If you’ve gone as far as pricing a renewable energy system for your home, you may have suffered a bit of sticker shock: solar and wind systems can easily run $20,000 — $40,000 before any incentives. Now, imagine the prices on systems for large businesses and institutions. It’s no wonder that these big players have sought out alternatives to buying systems outright, and often entered into power purchase agreements (or PPAs) for energy produced by technology owned by others.
Harvard University went this route yesterday when it signed a contract with Boston-based wind energy developer First Wind.
Tree-power and homemade submarines… all that and more in your green tech finds for the week.
Google… the solar company?: The company announced on Wednesday that it’s “working to develop its own new mirror technology that could reduce the cost of building solar thermal plants by a quarter or more.”
Wind power from the air conditioner: Renewable energy company EarthSure has announced its WindAir system, which is designed to “[transform] the exhausted air flow from central air conditioning units into a source of renewable, clean energy.”
A view of one of the Saudi Arabias of wind — Texas
The US’ discussion over our energy future hasn’t just produced many innovative ideas for harnessing cleaner and renewable sources of power; it’s also given rise to its own collection of cliches. Arguably, the most prevalent among these is “_______ (a location) is the Saudi Arabia of _________ (an energy source)” You’ve heard ‘em: “Texas is the Saudi Arabia of wind,” “Arizona/Nevada is the Saudi Arabia of solar,” etc., etc.
The New York Times‘ Green Inc. blog decided to find an alternative to this well-worn (and often inaccurate) metaphor by asking readers to come up with better descriptions for a state/region/country’s energy resources. Today, they announced the winners. Among them:
_______ is the El Dorado of green power
_______ is the Homer Simpson’s stomach of _____
And, perhaps my favorite…
_______ is the Rush Limbaugh of wind.
Green Inc.’s contest is over; that doesn’t mean you can’t get those wheels turning to see what you can come up with… share them with us below.
Phones, flashlights, and sweet solar-powered rides… all that and more in this week’s green tech finds.
Funding priorities: Is a national smart grid the best investment right now? Or would local micro-grids fed by renewable power serve us better?
More proof that teenagers do know it all: Fourteen-year-old David S. Dixon built “a street-legal quadricycle with a solar-powered electric motor” for a middle school project. (via Gas 2.0)
“Trash into treasure” may be a mantra for some eco-minded artists, but for people who dwell in slums around the world, it’s a method for survival. Philanthropist and UCLA Ph.D. student T.H. Culhane believes that the mindset of reuse that exists in one such slum, Cairo’s Garbage City, could be the means to raising the standard of living for its 20,000 residents.
Tree-power and homemade submarines… all that and more in your green tech finds for the week.
Deutsche Bank’s online carbon counter
