Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/ideas-on-how-you-can-effectively-print-postcards.html
Akita Journey is a blog about finding an alternate way to power our planet. Our footprint doesn't have to be that big. Working together, we can solve the problems that plague our earth today.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Jan 3, Ideas On How You Can Effectively Print Postcards
Apple to Build Largest Solar Array
Related posts:
- Third Gigantic Solar Roof in US – Apple Gets Visionary Headquarters
- Chicago-Rockford International Airport to Build 20-MW Solar Array
- Apple Files Patent for Solar-Powered iPods
Source: http://feeds.importantmedia.org/~r/IM-cleantechnica/~3/_wcwd-Hd2fI/
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Oct 31, future of nuclear energy in comoros
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/future-of-nuclear-energy-in-comoros.html
California Utility Scales Back Rooftop Solar Program To Save Money
Dec 6, Green is the new black: Where We Stand on Energy and the Environment: Renewable Energy Articles: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Green-is-the-new-black-Where-We-Stand-on-Energy-and-the-Environment.html
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Book or E-Book: Which Is Better? Perhaps Neither.
Source: http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/book-or-e-book-which-better-perhaps-neither.html
Oct 19, Key Advantages of Alternative Fuels: Renewable Energy Articles: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Key-Advantages-of-Alternative-Fuels.html
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Nov 1, The Benefits of Green Energy on the Environment: Renewable Energy Articles: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/The-Benefits-of-Green-Energy-on-the-Environment.html
IBM and Tulip Telecom Building Giant 900,000 Sq Ft Sustainable Data Center
Jan 10, Frequently Asked Questions about Geothermal Energy: Geothermal Energy: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Frequently-Asked-Questions-about-Geothermal-Energy.html
Feb 14, too difficult
Monday, February 20, 2012
Dec 16, Coal is not always king
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/coal-is-not-always-king.html
Jan 11, How Does Geothermal Energy Work?: Geothermal Energy: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/How-Does-Geothermal-Energy-Work.html
Floating Washing Machine Uses Dry Ice to Clean Clothes in Minutes
Source: http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/orbit-washing-machine-silent-uses-no-soap-or-water.html
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Solar Cells for Sale ? All You Need To Learn About Residential Solar Power Systems
Ground-truth: Do We Need To Destroy the Desert To Fight Climate Change?
Saturday, February 18, 2012
On One-Year Anniversary of Solyndra, Nothing to Report
Related posts:
- Another “Solyndra” Project Sacrificed in Republican Attack on FEMA
- Fremont’s Solyndra Wins First DoE Funding
- Solyndra: Advanced by Bush for 2 Years (Solyndra Timeline)
Source: http://feeds.importantmedia.org/~r/IM-cleantechnica/~3/-q3sa4NCUjk/
Solar Panels for Sale ? All You Need To Know About Home Solar Energy Systems
Excellence in Renewable Energy Award Announced! Check out Video Coverage of the Winners Here
Friday, February 17, 2012
Ground-truth: Do We Need To Destroy the Desert To Fight Climate Change?
Ground-truth: Do We Need To Destroy the Desert To Fight Climate Change?
Dec 6, Green is the new black: Where We Stand on Energy and the Environment: Renewable Energy Articles: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Green-is-the-new-black-Where-We-Stand-on-Energy-and-the-Environment.html
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Oct 17, Sunrise, sunset, cloud and mist shooting skills
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/sunrise-sunset-cloud-and-mist-shooting-skills.html
Oct 28, Supporting Green Energy on a Widespread Level: Eco Living Articles: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Supporting-Green-Energy-on-a-Widespread-Level.html
Jan 16, Mergers & Acquisitions, Sustainable Energy Solar Energy, Construction
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/mergers-acquisitions-sustainable-energy-solar-energy-construction.html
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Jan 3, Ideas On How You Can Effectively Print Postcards
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/ideas-on-how-you-can-effectively-print-postcards.html
Scottish renewable energy industry dismisses Donald Trump attack
Alex Salmond rejects billionaire's claim that wind energy plans will 'destroy Scotland's coastline'
The renewable energy industry has dismissed as "trumped-up nonsense" an attack by Donald Trump on Scottish wind energy projects. But the Scottish government has declined to respond directly to the billionaire's stinging criticism of Alex Salmond's plans for renewable energy.
