Green Education Prospectus
Green Job Growth
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, based on the National Establishment Time Series Database; analysis by Pew Center on the States and Collaborative Economics.
Green Job Distribution
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, based on the National Establishment Time Series Database; analysis by Pew Center on the States and Collaborative Economics.
Tag Archives: electricity
The [Not So] Guilty Pleasure of Air Conditioning: Coming Soon With Solar AC
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of walking out of the oppressive heat of a midsummer day into the perfect chill of a well air-conditioned building. Air conditioning is one of those modern conveniences like the cellular telephone: it hasn’t really been around that long, but now that we are used to it we wonder how people ever survived without it. However, there’s a high price tag – in most modern buildings air conditioning accounts for the single largest energy expenditure for the summer months and in many places for much of the year.
With conventionally powered electrical compressor heat pumps, that means that some of the first suggestions that an Eco Consultant is going to give a homeowner or business to reduce utility costs are going to have to do with optimizing the use of climate control systems in order to curb the appetite of these energy-hungry machines. But what if this wasn’t necessary? What if the hotter it got, the cheaper it got to run your AC? What if you could crank your thermostat to “cold” and let it rip without feeling the least bit guilty or apprehensive about what the bill at the end of the month was going to look like? Continue reading
Explosive Growth on the Horizon for African Renewable Energy Market
Currently, California, USA is the hotspot for renewable energy development worldwide, with more open solar and wind projects in this small region than anywhere else in the world. However, experts expect this to change very soon and Africa is expected to be one of the most important new regions for renewable energy production.
Up until now, Africa has been by and large left out of the renewable energy race despite prevailing weather conditions and geography that would seem to lend it perfectly to different types of renewables, particularly solar. In addition, the lack of a centralized grid system over much of the continent also lends itself to stand-alone renewable power generation as an avenue for individuals and communities who are in need of energy solutions to produce electricity in the long term while avoiding the high fuel costs and upkeep of traditional fossil-fuel systems. Continue reading
Posted in Green, Green Government, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Wind Energy
Tagged clean energy, clean energy jobs, eco friendly, electricity, energy, environment, green energy, renewable energy, renewable energy companies, solar energy, solar panels, solar power, wind energy, wind turbines
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ON LINE – Nevada’s Southwest Intertie Project: How it Demonstrates Commitment to Renewable Green Energy
The town of Apex, Nevada is normally just the location of the Apex Regional Landfill (the largest landfill in the state of Nevada), a small relief power station that comes online when nearby Las Vegas is overloading the grid and not much else. However last week brought red-letter days for this dusty, nondescript stretch of Hwy 93 situated just northeast of the city of lights. The One Nevada Transmission Line or “ON Line” (so clever!) project commencement was hosted at NV Energy’s [NASDAQ: NVE] Harry Allen Generating Station campus on Tuesday. It was a fairly star-studded event with U.S. Energy Secretary Ken Salazar and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid both in attendance, alongside a veritable who’s who of Nevada’s energy-industry brass to witness the beginning of a project that is being billed as a significant breakthrough in the support of renewable power and a major source of green collar jobs, as well as being symbolic of the new direction the state of Nevada is taking towards energy policy through the strong support of renewables.
The One Nevada transmission line consists of a 500 kilovolt power conduit that will cover the entire length of the state of Nevada running north-south. It will eventually be extended as far north as Idaho. The portion of the line that will be completed in this first phase consists of a 235-mile line extending from the Harry Allen site to a new electrical substation that will be constructed northwest of the town of Ely, Nevada. The projected price tag for the project will top $510 million. Continue reading
Posted in Green, Green Collar, Green Government, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Wind Energy
Tagged american recovery and reinvestment act, clean energy, clean energy jobs, department of energy, eco friendly, electricity, employment, energy, environment, green collar jobs, green economy, green energy, green environment, green jobs, nevada, nv energy, recovery act, renewable energy, renewable energy companies, solar energy, solar panels, solar power, wind energy, wind turbines
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Controversial Waste-Burning Renewable Energy Powerplant Moves Forward in Baltimore’s Fairfield Neighborhood
At the site of a former agricultural chemical processing facility in south Baltimore Maryland, Energy Answers of Albany, N.Y. is working on a different kind of renewable energy electrical generation facility. The power source? Trash. That’s right, garbage – the company hopes to take refuse off the curb and bring it right back to you through the meter. The generator would produce a moderately sized 120MW of electricity directly to the grid plus steam heat available locally to industrial consumers by burning up to 4,000 tons of garbage a day.
