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RENEWABLE ENERGY
Amory Lovins: A 50-year plan for energy
TED talks: Ideas worth spreading l Amory Lovins May 2012
In this intimate talk filmed at TED's offices, energy theorist Amory Lovins lays out the steps we must take to end the world's dependence on oil (before we run out). Some changes are already happening -- like lighter-weight cars and smarter trucks -- but some require a bigger vision.
In his new book, "Reinventing Fire," Amory Lovins shares ingenious ideas to for the next era of energy.
What if we could make energy do our work without working our undoing?” (Amory Lovins)
Alice Slater: Sustainable Energy Will Bring Peace on Earth
How Loud is a Wind Turbine?
Are wind turbines noisy? Possibly, but probably not as noisy as you think. A look at wind turbine noise. Not perfect, but neither is your refrigerator. And, while yes, consider the source (GE is not unbiased), the information is simple and clear, and presented in a straightforward way. Don't dismiss the future because it's in its infancy. Renewables have only room to grow. And, they grow better, less expensive, more efficient, almost as we speak. Our traditional energy sources are dirty, dangerous, and ruinously expensive. They are falling apart, and they threaten to take the entire planet with them.
Change is not always easy, the sailing is not always smooth, but renewable energy has long since proved it offers a viable present solution for our energy crisis. Imagine what it will be in the future!
GE Reports l How Loud is a Wind Turbine?
Because wind turbines are such a great source of clean, renewable energy, they’re usuallygreeted with a great deal of enthusiasm. But some complaints have been made that they can cause too much noise for residents living within a mile of the blades.
So just how noisy are these turbines?
Path to the new energy era: Rocky Mountain Institute
A Ticking Atomic Clock: Nuclear Power vs. Efficient Homes
Sustainable home energy efficiency? Or, dangerous, expensive, dead end nuclear power? Sound like a loaded question? Well, it is. Read article below to see why.
Over the next 20 years, the power plants that produce one-third of the nuclear energy in the United States will reach the end of their operational lives. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, other countries (Switzerland, Germany) are reconsidering their commitments to nuclear power. In the U.S., Michael Levi asks in this Slate article whether we can shift from nuclear to other fuel sources for our power generation.
But we’d like to present an alternative option to the discussion. If we use power more efficiently, particularly in our homes, we can avoid replacing these aging nuclear power plants entirely.
For half the cost of a new nuclear power plant, we can retrofit 1,600,000 homes for energy efficiency and save the same amount of energy. Retrofitting the houses would create 220,000 new jobs – that’s 90 times more jobs than you’d get from the replacement nuclear power plant.
Rocky Mountain Institute: Happy Independence Day
German parliament backs nuclear exit by 2022
Doubters were forced to accept that Germany meant what it said when the German Parliament finalized plans, on friday, to phase out nuclear power by 2022. They now lead the way for major industrialized nations walking away from nuclear energy. They also have a clear path to move to the top of major industrialized nations making a profit from renewable energy. That they feel this is a sustainable decision economically, as well as morally and medically, is an excellent sign that renewable energy is viable in the marketplace. Others will surely follow.
BERLIN — The German parliament sealed plans Friday to phase out nuclear energy by 2022, making the country the first major industrial power to take the step in the wake of the disaster at Japan's Fukushima plant.
The nuclear exit scheme cleared its final hurdle in the Bundesrat upper house, which represents the 16 regional states, after the legislation passed the Bundestag lower house with an overwhelming majority last week.
Germany's seven oldest reactors were already switched off after Japan's massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing reactors to overheat and radiation to leak.
Renewable Energy Production Surpasses Nuclear in U.S.
The future is here. With link to the report itself at bottom of article.
Forbes l Erica Gies 7 July, 2011
In the first quarter of 2011, renewable energy production in the United States surpassed nuclear production in overall quantity and percentage. Also, the percentage of natural gas is growing slowly, while coal is declining.
Entrenched energy industries like to say that renewable energy can never provide a significant amount of U.S. energy needs. And while it’s true that some technologies still face barriers to widespread implementation and others, while technically renewable, might not be very green, renewables as a percentage of U.S. energy generation are creeping up steadily — and not just in California, with its target of 33 percent renewables by 2020.
In the first three months of 2011, renewable energy — hydroelectric, geothermal, solar/PV, wind, and biomass — made up 11.7 percent of the U.S. energy production mix, surpassing nuclear at 11.1 percent. The same period last year, nuclear was 11.6 percent, and renewables 10.6, according to a June report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (Table 1.2).
Clean Technica: Wind Power in Europe MORE Reliable than Nuclear Power in Japan
Clean Technica l Zachary Shahan 16 June, 2011
Great discussion of analysis by Paul Gipe of Wind Works on wind versus nuclear and the baseload fallacy, with specific comparisons of nuclear unreliability at Fukushima even before the accident, and ever increasing success with reliable energy generation from wind power, especially in Germany and Spain.
There's a reason Germany is willing to switch to renewable energy from nuclear- it works. And, despite the usual criticisms from the nuclear industry about reliability the author explains why wind works in Europe, and how it is only at the beginning of the curve toward its true potential.
A lot of wind critics assert that wind power isn’t reliable. The wind power video above, however, does a great job of pointing out the differences between wind power variability and variability of traditional power sources, among other things. Paul Gipe of Wind-Works also recently got into this topic, in more detail, as compared to nuclear power:
Critics of wind energy often charge that wind energy is too “unreliable” to generate a large portion of a nation’s electricity and suggest that base load needs “reliable” sources of generation such as nuclear power.
While wind is a “variable” resource, that is, the wind doesn’t always blow and when it does it doesn’t always blow at the same strength, wind is far more reliable than the critics charge. In fact, wind is fairly predictable on long time horizons, especially from one year to the next.
In contrast, nuclear power is “reliable” until it isn’t as the units at the Fukushima nuclear power plant so dramatically demonstrate.
Renewable energy can power the world, says landmark IPCC study
Good news with a call to action.
guardian.co.uk l Fiona Harvey 9 May 2011
Renewable energy could account for almost 80% of the world's energysupply within four decades - but only if governments pursue the policies needed to promote green power, according to a landmark report published on Monday.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the world's leading climate scientists convened by the United Nations, said that if the full range of renewable technologies were deployed, the world could keep greenhouse gas concentrations to less than 450 parts per million, the level scientists have predicted will be the limit of safetybeyond which climate change becomes catastrophic and irreversible.
Investing in renewables to the extent needed would cost only about 1% of global GDP annually, said Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC.
