Rhode Island Offshore Wind Farm Takes Step Forward – And Some Environmentalists Are Upset?
photo: m.prinke via flickr
The race to build the first offshore wind farm in the United States continues with Rhode Island taking one more legislative step towards beating its neighbors. The Providence Journal reports that the state legislature has enacted a new law that speeds the time it takes to get regulatory approval between wind power developer…Read the full story on TreeHugger
“Green Britain Day” May Be Greenwash. But What’s Wrong with Being French?
Image credit: Ecotricity
British wind developer Ecotricity, and French nuclear giant EDF, have already clashed over EDF’s co-opting of a green Union Jack flag. The resulting spat even caused Ecotricity CEO Dale Vince to rename the EDF-sponsored “Green Britain Day” as National Greenwash Day. It looks like the row is set to resume as the “holiday” rolls around again. Interestingly (and perhaps smartly, from a purely t…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Great Lakes Offshore Wind Farms Already Face NIMBY Opposition, Just Like Those in Saltwater
photo: Martin Pettitt via flickr
Developing offshore wind farms on the Great Lakes has been touted as an overlooked resource in a number of studies and indeed a few projects are in the planning stages. Which, seemingly on cue, has aroused opposition to them on the usual grounds, as the Detroit News reports:…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Bill Gates Says Large Scale Renewable Projects Are Decades Away
photo via ted
On Fareed Zakaria’s CNN show, GPS, Bill Gates gave a gloomy answer when asked about the prospects of the U.S. creating renewable energy projects at such a large scale that they will replace dirty fuel sources like coal and oil in the coming decade. Gates, normally sanguine on the power of technology and market forces to cause transformative change at a rapid pace, said that the technology to store energy f…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Getting Developing Nations on a Greener Path Without Creating a New Renewable Energy ‘Colonialism’
Family and friends pose in front of a house in South Africa with a new solar heating system. Photo by Abri_Beluga via Flickr
No matter how much it might help the environment for fewer nations to produce and consume at U.S.-style levels, slowing global development would clearly be an unworkable — and profoundly unfair — way to address the climate crisis. As environmental scientist Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker put it this morning at a conference in Berlin: “Poor and cle…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Western US Grid Can Handle More Renewable Energy Than Previously Predicted
Photo: Flickr, CC
Solar and Wind Could Play a Much Bigger Role
A new study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado has found that the Western section of the U.S. power grid could handle up to about 35% renewables if properly integrated. That doesn’t mean it would be simple, but it’s a counter-arguments to those who think the grid can’t handle much intermittent sources, and the NREL is definitely a credible source….Read the full story on TreeHugger
President Bush Evidently Way Cooler, Greener When Not President
Photo via KHL
If you met a guy who lived in house that has 25,000 gallons of rainwater storage, ran on geothermal power, and who made use of his high public profile to endorse wind power, you’d probably think he was pretty green. Of course, knowing that the guy also happens to be 43rd US President George W. Bush, your impression may get a tad more complicated. …Read the full story on TreeHugger
Europe’s Longest Bridge Wobbles in the Wind (Video)
Bridges have long been considered testaments to mankind’s ability to overcome the most challanging geographic obstacles with engineering prowess, but a recent incident involvi…Read the full story on TreeHugger
First Freshwater Offshore Wind Farm in US Planned for Lake Erie
photo: Andy S-D via flickr
The potential for developing offshore wind power in the Great Lakes has been something touted for some time now, and has now moved one step closer to reality. GE and the non-profit Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation have <a href="http://www…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Great White Idea: More Efficient Windmills, Airplanes and Ships With Shark Skin
Credit: “Jaws” movie still via Flixster.
We’re gonna need a bigger wind turbine. Or maybe not. German researchers are using shark skin to make windmills spin more efficiently, and generate more electricity. Not real shark skin, thankfully. This is shark-line skin that can be painted onto wind turbines, airplanes and ships to reduce flow resistance, or drag. Does this make your “Jaws” drop? …Read the full story on TreeHugger
