Posted by Josh Loposer at Mar 29th, 2009 in Green News Feeds
Filed under: News, Polit-eco, Alternative Energy
If you’ve ever spent time in the Lone Star State, it quickly becomes obvious — sometimes painfully so — that Texas enjoys an abundance of burning, scorching sunshine. While not everyone views these rays as a resource yet, lobbyists, policymakers and politicians (the three most dreaded groups in the state) are working on an incentive package to make Texas a leader in solar energy.
Thus far, 69 renewable energy bills have been introduce in this Texas legislative session, and 50 of them focus on boosting the state’s solar resources. Some representatives have even taken to calling this the “solar session.” According to representative Mark Strama:
“There are senators and representatives that are talking about solar that have never mentioned the word probably in their lives. We’ve actually heard the term ‘global warming,’ and two years ago that was called ‘the G word’ – you didn’t talk about it.”
Considering the state’s success with promoting wind energy, it’s easy to imagine that much of the momentum will start to spill over into becoming the preeminent force solar energy as well. Austin Energy just gave the green light to the largest solar farm in the nation, so that’s a start.
[via Earth2Tech]
Texas Legislators Hope to Initiate Solar Bonanza originally appeared on Green Daily on Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Josh Loposer at Mar 25th, 2009 in Green News Feeds
Filed under: Local, News, Alternative Energy
Like any other piece of machinery, every so often, a wind turbine will fail and pieces will break off. The problem: the pieces are freakin big … and that’s freakin scary. Earlier this month, a wind turbine mysteriously collapsed in the northern New York community of Altona and the shock waves are still being felt.
A 13 turbine windfarm in neighboring Beekmantown fell prey to safety concerns this week, as it was killed by the city council by a vote of 3-2. Unsurprisingly, the March 17th town hall meeting to discuss the Beekmantown wind farm was dominated by talk about the collapse at Altona — and council members were among those leading the charge. Says councilman Samuel Dyer: “Excuse my language, but that thing in Altona scared the s– out of me.”
Unfortunately, this is a pretty clear example of how costly mishaps like this one can be for an emerging energy technology. With the collapse in Altona, and the mysterious falling blade in England, there’s got to be some concern that turbines could earn the stigma of being unsafe — a tough thing to get over.
[via CleanTechnica]
Turbine Collapse Causes Town to Scrap Wind Project originally appeared on Green Daily on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted by Josh Loposer at Mar 20th, 2009 in Green News Feeds
Filed under: Gadgets and Tech, Home, Alternative Energy
There are so many good things going on with small-scale wind turbines — they’re a beacon of good intentions, affordable, and now super easy to install — it’s a shame that in practice, micro wind’s benefits are infamously dubious. Potential counter-productiveness aside, the Jellyfish Wind Appliance is bar none the coolest and weirdest-looking micro turbine to draw major league attention — and that’s saying something.
The Jellyfish’s odd design and plug-and-play installation has taken it all the way to the semi finals in Google’s Project 10 to the 100th contest. What’s so special about this thing? Well, it’s mostly two things: it’s only going to cost $400 and it plugs directly into a standard wall outlet — dumping power back onto the grid.
If the prospect of hooking up a vertical axis wind turbine for $400 ($199 with tax rebates) has you salivating, you might want to consider the bigger picture. The Jellyfish will net you all of 40kWh a month — supposedly enough to power the lights in a home with energy efficient LED lighting. At that rate, you would break even in 7 years.
Would the turbine ever offset its own carbon footprint? I hope so, but I’m a little bit skeptical. You could see the Jellyfish in stores in as soon as 12 months.
[via Treehugger]
The Jellyfish Plug and Play Wind Turbine originally appeared on Green Daily on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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