Tag: new
Great Lakes Commission tackles water levels, dredging backlog, Waukesha diversion and oil transportation
Milwaukee, Wis. – The Annual Meeting of the Great Lakes Commission, which concluded yesterday in Milwaukee, featured spirited dialogue on water levels, the growing dredging backlog on the Great Lakes, which is impeding commercial and recreational navigation, and an action item to tackle the potential benefits and risks of oil … Read More »
Tech Causing Cancer?
With kids using cell phones earlier and earlier (pre-paid companies like Boost and Virgin Mobile cater to the tween and teen markets who aren’t quite ready for contracts), and after reading a post from Eco Child’s Play last week, I was reminded that healthier tech alternatives aren’t necessarily all about green. Below is a list of some tech products that may help promote better health or at least reduce exposure to radiation.
1. Ego Cup from Funkwerks – This plug n’ play speaker phone syncs with Bluetooth enabled handsets and slides easily into the cupholder for easy storage when driving. I love that it’s so easy to set up and doesn’t require lengthy instructions to use or block vision by hanging from the rear view mirror. This is especially important for residents of California and other vicinities that are going hands-free on July 1st.
2. Bluetooth earpieces – no doubt Samsung makes some of the best quality, more affordable earpieces, but for talking in the car, the Yada YD-V1 is a great system (especially for those who tend to forget to bring their earpiece with them.) The universal phone cradle sticks onto your dash or wherever its most convenient for your to reach it, and also has a holder for the earpiece, which gets up to 6 hours of talk time and has 105 hours of standby time. The set auto powers on when you turn on the engine and hangs up with the push of a button or when you re-cradle the earpiece.
3. One other option for the less tech-savvy, is the plug in earpiece. Simply plug it into the jack on your phone and insert into your ear – no need to worry about syncing or answering an incoming call from another system. This is as basic and functional as it gets if you don’t mind the wire hanging down. Most phones ship with these in box or you can pick one up to match your phone at mass retailers, like Target.
While research has shown little correlation between cell phone use and cancer, in a recent New York Times article, the FDA admits that the studies did not take into account long term exposure to the radiation and notes that the best brain surgeons try to limit their exposure through use of ear pieces and speaker phones when they can.
Regardless of the healthy risks, studies have convincingly shown that cell phone use on the road leads to an increase in the number of accidents; so, this summer, try out one of the options above.
Atlantic City Convention Center Plans Largest Solar Roof in U.S.
Giving a new meaning to the term “sun roof”, Atlantic City’s Convention Center will install solar photovoltaic (PV) modules on 290,000 square feet of roof space, saving a projected $4.4 million over 20 years, according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger. In a groundbreaking economic arrangement, Pepco Energy Services, a subsidiary of Pepco Holdings, will pay to have the solar panels installed, and the Convention Center will then buy back the electricity from Pepco. The installation will provide a quarter of the energy consumed by the convention center. The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) says the installation will be the largest in the U.S. on one roof.
“Jeffrey Vasser, executive director of the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority, said the group began planning a solar project a few years ago when Gov. Jon S. Corzine pushed for greater use of sun and wind power in New Jersey.
‘We have a great building to do this on, and we wanted to be the first kid on the block to get in on it,’ Vasser said. This helps a young industry grow into a mature one, helps reduce our dependence on oil, and produces electricity that does not increase carbon emissions into the air,’ he said of the multi million-dollar project.”
State Governors, take note what a little forward-thinking leadership can accomplish. And think about the vast acreage across the U.S. devoted to industrial-size roofs that could be deployed to save businesses millions of dollars on energy while lessening our dependence on foreign oil. Oh yeah, and helping the environment.
Image Credit: Solar Service, Inc.
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10% of U.S. Electricity From Solar by 2025
Solar energy currently generates .1% of the electricity used in the U.S. According to a study released today, this will change rapidly as the cost of electricity increases and the cost of solar energy drops.
The Utility Solar Assessment Study produced by Clean Edge and Co-op America finds that solar energy is already reaching cost parity with conventional sources in some areas of the U.S. where electric rates are highest. By 2015, this will be achieved in many more areas, including Boston, San Diego, and New York. By 2025, cost parity will be achieved throughout the U.S.
The implications of this are huge. The U.S. solar photovoltaic market now relies heavily on state incentives to lower the cost of solar energy. Many people utilize solar energy because it is “the right thing to do” or businesses like the positive publicity solar brings.
