Getting the price right for solar

The photovoltaic panel industry is looking to decrease the price of the products. So long as their price is uncompetitive related to the entrenched technologies solar power will remain a niche business. If solar power is to fulfill its destiny in helping us clean our environment and have a clean earth, the price must become competitive.

"We have to cut the cost in half of where we are today, and we can do that with a lot of the technologies and solutions available to us today," said Charlie Gay, vice president and general manager of Applied Material's solar business group, while speaking at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Energy 2.0 conference last month.

...Many solar manufacturers make their products out of silicon and use machines similar to those used in the chip industry, but solar panel makers won't be benefiting from Moore's Law, a phenomenon in the chip industry where power increases as cost go down.

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Getting the price right for solar

U.S. cities hot for hydrogen

This article starts with a demonstration hydrogen plant in Las Vegas built by Air Products. Apparently the plant is becoming a popular spot for visitors who they hope will see the hydrogen economy in operation and bring their excitement home with them.

The article discusses that the most common use for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles today is evaluation by municipal departments. This is like the evaluation programs conducted for electric vehicles over the last couple decades.

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U.S. cities hot for hydrogen

Full steam ahead for Nevada solar project

The Nevada Solar One power plant is essentially a tea kettle, just one that happens to take up 300 acres and can provide enough power for 15,000 homes. The plant, which will start to generate electricity for nearby Las Vegas in April, consists of approximately 184,000 mirrors arranged in long, parabolic arrays that focus the sun's energy on a receiver--a metal tube filled with oil that's encased in specialized glass--from German conglomerate Schott.

...The power generated by the plant, minus any subsidies, may not get to parity with electricity generated from conventional plants until around 2020, added Nikolaus Benz, a development manager for Schott.

...Schott, for example, has come up with a new coating for the glass tube on the receiver that lets 96 percent of the solar radiation through to the oil-filled metal tube sealed inside the glass.

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Full steam ahead for Nevada solar project

With Cellulosic Ethanol, There Is No Food Vs. Fuel Debate According To MSU Scientist

A criticism of most methods to produce biofuels like Ethanol and Biodiesel is that the typical source material is some kind of food crop. In the U.S. the typical ethanol producer starts with corn. Yup, corn, the stuff we'd be eating if it weren't being made into ethanol. Apparently the ethanol demand has caused a huge growth in planting corn this year. And it has caused food riots in Mexico because the price of corn has risen so high the people can no longer afford tortillas.

Bruce Dale, an MSU chemical engineering and materials science professor, has used life cycle analysis tools, which include agricultural data and computer modeling, to study the sustainability of producing biofuels - fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel that are made from renewable resources.

...Having studied ethanol for more than 30 years, Dale said that as the country moves toward large-scale cellulosic ethanol production, the yield of so-called energy crops - grasses and woody materials grown for their energy content - also will increase dramatically.

..."The evidence indicates that large-scale biofuel production will increase, not decrease, world food supplies by making animal feed production much more efficient," Dale said.

The core reasoning is that there are ways of producing ethanol and biodiesel from sources other than food crops.

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With Cellulosic Ethanol, There Is No Food Vs. Fuel Debate According To MSU Scientist

AFVI Show: Ways to save billions of gallons of fuel at the nation's airports

Airports are basically the epitome of using fuel as if it's abundant. Jet aircraft can only exist and be economically used when fuel is cheap and easily available. In any case airports are centers of air pollution due to all the vehicles flying in and out all day long, plus all the ground vehicles. There are service vehicles and a dizzying array of other vehicles running around, including those shuttling people around the airport, and to or from the airport.

While there isn't much which can be done to increase fuel efficiency for the aircraft, or reduce emissions due to the aircraft, the ground vehicles are another matter. The article goes into several programs meant to decrease emissions from the ground vehicles.

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AFVI Show: Ways to save billions of gallons of fuel at the nation's airports

The Low Carbon Diet

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The Low Carbon Diet

Description: 

This “30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds” is a fun, accessible, easy to use guide that will show you, step-by-step, how to dramatically reduce your CO2 output in just a month’s time.

Grounded in over two decades of environmental behavior change research, this illustrated workbook offers much more than a list of eco-friendly actions. It walks you through every step of the process, from calculating your current CO2 “footprint” to tracking your progress.

By making simple changes to actions you take every day, you’ll learn how to reduce your annual household CO2 output by at least 15%. And, for those who are more ambitious, you’ll discover how you can become “carbon neutral” and help your workplace, local schools, and community do the same.

SMART USA

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SMART USA

Description: 

smart is a member of the Mercedes Car Group. smart vehicles are sold in 36 countries throughout the world. Over 750,000 fortwo vehicles have been sold since its introduction. When the United States starts selling the smart fortwo it will become the 37th country. The smart fortwo is scheduled to be available in the first quarter of 2008.