Posts tagged grist
SmartReads: Week of July 20
There is so much exciting news to share this week, from the first review of Brian F. Keane’s book, Green Is Good, to the presentation of Goodyear’s official “Arizona Solar Community” sign — the first of its kind. Send us your favorite energy articles on Twitter using the hashtag #SmartReads!
Renewable Energy World: Would Gordon Gekko Go Green? — Energy books tend to be either jargon-filled tomes or hand-wringing, end-of-the-world, please-just-shoot-me-now reprimands. So it was a relief to see that Brian Keane avoids both of these worn-out roads in his new book. [July 19, 2012]
Arizona Solar Challenge: Goodyear Celebrates 10 Percent Solar — Dozens of Goodyear residents, including Mayor Georgia Lord, turned out to City Hall on Wednesday, July 18, to celebrate the installment of Goodyear’s official “Arizona Solar Community” sign — the first in the state. [July 19, 2012]
Digital Journal: Unique Solar Incentive Program in Connecticut Captures Attention of Soluxe Solar — The sun is shining brightly in Connecticut these days and thanks to a unique new pilot program it will soon be even easier for Connecticut homeowners to turn those rays into energy savings.[July 19, 2012]
Fast Company: New Solar Panels Get Their Power From Light We Can’t See — There is a lot of the light spectrum that doesn’t register to the human eye (or to conventional solar panels). A new device which could go right on top of existing panels, helps get more of the energy from the sun. [July 16, 2012]
Grist: D.C. unveils plans for awesome new green neighborhood — After two years of internal debate among 17 different federal agencies and the Washington, D.C., government, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) released its long-awaited plans for a new Southwest Eco-District this week. [July 15, 2012]
Treehugger: World’s First Solar-Geothermal Hybrid Plan Opens in the Nevada Desert — Nevada is home to some enormous solar power facilities and is a focal point of the expansion of geothermal energy production, so it makes sense that someone would pick the state to combine the two in one beast of a clean energy production center. That someone is Enel Green Power (EGP), which in May opened the world’s first solar-geothermal hybrid energy power plant in northwestern Nevada. [July 17, 2012]
Renewable Energy World: Hybrid Solar Heat and Power Systems On the Rise- According to “Residential Combined Heat and Power,” a new study by Pike Research, the market for residential combined heat and power (resCHP) systems – defined as small, distributed energy generation systems that produce electricity for residences while also capturing heat that would otherwise be treated as waste – is still very small, but growing rapidly. [July 18, 2012]
Smart Reads: Week of June 22nd
We know you can’t catch every article during your busy work schedule so we’ve consolidated the week’s top articles for you in one easy list. Share your favorite energy, environmental and efficiency news with us on Twitter using the hashtag #SmartReads.
GENERAL GREEN
Grist: Some like it hot (or cold): How weather affects carbon emissions — We need more nuanced ways of figuring out which countries are doing well on carbon. A new paper offers emissions rankings that take local climate into account. [June 21, 2012]
Bloomberg: Chinese Silicon Makers Said To Seek Duties On U.S. Rivals — Chinese polysilicon makers are pressing their government to impose duties on U.S. imports, a move to drive up prices for competing supplies of the material used in solar panels, four people familiar with the issue said. [June 21, 2012]
CLEAN ENERGY
The Wall Street Journal: Power To More People — Africa may be about to get a whole lot more power. Some of the world’s biggest energy companies are thinking on a much grander scale. They’re conducting projects to test the viability—and marketability—of solar-powered systems to provide electricity for lighting and other purposes in villages all over Africa. [June 18, 2012]
The Wall Street Journal: First the iPhone. Now renewables. — A Japanese telecommunications magnate has ambitious plans to remake the country’s energy production. [June 18, 2012]
The Wall Street Journal: The Enlightened Classroom — Solar power has long been touted for its environmental impact. But now it has a new role: saving teachers’ jobs. [June 18, 2012]
NREL: PV for All: Low-Income Housing Residents Going Solar — Low-income housing developments have historically avoided going solar due to the obvious difficulties of incorporating high-cost, discretionary photovoltaic (PV) systems into affordable housing. However, a unique mix of local, utility, and federal support combined with a little financial creativity allowed a community in Colorado to demonstrate the application of PV into a low-income housing program. [June 18, 2012]
The New York Times: EBay Plans Data Center That Will Run on Alternative Energy Fuel Cells — EBay plans to build a data center to handle its billions of dollars in retail transactions that will draw its power from alternative energy fuel cells rather than the national power grid, which is heavily dependent on coal plants. [June 20, 2012]
Solar Daily: Sunrise Global Solar Energy reached 19.65 percent cell efficiency — Sunrise Global Solar Energy (Sunrise) has recently achieved a breakthrough for industrial grade p-type Cz solar cells. A peak efficiency of 19.65% was achieved in pilot production by combining Sunrise’s advanced fabrication techniques and a special plating method. [June 21, 2012]
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Forbes: An All-Electric Ford Mustang Shelby GT500? — Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford and other top executives flew into California Monday for the official launch of the automaker’s new Silicon Valley technology research lab. At an event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View near the Googleplex, Ford rolled out more than a dozen electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid cars that are hitting the market this year. [June 20, 2012]
SmartReads: Week of June 1
Catch the latest in this week’s clean energy and energy efficiency news, and share your favorite energy articles with us on Twitter using the hashtag #SmartReads.
