Awesome Clean Energy Bill Board. #perspective
We’re in the midst of a big solar energy spill today.
(Source: kqedscience)
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Most Americans, regardless of political party, don’t understand how we can ask a senior citizen to pay more for her Medicare before we ask corporate jet owners and oil companies to give up tax breaks that other companies don’t get. How can we ask a student to pay more for college before we ask hedge fund managers to stop paying taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries? How can we slash funding for education and clean energy before we ask people like me to give up tax breaks we don’t need and didn’t ask for?
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| — | President Obama on the debt-limit compromise (via athivee) |
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Read it and weep.
US energy use chart shows we waste more than half of our energy
This flow chart of the estimated US energy use in 2009, assembled by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), paints a pretty sobering picture of our energy situation. To begin with, it shows that more than half (58%) of the total energy produced in the US is wasted due to inefficiencies, such as waste heat from power plants, vehicles, and light bulbs. In other words, the US has an energy efficiency of 42%. And, despite the numerous reports of progress in solar, wind, and geothermal energy, those three energy sources combined provide just 1.2% of our total energy production. The vast majority of our energy still comes from petroleum (37%), natural gas (25%), and coal (21%).
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![mcgmania:
MIT’s artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing
With a single gallon of water, Nocera says, the chip could produce enough electricity to power a house in a developing country for an entire day. Provide every house on the planet with an artificial leaf and we could satisfy our 14 terrawatt need with just one gallon of water a day. […] “Our goal is to make each home its own power station,” he [Nocera] said. “One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology.“](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lis9ivkSlg1qzxgr4o1_500.jpg)
MIT’s artificial leaf is ten times more efficient than the real thing
With a single gallon of water, Nocera says, the chip could produce enough electricity to power a house in a developing country for an entire day. Provide every house on the planet with an artificial leaf and we could satisfy our 14 terrawatt need with just one gallon of water a day.
[…]
“Our goal is to make each home its own power station,” he [Nocera] said. “One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology.“
(Source: Wired)
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Just a teensie problem.
The Nuclear Energy Institute is a Washington-based trade group that has been widely quoted in the press — including Salon — in recent days as representing the American nuclear industry. What media reports haven’t mentioned is that NEI is actually an international organization that serves several Japanese member corporations, including the very company whose reactors are at the center of the crisis: Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).
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6 Tips to Make Your Dishwasher More Energy Efficient brought to you by Lowes.com
1. Save loads of water. Don’t rinse dishes before loading, and you’ll save 55,000 gallons of water over the life of the appliance. That’s also equivalent to a lifetime supply of drinking water for a family of four. 2. Load it to the max. Fill your dishwasher to its capacity, and you’ll get the maximum use of energy every time you run a load. 3. Let dishes dry naturally. Use your dishwasher’s air-dry option. If your dishwasher doesn’t have one, prop the door open after the final rinse to dry dishes. 4. Use rinse aid. Try this instead of the heated dry cycle to speed up drying time and help remove spotting on glasses. 5. Wash dishes during off-peak hours. Local utilities recommend avoiding heavy energy usage at certain times of day. 6. Run your dishwasher in the dark. Use your dishwasher at night during the summer, and it will reduce daytime heat buildup in the kitchen.
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Public bike programs are just one of many bike-centered tools used by city leaders to address a wide range of urban challenges: to relieve congestion and reduce carbon emissions, of course, but also to raise the fitness level of citizens, improve the quality of neighborhood life, and relieve pressure on municipal budgets. Advances in cycling infrastructure, marketing programs, financial incentives, and zoning are being leveraged to increase cycling rates in more and more cities, most notably in Europe but also in the United States, Colombia, Australia, and China. Not since the automobile hijacked transportation planning decades ago in cities worldwide has the bicycle had so many arguments, and allies, for claiming its natural niche in urban transportation ecosystems.
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Gary Gardner, senior researcher at Worldwatch “Power to the Pedals” | Worldwatch Institute Time for a tuneup. |
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Worldwatch Institute will regretfully cease publication of World Watch magazine with the July/August 2010 issue. Like many magazines, World Watch has struggled to overcome the unique challenges that subscription-based print publications face in the current economic and media environment. Due to financial constraints, Worldwatch has come to the difficult decision to close the magazine and to reallocate resources to our online communications.
Please stay engaged with the Worldwatch Institute as we expand our online presence and continue to produce cutting-edge sustainability research and analysis. We invite you to subscribe to our newsletters, follow our four blogs, and check out our other publications and products including our annual State of the World report.
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World Watch Magazine | Worldwatch Institute This is sad news, because it’s been a venue for such good reporting. |
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