Search Results for: "smart grid"

• California Utility Plans for Electric Cars – Green Inc. Blog – NYTimes.com

  The chairman of PG&E, northern California’s largest utility is preparing for the onset of electric cars — soon

  tags: pg&e, smart garage, smart grid, v2g, ev, phev, plug in hybrid, greenmonktv

• Utility Replaces Some Coal With Switchgrass – Green Inc. Blog – NYTimes.com

  More electricity is already coming from solar and wind sources, so why not from switchgrass?

  NRG Energy, a wholesale power generation company that operates in the United States, Australia and Germany, is experimenting with that possibility. The company announced on Wednesday that it has begun a pilot project to replace some coal with locally grown switchgrass and sorgham at its Big Cajun II plant in Louisiana.

  tags: nrg energy, biomass, sorghum, switchgrass, coal, greenmonktv

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

• Google Writing Smart Grid Software for Hybrids – Reviews by PC Magazine

  Google Inc is in the early stages of looking at ways to write software that would fully integrate plug-in hybrid vehicles to the power grid, minimize strain on the grid and help utilities manage vehicle charging load.

  “We are doing some preliminary work,” said Dan Reicher, Google’s director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives. “We have begun some work on smart charging of electric vehicles and how you would integrate large number of electric vehicles into the grid successfully.”

  tags: smart grid, google, phev, plug in hybrid, demand response, greenmonktv

• Post-human Earth: How the planet will recover from us – environment – 30 September 2009 – New Scientist

  Let’s suppose that happens. Humanity’s ever-expanding footprint on the natural world leads, in two or three hundred years, to ecological collapse and a mass extinction. Without fossil fuels to support agriculture, humanity would be in trouble. “A lot of things have to die, and a lot of those things are going to be people,” says Tony Barnosky, a palaeontologist at the University of California, Berkeley. In this most pessimistic of scenarios, society would collapse, leaving just a few hundred thousand eking out a meagre existence in a new Stone Age.

  Whether our species would survive is hard to predict, but what of the fate of the Earth itself? It is often said that when we talk about “saving the planet” we are really talking about saving ourselves: the planet will be just fine without us. But would it? Or would an end-Anthropocene cataclysm damage it so badly that it becomes a sterile wasteland?

  tags: anthropocene, mass extinction, venus syndrome, greenmonktv

• HP SkyRoom sets low ceiling on videochat

  HP today came up with a videoconferencing product that could work out 1,000 times cheaper than the telepresence mega-productions itself and Cisco have been pushing.

  Cisco’s TelePresence or HP’s Halo can cost more than $300,000 for a boardroom suite setup, but HP’s SkyRoom could link two boardrooms for less than $300.

  tags: cisco, tlepresence, hp, skyroom, halo, videoconferencing, greenmonktv

• Greenwash: ConocoPhillips’ opposition to US climate bill is devious and dishonest | Fred Pearce | Environment | guardian.co.uk

  The green mission statements made by the US energy firm amount to nothing when it dirties its hands with tar sands and campaigns against Obama’s climate bill

  tags: conoco phillips, conocophillips, greenwash, tar sands, greenmonktv

• E.P.A. to Require Big Polluters to Report Emissions – NYTimes.com

  The Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday that it would require the nation’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases to start tracking their emission levels on Jan. 1 and report them to the government.

  The E.P.A. said the reporting would cover roughly 85 percent of the greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States linked to global warming.

  tags: epa, greenhouse gas emissions, report emissions, greenmonktv

• South Africa softens stance on emissions targets – COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009

  South Africa appears to have softened its position on greenhouse gas emissions, saying on Wednesday it would support cuts to prevent global warming.

  “On global warming, cabinet would like to correct the wrong impression that had been created that South Africa was opposed to targets being set on global warming,” cabinet spokesman Themba Maseko told journalists, according to Reuters.

  tags: south africa, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, greenmonktv

• Worldchanging: Bright Green: Planetary Boundaries and The Failure of Environmentalism

  Planetary boundaries are the natural limits on humanity’s use of the planet. Strikingly, until recently, no one had made a serious effort to quantify these limits in measurable ways. That’s why a new report from the Stockholm Resilience Center, attempting to give hard numbers for most of these boundaries, is so crucial.

