When Greg Hare looked into putting solar panels on his ranch-style home in Magnolia, Tex., last year, he decided he could not afford it. “I had no idea solar was so expensive,” he recalled.
But the cost of solar panels has plunged lately, changing the economics for many homeowners. Mr. Hare ended up paying $77,000 for a large solar setup that he figures might have cost him $100,000 a year ago.
“I just thought, ‘Wow, this is an opportunity to do the most for the least,’ ” Mr. Hare said.
For solar shoppers these days, the price is right. Panel prices have fallen about 40 percent since the middle of last year, driven down partly by an increase in the supply of a crucial ingredient for panels, according to analysts at the investment bank Piper Jaffray.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/business/energy-environment/27solar.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
The latest Electric Power Monthly Report released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows net U.S. electrical generation from renewable sources (biomass, geothermal, solar, hydro, and wind) reached an all-time high in May of 2009, comprising 13% of the total electrical generation for the month.
Renewable sources for May ’09 generated 40,395,000 Megawatt hours (Mwh), 7.7% higher than for May of 2008, and thus far the highest figure ever reported by the EIA.
http://www.globe-net.com/other_news/listing.cfm?type=2&newsID=4574
GLOBE-Net – Nexterra Systems Corp., a Vancouver-based supplier of biomass gasification solutions, and ANDRITZ, an Austrian market leader for customized plants, process technologies, have formed a strategic alliance to market drying solutions fuelled by renewable biomass energy from municipal wastewater treatment plants.
The combination of Nexterra gasification technologies with Andritz biosolids dryers will enable municipal wastewater treatment facilities to reduce fuel costs, eliminate dependence on fossil fuels, lower their greenhouse gas emissions and deploy a sustainable solution for biosolids management.
http://www.globe-net.com/other_news/listing.cfm?type=2&newsID=4570
With all the recent hoopla over the “Cash for Clunkers” program, I thought I would post some tips on how to increase the fuel efficiency of your vehicle, just in case you didn’t get the chance to take advantage of the “Cash for Clunkers” program.
- Aggressive driving kills your fuel economy. Speeding on the highway, for example, can decrease your fuel economy by 33%.
- Take the junk out of your trunk. An extra 100 pounds of cargo in your vehicle can decrease your fuel efficiency by 2%.
- Turn your car off when you’re not driving. Idling wastes gas and adds greenhouse gases needlessly into the environment.
- Keep your tires inflated to the right pressure. You can improve your fuel economy by more than 3% just by checking your tires.
Additional tips can be found here http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/drive.shtml It’s never too late to do a few simple things to max out your fuel efficiency. It will save you money, help shrink your carbon footprint, and do a good deed for the environment.
Cheers,
Ryan
GLOBE-Net - Waste from chicken farming could provide an unlikely source of biodiesel now that an environmentally friendly process to produce good-quality fuel from it has proved successful.
Chicken-feather meal is a by-product of large-scale poultry production. It often includes blood and offal, and contains about 11 percent fat.
Unlike conventional biofuel sources such as sugar cane or corn, it is not in demand for human food but it is used as animal feed because of its high protein content and fertilizer for its high nitrogen content.
http://www.globe-net.com/green_tech/listing.cfm?ID_Report=1778
GLOBE-Net – Americans used more solar, nuclear, biomass and wind energy in 2008 than they did in 2007, according to the most recent energy flow charts released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The nation used less coal and petroleum during the same time frame and only slightly increased its natural gas consumption. Geothermal energy use remained the same.
The estimated U.S. energy use in 2008 equaled 99.2 quadrillion BTUs (“quads”), down from 101.5 quadrillion BTUs in 2007. (A BTU or British Thermal Unit is a unit of measurement for energy, and is equivalent to about 1.055 kilojoules).
http://www.globe-net.com/other_news/listing.cfm?type=2&newsID=4530
You may have already heard about the Living Zero Home Tour, which is a traveling and interactive exhibit featuring ENERGY STAR products, eco-friendly construction methods, and innovative technologies that drastically reduce energy consumption—while at the same time saving on energy bills.