When asked in an interview on Thursday night about Trump's comments, Salmond replied only with a prediction that once renewable energy created a large number of jobs in Scotland, "just about everybody will get on board, even Donald Trump".
Trump is opposed to plans for an offshore windfarm near the site of his luxury golf resort in Aberdeenshire. In a letter sent to the first minister, Alex Salmond, Trump accused him of being "hell-bent on destroying Scotland's coastline", and said he would halt work on his project until a decision on the windfarm was made by ministers.
"With the reckless installation of these monsters, you will single-handedly have done more damage to Scotland than virtually any event in Scottish history," Trump wrote. He said he would be launching an international campaign against Scotland's wind energy plans.
Niall Stuart, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, which represents the renewable energy industry in Scotland, criticised Trump's intervention, and said there was no reason why the two developments could not exist side by side.
"Who is Donald Trump to tell Scotland what is good for our economy and our environment?" he said. "Offshore wind is already attracting billions of pounds of investment and supporting hundreds of jobs across Scotland, including in his mother's hometown of Stornoway.
"He completely overblows the impact of the proposed wind farm and to be honest there are so many mistakes in the 'trumped-up' nonsense that it's difficult to know where to begin."
In an interview with STV, Salmond said he believed even the American businessman could be persuaded of the benefits of wind energy.
"People will be opposed for a whole variety of reasons but as we mobilise this industry, as we are established as world leaders, tens of thousands of jobs come to this country and as we re-industrialise this nation then, eventually, just about everybody will get on board, even Donald Trump."
The Scottish government declined to respond directly to Trump's criticism, saying it was currently considering the views of interested parties in the project for 11 turbines in Aberdeen Bay, which has become the focus of Trump's ire.
"Scottish waters are estimated to have as much as a quarter of Europe's potential offshore wind energy," a spokesman said. "A recent study suggests that harnessing just a third of the practical resource off our coast by 2050 would enable us to generate enough electricity to power Scotland seven times over. An independent Scotland will be able to take full responsibility for this renewables revolution, along with the investment and thousands of jobs it brings."
RenewableUK said studies had shown that windfarms had no effect on tourism.
"We think his concerns are probably not merited," it said. "Unless he's going to put his golf course on the water, which seems unlikely."
Trump's intervention follows the Scottish governments' blueprint to help streamline the scope, planning and consent for offshore renewables developments. They plan to create a national database of survey data and will prioritise early work to identify potential sites for new test facilities, including deep-water offshore wind technologies.
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said Scotland would not be bullied over the issue. "First Mr Trump accuses Scotland of being the laughing stock of the world," Rennie said. "Now he threatens to launch an international campaign. What Mr Trump needs to understand is that Scotland will live up to our responsibilities to tackle climate change.
"This letter is a rather desperate attempt by a rich man who is used to getting his own way. But his latest tizzy is embarrassing. Instead of the world laughing at Scotland, Scotland is laughing at Mr Trump."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/10/scottish-renewable-energy-donald-trump
Dec 16, Coal is not always king
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/coal-is-not-always-king.html
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Dec 15, What You Should Know Before Buying an Electric Car: Green Vehicles Articles: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/What-You-Should-Know-Before-Buying-an-Electric-Car.html
Jan 5, What to consider when installing solar PV systems: Solar Energy: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/What-to-consider-when-installing-solar-PV-systems.html
Ikea Now Offers Wind and Solar Powered Outdoor Lighting
Aviation and Military Biofuels: New Thinking on Finance, Fuels
Monday, February 13, 2012
Oct 26, Quantum Dots May Lower the Cost of Solar Power: Solar Energy: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Quantum-Dots-May-Lower-the-Cost-of-Solar-Power.html
How the 'windfarms increase climate change' myth was born | Leo Hickman
University of Illinois windfarm researcher responds to how his paper was reported in the media and on the internet
Such is the viral nature of information flow on the internet, we can sometimes see myths and memes developing before our very eyes. Just such an example has occurred over recent days with the rather irresistible news that windfarms can "increase climate change".
