|
Written by Hank Green on 05/12/08
|
|
After an around-the-world trip, through more than 40 countries, a school teacher named Louis Palmer just pulled up to the hall holding this year's UN Climate Conference.
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Megan Treacy on 01/07/11
|
|
Within a week of each other, Google and Microsoft both announced that they were pulling the plug on their home energy management services after only two years of them being active.
Last week, Google said that it was giving up on its PowerMeter online software that allowed people to track their home energy use and pinpoint ways make their home more efficient and end up with cheaper electricity bills. The reason was that not enough people and utilities were signing up for the free service.
Microsoft has given the same reason for ending its Hohm service, a similar program that offered a sleeker interface and a greater depth of information regarding consumer's energy use patterns and the related costs. Hohm was also free, but Microsoft had planned to make it into a paid service.
Home energy monitoring and management is a necessary part of lowering our overall energy use and living more sustainably, but it's possible these programs were launched a little too soon. When smart grid technology starts reaching more areas of the country and people start becoming more accustomed to using technology to tweak their energy use habits, these type of programs will be more popular, but it seems the interest just wasn't there yet.
via Earth2Tech
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here at EcoGeek we write about all the various and powerful ways in which our brains are saving our planet. Enjoy! |
|
Written by Philip Proefrock on 14/10/11
|
In the past couple of years, we've seen many, many tests being carried out by numerous different airlines and agencies to study the possibilities of using biofuel as an entire replacement for or as a blend with conventional jet fuel. But biofuels as a replacement for petroleum-based jet fuel may not be the ideal solution.
Biofuels are better than straight petroleum-based products, but there are drawbacks to biofuels, as well. Dedicating cropland to grow fuel crops can cut down on the available land and farming resources for food production. There are arguments against algae-based fuels, as well. They don't compete with food for farmland, but the industrial infrastructure needed to produce algae-based fuel at scale is a daunting prospect.
Of course, conversion to any new material is a daunting prospect. The development of new technologies will eventually be necessary, one way or another. To continue to research alternatives and to find the best mix of feedstock for alternative fuels is importatnt not only for aviation, but for all energy technologies.
Virgin Atlantic, which is one of the many airlines to have tested biofuels, is now exploring a jet fuel replacement that, rather than using bio materials as feedstock, is derrived from waste industrial gas from steel production. But if that relies on petroleum fuels as the original feedstock, then the long term viability of that process is also questionable.
via: Treehugger and Guardian
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Philip Proefrock on 20/09/11
|
A hydrogen refueling station in Fountain Valley, California is not only providing fuel for vehicles, but is also helping to supply power to an adjacent industrial facility, and it is reported to be the first "tri-generation fuel cell and hydrogen station" in the world.
The hydrogen energy station is located next to a wastewater treatment facility, and biogas generated from that facility provides the feedstock for the system. The biogas is converted into hydrgen which is then available for refueling hydrogen vehicles as well as for a hydrogen fuel cell from FuelCell Energy which generates 250 kilowatts of electricity for the wastewater plant. Approximately 25 vehicles per day can be refueled from this station, in addition to the electrical power generated.
via: Energy.gov
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here at EcoGeek we write about all the various and powerful ways in which our brains are saving our planet. Enjoy! |
|
Written by Philip Proefrock on 16/11/11
|
The weekly EcoGeek Newsletter is back up and running again. Those of you who were subscribed to the old Newsletter are seeing the new version in your inbox. And if you aren't already a subscriber, now is the time to sign up.
This summer, subscribers noticed the EcoGeek Newsletter stopped being delivered. This was due to some infrastructure issues with the software that supports EcoGeek. We've been able to migrate things to a new platform, and the Newsletter is now back in normal operation.
If you don't make it a daily habit to come to the EcoGeek site, but you want to stay informed on the latest EcoGeek news, the Newsletter is a weekly capsule of recent articles.
You can sign up for the newsletter using the box at the top of the right-hand sidebar on the EcoGeek site (fill in your email address in the space next to the blue @ symbol and click on the 'Sign Up' button.
You can sign up for the newsletter using the box at the top of the right-hand sidebar on the EcoGeek site (fill in your email address in the space next to the blue @ symbol and click on the 'Sign Up' button.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Continue Reading
DEC 05
"seems to be good, but is it an open air Cab? ..."
View all Comments