Things are slowly but irresistibly changing in the United States. Wind power added ten gigawatts of capacity to the grids last year alone and coal is less and less used to generate electricity. Meanwhile, a nuclear renaissance may be under way in America as last month President Obama announced a $8.3 billion (6 billion euros) […]
US electricity : more nuclear and less coal Read More »
Last month the founder of Microsoft gave a speech on low carbon energy and climate change at TED, a renowned event on Technology, Entertainment and Design. To Mr. Gates we need five means : carbon capture and storage, nuclear power and renewable energies (solar PV, Concentrated Solar Thermal and Wind power). I agree with that.
My humble opinion on Bill Gates’ speech at TED Read More »
France is promoting via aggressive feed-in tariffs the expansion of solar photovoltaic. I believe this is quite a good thing even if our electricity is 90 percent low carbon. (80 percent nuclear and ten percent hydro) Indeed, we will soon need additional capacity for both heat pumps and electric vehicles. However I believe the French (and other)
Why we should promote solar water heaters more Read More »
I know it since my Master’s Thesis : insulating buildings and installing efficient renewable energies heaters is one of the most important ways to cut our fossil fuels consumption and greenhouse gases emissions. Meanwhile,according to a report published by Ernst & Young investing in energy efficiency is in vogue as required investments are lower and
Could Wall Street pay for your home renovation ? Read More »
If you think 2009 was a rotten year for all businesses, read on. To the Global Wind Energy Council 37.5 GW of wind energy capacity was installed in 2009 alone. This represents a 31 percent increase over 2008. In Europe, capacity grew up by 10 GW and investors pumped 13 billion euros into the industry.
A global wind energy boom Read More »
For my 750th post here I would like to announce something that was close to my heart since my first article on that topic : aerogel – a fantastic material – is now sold to the general public for insulation purposes. It is abbsolutely stunning as it is up to eight times more efficient that
Aerogel now sold as an insulating material Read More »
According to the Guardian, Richard Branson believes that ” The next five years will see us face another crunch – the oil crunch. This time, we do have the chance to prepare. The challenge is to use that time well.” The founder of the Virgin Group and other business leaders from the United Kingdom are urging
Think the current crisis is the worse ? Read More »
I believe fossil fuels will be replaced sooner or later by electricity. This might prove to be a good thing as heat pumps and electric vehicles are two excellent energy efficient solutions. Thus, electric consumption is rising and is due to keep rising in the next decades. Having low carbon sources to generate electricity is very
A look at the carbon emissions of electricity Read More »
Solar and wind energies are going slowly but irresistibly mainstream as more and more large deals are being signed worldwide. Even if they still represent a tiny fraction of the world electricity generation, this will change this decade. The 2.5 GW deal signed in Ontario (Canada) by Samsung for $6.6 billion – 4.7 billion euros –
A huge solar and wind energy deal for Ontario Read More »
20 percent of America’s – and perhaps the world’s – electricity could soon come from wind and solar. Our societies thus need reliable, cheap and sustainable energy storage solutions. Concentrated solar could benefit from molten salts, yet wind energy doesn’t have yet its own solution. German and Swiss utilities are working on Compressed Air Energy Storage
The critical issue of back up power Read More »