The article that really gave this idea a push online was published on Sunday evening on the Daily Mail's website. It was delivered with the headline: "Wind farms can actually INCREASE climate change by raising temperatures and causing downpours, warn academics."
Somewhat predictably, that headline quickly attracted attention and was being disseminated with particular gusto on climate sceptic sites such as Climate Depot and JunkScience. The news was also reported on Dallasblog.com ("Wind Farms Cause Global Warming, some Scientists say") and then on the Orange County Register website with the headline: "Another Global Warming Oops Moment." The article itself was clearly rejoicing in being able to ladle big dollops of schadenfreude:
More windmills to fight global warming = more global warming. You have to love it.
But if we reverse up a bit, we can actually see how this new myth was born. The Mail ? which has a long track record of running stories hostile to windfarms, and more, widely, climate science - was clearly picking up on a story that day by Jonathan Leake in the Sunday Times. This story is behind a paywall, but it ran with a headline that fairly summed up the thrust of the article: "Giant windfarms can alter weather." However, the Australian - yet another climate sceptic paper - has since republished Leake's article, albeit with a new headline: "Big windfarms 'alter climate', but could be used to control the weather."
The Leake article, which attempts to summarise some of the research being conducted into how windfarms might affect localised weather conditions, led with the findings of a study published by Somnath Roy, an assistant professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. But Roy's study was published in 2010. So why has the Sunday Times ? again, another paper that is hostile to windfarms - run it as a news story now? Could it be a way for the paper to frame the news, contained within the article, that some Tory MPs have expressed their own hostility to windfarms?
The germ of this current interest in Roy's study can most likely be pinned to an article in the New Scientist published on 30 January, entitled: "Power paradox: Clean might not be green forever." It covered a lot of very interesting research, including a passing mention of Roy's 2010 study. (Interestingly, the New Scientist itself got into a spot of bother last year over a headline covering similar research.) But it was an article - as you might expect given it was reflecting the state of fledgling research into this topic - peppered with words such as "could", "possibly" and "might". It also made it clear that Roy's study was focused on how windfarms can affect their local climate (within an area 300 metres "downwind" from the turbines), not, as might be interpreted from the Mail's headline, the much wider phenomenon of "climate change". In fact, Roy's study can be read in full here. (A curio: it appears to be one of the very last paper's edited by the late climate scientist Stephen Schneider of Stanford University.) From the abstract:
Utility-scale large windfarms are rapidly growing in size and numbers all over the world. Data from a meteorological field campaign show that such windfarms can significantly affect near-surface air temperatures. These effects result from enhanced vertical mixing due to turbulence generated by wind turbine rotors. The impacts of windfarms on local weather can be minimized by changing rotor design or by siting windfarms in regions with high natural turbulence.
Yesterday, I asked Roy himself to summarise his paper. He said:
My Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper is on local-scale processes where we find that windfarms may make the nights warmer and days cooler in their immediate vicinity. Climate change is a longer-term phenomenon involving process that operate at larger spatial scales?My expertise is in small-scale (what we call atmospheric boundary layer and/or mesoscale) processes, not climate. Additionally my paper does not talk about precipitation. The impacts of the windfarms that I have studied are confined to the lowest part of the atmosphere. To affect rainfall, the windfarms have to reach pretty high into the troposphere where clouds are formed. I am familiar with research done by others on this topic. At this point there is no agreement. Some global scale studies (pdf) show that extremely large windfarms covering millions of sq km will affect rainfall. On the other hand, a recent study (pdf) of a approximately 500 GW windfarm showed that the impact on rainfall would be about 1%.
I then asked him if he felt his 2010 study had been fairly represented this week in the media. He said that Leake had interviewed him for the Sunday Times article and that "the 2-3 paragraphs on my research discussed in the body of the article are a reasonable representation of a PART of our paper". He added: "The headline probably reflects the work of other scientists rather than mine."
We then moved onto the Mail's article. He said:
I am already getting emails on this. I will have to categorically say that the headline is not an accurate representation of my work. But I guess there is little I can do now.
