WINDPOWER 2008 Focuses on 20% Wind by 2030

With the WINDPOWER 2008 Conference & Exhibition coming less than a month after the Department of Energy released its landmark report detailing how wind energy can meet 20% of the nation's electricity needs by 2030 -- a report that will serve as the foundation of a vision for the wind industry -- the 20% theme promises to run throughout the event in Houston, Texas next week. More here, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52576

Solar Cell Breakthrough Could Lead to Extremely Efficient Yet Cheap Solar Cells

ScienceDaily (May 27, 2008) — Researchers at TU Delft and the FOM Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter have found irrefutable proof that the so-called avalanche effect by electrons occurs in specific, very small semiconducting crystals. This physical effect could pave the way for cheap, high-output solar cells. More here, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080527091942.htm

An Electric Car You Can Buy Today: The $20K TRIAC EV

TRIAC Electric Car. Range: 60-100 Miles. Cost: 2 cents per mile
This little number has been getting some good press lately (see EcoGeek and Inhabit), and for good reason: it’s the first commercially available electric vehicle with a price tag and functionality that could meet the needs of the average city driver (assuming you can afford it). More here, http://gas2.org/2008/05/27/an-electric-car-you-can-buy-today-the-20k-triac-ev/

World's First Floating Wind Turbine to be Built in Norway in 2009

Norway (TGW) StatoilHydro, a Norwegian oil company, has announced plans for the first offshore floating wind turbine.The 2.3-megawatt, $80 million turbine, a Siemens machine that is 65 meters high, will sit atop a buoy tied down by three anchors. More, http://thoughtsonglobalwarming.blogspot.com/2008/05/worlds-first-floating-turbine-to-be.html

Bay Area Passes Carbon Tax - First of Its Kind in the U.S

On Wednesday the Bay Area Air Quality Management District board of directors voted 15–1 to charge companies 4.4 cents per ton of carbon emitted. Set to go into effect on July 1st for the nine Bay Area counties, the carbon tax will be the first of it’s kind in the country. Read here, http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/bay-area-passes-carbon-tax-fir-003161.php

Mickey goes green…

Disney announced last Tuesday a new green initiative — just in time for Earth Day.
But while some organizations are "going green" by recycling paper or planting trees, the entertainment mega-giant is taking being eco-friendly one step further — by creating an entirely new, green-focused company. Called Disney Nature....a bit more here, http://www.e-citizen.tv/wordpress/2008/04/29/lang_frdisney-nature-earth-bande-annoncelang_frlang_endisney-nature-earth-trailer-earth-daylang_en/langswitch_lang/en/

Seven Tips for Greening Your Barbecue This Summer

With Memorial Day Weekend just around the corner, millions of people will be firing up their grills to celebrate an American past time. Here are some quick tips to keeping your barbecue safe, waste-free, and fun! More here, http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/05/23/seven-tips-for-greening-your-barbecue-this-summer/

Students Build Award-winning Car of the Future

Matthew Doude walks around in the mid-sized sports utility vehicle in his showroom in northeast Mississippi, pointing out the electric motor under the back cargo area and the PC found in the dash.
Read more, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52489

THE CROWN ESTATE TO PURCHASE THE WORLD’S LARGEST OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE

The Crown Estate and Clipper Windpower Plc (Clipper) are delighted to announce today, that they have signed an agreement for The Crown Estate to purchase Clipper’s prototype of the world’s largest offshore wind turbine, Clipper’s 7.5 MW MBE turbine, also known as the Britannia project. Read here, http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/newscontent/92-clipper-wind-turbine.htm

Is it really 'made in Canada?’

BEAMSVILLE, Ont. — Food products labelled "made in Canada" will no longer be allowed to use a substantial amount of foreign ingredients, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday as he announced new guidelines that consumer advocates hailed as a "big step in the right direction." Read more here, http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1057370.html

It appears the article has moved so this is the recap,

CORNWALL, Ont. -- The Conservative government has fleshed out food labelling guidelines unveiled earlier this year by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced in Cornwall, Ont., that the new rules come into effect on Jan. 1, 2009, and apply to all foods produced from that day forward.
Under the new rules, foods labelled as a Canadian product must contain "all or virtually all contents" that are from Canada.
It's currently legal to call a product "made in Canada" if 51 per cent of the production costs were incurred here and the final transformation of product was in Canada.
The government says 90 per cent of the 1,500 Canadians who filled out an online survey after Harper's announcement in May agreed with the new guidelines.
The new guidelines come from the Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan announced by Harper in December.

