Solar Powered Farming Can Improve Food Security

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Since diving into the deep end when it comes to energy issues, almost every day sees new concepts, approaches, and technologies — fascinating, exciting, even hope-inspiring at times. And, to top it all off, so many of these are truly Energy COOL as well.

Innovative combinations of rather straightforward, well-in-hand technologies can offer real solutions to problems while creating new opportunities.

Several weeks ago, a group of researchers published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences documenting how relatively low-powered solar systems offer the potential to increase food supplies in impoverished arid regions while reducing demands for fertilizers and other costly (in fiscal and other terms)additives. (more…)


Acadia Heating and Cooling Claims Geothermal Performance

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Hallowell International in Bangor, Maine, is the manufacturer of the Acadia, a combined heating and cooling system that can be combined with solar or wind installations to take users off the grid. The system can be installed in new buildings or can be retrofitted when consumers are considering green upgrades.

CleanTechies has three questions for president and founder Duane Hallowell.

CleanTechies: Acadia uses something called “boosted compression” technology. Tell us about that.

Duane Hallowell: Since the 1950s, heat pumps, which operate by exchanging air for heating and cooling, have been the most popular and environmentally-friendly heating ventilation and cooling (HVAC) application. However, because they absorb heat from the outside air, they are inefficient in cold-weather climates, requiring additional, costly heating elements in order to work correctly.

(more…)


Installing Solar Panels and Wind Turbines on Homes is “Eco-Bling”

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Installing wind turbines or solar panels on homes that are not well-insulated or energy-efficient amounts to little more than “eco-bling” that makes owners feel good but does little to reduce carbon emissions, according to a study by the U.K.’s Royal Academy of Engineering.

To meet the U.K.’s goal of making all new homes and buildings carbon neutral by 2020 and slashing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, the report said, the government should focus on making new buildings highly energy-efficient, retrofitting older buildings to improve their energy efficiency, and investing in large-scale wind and solar projects.

(more…)


U.S.-China Green Tech Summit — A Conference Not to be Missed

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

US-China Green Tech Summit

On November 16-17, 2009 in Beijing, China — one of the pioneering countries of clean technology – the U.S.-China Green Tech Summit will share innovative solutions to deploying renewable and energy efficient technologies. The conference is expecting over 300 clean tech leaders from the United States and China, including speakers from BP Solar, General Motors China Group and UC Berkeley. It will discuss and analyze international projects that will aid in development of sustainability, alternative energy and more.

As official media partner of the U.S. China Green Tech Summit, CleanTechies is happy to offer you a special discount of $300 dollars off the ticket price. Simply mention “CleanTechies” when you register.

(more…)


Solar Power from Space: Moving Beyond Science Fiction

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Satellite-based solar technology enables satellites to collect energy from the sun, including by photovoltaic cells. Engineers at the California-based Solaren Corporation hope to send a satellite 22,000 miles above the Earth’s surface, where it would be in full sunlight at all times.For more than 40 years, scientists have dreamed of collecting the sun’s energy in space and beaming it back to Earth. Now, a host of technological advances, coupled with interest from the U.S. military, may be bringing that vision close to reality.

Despite the enormous promise of solar power, the drawbacks of the technology remain significant. People need electricity every day, around the clock, but there’s no part of the United States that is cloud-free 365 days a year — and no solar radiation at night. You have to find some way to store the energy for those sunless periods, and there’s not yet a large-scale way to do that.

Moreover, the best locations for solar arrays — the deserts of the American Southwest — are far from the centers of population, so even under the best of circumstances you’d have to send electricity many hundreds of miles through transmission lines that don’t yet exist.

(more…)


 


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