In the second debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman in California’s governor’s race what talking there was about the environment , Brown did it. In answer to a question about job creation in California that pointed out higher unemployment for Latinos, Brown responded that 1.9 million new jobs developed in California while he was governor. He created the California Conservation Corps, which has since had 100-thousand people pass through its program.
“We can power our factories, we can retrofit our buildings, we can build transmission lines, solar collectors, geothermal, wind machines, California was the leader,” Brown said. “In renewable energy. now we’re behind iowa and texas and china. I believe we can be the leader again.” Brown said some
\ The runaway winner of the South African 2010 Solar Challenge was the world’s fastest solar car – the “Tokai Challenger” from Japan – which can cruise at up to 160km/h using nothing but sunlight.The event was organized by the Advanced Energy Foundation and the Innovation Hub, and supported by the Department of Science and Technology, and was designed to “demonstrate the potential of renewable energy sources” in Southern Africa. The second Solar Challenge Race came to Pretoria with numerous records by vehicles powered by alternative energy having been broken. This race has been described as the one of the world’s toughest alternative energy races. It saw heads turn in Cape Town, Richards Bay and dozens of small towns across South Africa. One South African team had gadgets explode on their home-made vehicle, while another “race car” had the indignity of watching a cyclist overtake them on a national highway. One of the space-age vehicle, which uses solar cells normally found on space satellites, was twice pulled over by startled traffic cops near East London in the Eastern Cape. Three locally made cars had successfully used alternative energy to make it all the way around the country in 10 days – and managed to capture the imagination of hundreds of would-be engineers along the way.
Race Director Winstone Jordaan said he would like to see the 2012 event attract more entrants, especially from other South African universities researching alternative energy sources. The vehicles travelled to Cape Town, stopping in Bloemfontein and Beaufort West during stage one. Stage two saw the teams travel from Stellenbosch to Pretoria,
Karl Wolfgang Boer stumbled upon a few little yellow crystals in a drawer of a German physics lab. The accidental discovery would turn out to change his life and the future of green energy.
The crystals were cadmium sulfide (CdS) platelets. The scientist investigated both the electrical properties of the crystals, and his long-term research would lay the groundwork for CdS-based solar cells.
Boer recently published a memoir, “The Life of the Solar Pioneer Karl Wolfgang Boer” (iUniverse, 2010). Written in conjunction with a foreign-languages professor, the book documents Boer’s life journey –including growing up in Berlin, his personal family trials, immigrating to the United States, and chiefly his scientific discoveries that helped to shape solar power.
From a young boy fascinated by physics, setting up little chemistry labs in his parents’ basement, Boer became a trailblazer for alternative energies technology.
In 1973, Boer created the Solar One house, the first house to convert sunlight into electricity and heat. He also helped to develop the American Solar Energy Society, has written numerous books on solar energyand has explained why CdS improves solar energy conversion. He recently spoke
From the 2010 Paris Auto Show“Jaguar’s C-X75 concept was a surprise to everyone. We all expected the company to display a small sedan to slot in beneath the XF, a model the expanding brand desperately needs.
Jaquar had other plans. Instead, the company pulled the sheet off of this lusty two-seat supercar. Like several other concepts like the Porsche 918, the C-X75 employs electric motors for forward thrust. But in the Jag’s case, there’s a 195 hp motor for each of the four wheels. So this concept has 780 hp on tap. Jaguar claims that the C-X75 can travel 68 miles on the battery pack and when it’s depleted, an innovative gas-powered generator kicks on to supply the juice. Rather than use a conventional piston motor, Jaguar installed a pair of small turbine engines just behind the two fixed seats. These engines can supply 188 hp and can either charge the batteries or send juice to the electric motors.” No word on the price tag… Also from the Paris Auto Show:
JAG Concept Vehicle
Top automakers finally have electric cars ready to purr into dealer showrooms. Now the question is whether the charging infrastructure and electricity supply are up to the task. Industry watchers question if power grids can cope with the influx of electric vehicles, even though EVs (Electric Vehicles) are likely to remain, at least at first, a fraction of the new car market. But as CO2 emissions rules tighten, carmakers need to take action. “We need a radical solution,” Renault and Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn said at the Paris Auto Show.
Renault, which with alliance partner Nissan is investing 4 billion euros (US$5.5 billion) in electric cars, strengthened on Friday its EV partnership with French utility. At Renault’s stand displaying the Fluence and Kangoo EVs and the electric Dezir concept car, the partners launched pilot projects on battery management and charging infrastructure. Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Renault and Nissan, had said on Thursday he now thought his forecast that 10 percent of new car sales by 2020 would be EVs was “conservative”, while many manufacturers and analysts see much smaller demand. Ref: Helen Massy-Beresford & Gilles Guillaume Reuters/ Larry Webster Popular Mechanics
From Trenton New Jersey; the Garden State comes news that it has just reach a new solar milestone of 200 MW (MegaWatts) installed in more than 6,800 projects. What makes this quite the accomplishment is that just eight years ago there were only six solar installations in the entire state.
NJBPU (New Jersey Board of Public Utilities) President Lee A. Solomon said, “This milestone establishes New Jersey’s position as one of the fastest growing solar energy markets in the country.Our success is due in large part to the subsidies provided by the state which are advancing the state’s efforts to come into balance with its RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) goals, possibly as early as 2012.”
New Jersey is the first government globally to adopt the use of Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SREC) financing model that provides energy credits and additional long term financing for those who invest in solar. The SREC are then sold or traded, separately from the power, providing solar system owners a source of revenue to help offset the cost of installation. SRECs are increasingly replacing rebates, which fueled solar growth in the early years of the state’s solar program. Now neighbor states Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts, Ohio and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia are getting with the program.
Now it’s not just California that’s got cleantech green swag, Jersey is all up in the solar house.
West Coast Greenis in full effect at Fort Mason in San Francisco. The conference has become a leading forum for environmental and social change. Four years since it’s inception, West Coast Green continues to provide dynamic, big-picture, systems-thinking education, strategy, connections and professional development to those seeking a better world. Throughout the year the organization works to serve the community in part through West Coast Green Institute(WCGI).
WCGI has developed a program dedicated to transforming low-income communities into ones that are sustainable, healthy, empowered and vital neighborhoods. Some past projects have been the Fort Mason Design Slam, the Innovation Pipeline and Green Jobs Pavillion; a live multi-media, interactive space simulating our future economy right on the tradeshow floor. Attendees were introduced to more than 50 employers, training centers and financial resources. This allowed them exposure to opportunities in the green industry.
This years’ conference called, “Where Innovation and Opportunity Converge” brings together more than 150 speakers such as Arianna Huffington, Van Jones, Lisa Michelle Galley, Arno Harris, Panama Bartholomy and Hunter Lovins just to name a few. Hundreds of green companies are exhibiting and thousands of people will attend. The creative festival like nature of the event has made it something you, family and friends will really enjoy.
In the second debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman in California’s governor’s race what talking there was about the environment , Brown did it. In answer to a question about job creation in California that pointed out higher unemployment for Latinos, Brown responded that 1.9 million new jobs developed in California while he was governor. He created the California Conservation Corps, which has since had 100-thousand people pass through its program.
