GreenMonk: the blog

• 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.

  tags: demand response, v2g, vehicle to grid, grid 2.0, electricity 2.0, newark, delaware

• 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.”

  tags: busg, federal gag

• 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.

  tags: canada, tar sands, oil sands, pollution, strip mining

• 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).

  tags: rentagreenbox.com, moving, recopack

• 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.

  tags: solar power, pg&e, pacific gas & electric

• 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.

  tags: photovoltaic, thermal photovoltaic

• EcoGeek – Clean Technology

  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.

  tags: hydroelectric, hydro power, vortex, whirlpool

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Inhabitat » The Mini-E Hits the Streets of New York!

  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced that BMW’s hotly anticipated Mini-E will soon be hitting the streets of NYC! This April BMW will loan the city ten fully-electric Mini Coopers to participate in New York’s “Street Condition Observation Unit” (SCOUT), which scours city streets for road damage, graffiti, and other instances where infrastructure repair is needed. The zippy zero-emission vehicles will lend the program their lightweight carbon footprint in exchange for an extensive round of road testing.

  tags: bmw, new york, mini-e, mini cooper, scout

• City of Boston Joins EnerNOC’s Demand Response Network | Xconomy

  EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC), the Boston-based company that pays factory operators, store owners, and local governments for the right to dial back their electricity usage during times of peak demand, announced today that the City of Boston is finally diving into the local “demand response” pool. Under a new agreement negotiated with the office of Mayor Thomas Menino, Boston City Hall, the Boston Public Library, and Boston Police Headquarters will be equipped with remote-controlled meters that allow EnerNOC to reduce non-essential electricity usage whenever local utilities need a buffer. In return, the city will get periodic payments—whether or not it’s ever called upon to cut usage—plus additional money for every actual demand response event.

  tags: enernoc, demand response, boston

• ‘Silicon Energy’ Fuel Cell Could Revolutionize Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Technology

  SiEnergy Systems, LLC has developed a breakthrough solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) by placing a micro fuel cell directly on a silicon chip, an advance that will revolutionize the way people use power.
  These “Silicon Energy” fuel cells address the problems that limit standard SOFCs: Leveraging the power of silicon, they operate at lower temperatures and use normal industrial materials. This key breakthrough brings real-world applications within reach. SiEnergy’s radical new approach promises to deliver SOFCs with small carbon footprints and unprecedented efficiency.

  tags: sofc, Solid oxide fuel cell, fuel cell

• Survey: Scientists agree human-induced global warming is real

  While the harsh winter pounding many areas of North America and Europe seemingly contradicts the fact that global warming continues unabated, a new survey finds consensus among scientists about the reality of climate change and its likely cause.

  tags: global warming, anthropogenic, human induced, survey, consensus

• Heavy rains alter Peru’s famed Nazca Lines

  Heavy rains in recent days in Peru have affected the famed Nazca Lines, the two-millennia-old giant outlines that are one of the country’s top tourist attractions, officials said Tuesday.

  tags: nazca lines, peru, rain

• Environmental Capital: Green Ink: Waiting for Obama – WSJ.com

  February crude oil futures sunk below $33 Tuesday ahead of the contract’s expiration, and thanks to a strengthening dollar, Bloomberg reports. Economist-turned-prophet Nouriel Roubini calls oil between $30 and $40 for the rest of the year, also in Bloomberg.

  tags: obama, energy, oil, oil price

• Chrysler-Fiat Deal Needs U.S. Loans – WSJ.com

  Chrysler LLC has found an international partner in Fiat SpA but the auto maker isn’t out of the woods, mainly because the deal is contingent on Chrysler getting $3 billion in additional government loans, said people familiar with the pact.

  tags: chrysler, fiat, loan

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Fiat Gets 35% of Chrysler in Exchange for Small Cars | EcoGeek – Clean Technology

  As Chrysler struggles to survive, the ability to build small cars is apparently more important than money.

  Chrysler, which also makes cars under the Dodge and Jeep brands obviously doesn’t have many small cars. And with every market in the world looking to get its hands on cheaper, smaller cars, apparently Chrysler didn’t like its outlook.

  So the hedge fund that owns Chrysler has just sold 35% of Chrysler to Fiat. Not for a big fat check, but simply for access to Fiat’s small car platforms. Chrysler, apparently, sees this as a step on the path toward redemption.

  tags: chrysler, fiat, small cars

• ReGeneration – Green Light Given to Green Studio

  CNNMoney reported today that a $32 million project to create Second Line Stages, the nation’s first “green from the ground up” film studio, has been finalized and construction has begun in New Orleans’ Lower Garden District.

