Though we try to keep a very positive focus here, PlanetSave isn’t just a blog about the wonders of the natural world and the glory of Mankind’s inventions. It also offers knowledge and a caution about our failures as individuals and as a species. We’ve all made mistakes before, big and small. By acknowledging anthropogenic
New York “rides in” the New Year as Times Square visitors bike to help power the New Year’s Eve Ball (© Charles Sykes, Invision, for Citi, on Treehugger). You heard it right. When the festive ball drops to usher in 2014, renewable energy will contribute to the flashiness of its cascade. For the past three
Being a vagabond is great and all, but I also believe in community and sustainability! How could I accomplish all parts of my equation at once? I mean, isn’t community and sustainability accomplished by living in one location with a group of people, following models of communal or group living, farming, and running co-ops? And isn’t
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have improved their ability to generate considerably more electricity from human footfalls.
Some top green living stories of the last few days:
One of the biggest green living stories of the past several days is one of a a 13-year-old, Aidan Dwyer, who reportedly created and filed a patent for a groundbreaking, super energy-efficient solar panel array setup based on the Fibonacci sequence of some tree branches. The system was supposedly 20% more efficient than traditional, flat solar panel arrays, in general, and 50% more efficient in winter.
Solar power is growing at a super fast pace these days, and despite (or maybe partly because of) the tremendous economic problems the country is facing, that is continuing. Solar PV is projected to double in the US this year, and is expected to grow 47% a year up to 2015.
Here’s some top green living stories from the past week or so (other than our own). Enjoy!
The benefits of solar really do match the cost of solar, but many of the benefits, often important to society or rate-payers as a whole, are invisible to individuals. Government incentives to encourage solar power adoption, thus, make complete & practical sense. Truthfully, the incentives offered for solar power purchasing should be even greater.
Now, you may or may not know, other than working on Planetsave, the place I spend most of my time is working on CleanTechnica, our sister site dedicated to covering topics such as wind energy, solar energy, and energy efficiency. I actually was not much of a tech guy just a few years ago, but I started writing on there two summers ago and slowly became obsessed. Now, I’m considered an expert in the field.
Iberdrola subsidiary ScottishPower Renewables plans to install a tidal power project between two islands, Islay and Jura, in the inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. The expected power output of the £40million project will be 10 MW, enough to power twice the number of homes on nearby Islay.
Energy from the Earth’s core as a clean energy alternative? Maybe. Scientists at the University of California-Davis are working on developing such an option after they discovered a rich seam of the molten rock relatively close to the earth’s surface in Iceland. The scientists now believe that this bit of magma could be a new source
Susan Kraemer of our sister site Cleantechnica recently covered an interesting story, a comparison of solar to nuclear and coal by weight. Take a guess which one wins. Here’s the intro from Susan. An interestingly novel way of comparing solar power with nuclear power finds that solar easily bests nuclear. Ken Zweibel has an analysis at The
Researchers from the University of Washington are investigating the feasibility of tidal turbines for generating electricity. With a significant dearth of information available for tidal turbine technology, this series of projects will shed light on the overall potential of the product. “There really isn’t that much information, anywhere, about the environmental effects of tidal turbines,”
I recently got tipped off to a great website and project, the GE ecomagination photo project. The simple deal with this project is, as a friend wrote to me, “for every photo uploaded to flickr, a donation will be made to communities in need of clean water, solar light, and wind turbine powered electricity.” Sounds
So, we’ve covered solar energy and microhydro energy in this Going Green Tips series. Here’s one more small-scale energy option: micro-wind. Like microhydro, micro-wind isn’t an option many people think of or look into when they are thinking of ways to green their energy supply. But it is a real option and perhaps even the
As discussed in previous articles, a great way to go green is to cut the coal and a great way to do that is to go solar. There are other clean energy options available for homes and businesses as well, though. One such option is microhydro. In other words, “small” hydroelectric power facilities. While microhydro
The lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries that will be powering the electric cars of tomorrow are much greener than originally expected, according to new research conducted. Much has been made of whether electric cars will actually be the saviour of our future, or whether they are just redistributing the environmental damage to other aspects, like the
The NAACP has joined with environmental groups to oppose the construction of three power plants because of concerns that burning the feces will expose poor people to arsenic and other contaminants. “Everyone wants jobs, but you have to be against a job that on the back end may bring disease,” said William Barber II, president
BP, which has attempted to rebrand itself as “Beyond Petroleum” in recent years, was awarded Greenpeace’s first annual Emerald Paintbrush award for their attempts at greenwashed advertising campaigns in 2008. [social_buttons] To no one’s surprise, when two activists showed up to BP’s UK headquarters with green paintbrush in hand, they were quickly escorted out of
Rainforest Action Network has declared yesterday and today, November 15th, as national days of protest against Citibank and Bank of America for their consistent support of the coal industry and its impact on global warming.
British environmental group Futureproof has been giving out £5 bills to drivers who agree to sign a petition to the British Secretary of Transport, Geoff Hoon, to encourage him to seek tougher emission standards for cars sold in the European Union.[social_buttons] “Today we’re giving drivers £5 each and in return asking them to make sure
After the Phoenix Suns NBA basketball team announced last week that they were installing solar panels as part of a new green initiative, now things only seem to be getting better for the environment when it comes to the efforts of professional sports teams. The Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team announced on Sunday that they
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
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
A growing chorus of voices is touting nuclear power as the energy solution that can help curb global warming. I’ve never been one to sing that tune, but I’m no longer as certain as I once was. My doubts arose after reading James Lovelock’s “The Revenge of Gaia: Earth’s Climate Crisis & the Fate of
