Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Friday, November 2nd, 2007
There’s good news and bad news at the Nellis Air Force Base just outside Las Vegas, Nevada. The good news is that the military has created the largest solar power plant in North America, a 140-acre, 15 megawatt facility that’s supposed to reduce energy costs for the base and surrounding community by $1 million a year. That’s a lot of oil, even at $100 a barrel! The Pentagon sees this base as the first step in involving private alternative energy companies to help fill the military’s needs. They already have a couple of large wind farms and some smaller solar plants at other bases in various parts of the country.
The bad news? They’re still considering supplementing their sustainable energy with small nuclear power plants. Hopefully, these will not get built. Dear Pentagon, don’t squander the gains you’re making to free the military from oil dependence by embracing nuclear power! Give solar and wind a fighting chance!
To read the full article in Wired magazine, click here.
Posted in Energy, Photovoltaics | Permalink
Solar Decathalon
Thursday, November 1st, 2007
Recently, the National Mall in Washington DC was transformed into an outdoor exhibit for the future of home design. The Solar Decathalon is held every other year and focuses on a unique design challenge.
Student lead teams from around the world competed to build live-in prototypes for houses with accustomed American features–and sometimes more. The houses were required to meet certain energy usage requirements like a TV, computer, hot showers, etc, and also meet indoor climate requirements like temperature and humidity moderation. All this while being completely off grid.
A team from Germany, where solar incentives have driven the market for years, won the competition, ahead of teams from University of Maryland and Santa Clara University. There were 20 finalists invited to come to DC.
At 9am this Sunday morning on CBS Morning News there will be a segment on the competition by the NYT columnist David Pogue.
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Photovoltaics | Permalink
New Frontiers for Coal
Friday, September 21st, 2007 The folks over at Foreign Policy’s Passport blog (recommended reading for lots of great news analysis) are dishing the dirt on the possibilities of the nascent Coal-to-Liquid (CTL) industry taking off with an assist from the U.S. military. To wit:For the coal industry, getting access to the American gas tank would be a tremendous boost, giving it a whole new market outside of power generation and heavy industries like steel. The WSJ [Wall Street Journal] filed a must-read report last week, “Coal Industry Hopes Pentagon Will Kindle a Market,” that really gets at the key issues. CTL is a huge emitter of carbon dioxide, and the process uses between 5 to 7 gallons of water for every gallon of fuel it produces. But those inconvenient facts aren’t dissuading some folks…
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Photovoltaics | Permalink