I then showed him how the Mail's headline was starting to get picked up elsewhere. He replied:
Wow! Actually I also heard from some colleagues. Strangely, nobody has read the Sunday Times article or the Nature editorial [from 2010], but everybody knows about the Daily Mail piece!
And, lo, a myth was born.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/feb/07/wind-farms-climate-change-weather
6 Green Data Centers that Could Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
Related posts:
- Advanced Data Centers Has Built First LEED Platinum Data Center
- Google?s Energy Efficient Data Centers {VIDEOS}
- Avocent Helps Data Centers Save Energy and Cash
Source: http://feeds.importantmedia.org/~r/IM-cleantechnica/~3/htFUzmhtUdw/
Dumping Solar: Study Sheds Light on Solar PV Trade Flows, US-China Manufacturing
Furthermore, the extraordinary rise in Chinese exports of silicon solar PV cells and panels to the US could only be sustained with the support of massive government subsidies.
Related posts:
- US-China SolarTrade Dispute: The Case for CASM and US Manufacturing
- Dumping Solar: CASM’s Case Against Chinese Subsidies & Manufacturers, Pt. III
- Dumping Solar: The Case for CASE, Solar Growth and China’s Subsidies
Source: http://feeds.importantmedia.org/~r/IM-cleantechnica/~3/bUnvszeTVgI/
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Oct 18, Is Nuclear Power Clean Energy?: Nuclear Energy, Non Renewable Energy: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Is-Nuclear-Power-Clean-Energy.html
Jan 16, Solar Power Battery Benefits You Should Know: Solar Energy: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Solar-Power-Battery-Benefits-You-Should-Know.html
Ikea Now Offers Wind and Solar Powered Outdoor Lighting
Biodiesel Saw Record Production in the U.S. in 2011
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EnergyrefugecomBlog/~3/QWHa1Z6GLjA/
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Jan 11, How to Incorporate Solar Energy into Your Home: Solar Articles: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/How-to-Incorporate-Solar-Energy-into-Your-Home.html
Germany Invests in Hydrogen Technology for Renewable Storage, Vehicles
Oct 18, Is Nuclear Power Clean Energy?: Nuclear Energy, Non Renewable Energy: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Is-Nuclear-Power-Clean-Energy.html
Friday, February 10, 2012
Dec 15, Wind Turbines for Green Energy: Wind Energy: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Wind-Turbines-for-Green-Energy.html
British Clean Energy Company Finances the New Wave in Ocean Power
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EnergyrefugecomBlog/~3/dNRBibvxt2c/
Assessing the Risks in Solar Project Development
How Much Can You Really Save with Solar?
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/green-energy-news/~3/F3rnQncJefI/
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Nov 3, 12 times the most thin light DC IXUS1100HS Canon is evaluating!!!!!
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/12-times-the-most-thin-light-dc-ixus1100hs-canon-is-evaluating.html
Nick Clegg defends wind power subsidies after Tory-led attack
Deputy PM targets green investment after backbenchers call for cut in subsidy for onshore wind farms
Nick Clegg has led a fightback against concerted attacks by Conservative MPs on government subsidies to support wind power.
A letter to the prime minister signed by more than 100 Tory backbenchers called for a "dramatic cut" in subsidies for onshore windfarms, and new planning rules to make it easier for local communities to object to them. But the deputy prime minister defended subsidies to help renewable energy compete with fossil fuels, highlighting a growing division in the coalition over energy policy.
"The race is on to lead the world in clean, green energy," Clegg said at his first public event with the new Liberal Democrat climate secretary, Ed Davey. "Last year we saw record-breaking global investment in renewables, outstripping the cash piled into fossil fuels. The new economic powerhouses ? China, India, Korea, Brazil ? are now serious contenders for that capital. In today's world, the savviest states understand that going for growth means going green. Low-carbon markets are the next frontier in the battle for global pre-eminence. I want the UK to be the number one destination for green investment. We're in this race to win it."
Davey, who took over the climate brief when Chris Huhne resigned on Friday, said: "I've been a lifelong supporter of renewable and wind power and I'm not going to change now. I think that onshore and offshore wind power has a real place in a balanced mix of energy generation so I'm a huge supporter of renewables and I'm going to make sure that they have a real role to play in the future."
