Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
A short while back, I described my standalone (off-grid) urban photovoltaic (PV) energy system. At the time, I promised a follow-up piece evaluating the realized efficiency of the system. What was I thinking? The resulting analysis is a lot of work! But it was good for me, and hopefully it will be useful to some of you lot as well.
A short while back, I described my standalone (off-grid) urban photovoltaic (PV) energy system. At the time, I promised a follow-up piece evaluating the realized efficiency of the system. What was I thinking? The resulting analysis is a lot of work! But it was good for me, and hopefully it will be useful to some of you lot as well.
-Wind could meet many times world’s total power demand by 2030, Stanford researchers say
-EU proposal would limit use of crop-based biofuels
-Indian blackout held no fear for small hamlet where the power stayed on
-Asia Risks Water Scarcity Amid Coal-Fired Power Embrace
-Debunking wind energy myths – At a glance
-Merkel’s Other Crisis Spurs German Quest For Energy Holy Grail
-Dark clouds gather over China’s once-booming solar industry
-US solar PV market more than doubles to topple Europe
-Biofuel fails EU sustainability test, German researchers claim
-Keiser report: Monopolies, Military, Mayhem
-In Drought, Should Corn Be Food Or Fuel?
-Every Household in India to Have Electricity in 5 Years: Indian PM
-India’s other power failure (and its opportunity)
-Smart Grid Solutions in India [White Paper]
-Asia’s real power struggle
-Zero Blade Turbine Could Revolutionize Wind Power Industry
-As Coal Sinks, Renewables Soar: Emissions Report Shows Start Of Clean Energy Transition
-Counting the carbon cost of the EU’s woods
I have not kept it secret that I’m a fan of solar power. Leaving storage hangups aside for now, the fact that the scale of available power is comfortably gigantic, that perfectly efficient technology exists, that it’s hard-over on the reality axis (vs. fantasy: it’s producing electricity on my roof right now), and that it works well almost everywhere—what’s not to like? Did you trip over that last part? Many do. In this post, we’ll look at just how much solar yield one may expect as a function of location within the U.S.
In one of the poorest countries on the planet a renewable energy service company is installing one thousand solar home systems – a day. Not in its capital or busy urban centers, but where 80 percent of the population lives – in rural Bangladesh. The company, Grameen Shakti, literally translates as rural energy. By the end of the year it will have installed a total of one million solar systems and now has expansion plans to install five million systems by 2015. Shakti is succeeding where business as usual has failed, and in the year of Sustainable Energy for All, it’s a success story we should all know by heart.
So here’s the question: Is solar just a cute diversion, like having a llama carry your backpack, or does it have the oomph to make a serious dent in the energy appetite of a populous country? Is it a toy or a tool? A llama or a mule?
The IEA forecast this week that non OECD oil demand overtake OECD demand for the first time next year. The agency advised that economic slowdown is likely to keep a lid on oil prices in 2013, but there was still a chance of “nasty supply surprises”…
– Germany Meets Half Its Energy Demand From Solar, Briefly
– The new new hydropower: Small-scale turbines have big potential
– National Defense: Efficiency and Conservation Not Enough to Achieve Energy Security
– Energy now hitting pop charts (Muse and the 2nd Law of thermodynamics)
– Thomas Homer-Dixon: Exploring the climate “mindscape” (oil supplies and energy junk)
– Government influence is negative for energy fuel policy
– The German Switch from Nuclear to Renewables
– Scientists’ Arctic drilling plan aims to demystify undersea greenhouse gases
– Ancien directeur de TOTAL: Nouvelles découvertes et gaz de schiste retarderont à peine le pic pétrolier