The project is classified as a renewable energy venture because it won’t be using fossil fuels to generate power. Because of that it is eligible for lucrative federal funding. Instead of functioning in the capacity of a normal incinerator, the facility will use Processed Refuse Fuel (PRF) which is essentially sorted and shredded residential and commercial garbage. The PRF burns cleaner and hotter than refuse that is used as fuel in traditional incinerators. The boiler will also use moderate amounts of Tire Derived Fuel (TDF) because of the high energy density of the material. Continue reading
Posted in Green, Renewable Energy
Tagged american recovery and reinvestment act, baltimore, carbon dioxide emissions, clean energy, clean energy jobs, department of energy, eco friendly, electricity, employment, energy, Energy Answers, Fairfield, green, green collar jobs, green energy, green jobs, incinerator, jobs, leed, recovery act, recycling, renewable energy, renewable energy companies, sustainability, tire derived fuel
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Watchdog Group Releases Latest Scorecard of State Energy-Efficiency Rankings
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released their fourth annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard last week. The poll is a broad, comprehensive analysis of a variety of different factors that contribute to progress in increasing overall energy efficiency including information about residential, commercial, industrial and transportation energy use in each state. It looks at laws, policies, programs and incentives that residents are exposed to concerning energy use and how that successful they are at increasing efficiency and reducing waste. According to their website, the ACEEE is an independent, non-profit watchdog group that is focused on the advancement of energy efficiency as a means of promoting economic prosperity, energy security, and environmental protection.
The 2010 poll put California in the number one spot for the 4th year running. The state has occupied the top spot since the ACEEE began publishing its findings in 2006. According to information in the report, California nabbed the top spot because of its efforts in consumer energy efficiency programs and incentives, utility decoupling, alternative business models, reward structures for consumer efficiency and policies establishing efficiency as a priority resource.
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GroundedPower Combines Home Energy Tech with Social Media Tools to Help Consumers Rein in Electricity Use
As the technology has become more accessible and cheaper, a number of companies have brought home energy displays to the market that are designed to help consumers track electricity use in their homes in real time. However, few of their offerings have been quite as promising as the new power management suite being released by Massachusetts based company GroundedPower.
Power monitoring devices have seen increased popularity recently as utility companies are making the transition to smartgrid configurations. Many power companies that are deploying smart grid technology have begun to supply power meters to their customers as a way of helping them to keep tabs on energy use. However the concern is that customers may not remain committed to using the monitors once the novelty of having the device wears off and they will fall back into old patterns. Continue reading
The Future of Solar Renewables: New Quantum – Dot Photovoltaics
Solar power has always been the renewable energy source that captures the imagination. Free, instant electricity with no moving parts and nothing to wear out –you just point your panel at the sun and plug in. It’s such a wonderful concept that it’s always been in the back of every renewable energy ecogeek’s mind. On top of that, it’s a commonly quoted figure that the sun blasts the earth with enough energy in an hour to produce a year’s worth of electricity. It all sounds very promising and seductive; the problem is that solar panels just aren’t very efficient. In fact most modern solar panels are only able to convert around 25% of the energy that hits them into electricity. That’s not very much and because of that solar panels just haven’t been very successful when it comes to development as a means of mass power generation.
But wait – there’s more! That’s not the only thing that is having a negative effect on the popularity of solar power. The other issue (and probably the killing stroke) is expense. Solar panels use components and materials (gold, to name one) that are extremely expensive. Because of that, the panels are very costly. The truth of the matter is that not everyone is committed enough to alternative energy that they have desire to shell out thousands of dollars to purchase a machine that only does its job at ¼ to 1/3 efficiency. Continue reading
Corporations Moving Toward the Use of 100% Renewable Energy
The use of renewable energy has passed a critical threshold with companies aiming toward making the transition to the use of 100% renewable energy. Environmentalists, ecosystem advocacy groups and the blossoming wind and solar industries are on board pushing for the exclusive use of renewable energy wherever possible.
