Solar PV And Electric Vehicles To Boost Copper Demand
A recent conference in London has heard that copper will play an increasingly important role in creating a greener and more sustainable world. Those in the copper sector have been doing it tough for quite a while. The metal was fetching more than USD $4.50 a pound in 2011, but in October this year its […]
SeaBubbles – Solar Powered “Flying” Electric Water Taxis
Paris is set to become the first city in the world to be serviced by SeaBubbles – novel green energy powered river taxis. Constructed from fiberglass and foam, SeaBubbles are a small hydrofoil trimaran capable of carrying four passengers and a driver/pilot. Propellers attached to the back skids are powered by an electric motor and […]
Clean Energy, Not Coal, Can Fight Global Poverty
A recent paper states eradicating global poverty is possible, but it’s a noble goal made more complex by climate change – and coal’s role in that. Coal industry claims that it can lift people from poverty, and those of others stating a “strong moral case” for coal and referring to it as “nature’s gifts, is […]
Solar Powered Silent Falcon Evolves
This solar electric powered, carbon fiber based small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) recently gained a stamp of approval from NASA. We first covered Silent Falcon back in 2012 and it looks like it’s come a long way since then. Boasting a flight endurance of 5+ hours on average, the latest iteration of the craft has […]
Better Catalysts Equal Better Hydrogen Production (Again)
One of the many exciting frontiers in renewable energy research is the development of cheaper and more efficient ways to harvest hydrogen from water. This is due to its potential as a round-the-clock clean fuel and energy storage solution. The process of electrolysis used in splitting water to capture hydrogen requires a lot of energy, […]
Confusion As NSW Solar Bonus Scheme End Looms
It’s been reported some energy retailers are taking advantage of consumer confusion as the end of New South Wales’ legacy solar feed in tariff incentive draws near. Participants who joined the New South Wales Solar Bonus Scheme prior to May 2011 have been receiving 60 cents or 20 cents per kilowatt hour for all the […]
Victorian Solar Feed-In Tariff Boost In 2017
Solar power system owners in Victoria can expect approximately 20 per cent more for the electricity they export to the mains grid from July next year. Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio yesterday announced multiple feed-in tariff rates would be introduced in 2017. The rates would be based on peak, off-peak and […]
30,000 Solar Panels Installed Every Hour
30,000 solar panels will be installed every hour around the world over the next 5 years according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA has revised its forecasts out to 2021 after 500,000 solar panels were installed each day around the world last year. Wind power also grew at a […]
Sonnen Deploys Battery Storage In Affordable Housing
Sonnen energy storage has been implemented at the McKnight Lane Affordable Housing Development in Vermont, USA; helping to transform a trailer park into a an energy resilient community. Consisting of fourteen energy efficient homes, McKnight Lane is the first net-zero, low-income rental housing development in the country. Each home has a 6 kW rooftop solar […]
Ethanol From Carbon Dioxide Made (Relatively) Easy
In what’s been dubbed a “twist of fate” discovery, scientists at the U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a catalyst capable of turning carbon dioxide into ethanol. It’s a process that could provide a viable long-term storage solution for sources of renewable energy such as wind and solar power. The ORNL team used a […]
