efficiency
Thanks to innovations like ever-faster and more affordable PCs, smart phones and cloud computing, a small or mid-sized business today can enjoy an advanced IT infrastructure unimaginable even five or 10 years ago. One “perk of the future” that has yet to be delivered, though, is the paperless office. In
energy
Germany’s already an undisputed powerhouse in renewable energy, but it will need to become even more innovative now that it aims to quit nuclear power by 2022. Up until last year, Germany operated 17 nuclear reactors that provided about one-fourth of the country’s electricity. Following the Fukushima disaster
wind energy
The world was producing nearly 238 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy as of the end of 2011, with the fastest development of new capacity taking place in China and India. That total comes to about 3 percent of the world’s current electricity consumption, according to the World Wind Energy
solar cells
Have China’s solar cell makers been “dumping” their products on the US market at low prices that undercut the competition? The US Department of Commerce this week made a preliminary finding that says, “Yes.” Delivered in response to a complaint filed last year by SolarWorld, a German-based photovoltaics (PV)
water
From space, our planet might look like a “big blue marble” rich with water. On the ground, though, reality is different: water use in many parts of the world has become unsustainable, threatening not only local populations but global agriculture and business as well. Water stress has “major implications for
carbon capture and storage
Several leading energy companies are expressing interest in working with the British government to make carbon capture and storage (CCS) commercially viable. “This high level of interest proves that the UK is back on track with CCS,” a spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was quoted
smart meters
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing — still isn’t, in fact — but the transition to smart electricity meters in the US is moving steadily forward. According to the most recent tally by the Institute for Electric Efficiency (IEE), nearly one in every three households in the US now has
concentrating photovoltaics
With the opening of the Alamosa Solar generating facility, Colorado is now home to the world’s largest concentrating photovoltaic electric power plant in the world. Located in the San Luis Valley, the 30-megawatt plant was developed by Cogentrix Energy. Covering 225 acres, the project features more than 500 pedestal-mounted
resilience
There’s the G8, the G20 and, now, the G-Science. In advance of the next G8 Summit, national science academies from 15 countries are urging world leaders to put more focus on several of the planet’s “most pressing challenges.” These include: * The growing global demand for two highly interdependent
oil
For consumers, sentiment about prices generally follows two simple rules: more expensive and hard to get = bad, cheap and abundant = good. In that context, all the new oil “wealth” coming from sources like Canada’s oil sands, the US’s corn-based biofuels and, potentially, gas- and coal-to-liquid technologies definitely falls
electric cars
Where are electric cars hitting the road in the greatest numbers? Japan, the US, China and Europe are leading the way, with a wide variety of programs and incentives encouraging city-dwellers in particular to switch to plug-in-based transport. Just 16 cities in nine countries account for nearly one-third of all
methane
The race is on to get one vast, untapped source of energy before it gets us: methane hydrates. An ice-like compound of methane trapped within the crystalline structure of frozen water, methane hydrates are found in sediments on the ocean floor, deep under Antarctic ice and below the Arctic permafrost.