China Fuels Ethanol Industry with Yams, Sweet Potatoes and Cassava

In 2006, China imported 145 million tons of crude oil, accounting for 44% of its consumption of oil. With the rapid growth in vehicle sales in China, consumption of fuel oil for vehicles accounted for 35% of oil consumption in 2006. And demand for fuel oil in China continues to grow at the rate of 15-16% per year. To satisfy domestic demand for vehicle fuel, control its dependence on foreign sources of oil and attempt to moderate fuel costs, China has embarked on a robust effort to ramp up fuel ethanol development. More here, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52450

Powering Villages from Rice Husks

Two students from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business recently started a business that supplies electricity to rural villages in India by gasifying the rice husks that are a waste product of rice milling. So far, two rice husk generators are providing power to about 10,000 rural Indians, but the business plan calls for a rapid expansion that will put the miniature power plants in hundreds more villages within a few years. More here, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52488

Big Oil Steps Into Brazilian Ethanol

As the debate and controversy over ethanol production and its effects on global food supply and prices rages on, just last month BP announced its first foray -- and the largest to date by a multinational oil company -- into Brazil's sugar cane-based ethanol industry. Read here, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52475

INTERIOR DOORS: JELD-WEN door takes advantage of juniper wood

JELD-WEN windows and doors has just announded availability of interior and exterior doors made with Western juniper as part of the authentic rustic style JELD-WEN® IWP® Estate collection. The company is calling these doors an eco-friendly green option for homeowners because juniper is considered a "water hog," and the overgrowth of juniper especially in the Western states has been linked to the disappearance of critical water springs in high desert regions, as a single tree can consume 30 to 50 gallons of water per day. More, http://www.getwithgreen.com/2008/05/18/interior-doors-jeld-wen-door-takes-advantage-of-juniper-wood/

How Much Extra Will Consumers Pay for Green Products?

The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating analysis that tries to get at how much ethical and environmental considerations really stand to change consumer behavior. Read here, http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/eco-friendly/green-products-460514

Book a Tree House Holiday for a Unique Eco Experience

Tree houses aren’t just for kiddies. Some people call them home all year round, like the Korowai of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, while others are rented out as holiday homes to those seeking a unique eco experience.
Nestled among the branches or constructed around wide trunks, tree houses offer the ultimate chance to be at one with nature, quite literally. Read the rest here, http://www.ecotourismlogue.com/accommodation/book-a-tree-house-holiday-for-a-unique-eco-experience.html

Residential Solar Embraces Leasing, Power Purchase Agreements

The use of power purchase agreements (PPAs) and similar leasing instruments to finance residential solar power installations is poised for a boom this year which could prove to be as healthy as the commercial solar PPA market was in 2007, several solar integrators in California suggest. Read here, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52391

Water lily plan for solar power

Large lily-shaped discs which harness solar power could soon be seen floating on the River Clyde.
The concept, from Glasgow-based ZM Architecture, has been handed to the city council with the hope that a trial project could go-ahead. Read more here, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7390663.stm

Future Not Bright for Arctic Ice

"When you look in detail at the science behind the recent Arctic changes it becomes painfully clear how our understanding of climate impacts lags behind the changes that we are already seeing in the Arctic," warned Martin Sommerkorn, one of the authors of a new report from conservation group the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Read the rest here, http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/04/26/future-not-bright-for-arctic-ice/

The Environment is What You Eat: Misleading Ecolabels like Natural, Free Range and Cruelty Free

Entering a grocery store for a socially and environmentally minded person can be quite a stressful and trying experience. Should you buy that organic, free-range, cage-free, grass-fed, non-GMO, natural, fair-trade beef? More here, http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/05/02/the-environment-is-what-you-eat/

Arctic and Antarctica Polar Opposites

There’s nothing quite as nice as a really catchy title that perfectly sums up your story. If you want to leave it at that, then you’ve probably got the whole of the story. However if you want to know just a bit more about how climate change is affecting our planet’s poles, then keep reading. Here.. http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/05/04/arctic-and-antarctica-polar-opposites/

The Day After the Decade After Tomorrow

Here's a good read,
The movie The Day After Tomorrow saw the planet globally affected by the cessation of the ocean conveyor belt, or, more precisely known as the thermohaline circulation (THC). The northern hemisphere suffered massive drops in temperature, rises in sea level and a variety of other climate conditions. Read the rest here, http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/05/10/the-day-after-the-decade-after-tomorrow/

The Power of the Sun: Solar Lanterns Transform Lives in Malawi, Africa

Malawi, Africa [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]
Mirriam is 18 years old and lives in Malawi. She has two children, one brother and one sister. Her father died of AIDS and her mother is now also sick with HIV AIDS. Every day is a struggle: finding food for her children, caring for her mother, looking after her other sick relatives – all this with next to no income. More here, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52394