Last week, Good Morning America aired a short video clip about the tour and how compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) can help save money and energy at home. With lighting comprising 11%-20% of annual household energy consumption, CFLs are important component of net-zero energy buildings and provide a return on their purchase within two years.
Zero-Energy Homes combine state-of-the-art, energy-efficient construction and appliances with commercially available renewable energy systems, such as solar water heating and solar electricity. The combination results in a home that produces its own energy—as much or more than it needs. Even though the home might be connected to a utility grid, it has net-zero energy consumption from the utility provider.
The U.S. Department of Energy has partnered with building professionals and organizations to further develop the Zero Energy Homes concept. The Living Zero Home Tour is an example of these partnerships. To learn more and see a Zero Energy Home, check out the Living Zero Home Tour when it’s in a city near you.
Article by Chris Stewart, a senior communicator at DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which assists EERE in providing technical content for many of its Web sites.
Americans buy about three billion household batteries (about 10 per person) annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency—and nearly all of them end up in landfills. The next time you need to power up your gadgets, choose rechargeable batteries instead. Unlike disposable alkaline batteries, rechargeable batteries can be reused hundreds of times, which not only saves money and resources, but also reduces global warming pollution associated with battery manufacturing and transport. An independent study conducted for battery manufacturer UNIROSS estimates that using a disposable battery to create 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity has a global warming impact equivalent to driving a car 283 miles; using a rechargeable battery is equivalent to driving 10 miles.
Rechargeable battery technology continues to evolve, but there are only a few types widely available today.
http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/greentips/
Standby power, vampire power, phantom loads, leaking electricity… Whatever you want to call it, standby power is the power consumed by a product when in the lowest power consuming mode—typically when the product is switched off or not performing its primary purpose.
Alan Meier and colleagues at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) noted that many household appliances are never fully switched off, but spend most of the time in a standby mode, consuming electricity to power such features as clocks and remote control operation. They estimated that standby power accounts for 5%-10% of household electricity consumption.
LBNL calculated that videocassette recorders (VCRs) consumed more electricity over the course of a year in standby mode than while actively recording or playing. They measured the power consumed by cable and satellite boxes and found that they consume nearly as much power when switched off as when turned on; switching from “on” to “off” with a remote control seemed to do nothing more than switch a light from green to red in some cases. These findings are enough to want me to pull the plug on all my appliances and electronic devices!
Of course, we can always plug many of these devices into power strips and turn them off at the power strips when not in use. But then when we turn them on to use, many of the devices will drive us nuts blinking “0000” unless we reset the clocks.
The other option, more appealing to many people, is to buy devices that have standby losses next to zero. The U.S. government, the largest consumer, is leading the push by requiring government purchasers to select products with low standby power. DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) just launched the FEMP Standby Power Data Center, a new Web site to help Federal agencies identify these low standby power products. But this site is not limited to just Federal government purchasers. The general public can avail itself of this site to help them make informed energy purchases as well.
Products covered currently include computers and workstations, computer monitors, computer speakers, modems, printers, copiers, scanners, fax/printers, multifunction devices, docking stations, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, consumer audio equipment, telephones, a variety of major appliances, and more.
Visit the FEMP Standby Power Data Center. Make informed energy purchases and keep the energy-sucking vampires out of your house!
Post by John Lippert, an employee of Energy Enterprise Solutions, a contractor for EERE. He assists with technical reviews of content on the Consumer Guide Web site.
(GLOBE-Net) – North America’s leaders wrapped up their two-day summit in Guadalajara, Mexico this week with official declarations on climate change and energy. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon participated in the North American Leader’s Summit, an annual event started as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) initiative. The declaration on climate change and clean energy reiterated commitments — including that “developed countries [should reduce] emissions by at least 80% compared to 1990 or more recent years by 2050″ — made at the G8 summit earlier this summer.
http://www.globe-net.com/other_news/listing.cfm?type=2&newsID=4531
