They Took Green Advantage Of Their Natural Energy

Founded in 1867 Klamath Falls, Oregon, population 42,000, is located in the south central region of Oregon bordering northern California. It sits on the southern shore of the Upper Klamath Lake, nestled in the Klamath Basin on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains.

Here in this timber and ranching town when snow falls it accumulates, as usual, on everything except the nice, toasty, dry sidewalks. Well, that’s different, very nice, but different! (more…)

Forced Green Turns 2 – We Have So Far To Go, Yet We Have Come So Far

There’s a gruesome little saying that goes – if you put a frog in boiling water it will jump out, but if you put it in cold water and slowly heat it until the water boils, the frog will stay there and die. Ergo, if slow and gradual, change goes on for the most part, unnoticed. This is so often used as an analogy to caution for bad changes. But it also serves to make us pause and take time to realize the good changes. (more…)

The City That Can Look To The Sky, Reduced Their Energy Cost, And Improved Their Eco-Footprint

On October 27, 2009 in the southwestern section of Toulouse, France newly installed lamp posts were energized. Starting with a greater than 500 meter section of the Allée Camille-Soula. It’s a very busy street which runs between a sports stadium and a university (Institut de Mécanique des Fluides), in this fourth largest city in the country. The ubiquitous computing (‘ubicomp’) lights are equipped with sensors that detect heat from human bodies. The heat causes the strength of the light to double for ten seconds, returning to a standard ‘dim’ mode when nobody is around. As a result, the energy consumption of night lighting is cut by around 50% with the added benefit of cutting night time light pollution. Unrestricted street lighting is not only a drain on energy resources, but can interfere with the migration patterns of birds, insects and mammals. (more…)

“What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?” – Henry David Thoreau

The Energy Department said a white roof can knock 10% to 20% off a building’s electric bill. To that end, it is encouraging anyone replacing or building a roof to take advantage of substantial tax credits and promoting “cool roofs,” which don’t have to be white and could include silver reflective paint or even rooftop gardens. (more…)

Solar Roadways Named A Finalists Of 2010 EE Times Ace Award

On January 30th Forced Green posted an article called “Riding The Solar Roadway To A Green Future“,

… well since then Solar Roadways, the little innovators that could from Sagle, Idaho has been named a finalist for the “Most Promising Renewable Energy Award” by the prestigious 2010 EE Times ACE Awards. AND they have completed the first prototype Solar Road Panel with funding from a U.S. Department of Transportation Phase I SBIR contract. Phase II involves a commercialization plan to begin the manufacturing process. (more…)

If our green future seems too far away — Open your eyes!

MIT Discovers The First Technologically Significant And Economically Viable Alternative To Conventional Batteries In More Than 200 Years.

A team of scientists at MIT have discovered a previously unknown phenomenon that can produce very rapid powerful waves of energy which shoot through carbon nanotubes, this will greatly improve on energy storage devices called ultracapacitors. The phenomenon, called thermopower waves, was discovered when the scientists coated nanotubes with a reactive fuel and when laser ignited at one end produced a fast-moving thermal wave that propagated down the length of the tube. The heat from the fuel rises to a temperature of 3,000 kelvins, and can speed a ring of heat along the tube 10,000 times faster than normal spread of this chemical reaction. The heat also pushes electrons down the tube which creates a substantial electrical current, essentially creating a new way of producing electricity along with non-degradating (while idle) energy storage. A nanotech battery that is a far superior alternative to traditional batteries which haven’t progressed much beyond the basic design developed by Alessandro Volta in the 19th century. (more…)