– …illustrate the variability of wind and solar generation relative to the comparatively smooth output from other generation sources – Power produced by geothermal, biomass, biogas, and small hydro generators can be easily dispatched, meaning it can be either increased, decreased, or controlled to remain fairly constant. – Wind resources are often more available at …
Continue reading “Renewable energy production variability by hour of day, and by season (graph)”
The start-up marketplace is booming according to a new infograph from StartupHire.com. There was a 23.5% increase in job postings from 2010 to 2011. But, what types of jobs are they and where are they located? ** For the full infograph click on the image on the right. Where are the Jobs California (36.3 percent) …
The current explosion in cloud computing offered by major IT companies is driving significant new demand for dirty energy like coal and nuclear power, according to a new report from Greenpeace International. The report, “How Clean is Your Cloud?” shows a growing split within the tech industry between companies that are taking steps to power …
Continue reading “Apple, Amazon, & Microsoft build data centers around dirty energy”
Venture capitalists invested $5.8 billion in 758 deals in the first quarter of 2012. The report shows that after a strong fourth quarter 2011, VC investment activity for the quarter fell 19 percent in terms of dollars and 15 percent in the number of deals compared to the fourth quarter of 2011 when $7.1 billion …
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A new study from Carnegie Mellon University found that in 2010, video games wasted about 1% of America’s electrical energy. They found that up to 75% of energy consumed by video game consoles is during idle use, because the machines don’t have an auto-power-down feature (like every computer does). The authors of the study say …
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“The same wind that used to pump water for cattle is now turning giant wind turbines to power cities and homes.” “The blades only turn about 18 RPM, not nearly fast enough to create electricity, so the rotor shaft spins a series of gears that increase the rotation up to 1800 RPM. At that speed …
Continue reading “Energy 101: Wind turbines, how those slow moving blades create electricity”
This edition of Energy 101 highlights the benefits of electric vehicles, including improved fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, and lower maintenance costs. Electric Vehicle = EV “80% of drivers travel less than 40 miles round-trip for their daily commute. Which is just right for an EV.” “Many of today’s EV’s can go up to 100 miles …
100% of Minnesota’s electricity generation needs can be met by wind and solar sources combined with improvements to the state’s electric grid system and energy efficiency policies, according to a report released today. Renewable Minnesota: Aanalysis of a 100% renewable-energy based electricity system for Minnesota Researched and written by Dr. Arjun Makhijani and Christina Mills …
Continue reading “Myth = 100% of our energy cannot come form renewable sources”
Transportation, not electricity, is the source of oil’s importance: since the 1970s, the U.S. has weaned its power sector off of oil. Today only one percent of U.S. electricity is generated from oil and only one percent of U.S. oil demand is due to electricity generation. Thus expansion of electricity generation from solar, wind, nuclear, …
Continue reading “Oil fact – 99% of U.S. electricity generation does NOT come from oil”
The year was 1998 and two highly competitive groups of astronomers were each rushing toward the same goal: they hoped to hunt down the effects of gravitational braking in the universe. Ever since astronomers had accepted the idea of the Big Bang, they had been out hunting for its subsequent cosmic deceleration. While the Big Bang …
Continue reading “A new energy form unknown to science, Dark Energy, is expanding the Universe”