Energy Archives - Page 2 of 8

The Future Is Clean – Solar Impulse 2 Plane Campaign

On March 9th 2015 the revolutionary airplane named “Solar Impulse 2” launched its first leg of its 35,000 mile trip around the world to help raise awareness of the Future is Clean Campaign. Starting off in Abu Dhabi the plane is set to stop in various global locations and is being tracked for audiences online. The Solar Impulse 2 (aka Si2)is a lot larger than its predecessor the Solar Impulse 1, which was the prototype that set several solar powered flight world records in 2013. This version of the aircraft is wider than a 747 Jumbo Jet with a wingspan of 72 metres (236.22 feet) and yet is still a light 2.3 tonnes. It’s light weight is key to the success of the plane that has 17000 solar panels built into its wings. Solar energy is estimated to become the dominant energy source of the future, as predicted by the International Energy Agency. (IEA)

New Study: Bioenergy May Be Bad News for Forests, Climate

Resource: Global Forest Reporting Network BioFuels like Ethanol have more than just an image problem (Growing food vs growing fuel). Now a new report from the World Resources Institute finds that dedicating land to the production of biofuels may undermine efforts to achieve a sustainable food future, combat climate change, and protect forests. The problem, of course, is that if you dedicate land to growing crops like sugarcane, corn, soybeans, or wood solely for the production of biofuels, you can’t use that land to grow food--or as a carbon sink. We already use a whopping three-fourths of the world’s vegetated land for crops, livestock grazing, and wood harvests, according to the WRI paper. And the remaining land really should be left as is, since it protects clean water, supports biodiversity, and stores carbon. Watch this video about new biofuels made from cellulose with the help of a bacteria under the development of AE Biofuels, which acquired Zemetis in 2011.

Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric Twerking @bout the Internet in this New BMW Superbowl Ad

You don't have to remember 1994 to find this "Newfangled" Superbowl spot fun. Thanks to @BMW, internet history plays a key role in their latest ad campaign for the all-electric i3. In a classic flashback to 1994, Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric banter on the set of The Today Show in unabashed confusion about this curious new thing called "the Internet" and the use of that funny looking symbol with an A in a circle. At? Around? About? What is this digital world coming to? Kudos to BMW for bringing the relevance of Alternative Energy into the real world of Today. E-NJOY.

IKEA Purchases New Wind Farm…Assembly Instructions Blow Away

November 18, 2014- The IKEA Group announced today that it had purchased it's second wind farm in the United States from Apex Clean Energy: a 165-megawatt wind farm in Cameron County, Texas. This represents the single largest renewable energy investment made by the IKEA Group globally to date. The wind farm will contribute significantly to the IKEA Group 2020 goal of producing as much renewable energy as the total energy the company consumes globally. The Cameron Wind farm is expected to be fully operational in late 2015. Earlier this year IKEA Group announced its first U.S. wind farm purchase located in Hoopeston, Illinois. The Cameron Wind farm will be more than one-and-a-half times the size of the Hoopeston project. IKEA Group has now committed to own and operate 279 wind turbines in nine countries, and will invest a total of $1.9 billion[2] in wind and solar power up to the end of 2015. IKEA has also taken steps to further the development of a low-c…

This Bus is Powered by Your Waste. Holy Sh*t!

New York City was first with it’s No-Idling laws, but the UK, it seems, won’t settle for #2. Unless of course it’s the #2 (Human waste) that just happens to be fueling the first-of-its-kind city bus. The 40-seater Bio-Bus runs on fuel generated from treated sewage and food waste and helps improve urban air quality as it produces fewer emissions than traditional diesel engines. The bus can travel up to 200 miles on a full tank of gas generated at Bristol sewage treatment works – a plant run by GENeco, a subsidiary of Wessex Water. Up to 10,000 passengers are expected to travel on the Bio-Bus each month. It’s not petrol, bio-diesel or natural gas. It’s Biomethane, and can even be used to power up to 8,500 homes, and although the bus's graphics seem to imply it’s a moving shitter, the fuel is actually a product of Bristol sewage treatment, which treats around 75 million cubic meters of sewage waste and 35,000 tons of food waste through a process known as anaerobic digestio…

U.S. Allows Fracking in George Washington National Forest

By Amanda Crater - Just as George Washington once swung an ax into his own father's beloved cherry tree, the United States federal government just drove a drill into the heart of its national park system by approving a federal management plan that will allow fracking to occur in parts of the George Washington National Forest - the nation's largest national forest on the East Coast. The controversial practice is vehemently opposed by both environmentalists and Virginia's governor Terry McAuliffe, but fracking will be allowed thanks to the new plan passed Tuesday November 14, 2014 over their objections. It seems fitting that this symbolic move applies to a national park named after a president whose legacy includes taking an ax to his own garden in a masochist act of self sabotage - good fracking job America on this one too. Just as elementary school text books commend dear George for fessing up to his father, politicians and lobbyists are applauding themselves for coming up …