S. Leads in Energy Sector CO2 Reduction. U.S. gas prices at highest ever for Labor Day weekend. » Get Rewarded for Thinking Sustainably. Glowing Barrel. Cheap Solar Comes to Boston. Albatross's Effortless Flight Decoded—May Influence Future Planes. Incandescent Light Bulbs have served us well but now it is time to turn them off!
Asia's newest megacity offers a low-carbon model for urban growth > General Analysis > Analysis. Transitioning from Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy. A toxic tragedy in Bhopal.