"We don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past where we have polluted our planet, where our country has been dependent on fossil fuel imports, where the price is high and variable ? we want to make sure we have our own energy production that is clean and green."
The letter's organiser, Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris, said he had asked only backbenchers to sign, and not ministers, whips or parliamentary private secretaries. The strength of support ? including big names such as the former defence secretary Nicholas Soames and two-time leadership candidate David Davis ? will encourage the view that MPs feel they have support from ministers, including the chancellor, George Osborne.
Davey responded with what party insiders called a "strong rebuke" to the signatories, who included two Lib Dem MPs.
"I think the case [for wind subsidies] is pretty compelling," Davey said. "Already we've seen through the subsidies that this government has invested in onshore wind that the price has come down to make onshore wind competitive, so we've got money to invest in all sorts of renewables because of the success of these investments."
Laura Sandys, a Conservative MP who supports wind power, said: "Wind often gets a bad press but actually it costs the average UK household only �10 a year and generates electricity 80% of the time. Onshore, offshore, marine, solar, waste to energy should all form part of our mixed energy economy. As a collective, these technologies have the capability to help guard families across the country against energy price shocks."
Zac Goldsmith, Tory MP and one of the party's foremost environmentalists and supporters of renewable energy, said he would write to Davey to urge an analysis of wind power to address claims it is too expensive and unreliable. He said: "The government has to make a clear and robust case or it's going to lose the argument."
Davey was also confronted with a critical article in Monday's Times by the economist Dieter Helm, who claimed that the policy of reducing demand to offset the extra costs of renewable energy such as wind power was "hype", and was not helping cut climate change emissions from fossil fuels because industries were simply moving to countries with lower prices.
Another contentious area within the coalition is nuclear power, which is widely supported by Tories but has traditionally been opposed by many Lib Dems. Davey said there would be "no change" on nuclear policy from the coalition agreement, which made special arrangements that the government would produce new planning guidelines to allow existing nuclear reactors to be replaced, and that Lib Dem MPs could oppose the move and abstain in any vote on the issue in parliament.
"There have been understandable concerns given the expensive mistakes made in the past which the taxpayer is still paying for," Davey said. "But coalition agreement is crystal clear: new nuclear can go ahead so long as it's without subsidy. Developers will be required to put money aside from day one to pay for the eventual decommissioning and waste management."
Clegg's strong words were welcomed by environmental and energy campaigners, who have warned government that signs of political wavering on support for renewable energy are making investors nervous of spending money in the UK.
long-term policy signals and ministerial support were crucial for boosting private investment in renewable energy and the green economy.
David Nussbaum of WWF-UK said: "Investor confidence is vital to build a sustainable and resilient economy, so it's essential that senior members of the government give consistent vocal support to renewables, green jobs and the low-carbon economy. I've heard from renewable energy investors that negative comments from senior politicians on going green impact directly on their ability to raise funds for investment in the UK."
One of the MPs who signed the letter was Simon Reevell, the Conservative MP for Dewsbury, in Yorkshire, where the engineering company David Brown last week announced a big contract with Samsung to boost a new research and innovation centre it is building for wind turbine gears for offshore windfarms.
Reevell said he was opposed to onshore wind turbines, which he said were an eyesore for many local communities and caused a health and safety threat.
In December, Siemens announced it was developing a wind turbine manufacturing plant in Hull, and in January the Port of Sheerness submitted a planning application for a new turbine manufacturing facility proposed by Vestas.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/feb/06/nick-clegg-wind-power-subsidies
Oct 24, Greenway company - I would sell all stock NOW
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/greenway-company-i-would-sell-all-stock-now.html
A Shining Star of Bipartisan Cleantech Support
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Pathways and Challenges to Institutional Development of On-Site Clean Energy
Dec 9, gravity process idea to produce clean renuable energy from non liquid matter
Oct 24, Greenway company - I would sell all stock NOW
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/greenway-company-i-would-sell-all-stock-now.html
Charge Electric Devices With Solar Power
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EnergyrefugecomBlog/~3/L81Yv1FNNBg/
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Every windfarm mapped - and the MPs who hate them
Map: What difference do anti-windfarm MPs make? Where are those MPs based - and where are the windfarms?
