Go to a classroom three hundred feet in the air to learn all about wind turbines and what it takes to keep them spinning. As more and more wind turbines come on line in north central Oregon, Columbia Gorge Community College’s Renewable Energy Technology program is training the local workforce to meet the need for skilled technicians who can repair and maintain these technological marvels.
In The Solar Energy World, This Process Delivers More Energy Per Acre And It’s Priced Comparable To Coal Derived Energy.
A small solar company Amonix, based out of Seal Beach, California, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), combined talents to developed a solar power concentrator that generates electricity at prices competitive with natural gas. The Amonix 7700 Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Solar Power Generator, is the size of an IMAX screen but costs much less than comparable generators, partly because of the efficiency of its small solar cells. It delivers more “energy per acre” than anything yet available in the solar energy world.
NREL’s partnerships with industry, such as this one with Amonix, are key to reaching aggressive White House goals including lowering solar energy’s installed cost to $1 a watt. That would be a great step towards reducing our dependence on foreign oil and releasing Big Oil’s strangle hold on the whole wide world. (more…)
In The Beautiful Hudson Valley, A Community Called Green Acres Is In The Mist Of Building The Future.
Green Acres
The community is located in New Paltz, New York, a scenic and charming college town situated 85 miles north of New York City.
HVCE (Hudson Valley Clean Energy) , Bolder Architecture and Greenhill Contracting partnered to develop Green Acres as the first zero energy (ZEH) community in the United States and possibly the world. Finally, a trio of companies not just talking the talk, but actually walking the walk.
With several homes already completed and occupied, Green Acres is setting the standard for home building in the 21st Century. Through the use of combined state of the art technology, each home has the capacity to generate enough renewable energy to offset its annual energy needs.
The first resident of Green Acres tracked the daily performance of his 3,000 sq.ft. home. By the end of the first full year of occupancy, the home over-produced 1,733 kWh of electricity. Outstanding!
Some of the technology used to achieve net zero energy use :
• Solar (photovoltaic) Panels
• Geothermal Heating and Cooling
• Super Insulation & High-Efficiency Windows
• Heat Recovery Ventilation
• ICF (insulated concrete forms) – from foundation to roof
All homes are LEEDs certified for homes and contain energy star appliances.
VIDEO:
Green Acres is the place to be – eco-living is the life for me – (If you’re a Boomer, sorry for that tune rolling around in your head right now)…as the green future unfolds.
While killer floods are ripping through Australia at the speed and power of a tsunami and gale force winter storms are immoblizing the rest of us in the northern hemisphere, seems like what we need is an Ark.
Well ok then … “The Ark”, designed by Russian architect Alexander Remizov, head of the Moscow-based architectural firm Remistudio, and his colleague Lev Britvin. Looking more like a giant slinky, the Ark is a biosphere concept that can endure extreme floods, earthquakes, and tornadoes. A fusion of science and architecture that won’t pollute the environment. Either on land or sea – via a variation of the honeycomb-style hull that can float. (more…)
Picture this in your not too distant green future:
Above and along the right-of-way of the US Interstate Highway System runs the Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Super Highway. A collection of vital municipal utilities bundled into a “Conduit Cluster” providing a full integration of solar powered hydrogen production and distribution system and perched on top at tree-top level is a high speed magnetic levitation (MagLev) on-demand public transit rail. Enabling people to ride in comfort at speeds exceeding 250 miles per hour in publicly owned transit vehicles that share the same maglev rail with privately owned transit vehicles. Utilizing automated TCP/IP traffic control system using ports, and sub-networks. The vehicles come in several different versions to accommodate passengers, automobiles, freight, and even complete triage and trauma units. (more…)
