Energy Efficiency Sounds So Good, But Where Are the Incentives To Make It Happen?

As SmartGridNews ace Jesse Berst notes: “Although utilities are often mandated to encourage energy efficiency, they rarely receive incentives. (more…)

As SmartGridNews ace Jesse Berst notes: “Although utilities are often mandated to encourage energy efficiency, they rarely receive incentives. (more…)

Your carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide (or its equivalent) associated with various actions and activities that we undertake every day. (more…)

Once advances were made in internal combustion technology, though, electric cars faded from the public’s memory in favor of cheaper, mass-produced gasoline-powered cars.
Now, with environmental issues becoming an ever-bigger concern, interest in the electric car is stirring again.
There are still a few obstacles to overcome before the electric car earns widespread adoption, including: (more…)
Gone are the days when people would think you were a hippie for doing your recycling.
Nowadays more and more people are switching on to the importance of reducing waste and living more sustainably. Academic institutions are embracing the green movement, with many campuses recycling and encouraging a reduction in waste.
These four college go above and beyond the basics with their amazing green credentials. (more…)

Per the article linked above: (more…)

This, of course, is only a part of the puzzle, as it omits a host of other things that are in the process of becoming extremely important to us, like vehicle to grid. Here, we mean the management of many millions of batteries in electric vehicles at various levels of charge, each of which has the potential to play a role in the health and viability of the overall grid.

Innovations in recycling, energy production, auto manufacturing and other areas are constantly emerging, and they have helped reduce the negative effects of human activities on the environment significantly.
Additionally, supporters of the green movement are utilizing the latest communication trends to spread the word about the importance of environmental protection.
So, how is technology contributing to the betterment of the environment? (more…)

Solar energy is there for the taking, but the level of the incidence of solar power on the Earth, and the variability of that power, require us to go to certain lengths to make use of it. The result in this quirky little space (solar aviation) is a plane that boasts as much upward-facing wing surface – and as little of everything else – as possible. Even taking that concept to the max, and deploying the greatest use of materials science the early 21st Century can muster, the plane is capable of only about 50 MPH. It’s just a reminder that we get lots of energy from the sun – 6000 times more every day than all 7 billion of us consume – yet bringing the costs down and the efficiencies up to the point where solar represents a large percentage of our overall energy output is no picnic.
Of course, that’s not a reason to not keep trying. Solar and the other major forms of renewable energy are becoming less expensive and more efficient every month.
This suggests a way to integrate a Happy Fathers’ Day word to my fellow dads, via a reminder: real men care about the quality of the planet they leave behind.


Here’s an article on the subject, and a discussion of the World Bank’s attempts to deal with the issue that about 1.2 billion people still lack access to electricity, and 2.8 billion have to rely on wood or other biomass. (more…)