Read the rest of AROA’s Second Solar Tulip Power Plant Springs Up in Spain

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Post tags: "solar energy", concentrated solar power, csp, eco energy, green energy, Haim Dotan, Israel CSP, Israel solar company, low water CSP, solar hot air, solar tower, Solar Tulip, solar waste heat, Spanish CSP

Nations around the world are abandoning nuclear energy in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, however the UK is considering plans to launch a new generation of reactors by GE Hitachi that recycle nuclear waste into energy-generating fuel. According to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), these new reactors have the capability to consume Britain’s massive radioactive waste stockpile while generating enough low-carbon electricity to power the country for more than 500 years.

Read the rest of New Generation of Radioactive Waste-Consuming Nuclear Reactors Could Power UK for 500 Years

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Post tags: clean nuclear reactors, Department of Energy and Climate Change, GE Hitachi nuclear, green energy, handling nuclear waste, nuclear power, nuclear reactor consumes its own radioactive waste, nuclear reactors, nuclear waste issue, renewable energy

Listening to President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night we cheered for his green ambitions as he laid out a plan to energize the American economy with the manufacturing of clean technology. We were hoping he’d keep up that steam but today, during a speech in Nevada, he let down our hopes slightly by focusing almost exclusively on oil and natural gas drilling. This was a surprise coming from the President – especially in a state that has such promise for truly renewable energy. With geothermal and solar power available in such abundance in the Silver State, it is a bit curious why the President didn’t seek to point out their merits while speaking in Las Vegas.

Read the rest of President Obama’s Latest Speech Touts American-Made Energy but Gets Stuck on Oil and Gas

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Post tags: "clean energy", "sustainable energy", american made energy, energy policy, energy technology, green energy, green energy policy, nevada clean energy, nevada renewable energy, obama energy policy, obama las vegas speech, obama nevada speech, renewable energy, the energy future

Scottish whisky is becoming quite the green business these days – with whisky power plants and brand new green distilleries popping up throughout the country. Last year we reported that Edinburgh Napier University transformed pott ale and draff from the making of whisky into fuel to run a vehicle, and now the university has turned that process into a business called Celtic Renewables Ltd.!

Read the rest of WHISKY POWER: New Company Celtic Renewables Turns Whisky Byproducts into Biofuel

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Post tags: celtic renewables, edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University's Celtic Renewables Ltd, energy from liquor, green energy, napier university, scottish biofuel, scottish energy, scottish renewable energy, scottish whisky, Whiskey, whisky, whisky biofuel

President Obama delivered his annual State of the Union address to the nation last night while standing firm on his believe that American ingenuity will carry us safely into a secure future. His overall message was that we need to clear up the partisan politics in Washington in order to write and pass legislation that overcomes the burdens of bureaucracy while opening doors to the technology of the future that can create jobs on American soil. He firmly spoke of his mission to bypass Congress in order to use public land to create clean energy, pledged government funding for innovation in clean technology and manufacturing here in America, promised to stay dedicated to reforms that keep our air clean and reduce emissions, vowed to force natural gas drilling to become safer, asked again for Congress to stop subsidizing oil, and spoke of incentives for businesses to lower their energy bills through power savings. Though he spoke briefly about the opening of new offshore oil drilling, we all know in a climate like that of Washington you’ve got to give a little to get a lot and the President, when it comes to green reforms, was asking for a lot.

Read the rest of Obama’s State of the Union Address Sets Forth a Green Blueprint for America

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Post tags: "clean energy", barack obama, climate change legislation, comprehensive climate change legislation, green energy, green energy legislation, obama, obama energy policy, obama green policy, obama state of the union, obama sustainable energy policy, politics, president obama, Solar Power, SOTU, state of the union, washington, washington green energy policy

2011 was not a good year for nuclear power – we saw Japan shaken by the Fukushima disaster, solar power became cheaper for the first time, and three-eyed fish were found near a nuclear plant in Argentina. Granted these events, you can imagine how heartbeats must have risen at the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA), when someone noticed that the sea around a Scottish nuclear power plant appeared to be luminous green on Google Earth.

Read the rest of Google Earth Reveals Glowing Green Sea Near Scottish Nuclear Power Plant 

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Post tags: "sustainable energy", Fukushima disaster, glowing sea, google earth, green energy, Hunterston nuclear power plant, Hunterston nuclear power plant accident, Hunterston nuclear power plant ayrshire, Hunterston nuclear power plant bubbles, Hunterston nuclear power plant google earth, Hunterston nuclear power plant green sea, Hunterston nuclear power plant leak, Hunterston nuclear power plant nia, nuclear leak, nuclear power, nuclear power accident, renewable energy, three-eyed fish

The UK’s climate Change Minister Greg Barker announced today that South West England will soon be home to the country’s first Marine Energy Park. The park, once completed, will stretch from Bristol to the Isles of Scilly and will have the potential to generate 27 gigawatts of power from the waves and tides of the area by 2050 – the same amount of power generated by 8 coal-fired plants. The project will draw on public and private resources with a huge boost from the world’s leading wave energy research and development facilities located along the future Marine Energy Park’s coastline.