  The Resilience Center focused in on nine boundaries: climate change, stratospheric ozone, land use change, freshwater use, biological diversity, ocean acidification, nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the biosphere and oceans, aerosol loading and chemical pollution. These are each critical in their own ways:

  tags: planetary boundaries, resilience center, greenmonktv

• UPS to FedEx: We’re Greener Than You | ClimateBiz.com

  These days, to my delight (and, I hope, yours), big companies are battling over which one is more sustainable. I’m sure Michael Dell wasn’t happy to read that Hewlett Packard landed atop Newsweek’s new sustainability rankings of the S&P 500 companies, even though Dell was right behind at No. 2. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo monitor each other’s environmental initiatives nearly as closely as they vie for shelf space at Wal-Mart, which, not coincidentally, keeps an eye on the greening of all of its suppliers.

  Now UPS and FedEx, longtime and intense rivals, are going at it.

  tags: ups, fedex, sustainable, sustainability, greenmonktv

• HP Tightens Smart Grid Security – News – eWeekEurope.co.uk

  HP has launched a new audit service for smart grid technology, in response to a series of successful hacking attempts against energy meters and other infrastructure.

  tags: hp, smart grid, smart grid security, smart meter, ioactive, greenmonktv

• Smart Grid: Whirlpool Promises a Million Smart Clothes Dryers in 2 Years

  Whirlpool Corporation says it will manufacture a million Smart Grid-compatible clothes dryers by the end of 2011. In homes where utilities have two-way communications, clothes dryers could be controlled remotely by the utility, powering it down in times of peak usage or running the appliance at a time when electricity is cheaper (for example, at night). Whirlpool estimates that if a utility has time-of-use pricing in place, a smart dryer could save a consumer between $20 and $40 a year.

  tags: whirlpool, smart grid, clothes dryer, demand response, greenmonktv

• IBM Press room – 2007-08-01 IBM’s Project Big Green Spurs Global Shift to Linux on Mainframe – United States

  IBM to consolidate about 3,900 computer servers onto about 30 System z mainframes running the Linux operating system. The company anticipates that the new server environment will consume approximately 80 percent less energy than the current set up and expects significant savings over five years in energy, software and system support costs.

  tags: ibm, system z, mainframe, linux, project big green, greenmonktv

• Omnivore’s Dilemma: The pleasures, perils and ethics of choice | StarkSilverCreek – All Things West Coast

  Michael Pollan, in ‘Omnivore’s Dilemma’ attempts to trace back the history of four very different meals: one from a fast food chain, one based on the multitude of Organic-labeled food, another from a sustainably-farmed meal and finally a meal that was foraged by the author himself.

  tags: omnivoers dilemna, omnivore, food, traceability, greenmonktv

• Rise in sea levels can’t be reversed – COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009

  Even if carbon emissions were cut to zero immediately, sea levels would continue to rise through the coming centuries, scientists say. A likely projection is an increase of up to five meters over 300 years.

  tags: sea level rise, carbon emissions, ipcc, greenmonktv

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

• Build a Better Bulb for a $10 Million Prize – NYTimes.com

  he ubiquitous but highly inefficient 60-watt light bulb badly needs a makeover. And it could be worth millions in government prize money — and more in government contracts — to the first company that figures out how to do it.

  Right now, that company could be Philips, the Dutch electronics giant. The company announced on Thursday that it had submitted the first entry for the L Prize, an Energy Department contest that will award up to $10 million to the first person or group to create a new energy-sipping version of the most popular type of light bulb used in America.

  tags: incandescent, light bulb, philips, L prize, led, cfl, GreenNumbers, greenmonktv

• Chemical Time Bomb in Ukraine Endangers 7 Million People

  The health of at least 7 million inhabitants in Moldavia and Ukraine is seriously threatened by a single stock of old pesticides.

  This has been reported by the International HCH and Pesticides Association (IHPA). According to the organization the EU must act as fast as possible to disarm this ‘biggest chemical time bomb of Europe’.

  tags: pesticides, pollution, ukraine, moldavia, hcb, GreenNumbers, greenmonktv

• Commerce Secretary Unveils Plan for Smart Grid Interoperability

  Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today unveiled an accelerated plan for developing standards to transform the U.S. power distribution system into a secure, more efficient and environmentally friendly Smart Grid and create clean-energy jobs.

  The draft of the report is available at http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/smartgrid_interoperability.pdf.

