Energy

Energy

Sydney to move off-grid

Sydney, Australia wants to end its dependence on centrally generated electricity for public buildings – it has started planning six tri-generation power plants with more to come…

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Energy

Smart Grid doubts grow

Smart Grid not living up to its name – costly upgrade will likely increase profits of Utilities without saving customers money or energy…

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Energy

Green home loans

SAN FRANCISCO — Locals will use home loans to finance green improvements now San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has unveiled a new financing program, Green Finance SF.

The
program (slogan: saving you money, energy and water) will finance projects between $5,000 and $50,000 such as installing low-flow toilets, solar water heaters, solar electric panels and double-paned windows. Homeowners will pay back the costs through property taxes.
The initiative is financed via Federal stimulus funding and is one of many similar moves in towns across America.
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Net zero solar home – video

Here is an example of how to make the best use of the home you have – however un-eco it was to start with.
Pete Vigs has slashed his family’s energy use by converting to a net-zero solar powered home that uses no oil or gas.
His 4 part video (click keep reading to see it) shows all the changes he’s made, three years into a 10 year peak oil preparedness plan. To his surprise, his life is now better while using much less energy and having less impact on the environment.…

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Energy

Oil to peak in 2011 – official

When considering Peak Oil, the US Department of Energy usually stands among the most optimistic sources regarding the depletion of world oil reserves. Now its senior forecaster has come to accept that “Liquid fuel” production will peak next year and from then on decline slowly, with occasional increases, but still on a long term downward trend. And the US army scenario planners agree. They are now basing most of their scenario planning on just such an eventuality.
Glen Sweetnam, who is supervising the DoE’s next annual International energy outlook, is the most prominent official analyst on energy inside the Obama administration.
He says it may still be that some unforeseen source of oil suddenly emerges between now and next year, but admits that the source of that oil is currently “unidentified”…

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Energy

Lease solar panels says Mike Holmes

HGTV Holmes on Homes star, Mike Holmes says homeowners with a sunny roof should lease solar panels, both to futureproof their technology and to feed any surplus into the grid.

““I’ve got a few acres in the country near Torronto, behind my house. Since I’m a contractor, not a farmer, I lease the land to a local guy who grows crops and grazes his animals,” the celebrity home contractor  told Canwest. “The land could lie fallow – which is not necessarily a bad thing – or it could be put to use. Which do you think is the better idea?

There are millions of square feet of roofs in the country lying fallow, in a manner of speaking. What if that space was turned over to solar farmers who, just like the farmer leasing the field, are able to lease solar panels to the householder to put those roofs to good use?

“Ideally, we’d like to move away from centralized production for power. Part of the cost of energy production is not just generating it, through hydro or coal, but getting it out to the millions of homeowners who need it. If we can reduce distribution costs, we’ll increase our energy efficiency. Moving to local micro-generation is more sustainable and has a significant environmental impact. We take the pressure off the existing grid and reduce emissions.…

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Fuel Cells ready for mass market

Oorja Protonics, which specializes in methanol fuel cells, is soon to release a product able to run a home or small business.

Check out the video on the next page: the 5-kilowatt fuel cell fits on top of a gurney. Its about the same size as a suitcase and the power costs about 25cents per kilowatt hour.

“You could use it for auxiliary power for trucks, RVs or marine applications, or for off-grid power for homes or farms,” said CEO Sanjiv Malhotra. “This pays for itself in less than 12 months” compared to conventional power.

For larger applications, the fuel cells can be chain-ganged together. Connect twenty of them and they would be capable of generating 100 kilowatts of power — as much energy as the recently unfurled Bloom Energy Server, but at a tiny fraction of the price.…

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