New Energy Initiatives
Some energy analysts are predicting that natural gas will be the fuel of the future if advances in drilling technology allow drillers to tap into domestic shale rock formations on a large scale. But because of the impacts that the technology can have on water, natural gas could become our next energy disaster. Although the industry argues that fracking is safe, there have been numerous documented cases of water contamination near drilling sites. In order to extract gas from shale, drillers use a method called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” for short.
Not So Fast, Natural Gas: Why Accelerating Risky Drilling Threatens America’s Water
Fracking Cattle
by Ulla Kjarval [Ulla Kjarval is a photographer, food blogger and grass-fed beef advocate who blogs at Goldilocks Finds Manhattan .04Nov Osmotic Power Plant Set To Open With the big push on alternative energy sources, world leaders everywhere are pushing for new power technology to create power plants that will use different resources to keep the earth greener.
Tidal Power - Generating electricity from tidal currents
Ocean Tidal Power
You have many options for using renewable energy at home, including solar panels and small wind turbines. Solar panels are the most popular form of renewable energy today. You can use them to generate heat, electricity, and indoor and outdoor light. If you live on at least one acre of land with an ample wind resource, you can generate your own electricity using a small wind electric system.
The Indian state of Gujarat has cleared plans for the installation of India’s first commercial tidal power plant . The proposal to build a tidal power plant with an initial capacity of 50 MW was made by London-based marine energy developer Atlantis Resources Corporation. The company has signed a MoU with the government of Gujarat to set up the power plant by 2013. The plant is likely to be scaled up to a capacity of 250 MW at a cost of about $165 million.
250 MW Tidal Power Plant to come up in India | CleanTechnica
Mapping US Tidal Power Potential
When I was young, I lived just a couple minutes from the ocean, and during the summer I went to the beach almost every day. Sometimes there was nothing more than a few yards of rocky shoreline exposed. At other times, when the tide was out, the smooth stones gave way to rippled sand that stretched over a half mile out to the horizon.Renewable Energy: How to Harness the Sun, Wind and Water | Natural Resources Canada's CanmetENERGY | Leadership in ecoInnovation
Harnessing the natural and renewable energies of the sun, wind, moving water, earth and biomass improves the sustainability of our energy production and delivers benefits to the environment and to human health. These forms of energy are renewable for future generations and do not increase carbon dioxide levels or other pollutants in the Earth’s atmosphere. Natural Resources Canada’s CanmetENERGY is actively involved in the research and development of renewable energy technologies, working not only to meet energy demands but also to reduce the technical and financial risks associated with each technology. This work is performed alongside industry to establish standards and to openly share new knowledge and information about renewable energy technologies.
Green, Renewable Energy: Power That Doesn't Destroy (a People & Planet Gateway & Guide ) Contents Introduction Energy Links, Organizations, Resources Green/Sustainable Energy Organizations in Canada The Tar Sands / Oil Sands Featured Books & Articles How can we change the ways of industry ? Sustainable & Simple Living Jump to: · Renewable Energy Jobs , Contracts & Internships in Canada · Green Energy Volunteering & Internships · Energy Events & Conferences in Canada · Climate Change Gateway · The Blackout, Energy & You · Alternatives to Air Conditioning · Car-free Living Introduction back to top
Renewable Energy in Canada, Solar Energy, Solar Power, Wind Power, Green Energy, Sustainable Energy
SolAir micro wind turbines with solar panels. (click to enlarge)
Hybrid Wind/Solar Power Generators for Homes & Businesses | CleanTechnica
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- The Orange County Sanitation District and UC Irvine's National Fuel Cell Research Center opened a hydrogen fuel station in Fountain Valley on Tuesday where methane gas from sewage will be converted to hydrogen to power cars and the station itself. According to UC Irvine, the production process may be the only one of its kind in the world. It will use high-temperature fuel cells to create a two-fold renewable system that uses hydrogen to power cars, as well as electricity to power the plant.
New sewage gas station in OC may be world's first | abc7
Sewage gas clean enough to use in your home - SignOnSanDiego.com
ESCONDIDO — Sewage gas in Escondido is being cleaned to pipeline-friendly purity, the first time such an effort is being tried in California. The goal is to find more efficient ways to make use of gas that, right now, is simply burned off. Natural gas is mostly methane. And so is the gas released by countless bacteria used to clean wastewater. But other impurities in sewage gas generally prevent its use in pipelines. That’s changing with a system technicians started two weeks ago as a pilot project by the Southern California Gas Co.Technology: Say It with Sewage Gas
The medieval alchemists who tried to turn base metals into gold had the right idea, but they may have set their sights too low. Using modern techniques, scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory have accomplished an even more amazing transformation: they have turned sewage gas into diamonds. Diamonds, the crystalline form of carbon, are usually formed when organic solids are subjected to intense heat and pressures. But under the right conditions, the glittering crystals can also be manufactured from a carbon- rich gas -- something the Navy's lab has in abundant supply.Suddenly, Garbage and Sewage Gas Is a Hot Commodity | 80beats
Methane , a natural gaseous byproduct of both rotting garbage in landfills and raw sewage, is increasingly regarded as being valuable. Instead of allowing methane to float up into the atmosphere, waste companies are increasingly harnessing it for use as heating gas and as a means to produce electricity [ San Francisco Chronicle blog ]. It seems to be an alternative energy whose time has come: Methane landfill projects are already online in almost every state, and San Antonio has just signed on to become the first city to harvest methane from its sewage treatment facility. Harvesting methane serves a two-fold purpose: If it is not captured, the E.P.A. says, landfill methane becomes a greenhouse gas at least 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, when it rises into the atmosphere. The agency estimates that landfills account for 25 percent of all methane releases linked to human activity.Ultimately, the Didcot sewage works could produce enough low-carbon gas to supply 200 local homes, thanks to the joint venture between Thames Water, British Gas and Scotia Gas Network. Thames Water already produce some £15m-worth of electricity each year by burning gas made from the 2.8 billion litres of sewage produced by the company’s 14 million customers. To turn feed the gas directly into the grid for use by consumers is simply “the logical next step”, according to Martin Baggs, the Thames Water chief executive. The gas is produced by warming up “sludge” – the solid part of the sewage – for anaerobic digestion by bacteria, which breaks down any biodegradable material and produces biogas.
Sewage works to provide gas for 200 homes in Oxfordshire - Business News, Business
Just three years ago, Colorado-based inventor Jim Sears shuttered himself in his garage and began tinkering with a design to mass-produce biofuel. His reactor (plastic bags) and his feedstock (algae) may have struck soybean farmers as a laughable gamble. But the experiment worked, and today, Sears' company, Solix Biofuels in Fort Collins, is among several startups betting their futures on the photosynthetic powers of unicellular green goo. The science is simple: Algae need water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow. The oil they produce can then be harvested and converted into biodiesel; the algae's carbohydrate content can be fermented into ethanol.