  Produced by the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the approximately 90-page document identifies about 80 initial standards that will enable the vast number of interconnected devices and systems that will make up the nationwide Smart Grid to communicate and work with each other. These standards will support interoperability of all the various pieces of the system—ranging from large utility companies down to individual homes and electronic devices. The report also lists a set of 14 “priority action plans” that address the most important gaps in the initial standard set.

  tags: commerce secretary, gary locke, nist, standards, smart grid standards, smart grid, greenmonktv

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

• Siemens, Silver Spring announce Smart Grid interoperability | VentureBeat

  Interoperability is the elephant in the room that is the Smart Grid space. As large companies, startups and utilities alike strive to create a cleaner, more efficient electrical grid — deploying new technologies wherever they can — it is becoming increasingly important for their devices and networks to be able to communicate and work together. Toward that end, leading smart meter and wireless networking provider Silver Spring Networks announced that its equipment can now integrate seamlessly with electrical substations made by Siemens.

  Announced today at the GridWeek conference in Washington, D.C., the deal follows in the same vein as Smart Grid network provider Trilliant’s with substation and power automation provider ABB, unveiled yesterday.

  tags: smart grid, silver spring networks, siemens, greenmonktv

• Cisco recruits Smart Grid players into interoperable consortium | VentureBeat

  A day after IBM announced its new SAFE software package providing a standard infrastructure platform for utilities and Smart Grid startups, Cisco Systems has announced its own consortium of companies adopting common IP-based communications standards. In doing so, the company hopes to network Smart Grid stakeholders into a completely interoperable ecosystem for sending and receiving energy consumption data.

  tags: cisco, ecosystem, energy consumption data, smart grid, greenmonktv

• IBM launches software to standardize, accelerate smart grid startups | VentureBeat

  As large companies like Intel, Cisco and AT&T eye participation in the new, emerging Smart Grid, IBM has jumped in with both feet — providing software that greases the wheels of grid development and pouring $2 billion into startups and utilities building out a cleaner, more efficient grid. Today, it expanded its presence even more with the launch of its Solution Architecture for Energy and Utilities Framework (SAFE) for startups, a software package intended to support basic operations so that companies can focus on innovation.

  tags: ibm, safe, smart grid, interoperability, greenmonktv

• Silver Spring Networks gobbles up Greenbox to become Smart Grid powerhouse | VentureBeat

  Silver Spring Networks, a startup that provides IP-based networks and advanced wireless meters to utilities and their customers, just announced that it is acquiring Greenbox Technology, a maker of monitor displays that show homeowners how much energy they are using and how much it is costing them. This extends Silver Spring’s lead over the competition as it eyes an increasingly likely IPO.

  In addition to generous funding, Silver Spring also enjoys high-profile utility partnerships with Pepco, Pacific Gas & Electric, Florida Power & Light, Commonwealth Edison and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District — accounting for 25 percent of the U.S. population. It also has a substantial presence in Australia and is rolling out new utility deals every day.

  tags: silver spring networks, greenbox, smart meters, smart grid, greenmonktv

• Itron teams with OpenPeak to bring smart meter data to touchscreens | VentureBeat

  Major smart electric meter maker Itron announced today that it has joined forces with home energy management device maker OpenPeak. Their combined technologies will help both utilities and their customers keep closer tabs on exactly how much electricity is being used, why, and how much it is costing.

  Itron will be integrating OpenPeak’s line of easy-to-use touchscreen monitors into its smart meter systems

  tags: itron, openpeak, smart meter, smart grid, touchscreen, demand response, greenmonktv

• US government doubles green stimulus program – COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009

  The US government on Tuesday announced that it will allocate an additional 550 million US dollars in grants to develop renewable energy projects. The goal is to double the US production of renewable energy from solar, wind, biomass and other renewable energy production facilities in a few years.

  tags: renewable energy, solar, wind, biomass, greenmonktv

• San Jose, PG&E lift veil on major Smart Grid collaboration | VentureBeat

  Pacific Gas and Electric announced today that it’s partnering with the city of San Jose, Calif., to deploy a major project integrating smart meters provided by the utility with the city’s well-developed solar energy infrastructure.

  tags: pg&e, city of san jose, san jose, smart meter, smart meters, solar energy, greenmonktv

• HP Sets New Energy Reduction Goals, Reports on Environmental Programs

  HP today announced it has established new goals to reduce the energy use and carbon intensity of its operations and products as well as reported its progress on environmental initiatives across the company.