Read the rest of UK’S First Marine Energy Park to Harvest 27 Gigawatts of Wave Power by 2050

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Post tags: "clean energy", "sustainable energy", climate change minister, england marine park, future of energy, green energy, greg barker, kinetic energy, marine energy, ocean energy, southwest marine park, tidal energy, tidal turbine, uk marine park, viable renewable energy, wave energy, wave turbine

If your new year’s resolution for 2012 is to take control of your monthly energy bill and save electricity, kWh Power’s Home Start Kit can help you achieve that goal by monitoring and controlling your plug loads (the energy consumed by a device that’s plugged into a socket). The average household these days has over 25-30 electric devices powered by plugs, and office plug loads account for about 20% of a typical electrical bill, so keeping track of your appliances and electronics can really go a long way. The package consists of 2 energy-monitoring plugs, a USB connector and a license for the Plugwise Source software and is suited for implementation in a single room.

+ kWh Power

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", eco design, energy monitoring kit, energy saving, green design, green energy, home start kit, kwh power, kWh Power is a Service That Lets You Take Control of Your Monthly Energy Bill, monitor energy, save energy, sustainable design, Vampire Power

Scientists at MIT and RWTH Aachen University may have revolutionized the effectiveness of concentrated solar plants – by emulating the pattern found on a sunflower, otherwise known in science as Fermat’s spiral. By rearranging the CSP’s massive heliostats, or mirrors, to resemble the yellow flower’s petals, the solar power harvester can take up 20% less space. Making the system more compact increases the CSP’s efficacy, giving it a higher potential for energy generation.


Read the rest of MIT Scientists Find Way to Maximize Concentrated Solar Plant Efficacy by Emulating a Sunflower’s Pattern

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Post tags: "solar energy", Concentrated Solar plant, eco design, Fermat Spiral, fermat's spiral, green design, green energy, green technology, heliostat, PS10 solar plant, Solar Power, sunflower angle, sunflower solar, sustainable design

Eon Nordic just announced plans to construct a massive 700 megawatt wind farm in the Baltic Sea that will take advantage of the region’s high localized winds. Once it is finished, the wind farm located in Södra Midsjöbanken, Sweden will be one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world. Currently the North Sea is a well-known site for offshore wind farms, but the Baltic Sea could possibly eclipse it – the new farm will boast 180-230 wind turbines and cost approximately $2.79 billion.

Read the rest of Sweden Announces Plans for Massive 700 Megawatt Wind Farm in The Baltic Sea

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Post tags: alternative energy, Baltic sea wind farm, e.on nordic, eon Nordic wind farm, eon wind farm, green design, green energy, ikea wind farm, Offshore Wind Farm, renewable energy, sustainable design, sustainable power, Sweden wind farm, vattenfall Sweden wind farm

The Maker Faire is a place where weird and wacky inventions are welcomed and championed, which is surely why Bob Schneeveis and Grant Grundler decided to debut their crazy solar powered electric chariot there. The chariot is a modern-day renewably powered take on the ancient Roman cart which is pulled around by a roller blading robot who glides with the greatest of ease. Video of the chariot in action after the jump.

Read the rest of VIDEO: Solar Powered Chariot Robot Brings Ancient Rome and Green Technology Together

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Post tags: "clean energy", green energy, green invention, green technology, green transportation, renewable energy, solar invention, solar powered car, solar powered chariot, solar powered robot, solar powered vehicle, solar robot, solar transportation, wacky green, weird green

The WindFlip barge concept was designed to simplify the installation of offshore wind turbines and in the process has managed to be a solution that also cuts cost. Installing offshore wind turbines can be an expensive task — the process requires skilled technicians to assemble turbines at sea, and to anchor them at great depths. Alternatively, the WindFlip barge allows turbines to be assembled completely on shore, towed to their location, and then simply tipped into place — thus minimizing the need for expensive work at sea. Check out a video of the WindFlip in action after the jump.

Read the rest of The WindFlip Barge Concept Installs Offshore Wind Turbines Inexpensively and With Ease

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Post tags: "wind turbine", floating wind turbine, green energy, Hywind, norway, offshore wind, offshore wind cost, Offshore Wind Farm, offshore wind turbine, offshore wind turbine installation, renewable energy, statoil, wind turbine barge, wind turbine cost, wind turbine installation, windflip

2011 was an incredible year for green energy as the impending challenges of climate change, energy security, and peak oil spurred the development of clean power sources that will propel us towards a more sustainable future. We saw plans unveiled that will transform skyscrapers into towering photovoltaic farms and we watched a forest of massive solar trees sprout in Singapore. We were also amazed to see a 13-year-old wunderkind harness the fibonacci sequence to make a solar power breakthrough, and we brought you a first look at Aquamarine Power’s massive Oyster 800 wave energy generator – read on for our most popular green energy stories from 2011!

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", alternative energy, green design, green energy, green power, green technology, renewable energy, sustainable design, sustainable technology, top 6 green energy stories of 2011, top green design stories of 2011

The Düsseldorf International Airport is about to flip the switch on one of the largest solar arrays in Germany. The 8,400 panel, 2 megawatt solar array spans the space of six soccer fields, and it was finished in time to start feeding power to the grid before the clock strikes 2012. To prove the solar array’s everyday worth, the airport has installed a real time statistics ticker in the airport lobby so passengers can see how much energy it is creating and how much carbon dioxide is being diverted from the atmosphere.

