For the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, June was a month of changes for the future of renewable electricity and solar gardens in this state. Here is why: At June’s end, PV-Tech reported the Colorado PUC reversed an earlier decision it had rendered by approving the deployment of community solar gardens. The regulatory agency granted reconsideration of a
Electric cars are much, much greener than gas cars (“gasmobiles,” as I like to call them). Even in the state with the dirtiest electricity grid (Colorado), electric cars charging from the grid have a miles per gallon equivalency of 34. The average new gasoline-powered compact car has a fuel economy rating of 28 mpg. (In the cleanest
When the hydraulic fracturing measure passed the Los Angeles City Council today, several tweeters posted photos of this meeting (source of the above: Walker Foley on twitter). The City Council of Los Angeles, second-most populous metro in the United States, voted 10-0 today to prohibit hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and other “unconventional” deep-underground drilling methods to produce
How come Normal, Illinois–about 150 miles south of Chicago–has ten times as many electric vehicles per capita than the U.S. average? (You’re right; it’s not just coincidence.) A coalition of business, industry, nonprofits, all levels of government, and farsighted individuals has converged to transform Normal into an EV town. And it’s not an exclusive community.
If you’ve ever wondered about the composition of the electricity delivered to your home (most of us have no clue), there’s one quick and easy way to find out. The EPA’s ‘Power Profiler’ tool has apparently been around for at least 2 years, but I only discovered it recently. Although the data used to generate
We’re trying to get more solar energy stories going here on Planetsave. To catch readers up, I’m doing a short series on the top 50 solar energy stories of 2013 so far. Learning from the Top 33 EV Stories article I recently published, I’m splitting this one into 5 posts. Otherwise, the page would take forever to load.
Is there any violence that is not senseless? Last week’s massacre brought to the surface — as senseless violence will — the ongoing discussion on gun control. Another tragic massacre occurred and the fact that easy availability of guns played into this is unquestionable, it is unarguable. Only a few days past the shooting
Here is a story that seems to go out of its way to prove the necessity of scientific research at every level of our ecosystem and how close to breaking our world can get if we are not careful; and even if we are. New research has found that the one-two-punch of drought and attack by the mountain pine beetle are the main cause for the destruction of more than 2.5 million acres of pinyon pine and juniper trees in the American Southwest over the past 15 years.
And this is more than likely only a precursor to greater ecological disruption in the years to come.
Yep, a broken pipeline at a tar sands oil refinery pipeline seems to be leaking crude oil into the South Platte River in Colorado. Clearly, another score for the “we need the tar sands pipeline” crowd (… that is, the oil companies, their bought politicians, and FOX News). Details on how much crude oil has
More than three million megawatts of green power are waiting underground if the United States are willing to go looking for it, says a new study. The new research was funded by Google.org and conducted by scientists from the Southern Methodist University and showed there is 10 times the installed capacity of coal power plants
A 6.0 earthquake shook far beyond its epi-center in Mineral, Virginia; shaking was felt from as far north as Rhode Island, New York and as far south as Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Starting at approximately 1:51 PM at the epi-center 3.7 miles beneath the surface, reports are varying as to how long the quake lasted; best estimates are only a few seconds.
By the 2030’s, more and more regions across our planet will be entering drought conditions, according to a recently published study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. This dryness trend, which encompasses much of the temperate and tropical Western Hemisphere along with large areas of Eurasia and
Bikes! Here are a few good recent news stories on this two-wheeled masterpiece.
A new study finds that there is a 50-50 chance all of the Colorado River reservoirs — in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona — will run completely dry by the year 2057 if currents trends and practices continue.
Coyote attacks are on the rise in the Denver area this winter. Unfortunately, the simple solution that people have come up with is to shoot coyotes.
It All Depends On Who You Ask Las Vegas Water Offical Warns Radioactive Levels Rising Sunday’s news was a bit disconcerting, when I read a small story at Tri-State Online. Pat Mulroy, head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority was quoted as saying measurable quantities of uranium are showing up in Colorado River water, something
It’s been going on since 1922, seven western states staking their claims on Colorado River Water. For years, a sometimes divisive battle has raged as Colorado, Utah, California, Arizona, Wyoming, Nevada and New Mexico all said they weren’t getting their share of the precious liquid. It came to an end in Las Vegas, when representatives
