Hope for a Happy and Healthy Planet
| Solar Power: New World Record For Solar-to-grid Conversion Efficiency Set Scientists have set a new solar-to-grid system conversion efficiency record by achieving a 31.25 percent net efficiency rate. The old 1984 record of 29.4 percent was toppled Jan. 31 on SES’s “Serial #3″ solar dish Stirling system at Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility. The solar dish generates electricity by focusing the suns rays onto a receiver, which transmits the heat energy to a Stirling engine. The engine is a sealed system filled with hydrogen. As the gas heats and cools, its pressure rises and falls. The change in pressure drives the pistons inside the engine, producing mechanical power, which in turn drives a generator and makes electricity. |
| As Seen in the St. Charles County Journal: Farmergy Installs Solar Panels on Busch Estate As Seen October 31, 2007 in the St. Charles County Journal Busch estate installs solar panels By Eric Becker Kirkwood-based Farmergy on Oct. 23 completed the installation of what it says is the largest private solar energy panel project in the region at Adolphus Busch IV’s Belleau Farms in St. Charles County. But the topic of the day was improving the state’s standing for usage of renewable energy sources. Busch’s hope in installing the solar panels was to push the state toward increased consciousness of renewable energy sources, something he said the state sorely lacks. With the passage of the. |
| Jeff M-S Blogs the Solar Synapse! As a fellow blogger this is huge! Jeff McIntire-Strasburg is the Barry Bonds of green blogging (less the 20+ inch biceps). I have been a huge fan of Jeff’s writings on Sustainablog, Treehugger, and now, Green Options, for years. Therefore, it was exciting for me to check Sustainablog this morning and see that he is featuring a discussion with SNI’s president, Jason Loyet, AND featuring the Solar Synapse! We’re a national company based out of St. Louis and Jeff is a national/international green writer based here as well–so I guess it was inevitable–but it’s also a sign of success. Thanks. |
| First Room-temperature Semiconductor Source Of Coherent Terahertz Radiation Demonstrated Engineers and applied physicists from Harvard University have demonstrated the first room-temperature electrically-pumped semiconductor source of coherent Terahertz radiation, also known as T-rays. The breakthrough in laser technology, based upon commercially available nanotechnology, has the potential to become a standard Terahertz source to support applications ranging from security screening to chemical sensing. |
| Hope for a Happy and Healthy Planet It was interesting to learn today about a recent study by the New Economics Foundation (NEF). The study was done to find out if people who use more energy are happier than their carbon-footprint-conscious cohorts. It measures people’s opinions on how happy they are, their life expectancy and their carbon footprint in order to see if more energy usage makes for happier citizens. Good news for the future of our planet.more energy consumption does NOT equal happy consumers! The study was done in Europe, so the U.S. isn’t a part of the results. However, I’d imagine we’d fall under the. |
| Electricity And Gas Consumption At A Glance People who want to save energy should always keep an eye on their consumption. The EWE Box offers customers a neat solution: It enables private households to monitor their electricity and gas consumption whenever they want — and save costs thanks to new pricing models. |
| Fresh Water For The World’s Poorest Lack of water causes great distress among the population in large parts of Africa and Asia. Small decentralized water treatment plants with an autonomous power supply can help solve the problem: They transform salty seawater or brackish water into pure drinking water. Large industrial plants for the desalination of seawater deliver 50 million cubic meters of fresh water every day — particularly in the coastal cities of the Middle East. However, the technology is complex and consumes large amounts of energy. |
| Extra Power From Private Wind and Solar Generation Can Be Given Back To Grid More Easily An increasing number of people use wind or solar energy as a power source, and at times, they have extra power available that could be sold to the electricity grid. A new system allows this externally generated energy to be better stored and transferred. |
Packaging Company Receives Cradle-toCradle Certification Be Green Packaging has been certified as sustainable in every step of the production of their packaging materials by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). The Cradle-to-Cradle certification guarantees that, among other questions of sustainability, a product does not go to a landfill — it doesn’t have a cradle-to-grave cycle. Instead, the product must be wholly recyclable.
Be Green Packaging produces a variety of food containers such as bowls and trays. Their products are entirely compostable. They distribute their products throughout 37 states, as well as Canada and the U.K. Their packaging does not rely on plastic or use trees; instead, Be Green produces packaging from bulrushes, a wetland plant that is known to grow quickly. There is a clear issue that, while many companies are making their production practices more sustainable, they still take few measures to deal with their products after their usefulness is over. Disposal is generally left to a consumer, who has few options beyond the landfill. A Cradle-to-Cradle certification from MBDC guarantees that the consumer has easy options, such as the nearest compost pile. More companies are stepping up to take responsibility for disposing of their own products in the end, and that’s a trend that should be rewarded. It seems like many consumers are willing to do just that — saving a consumer the cost and effort of disposing of a product is an incentive for the consumer to keep buying. Image — Be Green Packaging |