Archive for the 'Energy' Category
Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em: Australian Electricity Retailers Selling Battery Systems to Customers with Solar
June 2nd, 2015In other news, Meridian CEO Mark Binns shits the bed. haha Here’s another one for you, Mark: New Zealand Solar Uptake Triples. Have a nice day. Via: Sydney Morning Herald: Snowy Hydro’s retail arm Red Energy, ActewAGL and Queensland’s Ergon Energy will trial a home battery system made by Panasonic in a bid to ensure […]
Data Furnaces Arrive in Europe
May 28th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: Nerdalize is a small Dutch company that is trying to commercialise Microsoft’s data furnace idea. The first product is the eRadiator, which, given its size, probably contains two or three servers that pump out around 1000W of heat—probably just enough to heat a small room in winter. In an interview with the […]
State of Emergency Declared for Oil Spill Off Santa Barbara Coast
May 20th, 2015More oil drilling for New Zealand? Look and learn. Via: NBC: California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday issued an emergency proclamation for Santa Barbara County due to the effects of an oil spill near Refugio State Beach. Oil floating off the Southern California coast after a spill from a broken oil pipe now stretches about […]
Ripasso Testing 34% Efficient Concentrated Solar System in Kalahari Desert
May 18th, 2015Disclosures: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand and I’m long Enphase Energy. — Via: Guardian: A new solar electricity generation system that developers claim is the most efficient in the world, is being tested in South Africa’s Kalahari desert. The Swedish company behind the project – which combines military technology with an idea […]
Oil Tycoon Wanted University of Oklahoma Earthquake Researchers Dismissed
May 18th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: Oil tycoon Harold Hamm told a University of Oklahoma dean last year that he wanted certain scientists there dismissed who were studying links between oil and gas activity and the state’s nearly 400-fold increase in earthquakes, according to the dean’s e-mail recounting the conversation.
The Future of Wind Turbines? No Blades
May 18th, 2015Via: Wired: A Spanish company called Vortex Bladeless is proposing a radical new way to generate wind energy that will once again upend what you see outside your car window. Their idea is the Vortex, a bladeless wind turbine that looks like a giant rolled joint shooting into the sky. The Vortex has the same […]
BP Hires Former MI6 Boss John Sawers
May 18th, 2015Via: Guardian: BP has hired the former head of MI6 as it seeks to capitalise on his top-level diplomatic experience while dealing with some of the toughest political environments around the world. Sir John Sawers, who was head of the Secret Intelligence Service between 2009 and 2014, has joined the oil company’s board as a […]
Wrightspeed Unveils New Turbine Range Extender for Medium and Heavy-Duty Electric Powertrains
May 10th, 2015Via: Green Car Congress: Wrightspeed Inc., a developer of range-extended electric vehicle powertrains for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (earlier post), has unveiled the Fulcrum, a new proprietary turbine generator for use in its Route family of electric powertrains (Route for Class 3-6, Route HD for Class 7-8). The new 80 kW Fulcrum is a radial […]
Thoughts on Tesla’s Powerwall
May 6th, 2015Update: 11 May 2015: Tesla Q1 2015 Earnings Call More info was released on the recent Tesla earnings call. The Powerwall will be charged directly from the DC from the solar panels and the battery will output into an existing string inverter. At one point they say that the Powerwall looks like the solar array […]
MIT: Solar Has Best Potential for Meeting Humanity’s Energy Needs
May 6th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Via: Computerworld: A massive study on solar power by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) came to two main conclusions: Solar energy holds the best potential for meeting the planet’s long-term energy needs while reducing greenhouse gasses and federal and state governments must […]
