The Army knows that extensive alternative energy installations are the best way to ensure continuous, reliable electricity production. That’s why the military organization is building the Department of Defense’s largest ever solar project at the Fort Irwin Base in California’s Mojave Desert.
Several recent studies show that the rapid warming of Arctic tundra is leading to a host of sweeping changes, including more extensive fires, the growth of larger vegetation, more absorption of solar energy, melting permafrost, and substantially larger releases of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases. Taken together, the studies demonstrate that rising temperatures set in motion a vicious circle of more warming and higher releases of greenhouse gases. In Alaska, scientists studying a 2007 fire that burned nearly 400 square miles of the Brooks Range found that the burned tundra lost 40 to 120 grams of carbon per square meter, while pristine tundra absorbed 30 to 70 grams. Burned tundra also absorbed 71 percent more solar radiation than normal and caused permafrost to melt to a depth of several inches. A study in the Canadian Arctic has shown that tundra vegetation is becoming weedier, larger, and darker, significantly increasing the amount of absorbed sunlight and further boosting temperatures. The study also showed the warming tundra giving off unexpectedly high levels of methane and nitrous oxide. And in Scandinavia researchers found that by warming Arctic peatlands by nearly 2 degrees F over eight years, the tundra released an extra 60 percent CO2 in spring and 52 percent in summer, according to a study in the journal, Nature.
This piece originally appeared on Yale Environment 360
CC photo credit
Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!
(Posted by Yale Environment 360 in Climate Change at 12:25 PM)
Building materials giant Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company once best known for its asbestos shingles, has just announced that it is entering the solar roof market in a big way. The company will buy thin film solar laminates made by Michigan-based United Solar Ovonic, a subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices. United Solar has already started bringing green jobs into Michigan, and the Johns Manville connection could mean that more expansion is in store.
Image via Kodak
We like to promote solar chargers as a great way to get gadgets off grid and on to renewable energy sources. While there's a ecological footprint associated with solar cells, it's usually offset by the fact that you're not using fossil fuel-generated dirty power to charge up your gear. However, there are instances when solar chargers go awry and the footprint can't be justified. Take for instance the Kodak Solar Charger KS100-C +2....Read the full story on TreeHugger
A comparative turbine test performed over the last 12 months in Zeeland, Holland revealed that small wind turbines generate very little power for the money. The smaller the rotor, the less power. So I did some comparisons between small wind and solar. I found something surprising.
The energy yield was measured in an average wind speed of 8.5 mph over the year.
Here are the results, translated for the U.S. reader, with the comparative solar costs:
Images via Kinesis
Back in January we saw this cool charger from Kinesis at the Consumer Electronics Show. It's finally online and available for purchase. Click through for some details, and watch a video about how it works. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Garbage is strange stuff; people are either trying to steal it or get rid of it where they shouldn't, so an unsecured skip or dumpster is a target. Ray Saluccio of EarthSure is an inventor with a garbage company, and has now invented a solar powered dumpster enclosure that protects the dumpster, powers lights, video cameras and emergency phones, and sells the extra power back to the grid. All using land that it othewise under-utilized, being filled with dumpsters. It's called the Solar Energy Enclosed Dumpster System (SEEDS) and is "engineered for the 22nd century."
...Read the full story on TreeHugger