CLEAN ENERGY
Grist: The truth about renewable energy - Inexpensive, reliable, and inexhaustible – We’ve all heard the common myths about renewable energy: It’s expensive; it can’t be relied upon; there just isn’t enough of it to meet our energy needs. But as technological advances and plummeting costs drive explosive growth — U.S. installed wind capacity has grown sevenfold to nearly 47 gigawatts in the last seven years — real-world experience is shattering long-held assumptions every day. [May 29, 2012]
San Jose Mercury: California poised to require ‘solar ready roofs’ on new homes and buildings – State regulators with the California Energy Commission are expected to approve stringent energy efficiency standards for new residential and commercial buildings Thursday. [May 30, 2012]
Reuters: Germany sets new solar power record, institute says – German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity - equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity - through the midday hours on Friday and Saturday, the head of a renewable energy think tank said. [May 28, 2012]
Boston.com: Solar energy industry is flourishing in Massachusetts – Massachusetts is no California when it comes to sun. But that isn’t stopping the solar energy industry from flourishing here. [May 27, 2012]
TreeHugger: Last Weekend, Half of Germany Was Running on Solar Power – Here’s how they did it, and how we can too [May 28, 2012]
Technology Review: In Pictures: The World’s Largest Solar Thermal Power Plant – The outlines of a massive solar thermal power plant—the largest ever—are starting to appear in the wilderness outside of Las Vegas. The $2.2 billion project, which is being built by Oakland, California-based BrightSource, stretches over 3,600 acres near Ivanpah, California. When it’s finished, it will generate 370 megawatts of electricity on sunny days. [May 28, 2012]
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
The Hill: Senate charges up electric cars, clears energy nominees – The Senate approved a plan late Thursday that would make it easier for lawmakers and staff to drive plug-in electric vehicles to work. [May 25, 2012]
Newsday: Nissan electric vehicles tested in New York – Nissan is supplying New York City with fuel-efficient cabs, including six electric cars for testing, but acknowledged uncertainties Tuesday about an ongoing “debate” over charging standards for electric vehicles. [May 29, 2012]
Nine MSN: Tesla to launch electric sedan in US – Tesla Motors says it will begin deliveries of “the world’s first premium electric sedan” on June 22, slightly ahead of schedule. [May 27, 2012]
Earth Techling: Nissan’s Next Electric Vehicle Frontier The e-NV200 – Nissan, looking to push further into the electric vehicle market it currently inhabits with its Leaf passenger vehicle, is next aiming for the light commercial vehicles space via its new e-NV200. It is being built in Barcelona, Spain, and will begin production there in the 2013 financial year. [May 25, 2012]
GENERAL GREEN
Mansfield-Storrs Patch: Mansfield Schools Take on Energy Challenge – Southeast Elementary and the Green Thumbs Club helped the Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge celebrate Earth Month in April by hosting joint-assemblies with Vinton Elementary and Goodwin Elementary Schools. [May 30, 2012]