Read the rest of Düsseldorf Airport Installs One of The Largest Solar Arrays in Germany

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Post tags: "sustainable energy", 2 megawatt solar array, airport solar array, biggest solar array, Düsseldorf, dusseldorf airport, dusseldorf international airport, german green energy, germany sustainable energy, green airport, green energy, green energy in germany, green transportation, huge solar array, large solar array, renewable energy

This morning saw a solar breakthrough at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where researchers created a quantum dot solar device that has a higher energized particle percentage output than its energized particle input. The photocurrent of a solar device — photocurrent shows the efficiency of a solar cell — is expressed as a percentage and is found by measuring the number of electrons flowing per second out of the solar cell divided by the number of photons per second of an energy entering the solar cell. NREL researchers have developed a solar cell that has a photocurrent of 114%, which is the most efficient ratio ever seen before.

Read the rest of Researchers Create First Solar Cells With Quantum Efficiency of 114%

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Post tags: Emits More Energy Particles Than it Absorbs, government renewable energy policy, green energy, how efficient are solar cells, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, new solar technology, renewable energy, renewable energy investment, Researchers Create Super Efficient Solar Cell, Solar Cell, solar cell efficiency, solar cell technology, solar energy innovation, solar power innovation, solar power technology, super efficient solar cell, uber solar cell

A report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research shows that solar power installations in the United States grew more in the third quarter of 2011 than in all of 2009. The growth in the third quarter of 2011 totaled more than 240% of the growth in the third quarter of 2010, and by year’s end the United States will have installed 1.7 gigawatts of solar energy – the same amount of energy as two nuclear power plants.

Read the rest of US Solar Industry Grows More in Third Quarter of 2011 Than in All of 2009

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Post tags: "solar energy", green energy, green power, renewable energy growth, solar development, solar energy growth, solar energy installation, solar installation, solar panel installation, Solar Power, solar power growth, solar power installation, Solar Roof, solar technology, sustainable energy growth, us solar industry

Designed by architect Nagesh H D, the Jungle Lodge in Bandipur, Karnataka, India, is a spectacular collection of eco-spaces set in the valley facing the Nilgiris Mountains. The cottages are split into a series of blocks in order to reduce bulk and maintain the natural drainage pattern of the site. The architecture is a combination of diverse construction methodologies based on local customs as well as modern techniques. The design prominently features local stone, acknowledging the traditional building techniques of the region. The interiors are naturally vented by louvered glass facades, and wastewater and sewage are treated by a reed bed system. Hot water for the cottages comes from solar water heaters, and backup electricity is supplied by roof-mounted photovoltaic panels and a wind turbine. Numerous floor-to-ceiling windows take advantage of natural light, integrating the lodge with its surrounding environment while amplifying the space within.

+ Nagesh HD

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Post tags: Bandipur, eco escape, eco lodge, eco-resorts, green energy, green escape, green lodge, green vacation, India, india architecture, india resorts, Karnataka, Nagesh H D, Nilgiris Mountains, renewable energy, Sustainable Materials, the Jungle Lodge

German physicists have just announced the creation of the world’s smallest heat engine! Research teams from the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have joined forces to build a super tiny laser powered engine that is only a few micrometers wide — that’s the size of a human hair! With heat and steam engines traditionally powering cars, boats, trains, and planes, this could be a huge leap towards major, clean transportation improvements.

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Post tags: "clean energy", eco engines, eco heat engine, eco steam engine, german physicists, green energy, green engines, green heat engine, green steam engine, laser engines, news, renewable energy, steam engine, stirling engine, sustainable engines, world's smallest heat engine

As the temperature drops and utility bills begin to soar, researchers at Microsoft have come up with a new heat source to warm homes and offices up - data servers. These machines produce an incredible amount of heat – and it requires extra energy to cool them down – so why not use all of that warmth to keep people nice and toasty in the colder months? That’s exactly what Microsoft Research is suggesting in their new study, which proposes transferring that excess heat to buildings and homes.

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Post tags: clean power, Data Furnace, Data Server, eco design, green design, green energy, Green energy Facebook server farm, Microsoft Research, recycled energy, recycled heat, Server Farms

A unique, two-blade wind turbine that features a helicopter landing pad will soon be rising off the eastern coast of Scotland. Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing announced this week that the Scottish government has approved the construction of the innovative 6 MW wind turbine at the Fife Energy Park in Methil, which will be located about 70 feet offshore. Scotland has set an ambitious goal of sourcing 100 percent of the country’s power from renewable energy, and the two-blade design will be part of a test to develop new offshore solutions.

Read the rest of Scotland to Build Two-Blade Offshore Wind Turbine with Helicopter Landing Pad

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Post tags: "wind turbine", 2-B Energy, 6 MW, clean tech, green energy, green tech, Offshore Wind Farm, renewable energy, Scottland, wind energy