Renewable Energy
Greener education : Oberlin College
We have seen a few universities going green, like Harvard and Yale. I just discovered a new college, in Ohio, which is also advancing a green way of functioning. I won’t get tired of insisting how important education is in [...]
First test flight of the Solar Impulse was a success!
Last year, Rodrigo told you about the Solar Impulse project, which plans to tour the world in a solar-powered plane, in 2012. Yesterday, the plane made its first high altitude test flight and proved to work perfectly well. This is [...]
One of the competing houses in Solar Decathlon 2010
Not long ago, I told you about a design competition called “Solar Decathlon”. Last year, a team of German students won by presenting a house covered in solar panels. Now I’ll look at a Chinese group of students, and their [...]
PlanetSolar, a solar boat that will tour the world
Since the late 80s, Raphaël Domjan has been trying to tour the world on a ship with low energy consumption. He tried different methods until he bumped into solar power and did not stop until he got the required funding [...]
Students designed and built a house covered in solar cells
The Solar Decathlon is a competition organized yearly by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, since 2002. Teams of college and university students can participate by designing and building solar powered houses. The goal is to help [...]
Pushing the limits of technology: the World Solar Challenge
The World Solar Challenge is a race that has been run every year since 1987. It was created by Swiss pioneer Hans Tholstrup, who crossed Australia from west to east in 1982 in a solar car he made with his [...]
Gaviotas: energy self-sufficiency in the desert
If I told you a town that has no police force, no cell phones, no television, no Internet and no mayor is an example for other towns and cities, you probably wouldn’t believe me. But in fact it’s true. Gaviotas [...]
The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act and the environment – Part II
Last week, here in Sustentator, we summarized what the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act is doing to improve energy efficiency on a national scale. Today, we’ll look at the funds being destined to renewable energy research, development and deployment programs. [...]
Samso: 100% renewable energy island
It seems like a school project, or a game, too perfect to be real. Yet it does exist; Samso Island, in Denmark, uses nearly 100% renewable energy. In 1997, it won a competition launched by the Ministry of Energy of [...]
Grameen Shakti: deploying renewable energy in Bangladesh
Grameen Shakti or Grameen Energy is part of the Grameen family of organizations, and its objective is to promote and develop renewable energies in rural areas of Bangladesh. It was born in 1996, and follows some of the guidelines of [...]
Green help for Haiti
Haiti has not only lost more than 100,000 people, but its housing has crumbled down, its already weak energy infrastructure has been destroyed, there is a lack of water and food, as well as many wounded. International aid is being [...]
What is microgeneration?
Microgeneration is the generation of zero or low carbon heat and power by individuals, small businesses and communities to meet their own needs. It includes small scale wind turbines, hydroelectric plants, photovoltaic solar systems and ground source heat pumps. It [...]
