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Power Tool Rental said: "Really, any power tool or tool rental cuts your carbon footprint. Even if you have the money to buy the supplies you need having those resources s..." [read]

Tim said: "Am I missing something? 1.5MW, for 60 units. That means each one produces 25KW a piece, reciving 80kw of solar energy each at 31% efficiency. So, t..." [read]

said: "Nice!..." [read]

sioux said: "OK, LETS GO!! (but still Coats around the world will be full with shipwreks cause there still are no global Laws. But at least Epa is on it f..." [read]

Shaun said: "fta..."Apparently McCaskill hasn't been paying attention to statements from India and China that unless the United States and the rest of the wealt..." [read]

paulwesterberg said: "It would be great if these could be mass produced for residential installations in sizes 6-10ft. Since these use a generator to produce th..." [read]

Tsuru, Yamanashi (Japan) Finding Off-Grid Solutions To Solve Their Energy Needs

by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan on 07. 9.09
Science & Technology

hydro power tsuru yamanashi japan NEF photo
Photo: New Energy Foundation

Small towns and communities all over the world are looking for solutions to their energy needs. Going off-grid is not just a choice for individuals, the way it sometimes seems here at Treehugger. No, you will never be able to live totally away from anyone else. Off-grid doesn't mean you are on your own, out there in the wilderness. Hey, not even Thoreau was able to achieve that kind of level of gridless living. You need to have good neighbours, or else.

Tsuru, a small town in Yamanashi prefecture in Japan, has implemented strategies to harness some of the resources at their disposal. They are promoting micro-hydro, small scale water power, and moreover, they are focusing on education as a way forward.

Article continues: Tsuru, Yamanashi (Japan) Finding Off-Grid Solutions To Solve Their Energy Needs

Sugarcane to be Turned into Conventional Diesel Fuel at Brazil Biorefinery

by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 07. 9.09
Science & Technology

sugarcane photo
photo: Cliff via flickr

Brazil's widely know for running a whole heck of a lot of cars on sugarcane-based ethanol. There are lot's of problems to be pointed out in growing it, but sugarcane is one thing that the country definitely has in spades. Which is why Colorado-based Amyris Biotechnologies is opening up a demonstration plant in Campinas which will convert sugarcane into diesel fuel, Technology Review reports. Not biodiesel, conventional diesel fuel:

Article continues: Sugarcane to be Turned into Conventional Diesel Fuel at Brazil Biorefinery

Renewable Energy Could be Cheaper Than Coal

by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 07. 9.09
Science & Technology

Australian electricity grid photo

A report compiled for Australia’s peak scientific research body, the CSIRO, has come up with the startling conclusion that contrary to the common view, electricity costs to Australia’s most populated city, Sydney, may work out less, if more renewable energy was deployed, instead of building traditional coal-fired power stations.

Picking up on the study, titled Meeting NSW Electricity Needs in a Carbon Constrained World, the Sydney Morning Herald report that “building baseload power using coal was much more expensive than focusing on energy efficiency and tapping into a network of small "co-generation" power sources sprinkled in the suburbs.”

Article continues: Renewable Energy Could be Cheaper Than Coal

New World Record Rooftop Solar Power Array be Built at Milan Trade Fair

by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 07. 8.09
Science & Technology

fiera di milano photo
Entrance to Fiera di Milano, photo: ...FX... via flickr

Milan will soon be able to boast that it hosts the world's largest rooftop solar power array, taking the crown from Zaragoza, Spain and its 12 MW array on top of a General Motors factory. The new array will be built on top of the Milan Trade Fair, cover about 270,000 square meters (2.9 million square feet), and have a capacity of 18 MW, Reuters reports:

Article continues: New World Record Rooftop Solar Power Array be Built at Milan Trade Fair

Pickens Plans For Texas Wind Farm Scaled Way Back

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 07. 7.09
Science & Technology

best laid plans film poster image
Image credit:Frances Maire's Portfolio, Best Laid Plans film poster.

T. Boone Pickens, well known for oil and wind power development (and a Plan By His Name) still has to take delivery on a bunch of GE Turbines, but it looks like the Biggest Wind Farm Ever idea he had for west Texas came with the dust and is now gone with the wind. TBP indicates that his mega-wind farm plans fell through because the price of natural gas tanked. Could it have something to do with not being able to deliver West Texas groundwater and electricity to Dallas, leveraging a government built utility corridor? The Dallas News has some interesting details.

Article continues: Pickens Plans For Texas Wind Farm Scaled Way Back

Making Solar Panels Sustainably: Niagara Falls To Power New Solarworks Plant

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 07. 7.09
Science & Technology

niagara-falls photo
Niagara Falls. Image credit:State University of New York

What is the ultimate green solar panel? A true-green solar panel must have the following characteristics: design life of major components of equal length (functionality lasts as long as the shortest-lived component); renewable energy used to produce the energy-intensive materials as much as possible (silicon slices, backsheets, aluminum frames, etc.); green chemistry used to produce components and adhesives; and, finished panels easy enough to disassemble that recycling is cost-effective. With that as background, I have good news on one of the four listed precepts. The New York State Power Authority has "awarded a large block of low-cost hydropower to a fledgling California company that plans to build a plant in Western New York to manufacture solar panels."

Article continues: Making Solar Panels Sustainably: Niagara Falls To Power New Solarworks Plant

Ethanol Lobby Grows As Senate Energy Debate Looms

by Daniel Kessler, San Francisco, California on 07. 6.09
Science & Technology

corn-ears.jpg
Photo via Flickr

The ethanol industry, long a source of controversy within the green movement, was granted a sort of reprieve when the House voted on the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill. House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn) looked out for the industry's best interest, but sensing trouble the industry has hired two new prominent lobbyists to make sure the Senate continues to protect corn fuel--despite the environmental consequences.

Article continues: Ethanol Lobby Grows As Senate Energy Debate Looms

Massive 40 GW Three Gorges of Wind Power Project to Start Construction

by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 07. 6.09
Science & Technology

wind turbine photo
photo: Diego Silvestre via flickr

They're calling it the 'Three Gorges of the Land' and when completed the massive wind power project will have a capacity of 40 GW. That's what Xinhua is saying. What's more, 5 GW of that will come online by 2010, and 12 GW by 2015. Not to mention it will be constructed amazingly inexpensively, which is what raises some eyebrows over at the Wall Street Journal:

Article continues: Massive 40 GW Three Gorges of Wind Power Project to Start Construction
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