Archive for the 'Energy' Category
Tesla-Led Consortium to Build Massive Battery Factory
May 16th, 2014Via: San Jose Mercury News: Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday that Tesla will partner with several companies besides Panasonic for its planned “gigafactory” for battery production, painting a portrait of a facility resembling a massive industrial park and saying that there eventually will be a need for several more. Musk said that the […]
U.S. Air Force to Dismantle HAARP
May 15th, 2014Via: Anchorage Daily News: The U.S. Air Force gave official notice to Congress Wednesday that it intends to dismantle the $300 million High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program in Gakona this summer. The shutdown of HAARP, a project created by the late Sen. Ted Stevens when he wielded great control over the U.S. defense budget, […]
Hunter Biden to Ukraine Gas Board
May 13th, 2014Via: Politico: Hunter Biden, the younger son of Vice President Joe Biden, will be joining Ukraine’s largest private gas producer, the company announced in a statement “The company’s strategy is aimed at the strongest concentration of professional staff and the introduction of best corporate practices, and we’re delighted that Mr. Biden is joining us to […]
Solar Wind Downdraft Towers
May 7th, 2014Via: Physorg: The tower that SWET has in mind is located in a hot dry area. The tower structure is a hollow cylinder reaching skyward into the dry atmosphere heated by the solar rays of the sun. The water introduced by the injection system near the top of the Tower evaporates and is absorbed by […]
‘Solar’ Jet Fuel Made Out of Thin Air (Average Efficiency of 1.73%)
May 2nd, 2014This is nowhere near viable (at least in terms of what is publicly acknowledged), but I thought it was interesting anyway. Via: Chemistry World: The dream of producing hydrocarbon fuels from carbon dioxide and sunlight is one step closer thanks to chemists in Europe who have made jet fuel from scratch in a solar reactor […]
New Zealand: Commercial Solar Boom Underway
May 1st, 2014The crooked power companies have gone too far. With electricity demand flat and prices nearly doubling since 2000, people are fighting back. This is just the beginning. What we’re dealing with in New Zealand is sort of mini, South Pacific version of Enron. I’ll have a lot more to write about this, but I want […]
Trina Has Independent Certification of Solar Technology with Conversion Efficiency of 24.4%
April 25th, 2014No prices or release date have been indicated, but, “Currently in pilot production,” sounds a lot more promising than most radical developments in this area, which seem to be perpetually five to twenty years away. Make no mistake about it, 24.4% is a big deal—if the price is right. Via: Trina Solar Press Release: Trina […]
North Dakota Finds More Radioactive Oil Waste
April 24th, 2014Via: AP: North Dakota confirmed Thursday the discovery of a new radioactive dump of waste from oil drilling, and separately a company hired to clean up waste found in February at another location said it removed double the amount of radioactive material originally estimated to be there. The Canadian company hired to clean up the […]
Smart Wind and Solar Power
April 24th, 2014Via: MIT Technology Review: Big data and artificial intelligence are producing ultra-accurate forecasts that will make it feasible to integrate much more renewable energy into the grid.
The Pittsburgh Startup That Has Big Plans for Batteries
April 22nd, 2014Via: Guardian: From cell phones to laptops to electric cars, the world is becoming increasingly dependent on batteries. Unfortunately, this convenience comes at a cost: some common battery materials are toxic and require special treatment after their end of life. A new company is hoping to combat this cycle: It has begun using more benign […]