Biomass Heat and Electricity Plants on the Rise in Europe

The head of the International Energy Association, Nobuo Tanaka, visited Europe's largest biomass plant that uses only wood as fuel in February, hailing the 66 megawatt (MW) biomass plant in Austria, as a "model project" for the up-and-coming forest-based bioenergy industry. Read here, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52372

Vampire electronics

Vampire appliances are pretty much anything you can plug in that still sucks energy when it’s supposedly turned off. Some are pretty obvious - the clocks on your microwave or VCR/DVD player burn all day, everyday. We know they’re not "off" because we cans see their LEDs glow. But other electronics, from your television to your cell phone charger also draw power when they’re plugged in but not in use. Read more here, http://cleantechnica.com/2008/05/03/smart-power-strips-the-garlic-of-vampire-electronics/

Home audio gets greener, as stereo manufacturers are doing more to reduce power consumption

As homeowners, many of us will use our home remodel as an opportunity to "upgrade" our existing home audio and visual equipment such as televisions, amplifiers, satellite/cable box, DVD players, whole house audio, video games, etc.
With these upgrades, you have an opportunity to reduce power consumption in your home – making your home a greener home. Further, if your new equipment is an addition to your power consumption, then there are products that are better choices than others relative to energy consumption. Read here, http://www.getwithgreen.com/2008/05/04/audio-visual-which-whole-house-audio-amplifiers-are-most-efficient/

Not just another brick in the wall

Ten years ago researcher Klara Morasszeky emerged from the Regional Forestry Agreement process angrier than she’d ever been in her life.
"We give timber companies an excuse to destroy forests for building materials when there is a viable alternative out there," Ms Morasszeky, a former consultant to Greening Australia, said.
And so she set about researching green, alternative building materials, travelling around the world and experimenting until she found what she believes to be the best source: hemp. Read here, http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=View%20Article&article=20251&keywords=hemp

In Pictures: The World's Biggest Clean-Energy Projects

The Middle East is hardly known as the capital of clean energy, but Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are trying to change that. Read the story here, http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/28/energy-electricity-power-biz-energy-cx_wp_0428greenpower.html
Or see the pics here, http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/28/energy-electricity-power-biz-energy-cx_wp_0428greenpower_slide_4.html?thisSpeed=15000

Ethanol waiver seen spiking gasoline $1/gallon

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A proposal by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to waive half of the renewable fuel standard for ethanol has raised the ire of some ethanol proponents, who say it could add more than a dollar per gallon to the cost of gasoline across the country. Read more here, http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0540704420080505?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&sp=true

Quebec pushes wind power

MONTREAL — Hydro-Québec has accepted 15 bids from companies offering to provide the provincial utility with a total of 2,004 megawatts of wind-generated electricity that would come on stream between 2011 and 2015 if final approvals are reached. More here, http://ctv2.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080505.wquebhydro0505/business/Business/businessBN/ctv-business

Creating Bioheat: A Look Inside New England Wood Pellet

New England Wood Pellet's Jaffrey, New Hampshire plant produces approximately 75,000 tons of wood pellet fuel per year. Most is bagged and shipped to a network of more than 100 retailers throughout the Northeast. Read here, http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/story?id=52330

World's Largest Solar Farm in California to Power 190,000 Homes

OptiSolar has announced plans to build the world’s largest solar photovoltaic farm 100 miles north of Los Angeles. The planned farm would create 550 megawatts of power, about the same as a coal fired power plant, and enough electricity for the equivalent of 190,000 homes. More, http://www.optisolar.com/PDF/OptiSolar%20Topaz%20Solar%20Farm%20Backgrounder-Final.pdf

Big Retailers Recycling E-Waste

About three to five years. Thats the average lifespan of most electronics devices these days. So it’s not surprising that to hear that we junk about 2 million tons of e-waste every year.
I personally like to change my cell phone about every two years for the newer more beautiful one.
Read the rest here, http://www.talkgreen.ca/big-retailers-recycling-e-waste/

Sunrgi Exits Stealth, Promises to be as Cheap as Coal

Sunrgi HQ (TGW) – Sunrgi has unveiled its new solar power technology which it says will only cost 5 centers per kilowatt – as cheap as fossil fuels. The system, Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics (XCPV), concentrates the equivalent of more than 1600 times the sun’s energy onto extremely efficient solar cells. The XCPV system uses the same principle as a magnifying glass, concentrating the sun’s energy onto solar cells that convert more than 37% of the sun’s energy. More, http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1596/