The disposable nature of our society is perhaps at its worst when the festive season rolls around. Halloween is the most pressing example of people buying a lot of expensive, environmentally harmful products, using them for a few days, and then discarding them, only to do it all over again next year. (more…)
Renna Roberts-Gore of Orlando, Florida writes:
I am “Going Green”!! I am a 43 year old Woman who is married and living in Orlando with my Husband and Son. I am a Veteran of the Navy and worked 18 years as a Paramedic. My dream though, is to leave a Legacy through Green Laundromats. (more…)
Quora.com is a site in which questions, some profound, others trivial, are posed and then answered by people who claim to have some expertise in the subject at hand. I’ve signed up to offer my two cents’ worth on matters pertaining to renewable energy, but I read discussions on other topics as time permits.
There are quite a number of interesting answers to the question in the title above, but most (correctly in my estimation) point to wars, especially the U.S.’ current struggle in the Middle East. And of course, wasting money is one thing; wasting lives is another. (more…)
I often come across claims that wind shrouds serve to concentrate the wind’s power; I’ve seen dozens of variations on this theme over the years. The bitter truth is that this doesn’t work, for reasons explained in the article linked above, of which this is an excerpt: (more…)
A reader submits an idea for a wind turbine in which birds and bats are protected by forcing the wind to blow through a screen. I respond:
The power output of a wind turbine is proportional to the cube of the wind’s velocity. That’s the main reason the wind industry is still dangerous to birds and bats (though less so every year, as the technology continues to advance), i.e., anything that blocks the wind greatly impairs the output of the generator.
Again, the wind industry regards this as a very serious issue and is working hard to minimize the loss of life. In the meanwhile, we need to keep in mind that birds are thousands of times more likely to fly into plate glass windows and high tension towers, get hit by cars, or be eaten by cats.
It’s a cruel irony that coal miners are fighting so hard to retain their disease-ridden way of life, given its deadly effects on its participants. Yes, all 7.3 billion of us denizens of Earth will breathe more easily (literally) when coal becomes a thing of the past, but the people on whom this lethal occupation wreaks its effects most forcefully are the miners themselves. (more…)
The title here, of course, comes from the Dalai Lama.
And the pic here is something similar I noticed on 2GreenEnergy supporter Glenn Doty’s Facebook page. Not a bad way to end the week. Let me propose a toast as we head out for our Friday evening martinis: to people of kindness everywhere.
In my last post, I covered the various types of energy storage. Now it’s time to analyze in detail the possibilities that the batteries offer in this field. We will discuss the various types of batteries, and note the characteristics of different battery types.
The working principle of a battery is a reversible chemical process called reduction-oxidation (or “redox”), a process in which one component is oxidized (loses electrons) and the other is reduced (gains electrons). (more…)
When we talk about the potential for safe, inexpensive, and (of course) low-carbon nuclear energy, we’re normally talking about fission. Perhaps we’re discussing thorium and the promise represented by LFTRs (liquid fluoride thorium reactors). In fact, there is a whole chapter on this subject in my recent book: Bullish on Renewable Energy.
But we would do well to keep our fingers on the pulse of the development of fusion as well. (more…)
The good people at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) sent me an email just now with the subject line: “Changes is in the wind,” promoting the fall symposium.
I wrote back:
Sounds like a great event. Not to pick nits, but I would make this: “Change is in the wind” or “Changes are in the wind,” so as to create agreement between subject and verb.
No wonder I’m so much beloved by these guys…. 🙂