  HP has already met its goal of reducing combined energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of HP operations and products to 25 percent below 2005 levels by 2010.

  HP’s new goal is to reduce the energy consumption and associated GHG emissions of all its products to 40 percent below 2005 levels by the end of 2011.

  tags: hp, energy, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, greenmonktv

• Nissan Tackles the Silent Electric Car Problem | Triple Pundit

  So Tabata and his team consulted Japanese film score composers, and eventually settled on a sound reminiscent of the flying cars in the sci-fi noir film Blade Runner.

  tags: nissan, nissan leaf, noise, blade runner, greenmonktv

• Green power line to Los Angeles hits roadblock | Green Business | Reuters

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to make Los Angeles the “cleanest, greenest big city” in the United States, but a key project to bring renewable energy across the desert to the city could change under pressure from environmental groups.

  Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest U.S. municipal utility with 4 million customers, wants to build an 85-mile transmission line for clean energy, called the Green Path North transmission line.

  Activists have decried a proposed path that would cut through the Yucca Valley, two wildlife preserves and the San Bernardino National Forest.

  Building transmission lines to bring in power from solar and wind farms has raised environmental and permitting issues across the nation.

  tags: los angeles, renewable energy, green path north, transmission lines, greenmonktv

• Smart Grid Stimulus: Wait for It, DOE Says | Green Light

  Rumors that the Department of Energy was going to announce the first winners of $3.9 billion in smart grid stimulus grants this week have been greatly exaggerated.

  That’s according to Jen Stutsman, DOE deputy press secretary, speaking Tuesday at the GridWeek conference in Washington, D.C..

  The jam-packed smart grid industry event has had its share of hopeful rumors that grants from the DOE’s commercial-scale and demonstration-scale smart grid programs might come a bit early this year (see DOE Issues Rules for $3.9B in Smart Grid Stimulus Grants).

  But Stutsman reiterated that the DOE expects to make its first announcements in mid-November, dashing those hopes.

  tags: smart grid stimulus, smart grid, doe, greenmonktv

• Electricity costs should move to reflect demand: Chu | Green Business | Reuters

  electricity rates will need to rise to reflect periods of intense energy use and to encourage consumers to change their electricity habits, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu

  tags: steven Chu, doe, energy secretary, demand response, smart grid, greenmonktv

• Microsoft Utilities Delivery Solutions

  Microsoft and our partners are preparing for the increasing sophistication and automation of the grid, including the entry of a new type of energy consumer who is also an energy producer and source of stored energy.

  tags: microsoft, smart grid, greenmonktv

• Cisco Continues Global Smart Grid Momentum

  Cisco today announced further steps in its efforts to enable development of an end-to-end, highly secure Smart Grid communications infrastructure that will help utility companies and their customers optimize energy supply and demand, improve smart grid security and reliability, and reduce operational costs.

  tags: cisco, smart grid, greenmonktv

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

• Cellphone radiation levels vary widely, watchdog report says – USATODAY.com

  Some cellphones emit several times more radiation than others, the Environmental Working Group found in one of the most exhaustive studies of its kind.

  The government watchdog group on Wednesday releases a list ranking cellphones in terms of radiation. The free listing of more than 1,000 devices can be viewed here.

  tags: cellphone, mobile phone, radiation, greenmonktv

• Boulder’s Smart Grid City Goes (Mostly) Live : TreeHugger

  Xcel Energy has wrapped up infrastructure construction and launched the software needed to get the city’s smart grid operational. It can now claim to be the farthest along of any project currently underway in the world. They aren’t quite finished yet – homeowners need to still be brought on board with home energy monitoring – but they’re getting their fast. All the important infrastructure pieces are now in place.

  tags: smart grid, xcel energy, boulder, greenmonktv

• UK lined up to be Europe’s carbon storage capital

  Britain could become the carbon storage capital of Europe by selling space beneath the North Sea to bury billions of tonnes of waste gases from the continent’s power stations.

  An industry offering carbon storage to the mainland could create as many jobs as North Sea oil and bring £5bn a year into UK coffers by 2030, scientists estimate.

  tags: ccs, co2, british geological survey, North, greenmonktv

• Will climate change call time on beer quality? | Leo Hickman | Environment | guardian.co.uk

  Famine. Mass migration. Flash flooding. Sea-level rises. Increased malaria. Heat waves. Rapid species extinctions. The implications of climate change are well documented and much discussed. But, due to a curious cocktail of apathy, denial and ideologically fuelled intransigence, some people still choose to play “see no evil”.

