This one’s for the broke but still green wannabe entrepreneurs. Build a few and show your friends and family — they’ll be amazed and would probably want to buy one from you.
During his campaign for the Presidency, George W. Bush pledged to commit $2 billion over 10 years to advance “clean coal” technology. Since then he’s carried out his promise, advocating the technology and future of its use, based on the assumption that we have a lot of it, and will continue to use it just because we don’t have a solid source of alternative energy. Of course that’s partly due to Bush allocating funds to clean coal efforts and not anything silly like solar or wind power.
Clean coal is a myth.
Read that last line again. It doesn’t exist. Not in the way you think it does, anyway. Clean coal’s supposed to work like this: Capture the carbon dioxide produced when coal burns and bury it underground, back where the coal came from. Most of the technology to do this is proven, and there are enough places underground to store the CO2 and keep it secure for thousands of years. That at least is the pitch for carbon capture and storage (CCS). Trouble is, the earliest possibility for deployment of CCS on a large commercial scale is not expected before 2030. And by then, the damage will be done. Read the rest of this entry »
Envision Solar has thought up a new place to install solar panels: in parking lots.
These lots, usually barren, heat-producing landscapes, can now provide shade for customers, while generating up to a half-megawatt of electricity. Envision’s “Solar Groves” incorporate lights that turn on automatically at night, while blocking skyward light pollution. — metafficient.com
Frick yeah! Now that’s what I call forward thinking. I had ideas of putting solar panels on the roof of every building in the city but this seems much simpler and more feasible. It’s these kinds of ideas that will shape the world of the future. Read the rest of this entry »
The problem with most solar energy options has been its price tag. Most businesses and homeowners don’t have the tens of thousands of dollars required to fit their existing homes and buildings with expensive solar panels. Sure some people cried out to the government for subsidized programs, but when’s the last time Bush listened to any nonsense regarding alternative energy?
A new company called Sunrgi wants to change all that. From SolveClimate.org:
Hollywood-based start-up Sunrgi claims its solar will be as cheap as coal — and soon.
The cost: 5 cents wholesale per kilowatt-hour.
When: 12 to 15 months for commercial production.
Solar power at 5 cents per kWh would be a world-changing breakthrough. It would make solar generation of electricity as affordable as generation from coal, natural gas or other non-renewable sources, without requiring any subsidy.
TerraCycle is a company started by two Princton University students. What’s so unusual about their products is that every single part is made from garbage and waste. Yes, including the bottles and the packaging. The bottle you see on the right is an old, cleaned Pepsi bottle. To save resources, they recycle old soda bottles, and instead of melting it down, they use the bottle as is, even if they’re different shapes — they’re first company to do this.
You can see their full line of products here. They’ve got everything from lawn care products to bags and office supplies.
It all started in 2001 when two Princeton University students set out to change the way people do business. Inspired by a box of worms, these students had a dream: a company could be financially successful while being ecologically and socially responsible.
Some of you may have already heard about landfills across the country utilizing their garbage to generate electricity. It sounds like a great idea. They dump the garbage into the landfill and collect the gases that are created while it’s decomposing. Typically, methane is the gas they look for to generate the power, which varies from 45-60% of the gas released during decomposition. However upon investigating that last link, it seems small amounts of harmful gases are also released during decomposition. This becomes a problem especially if these gases are burned; up to 0.6% of gases released can be carcinogenic and deadly to humans.
So what’s the solution? Enter Plasco Energy Group. Their aim is to use almost all (over 99% compared to 76-91% of typical landfill methane use) of the garbage we produce, and not just to take the methane for electricity. With their methods they have achieved over four times the amount of a typical landfiill gas capture plant, while drastically reducing harmful toxins in the air. Each ton of garbage they take in can produce 1.4MHw of electricity, 300 liters of potable water, 10-20 pounds of commercial salt, 300 lbs of contruction materials, and 10 lbs of fertilizer. Wow! All that from garbage. Read the rest of this entry »
May 29, 2008 
Posted in alternative energy, green biz ideas, solar power 
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