Cleaner air raises the costs of electricity

The price of electricity produced by coal based power generators, one of the most noxious combustibles, will double starting with 2013 if it will be necessary for the power generating companies to acquire all the certificates for air pollution, declared Gabriel Baleanu, expert from the Economics and Finances Ministry. This will lead to the increase of [...]

Electricity Generation Efficiency

Editor’s Note: Today we are happy to bring to you a guest post from Sean Casten, CEO and President of Recycled Energy Development. Americans have a habit of framing our scientific history as a series of Great Inventors, from Eli Whitney to Thomas Edison to Afrika Bambaataa. The history books say each was prodded by [...]

McCain’s Vision for Renewable Energy

GOP candidate John McCain has his eyes on nuclear energy to address our current climate crisis. Nothing like solving one problem while creating another. I can understand that he may hate the sun for what it does to his pasty white skin. And that he may hate the wind for messing up his well placed [...]

OIL: Our National Dog and Pony Show

Step Right Up And Be Amazed It struck me today that our fearless leaders, would-be’s, and corporate giants seem to think we’re all a bunch of rubes gathered outside a carnival sideshow, leaning on the barker’s every word. Urging Congress to lift its ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, our fearless leader, you know, President Bush, [...]

Wind Power Blows into Peru and Brightens Future

ot too many years from now, parents living in the little town of Alumbre, Peru will probably tell their young children that they remember the days before there was electricity. These “old-timers” will talk about how wind was once thought of as the enemy– blowing out the few candles that provided light as they struggled [...]

With Vodafone Italian Phones Have a Lot of Energy

From a recent survey Italy turns out to be the first consumer of cell phones in Europe, with an average of 1.22 per head. Italians change them like dresses and the result is a huge amount of old cells in their houses. This passion for cell phone communication is all too audible on crosswalks, motorbikes, restaurants, [...]

Recycling Soon to be Mandatory in San Francisco

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom is proposing a law that would make recycling mandatory in the city. The law would require: All landlords to provide adequate recycling and composting for their tenants; Businesses that sell items (e.g., takeout food) to allow the public to deposit small amounts of recyclables, compostables and trash in their receptacles; Event organizers [...]

Eco-Disco: Self-Sufficient Dance Floor to Power First Green Nightclub

The average nightclub, with sound systems pumping and lights blazing three times a week, consumes 150 times more energy than a four-person family every year, according to Enviu, an environmental non-profit organization that’s bringing green design to the dance floor—literally.

Inflatable photovoltaics

It may look like a giant kiddies balloon, but the object pictured above is in fact state-of-the-art concentrated solar photovoltaic technology for which Cool Earth Solar, a California-based company, has reportedly just received $21-million dollars in funding.

World’s First Wave Powered Boat

Ken-ichi Horie, a 69 year old Japanese sailor, is planning a solo 4,350 mile trip from Hawaii to Japan using an innovative wave powered boat. If successful, the trip would earn him a Guinness record while simultaneously proving the viability of wave powered propulsion.

New Record: World’s Largest Wind Turbine (7+ Megawatts)

The world’s largest wind turbine is now the Enercon E-126. This turbine has a rotor blade length of 126 meters (413 feet). The E-126 is a more sophisticated version of the E-112, formerly the world’s largest wind turbine and rated at 6 megawatts.

Solar and Wind Powered StreetLights In Tokyo

We just wrote about the new LED streelights in Ann Arbor. Now we find these self-contained streetlights that generate 100% of their power from the sun and the wind. During the day, solar power is stored in a battery at the base of the light pole. At night, they illuminate while continuing to generate power [...]

Lights powered by Magnetic Field only

This field has 1,301 florescent bulbs planted in it, and they’re all glowing. They aren’t plugged into anything, however; they’re powered solely from the magnetic fields produced by the power lines above.