Workers install solar electric panels on a residential rooftop.
The head of America’s second-largest power company, David Crane, said microgrids will soon phase out large centralized electrical grids making the industry’s current business model obsolete.
Continue reading… “Microgrids will soon make large electrical grids obsolete”
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, the world’s largest solar power plant, takes 300,000 computer-controlled mirrors, each 7 feet high and 10 feet wide and controls them with computers to focus the Sun’s light to the top of 459-foot towers where water is turned into steam to power turbines. (Photos)
Continue reading… “World’s largest solar plant is now creating electricity”
Storing energy along the U.S. grid could help keep the power on.
For years, RenewableEnergyWorld.com has said that if the energy industry could solve the energy storage problem, it would unlock gigawatts of renewable energy capacity all over the world. About a year ago, progress started really picking up. More than 200 energy storage companies were present at Intersolar in Munich in 2013, exhibiting their solutions.
Continue reading… “Can we achieve a smoother, more secure grid with energy storage?”
A flawed prediction for oil and gas?
One comment about the oil and gas industry comes up quite a bit from very well educated people in a number of disciplines related to the climate issue – “The oil and gas industry has only got 20 years”. A few years back, a report by the WWF took a similar but slightly less aggressive line, through the publication of an energy model forecast which showed that the world could be effectively fossil energy free as early as 2050.
Continue reading… “Future predictions for the oil and gas industry”
Utilities are under fire from technologies such as rooftop solar.
Duke Energy is the biggest utility in the U.S. The recently retired head of the utility company, Jim Rogers, has had some interesting things to say about the fate of the traditional utility, particularly with the proliferation of rooftop solar.
Continue reading… “Why the days are numbered for traditional utility companies”
One of the biggest contributors to energy levels is the mind. The benefits of having high levels of mental energy include happiness, confidence, focus, and increased willpower, motivation, and productivity.
Continue reading… “Top 15 ways to boost mental energy levels”
Novel energy storage materials flow from the white containers into a fuel-cell like device in the foreground, where they generate electricity.
It would be great if utilities would be able to store the power that wind farms generate at night when no one wants and then be able to use it when the demand is high during the day. But conventional battery technology is so expensive that it only makes economic sense to store a few minutes of electricity, enough to smooth out a few fluctuations from gusts of wind.
The average American adult requires between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every day.
According to a new study from Duke University, women need more sleep than men. The researchers have discovered that, compared to men, women experience more mental and physical consequences from inadequate rest. Besides giving half the population a legitimate reason to sleep in, the findings could also inspire new health recommendations for women at greater risk of heart disease, depression, and psychological problems.
Continue reading… “Why women need more sleep than men”
Rooftop solar on a house in Hawaii.
William Walker and his wife, Mi Chong, wanted to join what’s seen as a solar revolution in Hawaii. Shortly after buying their Oahu home earlier this year, they plunked down $35,000 for a rooftop photovoltaic system. The couple looked forward to joining neighbors who had added panels, to cutting their $250 monthly power bills and to knowing they were helping the environment.
Continue reading… “Hawaii’s solar boom is so successful it’s been blocked from further expansion”
America is on track to install more solar capacity this year than world leader Germany.
In the U.S., the outlook for solar power is bright and sunny. The solar industry in America has recorded its second largest quarter ever in the third quarter of 2013, and the largest quarter ever for residential installations. (Infographic)
Continue reading… “2013 has been a record breaking year for solar power in the U.S.”
By the early 2020s, we will have the means to program our biology away from disease and aging, by the early 2020’s. Health and medicine have been a hit or miss up until recently. We would discover interventions such as drugs that had benefits, but also many side effects. Until recently, we did not have the means to actually design interventions on computers.
Continue reading… “This is your future: Ray Kurzweil”
SolarCity generator
Tesla Motors lithium-ion battery packs aren’t just powering electric luxury sports sedans for wealthy any more. They’ve started appearing in a small number of California homes to store electricity generated by rooftop solar panels, and SolarCity, the Silicon Valley solar installer, will start providing Tesla batteries for businesses that want to cut their utility bills.
Continue reading… “Tesla batteries are powering an energy revolution”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.