  All major elements of the construction project -from the sound stages and office space to the parking lot – will be built to meet LEED’s strict Silver Certification guidelines.

  tags: second line stages, film studio, leed

• Turn trash into energy in your office parking lot | Green Tech – CNET News

  A small company called IST Energy has developed a shipping container-size contraption that turns your building’s trash into electricity and heat.

  The idea behind the Green Energy Machine is to offset a building’s energy use while dramatically cutting trash disposal fees. The cost of trash removal can vary greatly, but a university or office park with a number of buildings could pay about $200,000 a year, according to IST Energy executives

  tags: waste, waste-to-energy, electricity, heat, trash

• BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Nepal turns back on hydropower

  Just when switching over to clean energy to fight climate change has become a global mantra, water-rich Nepal appears to be heading in the opposite direction, changing from renewable to dirty energy.

  tags: nepal, hydro, hydroelectric, renewable energy, diesel

• Solar Energy Breakthrough Could Cut Costs By More Than 50% : CleanTechnica

  A US-based company has successfully tested a revolutionary solar panel that is expected to cut the costs of photovoltaic solar power generation by more than 50 per cent, and herald a new era of improved efficiency and lower production costs of solar energy globally.

  tags: solar panels, Solar pv, american building technologies, photovoltaic

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• The Environmental Costs of War – Green Daily

  A largely unsposken victim of war is the environment. Air, ground and water suffer under the relentless explosions and chemicals and often change the climate and ecosystem long-term.

  tags: war, environment

• Suntech – Investor Center News Release

  “We are very proud to become the world’s first PV solar company to achieve 1GW of solar cell and module production capacity,” said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s Chairman and CEO. “Since our inception, we have focused on rapidly building world-class manufacturing facilities that can meet the burgeoning global demand for green energy. This milestone is a credit to all Suntech employees that have tirelessly worked towards the common goal of making cost- effective solar energy systems available on a global scale.”

  tags: china, solar panels, solar power, Solar pv, photovoltaic, suntech

• Made in China: A plug-in hybrid for the masses | Green Tech – CNET News

  BYD Auto’s plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, the F3DM, is now on sale in China, the company announced this week at a press conference in Shenzhen, China.

  The F3DM, which will retail for 149,800 yuan ($21,200), can travel 100 km (63 miles) on its battery before needing to be recharged, according to BYD Auto.

  tags: phev, plug in hybrid, byd, china

• China Combating Pollution by Paying People Not to Drive (Beijing, cars, pollution, incentive)

  As Causecast.org recently reported, China is so desperate to get high-polluting cars off the roads of Beijing, the city government is willing to pay drivers $3,600 not to use their cars.

  tags: china, cars

• It’s a Green World – Green Headlines from Everywhere – Green Daily

  It’s a big planet with a lot of green happenings. Here’s a sample of environmental headlines from everywhere:

  tags: china, electric cars

• President Obama ‘has four years to save Earth’ | Environment | The Observer

  Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert Jim Hansen who last week warned only urgent action by the new president could halt the devastating climate change that now threatens Earth. Crucially, that action will have to be taken within Obama’s first administration, he added.

  tags: hansen, nasa, climate change, barack obama, jim hansen

• Entech Solar

  Entech Solar’s ThermaVolt™ system is based on proprietary concentrating photovoltaic and thermal (CPVT) technology that simultaneously produces electricity and thermal energy. The ThermaVolt system’s ability to convert the sunlight into two useful energy forms enables the highest energy efficiencies in the industry. Learn more about CPVT technology here or by watching the ThermaVolt system video

  tags: solar thermal, Solar pv

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

• Better Place || Press Room || Press Releases Detail || Better Place Partners With Ontario To Bring Car 20 Electric Car Infrastruct

  Better Place, today announced a partnership with the government of Ontario to help bring an electric car network to the province and create a model for the adoption of electric cars in Canada. Ontario, which is one of North America’s largest car producing regions, seeks to transition its auto manufacturing sector for future growth from electric vehicle production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

  tags: better place, ontario

• Home turbines fail to deliver as promised, warns British study

  Home wind turbines are only generating a fraction of electricity promised by the manufacturers while some even fail to yield enough energy to run the turbine’s electronics, a British study warned on Tuesday.

  Reacting to the report Alex Murley of the British Wind Energy Association said. sited correctly, small and micro wind turbines have the capability to provide more than 10% of Britain’s electricity needs.

  tags: wind energy, micro-generation, home wind turbines, small wind turbines, micro wind turbines, wind turbines

• Survey: Americans eager to reduce their energy use

  Roughly half of the 2,164 American adults surveyed last September and October said they had already taken important steps to make their homes more energy-efficient, and a substantial number — between 10 and 20 percent — said they planned to take action over the next year. Almost two-thirds of the respondents said that they would like to buy a fuel-efficient car, but over a third said they can’t afford one.

  tags: energy efficient, homes, climate change, survey

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.