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2012/feb/06/wind-farm-map-mps
Offshore Wind One Step Closer to Reality in the Mid-Atlantic
Semprius Sets a New Concentrated Solar Efficiency Record with 33.9%!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Every windfarm mapped - and the MPs who hate them
Map: What difference do anti-windfarm MPs make? Where are those MPs based - and where are the windfarms?
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2012/feb/06/wind-farm-map-mps
China Set to Vigorously Develop Green Economy
Oct 31, future of nuclear energy in comoros
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/future-of-nuclear-energy-in-comoros.html
Oct 24, cost effective grid energy storage
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/cost-effective-grid-energy-storage.html
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Suntech, DuPont to Collab on Solar Backsheets, Supply Chain
Puerto Rico divided over energy future
Island split over natural gas pipeline and windfarm in move away from oil-based energy generation
As Puerto Rico seeks to lower soaring utility rates while simultaneously shifting toward cleaner energy sources, it faces grassroots opposition to two major projects even though at least one is 100-percent renewable.
Objections to the projects ? a natural gas pipeline and wind installation ? revolve mostly around their locations, underlining the complex interests involved in actually implementing changes to the island's power grid.
The pipeline would start on the island's south coast, head northwards through the central mountain range and the ecologically delicate karstic zone, and then eastwards into the densely populated San Juan metropolitan area.
Dubbed "V�a Verde" (Green Way) by the government-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and "el tubo de la muerte" (the tube of death) by its opponents, the project is more generally known as "el gasoducto" (the gas duct or pipeline).
PREPA holds a monopoly on electricity generation in the island, but since the 1990s it has purchased power from private facilities.
The government claims the gas pipeline will lower utility rates, which have skyrocketed in recent years, and reduce dependence on dirtier fossil fuels.
Most of the utility's power is currently produced by thermoelectric facilities which use highly polluting petroleum-based fuels, like Bunker C and "destilado #2".
"Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel there is," PREPA says, adding that it generates 64 percent less atmospheric pollutants than oil and is more economical.
Citing data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the utility says that natural gas will remain cheaper than oil and that world supplies will be sufficient for decades to come.
But Puerto Rico will be doing no more than trading one dangerous, non-renewable fossil fuel for another, says University of Puerto Rico professor Arturo Massol-Deya, one of the gas project's most outspoken opponents.
"As an island we are in the dead end of oil dependence, and the government is trading that for the dead end of natural gas, when we have abundant sun, wind and water resources with which to generate the energy we need," Massol-Deya told IPS.
Massol-Deya is spokesperson of Casa Pueblo, a grassroots community organisation in the mountain town of Adjuntas, which the proposed pipeline would bisect from south to north.
"We have strong, well-founded objections with regards to environmental impact, as well as safety in the face of inevitable natural challenges like steep slopes, flood-prone areas, high rainfall, geological faults and many more," said Massol-Deya. "And besides, the savings of switching from one fuel to another will barely amount to one cent per kilowatt hour."
Casa Pueblo and other groups opposed to the gas line are at pains to make clear that they do not necessarily oppose natural gas. They believe a transition can be made from thermoelectric power to natural gas without building a tube across the island.
The proposed "gasoducto" will begin in Ecoelectrica, a natural gas generator in Puerto Rico's south coast that provides the island with about 13 percent of its electricity. Ecoelectrica, which commenced operations in 2000, is barely two kilometers away from Costa Sur, a PREPA thermoelectric complex that generates 30 percent of Puerto Rico's electricity.
"Switching Costa Sur to natural gas would require no major modifications," geographer Alexis Dragoni told IPS. "It would only require that the facility's burners be replaced."
Dragoni is a member of Casa Pueblo's technical team.
Retrofitting Costa Sur to run on natural gas would have PREPA use gas for no less than 43 percent of its electricity, with no need for a "gasoducto" cutting across Puerto Rico. A pipeline has indeed been built from Ecoelectrica to supply gas to Costa Sur but its final segment, of about 50 metres, has yet to be built, said Dragoni.