  Well, maybe this is what it will take to get them to sit up and take notice: climate change is starting to degrade the quality of beer.

  tags: climate change, beer, beer quality, greenmonktv

• ‘Strong’ evidence linking toxic ship to ICoast deaths: UN expert – Yahoo! News

  A UN expert has found “strong” evidence linking at least 15 deaths and several hospitalisations to pollution from a ship that dumped toxic waste in Ivory Coast, contrary to claims from the firm that chartered the ship.

  tags: trafigura, greenmonktv, ivory coast, pollution, health

• Measures to protect Mediterranean tuna are failing, report warns | Environment | guardian.co.uk

  Measures to protect dwindling stocks of bluefin tuna fish in the Mediterranean have failed to curb illegal fishing practices, leaked papers show.

  tags: tuna, bluefin tuna, bluefin, mediterranean, tuna stocks, greenmonktv

• Morocco’s unique vulnerability to climate change | Grist

  Morocco’S 3,500km of coastline makes it particularly vulnerable to sea level rise.

  With most of its economic activity near the coast, no legislation preventing building in the coastal zone and the government reportedly selling coastal land to developers at notional prices, climate change is a real threat.

  tags: morocco, climate change, greenmonktv

• BP shuts alternative energy HQ

  BP has shut down its alternative energy headquarters in London, accepted the resignation of its clean energy boss and imposed budget cuts in moves likely to be seen by environmental critics as further signs of the oil group moving “back to petroleum”.

  tags: greenmonktv, bp, alternative energy

• Supplying 200,000 homes, world’s largest offshore wind farm opens in Denmark

  The wind farm will supply 200,000 Danish households with electricity. It is the first of its kind to be equipped with a platform where personnel can spend the night.

  tags: wind energy, Wind farm, offshore wind farm, greenmonktv, GreenNumbers

• Boy discovers microbe that eats plastic | MNN – Mother Nature Network

  It’s not your average science fair when the 16-year-old winner manages to solve a global waste crisis. But such was the case at last month’s May’s Canadian Science Fair in Waterloo, Ontario, where Daniel Burd, a high school student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, presented his research on microorganisms that can rapidly biodegrade plastic.

  tags: plastic, biodegrade, greenmonktv

• Australian Government: World Killing the Great Barrier Reef

  A new report from the Australian government shows that the country’s own proposed carbon emissions target will kill the Great Barrier Reef along with hundreds of marine species and the livelihoods of those communities who depend upon it for survival. The peer-reviewed Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report also states that an average global temperature rise of 2°C will kill off the reef.

  tags: australia, great barrier reef, climate change, greenmonktv

• Google plans new mirror for cheaper solar power by Reuters: Yahoo! Tech

  Google is disappointed with the lack of breakthrough investment ideas in the green technology sector but the company is working to develop its own new mirror technology that could reduce the cost of building solar thermal plants by a quarter or more.

  tags: google, solar, mirror, greenmonktv

• Europe Moves Closer to Banning Bluefin-Tuna Trade – TIME

  For years, environmental organizations like Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have warned that overfishing could cause bluefin tuna to go the way of dinosaurs and dodos. Now the European Commission says it agrees with that grim assessment. In a compromise that unites Europe’s departments of environment and fisheries, the commission lent its support to a proposal that, barring new scientific evidence, would list Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin as an endangered species — and therefore ban its trade — for two years.

  tags: tuna, bluefin tuna, wwf, greenpeace, overfishing, greenmonktv

• Software Enabled Earth : Microsoft’s new R&D Support Lab helps move servers to more energy efficient facility

  Microsoft recently opened Redmond Ridge 1, the company’s first purpose-built Research and Development Support (R&DS) facility designed specifically to consolidate computer labs from the main Redmond campus and house servers used in the development and testing of its software products.

  tags: microsoft, efficiency, data center, greenmonktv

• RealClimate Wiki

  This site is primarily an index for debunking of various popular media occurrences of climate-related nonsense. Articles are sorted by where they appear (outlet and country), or alphabetically by author. Under each article you will find links to rebuttals of specific arguments and overall critiques of the pieces.

  tags: wiki, realclimate, debunking, greenmonktv

• Watch out Tesla, here comes the Audi e-tron | Frankfurt Auto Show 2009 – CNET Reviews

  The most exciting concept shown at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show is an electric sports car, the Audi e-tron. Borrowing body lines from the Audi R8, it can’t help but look good. And boasting specs like 3,319 pound-feet of torque, it can’t help but make gearheads drool.

