West-facing panels help solve solar energy’s main problem
There is mounting evidence than West-facing solar panels produce more electricity during peak demand, and thus solve solar’s main problem.
California
Fighting the drought, water efficiency in California
For our Economics classes at Pinchot last year, I – with a few friends and classmates – worked on water in California. My part was focusing on the inefficiency and the leaks occuring in the State. The findings are quite unsettling.
Presidio Graduate School acquires Pinchot University
It is with a certain excitement that I am announcing you that Pinchot University – where I am starting the second year of my MBA in Sustainable Business and Energy – has been acquired by Presidio Graduate School, San Francisco, CA.
Nebia, a shower that saves 70 percent of water
This is important as water scarcity may well concern half of Mankind by the middle of the century according to an MIT study. Here comes the shower of the future. Nebia uses 70 percent less water than the US standard.
2014 was the hottest year on record
2014 was according to the Japan Meteorological Agency the hottest year ever recorded. Other agencies around the world will present the same conclusion in the next days or weeks as records were broken all around the world.
California encourage solar panels pointing west
In April I was noting that a study shown that putting solar panels facing West – and not South – had some benefits. Indeed, panels facing this direction generate more power in peak hour.
Climate change dries up lakes in China and California
If you think climate change is a threat only to a distant future, please read on. In California, the situation is critical as to the Weather Channel : ” California’s reservoirs are severely depleted due to the ongoing widespread drought conditions “ ” As of Jan. 21, 2014, 67 percent of California was in extreme drought, …
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Emissions in United States rebounded in 2013
This was a major setback for me last week, US greenhouse gases emissions related to energy rose two percent in 2013 compared to 2012. To the US EIA this is due to ” a small increase in coal consumption in the electric power sector. “ ” Coal has regained some market share from natural gas since a …
Late June – early July selection of news
During my two weeks away in Southern France I didn’t read much news except the ones I had on the Facebook pages of I love climate scientists and 350.org. This allowed me to find some quite interesting stuff. Each article below could have been the topic of a full post here, but given the fact …
Envia, a battery breakthrough for electric vehicles
Electric vehicles suffer nowadays from two main problems : limited range and expensive price. But both problems could soon be solved if Envia Systems, a California-based company succeeded. To Climate Progress : ” Envia says its new manganese-based cathode design allows lithium cells to store almost three times the amount of energy per charge than …
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GE : Solar cheaper than fossil fuels by 2016
After the quite depressing news from the International Energy Agency yesterday, here is something that might cheer you up. If proven true, this could literally change everything. According to Bloomberg : ” Solar power may be cheaper than electricity generated by fossil fuels and nuclear reactors within three to five years because of innovations, said …
Solar power plants face problems in California
During my daily hours of ride in the trains to go and come back from the job I read books but also newspapers. This allowed me to read a great article in the New York Times about an unexpected problem with solar power plants in California. ” Just weeks after regulators approved the last of …