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City of Newark first in nation using cars to power grid
This month, the City of Newark, Delaware became the first electric utility in the US to use a car to store and provide power for the local electric grid.
The vehicle, which runs on electricity alone, is specifically designed to store energy and improve grid reliability. University of Delaware researchers helped develop the concept, called Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G). With the City of Newark’s approval, the UD team is now conducting V2G testing at two outlets within the City’s service territory.
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Climate Scientists Released from Federal Gag Order
Bush administration rules limiting what U.S. Department of Commerce employees can say to the media or in public do not apply to climate and weather scientists, according to an agency email released by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a service organization for state and federal employees.
As a result, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration specialists represented by the National Weather Service Employees Organization do not have to obtain agency pre-approval to speak or write, whether on or off-duty, concerning any scientific topic deemed “of official interest.”
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Alberta Tar Sands Development Deadly for Millions of Birds
Exploitation of Canada’s tar sands, the world’s largest proven oil reserves outside Saudi Arabia, is damaging forest and wetland habitats in Canada’s northern boreal forest, new research shows. The oil sands development could claim more than 160 million boreal birds, the peer-reviewed study predicts.
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Movers Find Eco-Friendly Options – NYTimes.com
For years, Fortune 500 companies have rented reusable plastic crates to relocate from one office to another. Pharmacies and supermarkets regularly use them to ship merchandise.
Now the crates are coming to the residential moving market, thanks to consumers’ desire for options they see as both convenient and environmentally responsible, and to the cost of cardboard boxes (which has remained high in many areas in spite of a recent collapse in the cost of the recycled cardboard from which most are partly made).
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California utility PG&E to open wallet for solar | Green Tech – CNET News
Pacific Gas & Electric, one of the country’s largest and most progressive utilities, will invest directly in solar power plants and solar panels distributed in different California communities.
CEO Peter Darbee said the move represents the first time that PG&E–already a large purchaser of solar and other renewable energy technologies–will build and own solar installations. Right now, the utility purchases clean energy from third parties.
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Technology Review: Better Thermal Photovoltaics
A new approach to converting heat into electricity using solar cells could make a technology called thermal photovoltaics (TPVs) more practical.
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An Austrian engineer, Franz Zotlöterer, has developed a new method for small scale hydropower by creating a whirlpool that avoids many of the problems typically associated with hydroelectric generation.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.