  Still, less acceleration, lower top speed and not yet in production, I think Tesla can sleep easy for another while!

  tags: audi, tesla, electric vehicle, greenmonktv

• Signs of climate tipping points are growing | Climate Change

  Scientists have long warned that climate change is not a linear process: global patterns can chug along looking quite normal for long periods of time even as we continue to pump increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and then … bam, a tipping point is reached, pushing us into a new “normal.”

  tags: climate change, carbon dioxide, tipping point, greenmonktv

• Electric Trabant Unveiled at Frankfurt Motor Show

  The new Trabant NT concept car has been unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which runs until Sept. 27.

  tags: trabant, electric car, greenmonktv

• When an Electric Car Dies, What Will Happen to the Battery?: Scientific American

  In the race to put 1 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015, another challenge awaits on the other side of the finish line: recycling all of those batteries.

  tags: plug in hybrid, electric vehicle, battery, lithium ion, recycling, recycle, greenmonktv

• Nortel: Community – Blogs – Nortel Greenroots: Walmart supplier sustainability index: a draft Nortel response

  A big development in the sustainability business field over the last few weeks was the announcement of the Sustainability Product Index. I applaud Walmart for this program and we have seen that their enormous market power is an effective tool for moving the bar in sustainable business practices.

  I thought it would be interesting to take a crack at answering the survey from a Nortel perspective. I want to emphasize that this is not Nortel’s official response to the survey; I have only attempted to scratch the surface and indicate the direction of our response to the survey. We would obviously elaborate further on our programs and results for the October deadline imposed by Walmart.

  tags: nortel, wal-mart, walmart, walmart sustainability index, greenmonktv

• Polar bears run riot as ice melts – environment – 16 September 2009 – New Scientist

  As climate change causes sea ice to shrink, the number of “problem” polar bears appears to be increasing.

  Hungry bears don’t just lie down – they go looking for an alternate food source. In many cases this brings them into human settlements and hunting camps.

  tags: polar ice, polar bear, ice melt, greenmonktv

• Barack Obama and EU ‘clash over climate change’ – Telegraph

  The European Union has clashed with Barack Obama’s administration over climate change amid fears negotiations on regulating greenhouse gases could break down, according to reports.

  tags: eu, us, barack obama, climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gases, greenmonktv

• Solar Roadways

  The Solar Roadway™ is a series of structurally-engineered solar panels that are driven upon. The idea is to replace all current petroleum-based asphalt roads, parking lots, and driveways with Solar Road Panels™ that collect and store solar energy to be used by our homes and businesses. This renewable energy replaces the need for the current fossil fuels used for the generation of electricity. This, in turn, cuts greenhouse gases literally in half.

  tags: solar roadway, solar power, solar, greenmonktv

• Conflict Materials in Electronics

  Would you kill for a shiny, sparkly, top of the line, and brand-spanking-new cell phone, computer, or mp3 player?
  Chances are, you actually have.

  tags: conflict materials, cell phone, laptop, DR Congo, greenmonktv

• Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells – Series – NYTimes.com

  There are 41,000 dairy cows in Brown County, which includes Morrison, and they produce more than 260 million gallons of manure each year, much of which is spread on nearby grain fields. Other farmers receive fees to cover their land with slaughterhouse waste and treated sewage.

  In measured amounts, that waste acts as fertilizer. But if the amounts are excessive, bacteria and chemicals can flow into the ground and contaminate residents’ tap water.

  tags: pollution, water, farm, farming, farm waste, coliform, wisconsin, greenmonktv

• Madrid reverses the chargers with electric car plan | Environment | The Guardian

  The rise of the mobile phone has left the streets of Madrid littered with increasingly redundant telephone booths. But these underused installations are now set to play a key role in Spain’s electric car revolution under government plans to make them part of a network of electric charging stations for vehicles.

  tags: madrid, seville, barcelona, smart grid, ev, electric car, electric vehicle, greenmonktv

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