Unique Advantages of Solar Electricity
Solar energy does not have fuel costs, like power generated from coal, natural gas, oil, or nuclear energy. The maintenance costs of solar are relatively low , it can generate electricity at the point of use, and emits no carbon. Solar is ideally suited to produce peak electricity, when demand is highest on the power grid and utility companies pay the highest rates. This is also where there is the greatest growth in electricity demand.
“The daily and seasonal variation in grid load in the United States matches solar availability,” said John O’Donnell, executive vice president of Ausra. Solar effectively generates electricity when the rates and demand are the highest.
Action is Needed to Advance Widespread Use of Solar Energy
Solar Companies
Large-scale use of solar energy depends on prices dropping to $3 per peak watt of electricity by 2018, according to the study. This involves quickly implementing advanced technologies in a cost-effective manner. Solar technology needs to be easier to install, thus reducing installation costs and other installations barriers.
Utility Companies
Utilities have become more and more interested in solar energy. California is a great example, where many utilities have signed purchase agreements for solar plant output. The U.S. will also need trained workers, which is another opportunity for utilities to take the lead.
A large investment in solar energy is needed for 10% of U.S. electricity to be generated by solar energy by 2025. Utilities will need to invest between $26 and $33 billion per year, a pretty hefty sum. To put this number in perspective, utilities invested $70 billion in 2007 on new power plants and transmission and distribution centers.
Solar Regulation and Policy
There is currently a 30% commercial tax credit for solar energy, but it is set to expire at the end of the year. There are purchase agreements for 3.2 gigawatts of concentrated solar power during 2007, but these solar power plants cannot be constructed before the tax credit expires. A long-term extension of the renewable energy tax credit is needed for large-scale use of solar energy. Many states also have renewable portfolio standards, but a national renewable portfolio standard would also help strengthen the industry.
Related Posts on Solar Energy
Solar Thermal Electricity: Can it Replace Coal, Gas, and Oil?
Senate Coalition Introduces Clean Energy Tax Package
Solar Panels and the Quest for $1/Watt
Clean Energy Intro: Solar Businesses
4 Things to Consider Before Going Solar
Photo Credit: Solar Service Inc of Illinois
Clean Alternatives to Everyday Machines: Introduction
It started with a long discussion betweeen my wife and me. We each thought it’d be fun to get a scooter, but worried that, for us–a 1 car, 2 bike family–we would actually be doing more environmental damage by getting a scooter. Meaning, unlike many who get a scooter to use instead of their car (wise choice), we’d end up using our scooter instead of our bikes (un-wise choice). Being our primary mode of transport, the bikes would likely fall victim to the newer, sexier, faster scooter.
This got me on the thought process that I wished more people would first give a bike a try for their short trips, instead of viewing the scooter as their only alternative to combat gas prices. Of course it’s more work–but more work can be more rewarding. Which got me to thinking that there are plenty of tools that have traded elbow grease for electricity–yet we have benefitted little. Which turned me on to this mini-series…
Just as John Henry fought the steam hammer to show that human power cannot be undone by the industrial revolution. I am hoping to open a few eyes to the alternatives that are possible when we replace one of our everyday machines with the same machine sans motor/electricity/etc.
In the interest of full disclosure John Henry did beat the steam hammer but he also dropped dead in the process.
That said, I will be realistic with my comparisons–I don’t want anybody to drop dead of exhaustion. I’m sure I’ll find, in some cases, the modern invention to be more beneficial to the manual powered version it replaced.
I am of the same mindset as Wendell Berry, when he said:
a new contraption should be adopted only if it is cheaper, smaller, and locally made; uses less energy; does not disrupt anything good that already exists (including family and community relationships); does not infringe on the rights of other species (plants and animals alike); and does not harm the interests of the next seven generations…
That is the premise of this blog–we at Cleantechnica point out such “contraptions”. However, in the case of progress–when we’ve gone too far–it is often best to kick it old-technica. Because, in many cases the cleanest solutions are the oldest.
So, beginning next Tuesday (and lasting roughly 1 month) I will give an unbiased comparison as I weigh the pros and cons of popular machines most people use, with their human powered counterparts.
Stay tuned for the first match-up:
June 24th, 2008–The Motorized Lawnmower vs. The Push Reel Mower!!!
image credits: Postal Museum and Amazon.com