FedEx’s New Solar System Is Enough To Power 370 homes
FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, broke ground on its first – and largest – international solar energy facility on Monday. The facility near the Cologne, Germany airport will house over 16,000 square meters of solar panels.
The new solar panel installation is slated for completion by 2010; a 1.4-megawatt (MW) solar power system that will generate 1.3 GWhs of electricity/year. That is equivalent to the annual consumption of 370 homes! Read the rest of this entry »
In a bit of TV Mis-Guided, the ABC Network is refusing adverts by Al Gore’s We Campaign all the while running ads on oil for Chevron.
The campaign is working to get the ad aired on the next 20/20. The ad details how massive ad dollars spent by oil and coal companies is the key reason America hasn’t switched to cleaner renewable energy sources. Help the We Campaign get this advertisement aired!
Every week sees so many developments and news stories about the environment, energy and sustainability, it’s impossible to cover them all in depth. So I thought it would be helpful to occasionally summarize some of the more interesting reports from the past week. Here are a few that caught my eye:
Two South African architects last week won the $100,000 Curry Stone Design Prize for their unique energy-efficient housing design using timber framing and sandbags. Based on traditional mud-and-wattle construction, the timber-sandbag structures are also inexpensive and easy to build, with no electricity required.
The financial markets unraveled so rapidly last week, it’s still hard to process all the developments and likely consequences. But there’s no doubt that events on Wall Street carry serious implications for our energy and environmental future as well.
I can’t wrap my head around all the pieces yet (and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to), but here are some random thoughts about what the market meltdown might mean for oil prices, oil production, renewable energy development and climate change:
Hi. I’m Brian, a new writer here at Planetsave. For the past eighteen months, I have been living off-the-grid at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, a rural intentional community located in northeastern Missouri.
Dancing Rabbit is a community composed of 45 individuals dedicated to sustainable living and creating cultural change. Renewable energy from solar panels and wind turbines powers the entire village, which is made up of natural buildings constructed using earthen (such as straw bale and cob) and reclaimed materials. All drinking and cleaning water is collected using rain catchment systems, and three biodiesel-fueled vehicles provide the entire group with transportation needs. Much of our food is grown in our organic gardens.
On Thursday, Charlotte based utility company Duke Energy unveiled plans for a pilot program that will test whether or not 850 North Carolina homes can collectively produce the energy of a small solar power plant. While the panels will only be placed on 850 roofs, it is estimated that they will actually produce 16 megawatts of electricity, enough energy to power 2600 homes.
Duke Energy has a few small obstacles to get past before it can move forward with its plan. The company is offering 100 million dollars to any company that can supply the necessary materials, panels, and labor for the project. They hope to get started in early 2009. In addition to finding a supplier, they must also gain the approval of the North Carolina Utilities Commission. It seems likely though that they will obtain approval in the next few months, given the considerable amount of public interest in clean energy projects. Read the rest of this entry »
It may sound simplistic, but Israeli President Shimon Peres makes a good point; “The problem itself (terror and Iran), is like a swamp with mosquitos. It’s preferable to dry out the swamp than try to kill every single mosquito.”
While meeting with representatives of the students’ village in the town of Dimona, Peres said;
“When the price of oil rises, the terrorist organizations feel better; the feeling needs to be brought back down. The way to bring Iran, Venezuela and even Russia in some respects down, is to lower the price of oil. Attacking oil fields is foolish. We can attack with energy, meaning create alternative energy.”
Peres made the statement during a celebration of his 85th birthday Dimona, Israel, a town he described as, “one of the most beautiful towns in Israel, a town that is number one in education and urban development.” He said residents of the community have excelled in turning the desert wilderness into a “beautiful and wonderful town unparalleled in Jewish history.”
Well, this may not be a hidden issue, but I think it is a highly under represented issue. Transportation is the leading contiributor to greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the country, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and is also the fastest growing contributor, at a time when we are supposed to be making a U-turn in our GHG emissions.
When we talk about addressing global climate change, the talk is often about greening our homes, changing our source of energy, and cleaning up industry.
In my previous post, I briefly discussed the critical issue of food in addressing this problem.
In this post, I am bringing to attention the great relevance of transportation and our transportation patterns and habits in addressing this critical concern for our planet and our future generations.
Automobile travel is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Department of Energy reported that the transportation sector accounts for approximately 33% of GHG emissions in the United States. Approximately 61% of these emissions are from automobiles and light duty trucks. The Department of Energy’s findings put the transportation sector as the largest contributor to GHGs in the country. Unfortunately, it is also the fastest growing contributor according to the DOE’s findings. Read the rest of this entry »
The Bureau of Land Management has reversed it’s 22 month moratorium on new applications for solar power development on public lands.
In a statement issued today, the BLM said it will continue to process the applications while, “continuing to identify issues during public scoping underway for the programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).
In the statement, BLM Director James Caswell said:
“We heard the concerns expressed during the scoping period about waiting to consider new applications, and we are taking action. By continuing to accept and process new applications for solar energy projects, we will aggressively help meet growing interest in renewable energy sources, while ensuring environmental protections.”Read the rest of this entry »
The four-day ROTHBURY music and camping festival is being promoted as a “cultural assembly; one where music fans, artists and progressive thinkers gather to celebrate much more than music.” It is ROTHBURY’s goal to harness the unique energy of the live music community into a durable social movement toward an important cause: Climate Change and Clean Energy Alternatives.
Featuring a diverse musical line-up including Widespread Panic, Modest Mouse, Trey Anastasio, Dave Mathews Band, Primus, and many, many more – the festival is certain to be one of the best gatherings of the summer.
I figured as much. And because I’ll be covering the event for the Green Options Media Network, and reporting back all week, I was able to score a few extras that I’d like to share with our readers. But I can’t just give them away, so in 100 words or less, answer the following question:
What is right, and what is wrong, with the environmental movement today?
Get involved and take action to save the planet. Share commentary and ideas on the environmental challenges we face, and the potential solutions to these crises.
