Lightsource Renewable Energy, the UK’s biggest solar panel organization by limit, has affirmed it is to dispatch an extensive push into Ireland’s beginning solar PV market this year. “They hope to install enough solar farms to create 1.5 GW of generating capacity at a cost of approximately €500 million across Ireland.”
Estimated Cost and investment involved (more…)
You would think anything involving plants was inherently environmentally friendly. If you are helping the planet by growing and maintain all those beautiful species in your back garden, it can’t be harmful, right?
Well, it can be.
Gardening has become big business. A magnificent garden can help increase house prices, improve quality of life, and (in the minds of many) help with leading a green lifestyle. But gardening has the potential to be very damaging indeed. Toxic chemicals, poor life cycles, and wasteful watering systems can all add up to a big problem very quickly.
So how can you be an environment-savvy gardener? We’ve compiled some tips that will hopefully benefit you in this endeavor. (more…)
I thought I would write a quick post to acknowledge the work of Lizzie Weakly (pictured), a recent Ohio State grad, who’s been the most prolific guest blogger we’ve ever had.
Thanks, and go Buckeyes.
I disagree. He’s completely unelectable. Why? For the same reason that Chris Chistie is: he’s an &*^&^ (impolite word for “anus”). Americans have been driven down, but we’re not to the point that we would elect a completely rude, course bully.
I would love to think that we embody the “namaste” spirit (below), but I’m not that naïve. Having said that, we haven’t sunk nearly low enough to want to be represented by a person of horrible character. (more…)
Here’s an idea that I believe won’t work: a concentrated solar photovoltaic (CPV) collector the size of a satellite TV dish with a solar tracker and a battery, sold to apartment dwellers. In the first place, these people grossly over estimate how much energy will be captured and stored in the course of a day. They also don’t understand that this will be horrifically expensive on a dollars/watt basis, making it extremely tough to sell. On top of that, getting the building owner’s permission to install it won’t be a trivial matter.
My advice: market research. 1) Nail down all these factors, and then take it to a few dozen apartment renters and see if the dogs will eat the dogfood. 2) Don’t get your hopes up.
Over the past few years, I’ve written several articles calling out Chevron’s nauseating behavior in defiling the rain forests and people of Ecuador. As I’m fond of saying, there are over 200,000 groups around the world whose mission and purpose is environmental and social justice.
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Would you say that you are generally optimistic or pessimistic about the outcome for humankind on this planet? When asked this question, I commonly say that I’m neither, since taking either position implies that I know how this is going to turn out, and I simply don’t.
Actress, playwright and social commentator Anna Deavere Smith (pictured) takes a different and probably more interesting tack: while she is not optimist, she is hopeful. According to Ms. Smith, optimism says: Based on the evidence I can see around me, this is going to turn out fine—let’s get to work. Hope says: Based on that same evidence, we’re headed for catastrophe—let’s get to work.
In any case, we clearly have some work in front of us.
In response to my piece on Obama’s Tour of Alaska Focuses on Climate Change, a skeptical reader notes: The President’s speech was a sop to all his old faithful supporters, a bid to create a legacy for good intentions.
I’m not 100% sure about Obama’s exact motives. Personally, I’m a lot more charitable, but that’s just me. It will also be interesting to see how he and his presidency will come to be regarded over time. I’m betting that universal health care and environmental consciousness will be important issues for a very long time, and that his administration will be seen as a watershed event on both these.
Frequent commenter MarcoPolo, who believes in the sanctity of free market economics, remarks on an optimistic post by my colleague Cameron Atwood: You live (in) a little world of your own ideology, don’t you?
I would hardly call it a “little world.” Fortunately for us all, Cameron’s ideology, i.e., promoting environmental and social justice, is shared by more than 200,000 groups around the world: some huge, e.g., The Sierra Club and Greenpeace, and some far more modest, e.g., the subscriber base to 2GreenEnergy. It’s difficult to imagine where our world would be today if it weren’t for people of conscience who have worked through the ages to protect the interests of human rights, environmental sustainability, etc.
Frequent commenter Peter writes:
Craig, thought you would like to see if you had not – strong words – a lot late – but finally the words match the situation. (more…)
