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
