Category Archives: Alternative Energy
Searching stuff on Google is a simple matter of a few clicks of a mouse and the miniscule effort you need to take to punch words on your keyboard. However, a simple search does consume astounding amounts of energy, given the fact that these queries sent by us hapless folk are sent across the internet to servers where they are processed and sent back to you with results within microseconds. This also obviously implies that being a search engine giant isn’t the most eco-friendly business in town, which is why, Google has been striving hard to keep the earth green.
Continue reading
The Golden State has finally begun shining bright with a surge of solar electricity as the world’s largest solar thermal plant, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California, has finally begun operations. The solar plant is backed by Google and NRG Energy and promises to generate a total 392MW of power through 173,500 multi-mirror units. Simply put, this plant will generate enough energy to power up 140,000 homes in the United States of America.
Continue reading
The windy country of Spain has carved a place for itself in history books and world records as news has sprung out of the nation being crowned as the first to be majorly reliant on wind energy. Today, energy generated from the wind is Spain’s main source of electricity generation. Industry association AEE said in a statement, “Spain is the first country in the world where wind energy was the technology that most contributed to the coverage of demand in a full year.”
Continue reading
If you’ve been to Las Vegas or stared at pictures of this glamorous city long enough, you might have noticed an iconic sign reading “Welcome to Las Vegas” that has been greeting visitors to the city since decades. This sign, which has been around since the 1950s, has now been given a green sprinkle. While the lights on this one haven’t been replaced for OLEDs, yet, the Welcome to Las Vegas now powers on in a much more eco-friendly way, using solar energy!
Continue reading
Perhaps the world isn’t doomed to a future packed with pollutants in the air, dead trees and piles of junk! Perhaps, humankind could indeed mend its ways and step forwards towards a more energy-efficient and environment-friendly future! One of the reasons we’ve been thinking along these lines lately is because of the tidings we’ve heard from Scotland recently. As per reports, a record 40% of electricity used in Scotland last year came from renewable sources! UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) statistics proved that about 40.3% of energy consumption in 2012 was met by renewable energy alone.
Continue reading
Germany has always been looked up to for its sausages, beer and automobile technology. One of the most recent reasons to look up to this nation in the last decade however has been the tremendous rise in renewable energy use, across German states! The country has pretty much left the world in awe, as it storms forward towards a green and efficient future. So why is Germany leading the way in solar energy? Simply because of a commitment to reduce fossil-fuel-generated energy use!
Continue reading
Solar power is the way ahead and the world is quickly leaning towards this fantastic source of never-ending never-ceasing alternate energy. However, harvesting this promising energy from the sun isn’t a breeze and the process requires lots of space, for the installation of photovoltaic cells. Given the fact that the better part of the world is already packed with humanity and its developments, a team of Japanese engineers from the Shimizu Corporation is now looking forward to placing solar cells on the moon and turning the celestial body into a massive solar power plant!
Continue reading
Renewable energy is indeed a fantastic way to reduce carbon emissions, generate energy and add a dash of green to an electricity grid, and the state of Iowa has just proven all of this! Environment Iowa released its most recent report based on the benefits of wind energy use in the state and the numbers these sheets of paper have thrown up are encouraging to say the least. Using wind energy, the state has avoided a whopping 8.4 million metric tons of climate-altering pollution, which is nearly as much as pulling 1.7 million cars of the street.
Continue reading
Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but it sure as hell can be used over and over again! The Islington Council, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, UK Power Networks and Transport for London has joined hands to reuse and recycle waste energy to power homes in London. The project will harvest waste heat energy from the London Underground and an electrical substation for use in homes! To be run through the Islington Council Bunhill Heat and Power heat network, the project will use heat expelled from a a London Underground ventilation shaft and the other from a sub-station owned and operated by UK Power Networks.
Continue reading
Social networking is a great way to stay connected with people you wouldn’t want to regularly pick up a phone and call but let’s face it; these activities do cast a blotch of carbon on the environment. Keeping this in mind, the world’s largest social network today, Facebook, has decided to take a green jump. The company has decided to have an entire data center powered by wind energy. Located in Altoona, Iowa, the data center will be 100% powered by wind energy from a nearby windfarm project.
Continue reading