The "Via Verde" pipeline is to be built by the Spain-based Fenosa Corporation, which bought Ecoelectrica from the controversial U.S.- based Enron in 2003.
The Casa Pueblo leaders are strong advocates of solar energy. All the organisation's facilities in the town of Adjuntas have been powered by photovoltaic panels since 1999.
Renewables currently comprise a tiny fraction of Puerto's Rico's energy, with hydroelectricity the main source. Twenty-one hydro dams produce 1.8 percent of the island's electricity.
However, the Santa Isabel wind power project is under fire from farmers, local communities and environmental groups, who have created an Agriculture Resistance Front (FRA).
The civil society coalition advocates for the protection of Puerto Rican farmland from threats like urban sprawl and the windmill project, which entails 44 to 65 windmills being built by the U.S.- based Pattern Energy Corporation in the heart of Puerto Rico's fertile southern plains.
The windmills are expected to generate 75 megawatts, which Pattern claims can power 25,000 homes.
Construction of the wind project began in November. "They have already compacted the soil with their heavy machinery, they have destroyed the drip irrigation system and damaged the topsoil, which takes centuries to form. The best agricultural lands are slipping from our hands," said FRA member Karla Acosta.
According to FRA spokesman and UPR student Warys Zayas, "The project will impact between 3,500 and 3,700 cuerdas." (3,700 cuerdas equals 3,594 acres) "The area affected will include not only the windmills' bases, which together would occupy 21 cuerdas, but also the area within a radius of 1.6 kilometers of each windmill base."
FRA cites U.S. Agricultural Census data that indicate that Puerto Rico has already lost 19 percent of its farmland between 2002 and 2007, as well as studies by University of Puerto Rico professor Myrna Covas on food security, which estimate that local agriculture produces no more than 15 percent of the food Puerto Rico residents consume - the rest is imported.
Food security advocates are alarmed by these figures, given that with approximately 350 inhabitants per square kilometre, Puerto Rico is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Population has more or less doubled in the last 40 years, environmentalist Juan Rosario of Mision Industrial told IPS.
Santa Isabel has some of Puerto Rico's top farmland, generating some 30 million dollars in crops per year including tomatoes, peppers, melons, mangoes and onions. Farms provide about 3,000 jobs in the region, according to farmer Ram�n Gonz�lez, president of the PR Farm Bureau (Asociaci�n de Agricultores).
"We must not destroy the few lands that feed us," added Viggiano. "We suggest that the windmills be placed on lands that have already been industrialised and have no agricultural value."
With regards to energy alternatives, there is no consensus among local experts and activists as to what would work. FRA does not oppose wind energy, just as long as such projects are not placed on farm land.
However, other groups do not favour wind power and see better alternatives elsewhere.
"We oppose wind energy projects. Wind is an intermittent, unpredictable energy source," activist Jos� Francisco S�ez-Cintr�n told IPS. "We support other options like solar, hydroelectric, tidal power and ocean thermal energy."
S�ez-Cintr�n is spokesperson for the Coalici�n Pro Bosque Seco, a group that seeks the protection of the Gu�nica Dry Forest, in the island's southwest. The organisation opposes a wind energy project proposed for the forest's immediate vicinity.
"But what is even more important is to educate about energy consumption," he added. "Renewable energies can be no more than a complement to fossil fuel sources."
"By implementing policies to save energy we can get six to 10 times the cost savings of renewable energy," said Luis Silvestre of the Puerto Rico Ornithological Society. "They require a much smaller investment and do not lead to debt."
"Renewable energies cannot possibly lower utility rates. That can be achieved with operational improvements in the utility, as well as modifications of the currently existing grid."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/26/puerto-rico-clean-energy
5 Easy Ways to Live Green
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/green-energy-news/~3/GDkK89teE1c/
Nov 30, Southeast Michigan wins funding for advanced energy initiative: Renewable Energy Articles: Eco20/20
Source: http://www.eco20-20.com/Southeast-Michigan-wins-funding-for-advanced-energy-initiative.html
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Green Christmas Gift | Eco-Friendly Dog Bed by P.L.A.Y
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/green-energy-news/~3/2G0xNsXk1cM/