From a technical standpoint it is seen as being a realistic goal through the use of the Cradle to Cradle principle. The Cradle to Cradle principal entails the use of 100% renewable energy while maximizing an organization’s environmental, social and economic impacts. Cradle to Cradle is a holistic, economic, industrial and social framework that seeks to create systems that are not just efficient but fundamentally waste free. It moves beyond traditional sustainability goals of only reducing negative impacts to instead creating a wholly positive or beneficial mark on the planet.
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Posted in Green, Green Government, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Sustainable Living, Wind Energy, green education
Tagged carbon dioxide emissions, carbon emissions, clean energy, cradle to cradle principle, eco friendly, electricity, energy conservation, energy efficiency, environment, renewable energy, renewable energy companies, steelcase, wind energy
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“Carboholics” (Carbon-Loving) US & China are Unlikely Marriage for Energy Efficiency Project
The saying “two heads are better than one” comes to mind when trying to work through a particularly difficult crossword puzzle; but how universal is this old adage? Are say, two countries better than one? Our leadership seems to be hedging their bets towards the conclusion that this is in fact the case. In line with this spirit of collaboration comes the latest in a series of interesting (and sometimes unlikely) pairings in the environmental research and development field. Berkeley Lab has been chosen to lead a cooperative US-China project called the Clean Energy Resource Center (CERC).
The project was conceived in 2009, beginning with a meeting between United States President Barack Obama and President Hun Jintao of China. The meeting was held in Beijing to establish a basis for the cooperative effort, which will work to develop efficient energy-saving buildings and cost-effective / waste reducing construction processes in the next five years. It is a dubious mating for the more cynical among us, especially considering the United States’ seemingly uncontrollable construction fetish (for wastefully assembled “throwaway buildings” which are simply replaced every 10 or 15 years or whenever they go out of style) and China’s love for all things carbon (if you recall the vicious smog that threatened the health of Olympic Athletes during the Beijing Summer Games and the mysterious “air scrubbers” that the Chinese government was supposedly using to keep the rampant pollution under control). Continue reading
Posted in Green, Green Government, Sustainable Living
Tagged berkely lab, california, carbon dioxide emissions, carbon emissions, china, clean energy resource center, eco friendly, electricity, energy, energy conservation, energy efficiency, environment, hun jintao, obama, sustainability
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Important Trends in Alternative Energy
Breakdown Of Alternative Energy Use in the US
Recently, the U.S. Energy Information Administration released their most recent report regarding the consumption of alternative energy in the United States. While the nation’s complete dependence on fossil fuels is readily apparent in the report, there are signs of progress as well. Nationwide, renewable energy sources accounted for over 7% of the total energy consumption. Within that 7% the main type of renewable energy that was consumed was biomass, meaning the burning of fuels produced from renewable sources such as ethanol production and biodiesel accounting for 52% of the total renewable energy consumed. The biomass sector has seen substantial growth, more than doubling its market share in the period between 2004-2008. The second leading source of renewable energy consumed was hydroelectric power which accounted for 34%. Hydroelectric energy production has remained steady (with minor fluctuations due to water levels) at between 2.2 and 3.6 quadrillion Btu/yr for about 20 years. The leading states as far as hydroelectric power generation were Washington, Oregon, New York, California, Montana and Idaho, although there was some growth in Alabama, Arkansas and New York. Since plans for the construction of new dams is limited, it can be expected that these figures will continue basically unchanged.
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Posted in Green, Green Government, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Sustainable Living, Wind Energy
Tagged alta wind energy center, american recovery and reinvestment act, california, clean energy, clean energy jobs, eco friendly, electricity, future of energy investment, renewable energy, solar, solar energy, solar panels, solar power, sustainability, types of renewable energy, wind energy, wind turbines
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